Summer 2026 Kentucky Alumni Magazine

ON THE COVER

For many University of Kentucky students, faculty, staff and fans, keepsakes help them remember their love for the university.

14

He always knew exactly what he wanted. She knew exactly who she was. Together, they built something neither could have imagined alone.

22

A heartfelt Commencement speech from UK graduate Mostafa Mubarak turned into a viral sensation — and reminded thousands why Kentucky feels like home.

24

From treasured memorabilia and family heirlooms to ticket stubs and keepsakes, these UK mementos tell stories that connect generations of Wildcats.

40

Miss Kentucky 2025 Ariana Rodriguez knows she’s one of the lucky ones. Now she’s making sure foster children know they’re not alone.

BLUE CAPS AND BRIGHT FUTURES

Surrounded by a sea of blue inside Rupp Arena — and one enthusiastic wave to the camera — members of the University of Kentucky’s Class of 2026 celebrated a milestone moment as more than 5,100 graduates crossed the stage at Commencement and nearly 6,700 graduates officially joined the Wildcat alumni family.

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From the President

As we close another remarkable year for our university and for Kentucky, I’m proud of the progress we’ve made in advancing the state we were created to serve.

In May, we celebrated a new class of talented graduates across four commencement ceremonies. They leave prepared with knowledge, skills and a sense of meaning and purpose — ready to contribute to something larger than themselves. As they begin careers across the Commonwealth and beyond, they represent the future of our workforce and the promise of higher education at its best.

We continue to make strides in the Advancing Kentucky Together (AKT) Network. This past year, the AKT Network grew as a model for collaboration, bringing together education, workforce and community partners to address Kentucky’s most pressing needs. Among those efforts are new academic pathways with partner institutions, creating clearer routes for students to continue their education and move quickly into high-impact careers. Our AKT Network team also traveled the state, listening to local priorities and partnering to co-create solutions that deepen our support.

And, of course, innovation remains a defining theme. We strengthened our leadership in artificial intelligence by welcoming a new CATS AI director, helping coordinate responsible, mission-driven AI research, training and engagement across the university and with partners statewide. This summer, we’ll continue equipping our community with foundational skills across artificial intelligence — in partnership with Microsoft and Phygital Labs — so our people can work more efficiently and spend more time on what they do best.

To our alumni, thank you. Your engagement, advocacy and generosity open doors for students, fuel discovery and strengthen our connections in every corner of Kentucky. We are grateful for the pride you carry and the way you show up for this university. We look forward to advancing Kentucky together in the year ahead.

Sincerely,

Eli Capilouto President

by

CREDITS

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Jill Holloway Smith ‘05 BE, ‘11 AFE: Associate Vice President for Stakeholder Engagement and Executive Director of the UK Alumni Association

EDITORS

Meredith Weber: Director of Marketing and Communications

Sally Scherer: Managing Editor

DESIGNER

Whitney Stamper: Graphic Designer

CONTACT US

King Alumni House

400 Rose St. Lexington, KY 40506

859-257-8905

800-269-ALUM

Fax: 859-323-1063

Email: ukalumni@uky.edu

Web: www.ukalumni.net

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Kentucky Alumni (ISSN 732-6297) is published quarterly by the University of Kentucky Alumni Association, Lexington, Kentucky, for its members.

© 2026 University of Kentucky Alumni Association, except where noted. Views and opinions expressed in Kentucky Alumni do not necessarily represent the opinions of its editors, the UK Alumni Association nor the University of Kentucky.

Wondering why you received Kentucky Alumni magazine?

All current Life and Active Members of the University of Kentucky Alumni Association automatically receive the Kentucky Alumni magazine quarterly. All who give $75 or more ($25 for recent graduates) to any UK fund, including UK Athletics/K Fund and DanceBlue, are recognized as Active Members regardless of alumni status.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND LEADERSHIP ADVISORY COUNCIL

