By Ann Blackford 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 2, 2024) — Rolandas “Ro” Byrd grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, watching his parents build a life with a strong sense of community at heart. His father was an officer and a detective. His mother was always involved in church and working in a soup kitchen to feed the homeless.

He was inspired by his mother’s generosity and compassion for people who did not necessarily have a voice. His parents were also small business owners of a cleaning company, and a detail and customizing shop. Notably, he witnessed the impact a trusted banker had on his parents’ businesses as they navigated their way through adversities to success.

What may have seemed like simple observations in his life at the time,

By Ryan Girves 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 1, 2024) — February marks the start of Black History Month — a time dedicated to recognizing the achievements, contributions and rich heritage of Black Americans throughout history. 

Black Americans were, and continue to be, instrumental in shaping our country. During February, we honor their legacy by highlighting and celebrating the stories that were often neglected or silenced. 

“This month is a significant celebration that recognizes the leadership and legacy forged by Black Americans,” said University of Kentucky Vice President for Institutional Diversity Katrice A. Albert. “It is our annual moment to commemorate the remarkable cultural heritage that just might

By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, Ky. — “The Aesthetic Cold War,” a book by the University of Kentucky’s Peter Kalliney, has won the 2023 Modernist Studies Association Book Prize. Kalliney is the William J. and Nina B. Tuggle Chair in English in UK’s College of Arts and Sciences. 

Each year, a panel of Modernist Studies Association judges awards the prize to a book that has made the most significant contribution to modernist studies. 

“’The Aesthetic Cold War’ is a major revision of our picture of Cold War aesthetics and politics, giving us a far more complex picture of old narratives of cultural co-option during literary decolonization,” the panel stated. “Kalliney’s is the new standard work on the relation of decolonial-era writers to Soviet realism, CIA funding, and cold war politics.” 

By C. Lynn Hiler 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 24, 2024) — The University of Kentucky Nu Circle of national leadership honor society Omicron Delta Kappa inducted 43 members at a ceremony on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024. The group recognizes superior leadership and exemplary character and encourages collaboration among members across the five phases celebrated by the society: scholarship, athletics, service, communications and arts.

The UK Circle was established on May 2, 1925, and celebrates leaders across campus by co-hosting the Alumni Association Outstanding Teacher Award and other honors like the Maurice A. Clay Outstanding Graduating Senior Award and the Jerry D. Claiborne

By Lindsay Travis 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 25, 2024) — A team of researchers at the University of Kentucky and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital is exploring the science behind how spiny mice can regenerate lost tissue and using what they learn to trigger regeneration in other types of mice. These advances may one day benefit into humans.

Whereas adult laboratory mice heal injuries with scar tissue, spiny mice can regrow lost skin and regenerate musculoskeletal tissues in their body.  

Ashley W. Seifert, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Biology in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, and his research group have

In the Jan. 22, 2024, online issue of The New York Times, reporter Korsha Wilson interviews Crystal Wilkinson, professor of English in the University of Kentucky's College of Arts & Sciences, about her new book, "Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts."

"When Crystal Wilkinson wants to summon her kitchen ghosts, she retrieves a fuchsia-hued dress from her closet and hangs it in the doorway. The sturdy, double-hemmed garment invites her grandmother Christine, who sewed it by hand and wore it often before she died in 1994, to join her.

"The dress acts as “a literal and metaphorical tethering to her and this matriarchal lineage,” Ms. Wilkinson said in a phone interview from her kitchen.

"A poet and

By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Dhevin Patel has absorbed a number of cool concepts in the U.S. Culture and Business Practices program at the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts and Sciences, including “refrigerator culture.” Basically, the ubiquity of refrigerators in post-World War II America changed both consumer and business goals and practices.  

“I would say that there are a lot of ideas within the USB program that are very abstract,” said Patel, a sophomore from Dallas, TX and, more recently Murray, KY. “For example, we learn about refrigerator culture and how that became a big thing in the ‘50s and ‘60s. People needed refrigerators, and so companies started manufacturing them. Refrigerators had a snowball impact on consumers; they shifted from canned goods to frozen products. And

By Jennifer T. Allen, Hannah Edelen, Jenny Wells-Hosley and Richard LeComte

As humans search for intelligent life–or any life at all—in the universe, they’re using their own intelligence to craft new ways of exploring galaxies. They’re even starting to use artificial intelligence, itself a new frontier, to deepen science’s understanding of what lies beyond.

That’s where Yuanyuan Su, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, is applying her own intelligence. She and her group are using artificial intelligence to analyze images gathered from the space and ground telescopes to figure out what’s actually there.

