By Jenny Wells

The Kentucky Girls STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Collaborative, in partnership with the STEM-H Institute at Eastern Kentucky University, will hold its fifth annual conference "Reaching for the Stars!" Friday, June 7, at the Eastern Kentucky University campus.

Educators, counselors, business and community leaders, parents and girls are invited to come meet others with a strong desire to see girls discover opportunities available to them within the STEM fields. Conference attendees will explore up-and-coming career opportunities in the STEM disciplines and learn proactive steps to help girls

By Ellyce Loveless

Most well-functioning campus workplaces at the University of Kentucky have one thing in common: student workers. For photographer Dana Rogers, employee of the College of Arts & Sciences, being a good student worker means appreciating her coworkers, being open-minded, and staying organized.

She has recently won the title of UK’s Student Employee of the Year. This award is given to a student on campus who shows determination both in the classroom and the workplace.

Her supervisor, Brian Connors Manke, knows that she is a top-notch worker. “She is the most enthusiastic person I’ve ever met about her passion – photography. She is so driven by it

by Sarah Geegan

By Whitney Hale, Mack McCormick

Kentucky may be horse-racing and basketball country, but when it comes to your taste buds, the Bluegrass State is a foodie haven with a rich culinary tradition. From the famed mint juleps of the Kentucky Derby to slow-smoked mutton in the western part of the state, bourbon and barbecue have deep roots in the Bluegrass State. Kentucky may be America’s first frontier, but its flavors and food traditions have lured a new wave of travelers to the region.

Three new books from the University Press of Kentucky explore the traditions and dining experiences of the Commonwealth. The Kentucky Barbecue Book by Wes Berry, Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey: An American Heritage by Michael R. Veach, and The Old Fashioned: An Essential Guide to the Original Whiskey

By Carl Nathe

The third annual University of Kentucky Track and Field Shoe Drive continues through Friday, May 10.

Founded by former Wildcat track competitor Josh Nadzam and current standout Luis Orta, the first two years (2011, 2012) of the drive have resulted in 5,000 pairs of shoes being collected in Lexington for people in developing countries.  And by expanding the program throughout the Southeastern Conference last year, an additional 13,000 pairs were collected.

"We are collecting any kind of shoes in any condition, any size, and any gender," Nadzam added.

There are on-campus collection sites at the Johnson Recreation Center, the

By Sarah Geegan, Derrick Meads

Earlier this semester a University of Kentucky delegation led by Interim Provost Tim Tracy visited Jilin University – one of the most prestigious “Top Ten” universities in China – with an aim to expand UK’s name recognition in China, and create new collaborative opportunities. This trip builds upon President Capilouto’s trip to Jilin University last May.

Like the University of Kentucky, Jilin University is a large comprehensive institution that includes several health care colleges, creating numerous opportunities between the two institutions.

Huajing Xiu Maske, director of the UK Confucius Institute,

By President Eli Capilouto

It is once again time for the University of Kentucky to celebrate the work of our student scholars. We gather to recognize their achievements, and to award them their degree during our 146th Commencement Ceremonies.

Over the last two years, I have interacted with our ambitious students – tomorrow’s leaders who, in profound ways, are leading today. Students are engaged in our laboratories and research centers; they lead student organizations and serve our community; they excel in our classrooms, perform in our recital halls, and learn in our libraries; and they set good examples as members of the UK family.

The activities that happen across our institution every day are incredible and inspiring. They teach us valuable lessons

By Whitney Hale

Five University of Kentucky students and one recent graduate have been selected to receive government-funded National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships. The fellowships will present the students with more than $100,000 to use toward research-based master's or doctoral degrees.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program helps ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and reinforces its diversity. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees in the U.S. and abroad. NSF fellows receive a three-year annual stipend of $30,000 along with a $12,000

At the University of Kentucky's 146th Commencement Ceremonies A&S alum Robert Milton Huffaker was honored with an honorary doctorate degree. The following was read at the ceremony in honor of his degree:

By Carl Nathe, Michele Sparks

The University of Kentucky's Gatton College of Economics will host the Kalam Scholars Conference for Indian Business & Economic Research Monday, May 6, at the Boone Center on campus.

The A.P.J. Kalam India Studies Research Program, funded through the generous gift of Dr. M.S. Vijayaraghavan, supports research in the Gatton College examining India's role in international commerce.  The program also supports intellectual interaction between scholars in India and UK.

This conference will present preliminary work from scholars at Gatton whose research was supported by the program. In addition, eminent scholars from India will present

By Jay Blanton

University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto Thursday announced that Dr. Christine Riordan ― current dean of the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver ― has accepted an offer to become UK's next Provost.

Dr. Riordan, 48, will begin at UK this fall, subject to approval from the university's Board of Trustees at its May 14 meeting. She was one of three finalists for the position of Chief Academic Officer, who visited the campus last week for a series of meetings and public forums. Interim Provost Tim Tracy will return full time to his role as Dean of the College of Pharmacy.