Officers

Thomas K. Mathews ‘93 AS: President

Kelly Sullivan Holland ’93 AS, ’98 ED: Presidentelect

Quentin R. Tyler ’02 ’05 AFE, ’11 AS: Treasurer

Jill Holloway Smith ’05 BE, ’11 AFE: Secretary

In-State Representatives

Michelle Bishop Allen ’06 ’10 BE

Christopher J. Crumrine ‘08 CI, ‘10 GS, ‘23 AS

Donna G. Dutton ‘87 BE

Emmanuel Dhemby Moussabou ‘24 HS

James F. Gilles, III ’10 AFE

Lee Jackson ’73 AS

Frank Kendrick ’90 ’92 DE

Scott Mason ‘94 AS, ’03 LAW

Maegan McDowell Mansfield ‘11 ‘13 EN

Michelle McDonald ‘84 AFE, ‘92 ED

Jennifer A. Parks ‘81 AS

Michaela R. Sheppard ‘19 HS, ‘23 LAW, ‘23 PH

Robin Simpson Smith ‘79 BE, ‘82 LAW

Sarah W. Smith ’05 CI

Anthony Thornton ’05 BE

Rachel Watts Webb ‘05 CI

Blake Broadbent Willoughby ‘11 ‘12 ‘12 BE

Out-of-State Representatives

Shane T. Carlin ‘95 AFE

Shiela D. Corley ‘94 AS, ‘95 AFE

Michael L. Hawks ’80 AS, ’85 DE

Anthony G. Hester ‘86 EN

Vincent M. Holloway ‘83 EN

Mark A. Ison ’99 FA

Susan L. Liszeski ‘84 AFE

Beatty London ’00 BE

Carlos Phillips ‘90 CI

Chad D. Polk ‘94 DES

Ronald Sampson ‘83 EN

Nicole M. Segneri ’91 CI

Tanner W. Thompson ‘23 BE

Winn F. Williams ‘71 AS

Dominique Renee Wright ‘08 EN

Stephanie D. Wurth ‘05 CI

Alumni Trustees

Brenda B. Gosney ‘70 HS, ‘75 ED

Hannah M. Myers ‘93 ED

Paula L. Pope ‘73 ‘75 ED

Living Past Presidents

Richard A. Bean ’69 BE

Michael A. Burleson ’74 PHA

Bruce K. Davis ‘71 LAW

Scott E. Davis ‘73 BE

Robert “Rob” L. Crady III ’94 BE Marianne Smith Edge ’77 AFE

Franklin H. Farris Jr. ’72 BE

William G. Francis ’68 AS, ’73 LAW

Dan Gipson ’69 EN

Brenda B. Gosney ’70 HS, ’75 ED

Cammie DeShields Grant ’77 LCC, ’79 ED

John R. Guthrie ’63 CI

Antoine Huffman ’05 CI

Diane M. Massie ’79 CI

Janie McKenzie-Wells ’83 AS, ’86 LAW

Robert E. Miller

Susan V. Mustian ’84 BE

Hannah M. Myers ’93 ED

John C. Nichols II ’53 BE

Sandra Bugie Patterson ’68 AS

Taunya Phillips ’87 EN, ’04 BE

Robert F. Pickard ’57 ’61 EN

Paula L. Pope ’73 ’75 ED

David B. Ratterman ’68 EN

G. David Ravencraft ’59 BE

William Schuetze ’72 LAW

Mary L. Shelman ’81 EN

David L. Shelton ’66 BE

J. Fritz Skeen ’72 ’73 BE

J. Tim Skinner ’80 DES

Hank B. Thompson Jr. ’71 CI

Elaine A. Wilson ‘68 ‘23 SW

Leadership Advisory Council

In-State Representatives

Jacob Broderick ’05 BE

John S. Cain ‘86 BE

Kevin L. Collins ’84 EN

Emily C. Henderson ’01 PHA

LuAnn Holmes ‘79 DES

Shelia Key ’91 PHA

Julia Little ‘19 ED

Jason Marcus ‘24 AS

Kent Mills ’83 BE

Tonya B. Parsons ’91 AS

Jonell Tobin ‘69 ‘70 ‘95 ED

Kendra Wadsworth ’06 ED

Lori E. Wells ’96 BE

Allen O. Wilson ’03 AFE, ’06 LAW

Out-of-State Representatives

Nicole Blackwelder ’86 AS, ‘87 PHA

R. Michael Gray ‘80 ‘81 BE

James F. Hardymon Jr. ‘87 BE

Erin Carr Logan ’06 BE

Michael McNeely ’98 AS, ’03 PH

Peter T. Shattuck ‘86 ED

College Representatives

Will Nash ‘06 AS: College of Arts & Sciences

Jeffrey L. Ashley ’89 CI: College of Communication and Information

Dr. J. Clifford Lowdenback ’99 AS, ’03 DE: College of Dentistry

Regina Summers ‘94 DES: College of Design

Cathy Crum Bell ’76 ED: College of Education

Joel W. Lovan ’77 FA: College of Fine Arts

Deana Paradis ‘03 ‘03 BE: Gatton College of Business and Economics

Kathy Panther ‘76 HS: College of Health Sciences

La Tasha A. Buckner ‘97 AS, ‘00 LAW: Lewis Honors College

Michaela Mineer Steverson ‘18 CI, ‘18 AFE, ‘21 GS: Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

Dr. Debra J. Sowell ’82 MED: College of Medicine

Tukea L. Talbert ‘89 ‘94 ‘06 NUR: College of Nursing

Dr. Joseph R. Mashni ‘91 ‘92 PHA: College of Pharmacy

Amna Al-Jumaily ‘19 EN: Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering

Emily Clear ‘06 ED, ‘09 ‘13 PH: College of Public Health

Shaye Page Johnson ‘02 AS, ‘05 LAW: J. David Rosenberg College of Law

Cheryl Talbert ‘95 ‘00 ‘23 SW: College of Social Work

Constituency Group Representatives

James R. Aaron ’04 CI: PrideCats

Lillian Bland ‘83 CC: Lyman T. Johnson Alumni Constituency Group

Caroline Sumner ‘24 AS; DanceBlue

Katie Caccavari ’87, ’90 ED: Alumni Band

Natalee Feese ’89 ’92 ED: Alumni Band

Appointed

Jackson Baird: Student Government Association

Dr. Michael A. Christian ’76 AS, ’80 DE: Honorary

Jo Hern Curris ’63 AS, ’75 LAW: Honorary

Katie Eiserman ’01 ED: Athletics

Thomas W. Harris ‘82 AS: Honorary

Stan R. Key ’72 ED: Honorary

Jake Lemon: Office of Philanthropy

D. Michael Richey ’74 ’79 AFE: Honorary

Marian Moore Sims ’72 ’76 ED: Honorary

Pride in Blue

Since this is my last opportunity to address you in this space — my term ends in June (tempus fugit!) — I want to share one more word of encouragement regarding mentorship, which is a theme that’s hopefully become evident across the last three magazine issues.