Su has received the 2024 Early Career Prize from the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society. The 

By Erin Wickey 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 11, 2024) — In the summer of 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till traveled to rural Mississippi to visit extended family. Just a few days after his arrival, the teenager was abducted, beaten and lynched after being accused of offending a white woman in a grocery store. 

Following his murder, his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, decided to hold an open-casket funeral in their hometown of Chicago. The photo of her son’s corpse was first published in Jet magazine, bringing nationwide attention to the brutality and racial violence.  

Brandon M. Erby, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 8, 2024) — The Dr. Bing Zhang Department of Statistics at the University of Kentucky is now offering, for the first time, an undergraduate major for students, addressing a growing demand for skilled professionals in data-driven industries.

Approved by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education in

By Dave Melanson 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 9, 2024) — Researchers at the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research and the Department of Chemistry have received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to advance their innovative biofuels research.

The project is titled “Robust Engineered Catalysts for the Conversion of Waste Oleaginous Biomass Feedstocks to Fuel-like

By Daniel Flener 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 15, 2023) — In August 2021, as the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, many students in the country found themselves in limbo — unsure of whether or how to continue their education. As they searched for answers, and many fled their home country, the launch of the Kentucky Innovative Scholarship Pilot Project provided hope, and the University of Kentucky mobilized to provide a home away from home.

The program, funded by a $10 million appropriation by the 2022 Kentucky General Assembly, allows colleges and universities to provide scholarships up to the total cost of attendance for displaced students. One of those students who came to

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 13, 2022) —  University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto has selected two student representatives to speak during the UK 2023 December Commencement Ceremonies on Friday, Dec. 15, at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. 

One of them, Cindy Sossa, is graduating pre-law with a bachelor’s degree in English from the UK College of Arts and Sciences, with a certificate in peace studies.

Sossa, who is from Melbourne, Australia, has been an active member of the

By Steve Shaffer, Vendela Norris, and Jenny Wells-Hosley

Video produced by UK Public Relations and Strategic Communications and Marketing and Brand Strategy. To view captions for this video, push play and click on the CC icon in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. If using a mobile device, click on the "thought bubble" in the same area.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 13, 2023) — For graduating senior Devin Thompson, the University of Kentucky educational experience began long before his freshman year.

As a middle schooler in 2014, the

By Alicia Gregory 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 11, 2023) — The University of Kentucky is well-represented on a list of the most-cited researchers in the world. In a database compiled by Stanford University in a partnership with Elsevier, 119 current UK scientists and scholars appear among the top 2% of the most-cited researchers across 22 disciplines.

Citations are one measure of the impact of academic research. For researchers, publishing their work in a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal is a key step in sharing research findings and new discoveries. 

“Being cited is one sign that your work matters to the research community,” said Lisa Cassis, Ph

Each year, the University of Kentucky Alumni Association recognizes six professors for outstanding teaching and honors them with a plaque and a cash award at a recognition luncheon or dinner. It is the oldest, continuously-given award for teachers at the University of Kentucky.

By Kody Kiser and Tiana Thé 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 30, 2023) — The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act ) is a pivotal federal law enacted in 1990 that addresses the repatriation and disposition of Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects and cultural patrimony.

With the understanding of the pain caused by historical practices, the University of Kentucky remains dedicated to working closely with Native nations, aiming to repatriate these items ethically. The size of the NAGPRA collections requires extensive

By Jennifer T. Allen

Ana Sampaio has always been interested in technology and, as an international student from Brazil, she also has a deep interest in international relations. Now a senior at the University of Kentucky, Sampaio has combined her passions into three majors: political science and economics in the College of Arts and Sciences and information communication technology (ICT) in the College of Communication and Information. 

“I really like combining political science with economics because I can study international economics and international development. I've also always been interested in technology and exploring that side of things, I just thought I wasn't good enough at math to pursue it. I found out I was overthinking it. Plus, ICT focuses more on the analytical side, and I am completely mesmerized by it,” said Sampaio. 

Sampaio’s passion

By Haven L. Patrick 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 30, 2023) — The University of Kentucky Office of Undergraduate Research recently announced the 15 undergraduate winners of the 59th annual Oswald Research and Creativity awards. Chad Risko, faculty director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, and Research Ambassadors congratulated the winners and distribute the awards.

Established in 1964 by then-President John Oswald, the Oswald Research and Creativity Competition encourages undergraduate research and creative activities across all fields of study.

Categories are:

By Jackie Wilson 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 30, 2023) — University Press of Kentucky announces the publishing imprint Screen Door Press, which will be edited by Crystal Wilkinson, professor of English in the University of Kentucky's College of Arts and Sciences. 

Dedicated to discovering exceptional, and varied voices within Black literary traditions, the imprint will include short stories, novellas and novels across a broad range of categories. The goal of Screen Door Press is to publish thought-provoking books that feature relatable characters, strong narratives and