"Dr. Riordan’

By Keith Hautala

Two University of Kentucky faculty members were honored on April 25 with awards recognizing their outstanding contributions to teaching and scholarship at UK.

Sidney W. Whiteheart, professor of molecular and cellular biochemistry in the UK College of Medicine, was awarded the 2013 Albert D. and Elizabeth H. Kirwan Memorial Prize, given each year to a faculty member in recognition of outstanding contributions to original research or scholarship.

Linda Kraus Worley, professor of modern and classical languages,

By Whitney Hale

In celebration of the University of Kentucky's upcoming sesquicentennial in 2015, the 55th of 150 weekly installments remembers Neville Hall, the fifth building constructed at the institution.

The New Dormitory, the second building added to the institution's original three buildings, was constructed in 1890 at a cost of $14,500. It was remodeled for classes in 1918 due to a report in June of 1917 that described the New Dormitory and the Old Dormitory as "public nuisances."

On Dec. 18, 1919, the Board of Trustees, following the recommendation of President Frank L. McVey, renamed the building known as the New Dormitory Neville Hall in honor of

The College of Arts & Sciences is very pleased to announce that the recipients of the 2013-14 A&S Outstanding Teaching Awards are Drs. Shannon Bell (sociology), Jacqueline Couti (MCL), Stephen Testa (chemistry), and Kim Woodrum (chemistry).  The College wants to thank the selection committee—Yanira Paz (chair), Christia Brown, Juliana MacDonald, and Bradley Plaster—for their hard work and fine judgment.

Dr. Shannon Bell of the Sociology Department is recognized for her efforts in engaged learning and public sociology.  Since joining her Department in 2010, she has been committed to guiding students' learning about real-world social issues through research, activism, and their combination.  In her course in environmental sociology, for

By Alicia Gregory.

Schyler Nunziata is a first-year Ph.D. student in biology at the University of Kentucky, and she’s the first success story highlighted in a new video series.

Nunziata is a young scientist who can testify to the impact of Kentucky's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, known as Kentucky EPSCoR. Two grants from the National Science Foundation through EPSCoR kept Nunziata in science and in Kentucky. The first $5,000 grant, while she was a masters student at Eastern Kentucky University, funded her entire thesis project, which involved collecting two lined salamanders, developing genetic markers, and genotyping the salamanders. The second grant, as a Ph.D. student at the University of Kentucky, allowed her to prepare a pilot study.

"EPSCoR helps get students into

By Sarah Geegan

English professor Erik Reece and Biology professor James Krupa recently released a book that brings to life the history and ecology of one of Kentucky's most important natural landscapes —the Robinson Forest in eastern Kentucky.

"The Embattled Wilderness" depicts the fourteen thousand acres of diverse forest region-- a haven of biological richness-- as endangered by the ever-expanding desert created by mountaintop removal mining. The authors, alternating chapters that focus on the natural and cultural history of the forest, combine their professional knowledge of the area to persuasively appeal for its protection.

Erik Reece, an environmental writer,

By Whitney Hale, Mack McCormick

University Press of Kentucky author James C. Nicholson, an alumnus and part-time history instructor at the University of Kentucky, has been named as the recipient of the Southern Kentucky Book Fest’s Kentucky Literary Award for his book The Kentucky Derby: How the Run for the Roses Became America’s Premier Sporting Event. First awarded in 2003, the Kentucky Literary Award is a celebration of Kentucky literature.

Eligible books for the Kentucky Literary Award include those written by Kentuckians or books with a substantial Kentucky theme. The award

By Breanna Shelton, Mack McCormick, Whitney Hale

The Bluegrass State has long been touted as the Thoroughbred capital of the world, but that was not always the case. The once English-dominated horse racing industry was taken by storm in the 1950s, when a Kentucky-bred longshot with a curious connection to a myriad of famed figures won England’s premier horse racing event. For centuries, American Thoroughbreds were mocked as vastly inferior to European runners, but that was changing. Horse racing would forever be impacted by Never Say Die, a horse that made history across the pond and opened the door to Kentucky becoming the international epicenter of Thoroughbred breeding and sales.

In Never Say Die: A Kentucky Colt, the Epsom Derby, and the Rise of the Modern Thoroughbred

By Sarah Geegan

Per University of Kentucky tradition, a student speaker will represent his or her class at both undergraduate Commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 5. The speakers for the 146th UK Commencement Ceremonies are Mercedes Rosado and Luke Glaser.

Mercedes Rosado, from Marquette, Mich., is graduating with a degree in kinesiology from the College of Education. A pilot candidate in Air Force ROTC, she will be commissioned after graduation and begin pilot training in February at Columbus Air Force base in Mississippi. She will deliver the Commencement address at the 1 p.m. ceremony.

Rosado joined the Air Force ROTC program at UK partly because of her father'