When I was working toward my ever-elusive bachelor’s degree, I had the benefit of sage advice and instruction from my counselor, Robert W. Kiser, along with Carolyn Brock, Steven Yates and others — including current chemistry department chair Mark Lovell, who was then a graduate student and teaching assistant.

They gave me more than a fair amount of patience with my often-sketchy data and frequently late lab reports. They were mentors and true teachers in every sense of the word.

On a professional and personal level, I was also blessed to have Daniel L. Sparks as a mentor. Dan is a proud UK alumnus and a native of Ashland, Kentucky, who received our UK Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2007.

I began my career working for his company. Dan was always more than a boss or employer to me; he was, and still is, a tremendous example of giving back to Kentucky on many levels. When I relocated my young family to Texas, Dan and his wife, Jan, ensured that we would make new friends very quickly. He immediately plugged me into the Greater Houston UK Alumni Club, and he inspired me to participate in scholarship fundraising and other philanthropic efforts.

Let’s face it — everybody needs a mentor like Dan, and we are all capable of serving in this capacity for others. My hope is that the UK Alumni Association helps to foster these kinds of relationships and provides a platform where mentorship develops in a natural, organic way. With your support, we can continue expanding our Big Blue Family. I’m doing my best to “pay it forward” through our Alumni Ambassador program (as mentioned in our spring issue) and I must admit, it doesn’t feel like work at all.

This is where I would normally insert a brief chemistry lesson in my letter. But for my final dispatch, it seems more appropriate to offer a bit of history regarding one of the most influential scientists of the modern era, Maria Skłodowska, better known as Marie Curie. Raised in Poland under modest circumstances, she is most famous for her research in the field of radioactivity (she coined the term) and for being the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different scientific fields. She was also the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris. Her legacy endures through the many schools named in her honor, as well as her likeness appearing on stamps and coins. During her early years, she worked as a tutor and governess while helping to support her sister and save money to afford tuition. One of her first apartments in France, she recalled, was so cold that she had to wear all her clothes at once to stay warm.

These circumstances never dampened her drive and ambition to learn. Curie and her husband and colleague, Pierre, always maintained an unfailing focus on education and cutting-edge research.

At the onset of World War I, after already discovering radium and polonium (which she named for her home country), Curie helped establish mobile X-ray units to assist with the medical needs of French soldiers on the battle front. She spent untold hours in field hospitals to provide care, in addition to being a pioneer in the early use of radiation to treat tumors. It’s also noteworthy that she not only encouraged her daughters to pursue higher education, but she opened the door for other women across the globe to consider careers in chemistry and physics. She offered steady encouragement while also creating opportunities — arranging for laboratory and technical positions to be filled by women of varied backgrounds and experience.

This kind of effort demonstrates what true mentorship can be. It is also an integral part of the Alumni Association’s mission. Will you consider becoming a mentor — working to empower and provide resources for the next generation?

As UK alumni, real, authentic mentorship is something that I hope we all can offer — to our fellow Wildcats, to our beloved Commonwealth and to our local communities.

For Kentucky,

Thomas K. Mathews UK Alumni Association President

President Thomas K. Mathews welcomes the University of Kentucky’s newest graduates into the alumni family during the university’s May 2026 commencement ceremonies.

NURSING STUDENTS ARE CREATING A HEALTHIER RURAL KENTUCKY

Twenty-five people across Kentucky have now credited the people and partners behind Raising Hope for saving or significantly improving their lives. Raising Hope travels the state and nation, training farmers and first responders in rural safety, health and rescue.

Cheryl Witt, associate professor and assistant dean for undergraduate programs at the College of Nursing and agricultural health extension specialist in the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, beamed as she recalled those who thanked the Raising Hope team for providing care. She remembered one farmer who took advantage of a carotid artery screening, and it was found to be 98% blocked.

“We referred him immediately to a vascular surgeon,” Witt said. “We’ve made impacts on people’s health, and we’ve caught something maybe they didn’t know they had.”

What began as a vision shared by Witt and other rural health and safety advocates has grown into one of Kentucky’s most impactful public health collaborations — one that is providing UK College of Nursing students with meaningful, hands-on clinical experiences. ■

Photos by Jennifer Elwell

COFFEE LAB INTRODUCES EDUCATION CERTIFICATE

Humans crave rituals. Whether one is a student, corporate employee, parent or caretaker, a cup of morning coffee can breathe life into an otherwise monotonous schedule.

David Gonthier, associate professor in the Department of Entomology at the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment and one of The Early-Career Bill Gatton Foundation Professors, understands the value in a daily cup of joe. He is leading UK toward its first coffee education program.

Gonthier’s interest in coffee started at home. His mother is from Honduras, one of the top coffee-producing countries in the world. He spent time there with his cousin, a coffee farmer, to learn the ins and outs of production and how the supply chain works.

“I’d heard so much about the challenges small coffee farmers face and wanted to go see it firsthand,” Gonthier said.

Inspired by his trip, Gonthier pursued a master’s degree and Ph.D., studying coffee in Southern Mexico. Over his years in academia, Gonthier realized there are few coffee education programs at higher education institutions in the United States. Gonthier created the first Coffee, Science and Culture certificate for UK undergraduate students.

“The certificate offers a set of courses that casts a wide net across the industry,” Gonthier said. “I want to paint the picture of the global trade of a commodity that is very valuable but is dependent on millions of small producers that need to be supported by this trade. The goal is to balance these facts with the passion of the craft of coffee making, from roasting and brewing, to espresso-based specialty drinks.” ■

UK’s

LEWIS HONORS COLLEGE CUSTODIAN FEATURED IN DOCUMENTARY

“The Keeping Space” is a 15-minute documentary that shines a light on the oftenunseen work by UK custodian Shelia Lackey. Documentary co-director Jena Seiler, Lewis Honors College lecturer, described the film as a celebration of “the often-invisible labor and rhythm of cleaning by focusing on the work Lackey does every day in the Honors College and her perspective on cleaning and life.”

The project started near the end of 2023 when Seiler, who was interested in the work it takes to maintain a space and the idea of certain roles being visible versus invisible, approached Lackey to document her daily routine in the garden level of Donovan Hall. Nicole Martin, former honors college director of academic affairs, was a co-director.

“Cleaning is an essential human activity that is marginalized,” Seiler said. Through the documentary, Seiler created a “testament to the work that is valuable and that matters.” ■

A CREATIVE SPACE TO PROCESS GRIEF

Architecture students in the College of Design have created an art exhibit that they hope brings peace and comfort to visitors passing through the lobby of the Albert B. Chandler Hospital.

As part of their final project for the fall semester, students built a wind phone for guests of the hospital to use. The wind phone originated in 2010 in Japan and is a symbolic installation meant to help people process grief and loss.

Wind phones are typically an oldfashioned, unplugged telephone placed in a quiet setting. It isn’t connected to anything — no wires, no signal. The purpose is to pick up the receiver and “call” someone you’ve lost, speaking words you never got to say.

Former UK faculty member Tony Roccanova and Leila Salisbury from the Kentucky Center for Grieving Children and Families approached

the College of Design with an idea to create a wind phone. College of Design architecture associate professor Bruce Swetnam saw it as a perfect project for students in the college’s design-build certificate program.

For the UK Arts in HealthCare program, the wind phone is a powerful addition that strengthens the program’s mission by enhancing the patient, family, visitor and staff experience through the arts and creativity.

“At a hospital specifically, it’s really important to have that outlet there to talk with someone who you’ve lost,” said Skyler Young, wind phone designer, a senior in the College of Design. “It’s important to process grief and work through it.” ■

Ray and Skyler Young with their architecture professor Bruce Swetnam. The wind phone originated in 2010 in Japan and is a symbolic installation meant to help people process grief and loss.

LINKS CENTER FORMS TRANS-ATLANTIC ALLIANCE TO ADVANCE NETWORK SCIENCE

When the LINKS Center for Social Network Analysis was established at UK in 2006 by the late professor Dan Brass, it was arguably the first center of its kind housed within a business school.

Nearly two decades later, network science has grown into a globally recognized field. As similar centers have emerged across universities, LINKS is responding not by retreating, but by expanding.

This year, LINKS formally launched a trans-Atlantic alliance with two leading research centers in network science: NiLab at Bocconi University in Milan and the Organisation and Innovation group at University College London (UCL). Together, the three institutions aim to deepen scholarly exchange, expand research and strengthen their global presence.

“We felt that building this partnership was especially important at a time when trans-Atlantic collaboration has been fraying,” said Ajay Mehra, Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence chair and director of the LINKS Center. “This alliance expands our range and allows us to pursue our shared mission more effectively.” ■

MULTIPLE FACTORS CONTRIBUTE TO BRAIN AGING, STUDY SHOWS

Where people live — and the air they breathe, green space they can access, and social and political conditions they experience — may play a major role in how the brain ages, according to a large international study recently published in “Nature Medicine.”

Researchers analyzed brain scans and health data from 18,701 people in 34 countries and found that environmental and social conditions were strongly linked to whether the brain appeared biologically older or younger than a person’s actual age.

The work included researchers from the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging.

When a full range of environmental, social and contextual factors people are exposed to over their lives were considered together, they explained far more differences in brain aging than any single factor alone and, in many cases, more than a person’s clinical diagnosis, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Using advanced brain imaging and machine learning tools, the team estimated each participant’s “brain age” and compared it to their chronological age. A larger gap, where the brain appears older than expected, has been linked in previous research to cognitive decline and dementia risk. ■

Photo by Matt Barton

UK

OPENS $60

MILLION

UK leaders, students and supporters celebrated the opening of the new Martin-Gatton Agricultural Sciences Building this spring.

MARTIN-GATTON AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES BUILDING

The University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment celebrated a major milestone this spring with the ribbon-cutting of the MartinGatton Agricultural Sciences Building, a new facility designed to enhance student success and prepare the next generation of agricultural leaders.

The $60 million, 66,000-squarefoot building is the college’s first new campus facility in decades and serves as a central hub for teaching, advising and student engagement. Designed with students in mind, it features 18 classrooms, study and collaboration spaces, a café and the Center for Student Success. Programs housed in the building include agricultural and medical biotechnology, community and leadership development, natural resources and environmental science, pre-veterinary mentoring and UK Ag Equine Programs.

“As a student, it’s exciting to see this kind of investment in our future,” said Tyren Harris, a freshman majoring in agricultural education. “This building creates a place where we can come

together, get our work done and support each other.”

The facility was made possible in part through the generosity of The Bill Gatton Foundation. The building honors the parents of late UK alumnus and philanthropist Carol Martin “Bill” Gatton — Edith Martin and Harry W. Gatton Sr. — and reflects the family’s deep agricultural roots and commitment to education.

“By creating a space where students, faculty and programs come together under one roof, we are strengthening our ability to prepare the next generation of leaders who will advance agriculture and improve lives across all 120 counties in our Commonwealth,” said UK President Eli Capilouto.

The Martin-Gatton Agricultural Sciences Building is part of a larger transformation across the college, with more than $450 million in capital investments supporting modern teaching, research and Extension facilities. ■

Diamonds Shine Bright Like the

He always knew exactly what he wanted. She knew exactly who she was. Together, they built something neither could have imagined alone.

Drs. Jessica and Jason Diamond met during residency training at UK. He now heads up one of the most celebrated facial plastic surgery practices in the world while she grows their industry-acclaimed skincare venture, Dr. Diamond’s Metacine.

By Dan Knapp

Afuchsia moth orchid spills across the glass coffee table in The Diamond Face Institute’s penthouse waiting room. Delicate, opulent and just shy of excess, it’s a perfect metaphor for the refinements being made in the rooms beyond.

Synchronized receptionists with lilting voices juggle calls from potential patients. Miami. London. New York. The area codes alone tell a story of the practice’s success.

Dr. Jessica Diamond (née Combs) ’93 AS ’97 MED exits the elevator at 1:01 p.m., mere seconds past her expected arrival — a delay only she would register as tardiness.

“I’m so sorry I’m late. I’m Jessica,” she said, hand extended, a broad smile crossing her face.

Her blonde locks lifted slightly by the Santa Ana winds, she slips sunglasses into her bag just as her phone begins to ring. One of her two children, complaining of a stomachache, asks to leave school early. She tends to him but doesn’t stop walking, en route to her office where she gets down to business. At once she’s a mother, a pediatrician and a CEO.

This is Beverly Hills. In a town built on the shine of other people, it’s easy to miss who’s holding the light.

Jessica — double-boarded internist and pediatrician, CEO of a nationally distributed luxury skincare line and the woman who for the last two decades has been the architect behind one of the most celebrated names in American facial plastic surgery — grew up in southeastern Kentucky, where Lexington felt like a big move.

“It really all had to do with Jason,” the Redfox, Kentucky native confessed, laughing. “He wanted to move here. I don’t think I would’ve been here otherwise.”

Her husband, Dr. Jason Diamond ’02 MED, is the name people know. He’s appeared on E!’s “Dr. 90210” and Netflix’s “Celebrity Plastic Surgeons of Beverly Hills,” been written about in magazines like GQ, Men’s Fitness and People and has become a fixture online.

His clients include some of the world’s most recognizable faces. Celebrities from Kim K. to J. Lo have publicly praised his work, turning a Diamond procedure into something closer to a cultural marker than a cosmetic one. His Instagram following is enormous. His waitlist, longer. In addition to the Institute, he has offices in Manhattan, Moscow and Dubai.

But Jason will tell you — quickly, without prompting — that none of it exists without Jessica.

“She’s the most professional, most put-together person I’ve ever met,” he said.

He’s not talking about her appearance. He’s talking about the way she runs things. The way she always has.

The Natural

Jason grew up playing baseball in East Hanover, New Jersey, possessing — from an early age — the kind of hand-eye coordination most people spend years trying to develop.

But before medicine gave that gift a purpose, a car accident did.

In 10th grade, a classmate’s face was badly damaged in a crash — “all smashed up,” Diamond recalled. Before surgery, the friend was inconsolable, calling himself “a monster.” He underwent facial reconstruction; the surgeons made him whole again.

The friend shared Polaroids the doctors had taken during surgery — the skull exposed, plates and screws visible, the raw architecture of a face being rebuilt. Most people looked away.

“Everyone would run for the hills, but I was obsessed with these photos,” said Jason. “I’d sit there and look at them, and I’d always ask him to bring them back.”

He carried that obsession into medicine, first at the University of Rochester for undergraduate and medical school, then to UK for his residency, drawn, in part, by UK’s reputation — a place where he says the surgical experience “wasn’t even close” to what he had encountered elsewhere. It guided him further toward facial surgery.

“It’s the most intricate anatomy on the body,” said the former college baseball player. “Some of the most delicate procedures on the body. And you can’t hide it. It’s right out front and center.”

He arrived as a resident with a singular focus that his ENT program director, Dr. Raleigh Jones, described with the particular fondness of someone who spent nearly four decades cultivating exactly this kind of talent.

“Just God-given ability,” Jones said simply. “It’s all I can say.”

Talent, Jones observed, was only part of the equation.

“He was determined,” said Jones. “He worked exceedingly hard. He did grunt work that other people wouldn’t want to do because he knew it’d get him where he wanted to be.”

A 70-30 proposition, by Jason’s own accounting: 70% God-given, 30% grinding — including, he confessed with some amusement, practicing surgical moves at home with instruments he may or may not have borrowed from the hospital.

The athlete’s hands, it turned out, were made for something finer than a baseball.

After his UK residency ended and recognizing that Southern California was – and is – the Mecca for plastic surgery, he moved to Los Angeles the hard way. He spent two years couch-surfing at friends’ apartments and living out of his car, knocking on the doors of the city’s best facial surgeons to ask to learn from them.

“I wasn’t making any money,” he said. “But I said, ‘I want to learn from the best.’ When I wanted to learn facelifts, I studied under the top guys in town.”

Incorporating lessons from the doctors he learned from and refining them, making them his own, Jason built something more than a technique. He built an aesthetic — one grounded in restraint. Over time, his practice began to reflect it. Patients came not for transformation, but for refinement. Those who wanted something else, something exaggerated or artificial, were often turned away.

Jason Diamond has offices in California, New York, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.

The Architect

Jessica came to medicine differently — not from a single clarifying moment but from a kind of slow, steady gravitational pull. She grew up in Knott County, the first in her family to consider a career in medicine. By junior year of high school, she had decided, without quite knowing why, that she was going to be a doctor. A pragmatist, her father suggested she might want to consider teaching instead.

“Nope,” she told him. “I’m going to be a doctor.”

She attended UK for undergraduate, then medical school, then a MedPeds residency — a combined program in internal medicine and pediatrics that was one of the first of its kind to offer double board certification. She chose it because she didn’t want to be “so targeted like a cardiologist.” She wanted to know about the whole body.

The two met on the first day of residency. She was a Kentucky girl from a family that had never really left the state. He was a New Jersey native who had already mapped a life in Los Angeles. On paper, it wasn’t an obvious fit.

He moved to Los Angeles a year before she did. She followed later, without a ring or a guarantee, trusting an instinct that didn’t have much logic behind it.

“All those things are sort of secondary to the fact that I knew she was the one,” he said. “We just hung in there and figured it out.”

She got a job at the University of Southern California in academic medicine — teaching, seeing her own patients, still on her own track.

Then his practice started to take off. And he needed someone to run it.

“It’s not really a traditional relationship,” she said. “I take care of all the money, all the finances and all those things. A lot of times, he defers to me, even though he’s the face.”

She ran the practice financially, supervised pre-operative physicals, eventually moved into performing laser treatments in the office, and became — gradually, and then all at once — indispensable to the architecture of The Diamond Face Institute. When luxury brands began approaching Jason about licensing his name for a skincare line, it was Jessica who paid attention. And it was Jessica who, one day, told him they didn’t need anyone else.

“I think we can do this on our own,” she remembered telling him. “We don’t need anyone’s help.”

Jason said, “Okay. If you can make it happen, go for it!”

She made it happen.

The Dividend

Dr. Diamond’s Metacine launched three years ago as an extension of the clinic itself — a system built from years of procedural observation and regenerative techniques developed

in Jason’s practice. Patients effectively became case studies, their outcomes informing formulations rooted in treatments such as platelet-rich plasma and peptide-based therapies adapted for at-home use.

What emerged is Metacine, a deliberately restrained skincare line shaped by clinical principles rather than scale. Each product is designed to extend the effects of in-office treatments, translating procedural science into daily application.

The line has remained intentionally small, with limited SKUs released as the science evolves. It is now carried at Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Goop and Bluemercury, with additional expansion underway. Two new products are scheduled to launch in July.

“I would’ve said there’s a better chance of the ground opening up and swallowing me whole than something like this,” he said, confessing it’s still surreal. “I would never have believed it.”

Jason may be the face, but Jessica is the heart of the skincare company. “I don’t really love the spotlight,” she said. “So, for the two of us, I think it’s worked because that’s the kind of people we are.”

The Benefactors

Jones has spent nearly four decades building and watching UK’s ENT residency program thrive. He keeps a version of Jason Diamond in his mind the way great teachers do — as evidence. As proof of what’s possible when the right person meets the right training.

“The highlight of my career,” said Jones, “is seeing the residents I’ve trained become successful. And Jason is certainly one of the most successful ones.”

Jason gave back in the most direct way he knew how. He funded the Diamond Temporal Bone Lab at UK. The state-of-theart facility now sits at the center of how the university trains its ENT residents in the most demanding surgical territory the specialty offers.

The lab houses eight microscope stations with a video system that projects what each resident sees through the lens onto a shared

screen; this allows Jones and other faculty to observe, comment and teach in real time from what the residents are actually looking at in the bone. It is, in practice, the closest thing to being inside the surgery with them.

“He came to us and said, ‘What can we do that your residency needs?’” said Jones. “And we had this need.”

For Jason, the gift is less a transaction than a reckoning.

“I owe everything to my mentors at UK,” he said. “They made me who I am. I wouldn’t be the surgeon I am without the experiences and the lessons they taught me.”

The Legacy

In his practice, Jason’s philosophy remains consistent: when people feel better about what they see, they move through the world differently. It’s a simple idea, but one that has quietly reshaped who walks through his doors. Increasingly, they’re men — patients who might once have stayed silent, now arriving with tentative questions, small concerns that open into larger conversations.

“What they’re often seeking is not just change, but permission,” said Jason. “Permission to be like, ‘It’s okay to go address something that bothers you.’”

Raising children amid the glitz of Hollywood, Jessica has found, requires a kind of counterweight. She and Jason work deliberately to provide it — trips back to Kentucky and New Jersey, a school built around athletics, ongoing conversations about the gap between what L.A. normalizes and what the rest of the world considers reality. It doesn’t always take. She once heard her older son suggest, with some sincerity, that his face looked too heavy, that he might need Mounjaro. She corrected him. But she understood, too, exactly where it came from.

She may live in the Golden State, but Kentucky doesn’t just wash away; it provides the clarity to see through the vanity of their famous zip code to the human being underneath. For Jessica, that perspective is what anchors their 25-year personal and professional partnership.

“We’ve worked together for a long time…and we work well together,” said Jessica. “I think it’s because we’re both doctors. I understand what he’s doing; he understands what I’m doing. We want to do well in life, and we have the same standards of wanting to be the very best and always trying to do our best.”

That reverence for the work — and for each other — is something Jason hopes to pass to his sons, Jake and Jasper. He advises them to find something they love and take it on fully.

“I love what I do,” he says. “I love being at work. When I’m away, I miss work. I can’t wait to get back.”

He pauses before adding, “Don’t worry about making money,” he said. “Just find something you love and pursue that. Success will come if you love it.”

From the vantage point of a fellow physician — not just a wife — Jessica said what impresses her most about her husband after all these years isn’t the celebrity clientele, the magazine articles or the show on Netflix. It’s something quieter.

“From very early on, he’d say, ‘I can do something that can make someone feel so much better about themselves in such a short period of time,’” she said. “It’s very rewarding for him. His patients are just so happy with what he’s done for them.”

The orchid in the waiting room looks effortless. Beauty this precise doesn’t arrive on its own. It’s tended. Refined. Built with care over time. And the Diamonds? They know this better than anyone. ■

Jessica Diamond grew up in eastern Kentucky; Jason Diamond was raised in suburban New Jersey. Together, they built their life and careers in Beverly Hills.

The future Michael D. Rankin MD Health Education Building will bring together UK’s four health colleges and the Center for Interprofessional and Community Health Education.

WHAT THIS MAKES POSSIBLE:

1,200 more students can enroll in UK’s health colleges

A stronger pipeline of physicians, nurses and health professionals in the Commonwealth

Better access to care so Kentuckians can get the care they need, when they need it

Invest in the Michael D. Rankin MD Health Education Building today — and create a healthier Kentucky tomorrow.

by

AND KENTUCKY SOMEWHERE BETWEEN

EGYPT

By Meredith Weber

y the time Mostafa Mubarak reached the end of his Commencement speech inside Rupp Arena this spring, thousands of graduates were hanging on every word.

Then the internet discovered him.

Within days of the University of Kentucky’s May 2026 Commencement ceremonies, Mubarak’s speech was viewed by millions across TikTok, Instagram, X and Facebook. Students reposted his jokes. Alumni shared quotes alongside messages about why they loved UK. Others praised the way he described the kindness of Kentucky. Egyptian media outlets and social accounts shared the story of a student coming to the United States alone and graduating with three engineering degrees from UK.

The YouTube video quickly surpassed 61,000 views and generated hundreds of comments. A clip shared by the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering also surpassed 1 million views on Meta.

But before the speech went viral, Mubarak was simply one of UK’s newest graduates — an international student whose story quickly resonated far beyond campus.

“I came to the University of Kentucky from Egypt when I was 17 years old,” Mubarak told graduates. “I was alone, with $1,000 in cash and barely enough English to survive a conversation.”

By graduation, he had earned degrees in electrical engineering, computer engineering and computer science from the Pigman College of Engineering. He founded a startup, Jomo Figures, and co-founded the Student Association of the Middle East and North

Outside the classroom, he served as a promotions lead and main fighter for the UK Boxing Club and volunteered with UK’s International Village program, helping incoming international students adjust to campus life.

FINDING BELONGING

During his speech, Mubarak intentionally avoided framing his success as a solo journey.

“I could give you the version of the story where I arrived alone, fought through it in silence, and clawed my way to three engineering degrees through sheer grit,” he said. “Frankly, people would love it. But that’s just not the truth. I was never alone.”

Instead, Mubarak spoke about the people who helped shape his experience — professors, advisors, friends and strangers who stepped in before he even knew how to ask for help.

On his first day at UK, Mubarak walked to Target looking for groceries. Having never heard of the store before, he recognized exactly one thing inside: Kit Kats. He bought several, placed them in a bowl in the common area of his dorm and left behind a handwritten note:

“A gift to my new family.”

“At the time,” he admitted, “I did not have a family here. I was getting ahead of myself.”

But that small gesture became the foundation for a philosophy that guided his entire college experience.

"Give something. Don’t overthink it. And be a little surprised when something comes back.”

Mubarak balanced humor with sincerity. One moment, he joked about thinking UK’s Canvas learning platform was an actual person named Canvas. The next, he reflected on making a conscious decision not to shrink himself in an unfamiliar culture.

“By every logical measure, I could have let myself be perceived as an outsider,” he said. “Instead, I decided to take everything this place had to offer unapologetically — without shame, without waiting for an invitation.”

Mubarak described becoming close with a fellow student named Caleb, whose family eventually embraced him as one of their own after learning his parents would not be able to travel from Egypt for Family Weekend.

“She calls to check on me,” Mubarak said about Caleb’s mother. “She rescued me when my car got totaled. She invites me over for Christmas and makes sure I have presents under the tree.”

FINDING FAMILY

Then came the story that seemed to strike the deepest chord.

Mubarak recalled breaking down near campus after his car radiator exploded. An older Kentuckian mowing grass nearby stopped to help. The two struggled to understand each other’s accents before eventually laughing through the confusion.

“That was it,” Mubarak said. “We were friends from then on.”

The man drove him to buy parts, helped repair the car and paid for everything himself.

“He didn’t ask for a dime,” Mubarak said. “Because that’s just what Kentuckians do.”

That quiet generosity of Kentucky became the emotional center of his speech.

“There is something about the people here,” Mubarak said. “A kind of instinctive generosity that doesn’t need context. You don’t have to explain yourself. You don’t have to earn it. You just have to be present.”

Mubarak’s message had become much larger than his own story. He encouraged graduates to stop waiting for certainty before pursuing the life they want.

“Good things do not come to people who grind in silence, play it safe or wait to be ready,” he said. “They come to people who are already in motion.”

As his speech came to a close, Mubarak reflected on his journey.

“Somewhere between Egypt and Kentucky, between Target and Blazer Hall, between three engineering degrees and one very regrettable car purchase, I learned this: The world has way more room for you than you think.”

Then, with one final callback to the bowl of Kit Kats that helped him find community during his first week on campus, he offered graduates a final piece of advice:

“Buy a bowl of Kit Kats,” he said. “And trust that all the good things meant for you will come without you even having to chase them.”

Inside Rupp Arena, the crowd rose to its feet.

As clips from the speech continued spreading online, comments poured in from students, alumni and strangers across the globe. Some praised Mubarak’s delivery. Others connected with his story as an international student navigating a new country far from home. Many simply said the speech made them proud to be part of the UK community.

His story reflected the version of UK that alumni often describe: a place where people from vastly different backgrounds find opportunity, connection and community. A place large enough to change lives, yet personal enough to make people feel seen.

Every Commencement season brings stories of achievement and possibility. But occasionally, one graduate captures something harder to define — what it means to leave Kentucky while carrying a piece of it with you. ■

Watch Mostafa Mubarak’s viral Commencement speech by scanning the QR code.

Akeepsake: An item that, no matter where you go, remains a constant reminder of something wonderful in your life.

We asked University of Kentucky graduates and fans to share with us their favorite UK keepsake. While some people keep theirs in the palm of their hand or in a frame in their office, others had to search through boxes stacked deep in their attics.

Some of what we received is featured here. Other items will be highlighted on social media or included in future digital and storytelling projects throughout 2026 and beyond.

Thanks for sharing your meaningful keepsake with us. From a key fob to a crown, every keepsake represents a personal connection to UK.

“Every Wildcat’s journey is unique, but the memories we carry create a shared story of community,” said Jill Smith, executive director of the UK Alumni Association and associate vice president for stakeholder engagement. “These keepsakes spark nostalgia not just to our own time at UK, but to each other. They remind us why being part of the alumni family is something truly special.”

Kyla Nolan '26 CI has a limited edition UK collector’s knife set that was gifted to her by her father, Rusty Nolan, who originally received it from Kyla’s grandfather, Gary Baber, before he passed away in 2018.

Kyla said her father wanted her to have the set because he knew she would take care of it.

A native of Clay City, Kentucky, Kyla hopes to become a pharmaceutical sales representative after graduation. She remembers her grandfather as a devoted sports fan.

“I was Papaw’s girl. I miss him so much every day,” Kyla said. “This keepsake is special to me not only because it was once his, but because it’s also connected to the school I love. I would like to think my papaw would be proud of me today.”

University of Kentucky K Book

For more than a century, the K Book has remained an iconic fixture of campus culture, evolving alongside the University of Kentucky’s tremendous physical and academic growth. The University of Kentucky K Book originated in 1901 as a small, pocket-sized booklet published by students. Historically created by the student body, it served as a guide for incoming freshmen and included school traditions, cheers and freshman rules.

Today, the K Book — formerly known as the Kentucky Book — has evolved into an official online student handbook and resource guide managed by UK’s Student Government Association and Dean of Students office.

Retired IBM employee Rex Payne, 88, has been a UK men’s basketball fan since he was 9 or 10 years old. His favorite players? Kenny Walker and Cliff Hagen. His favorite memory? When the IBM team played the freshman UK team in a scrimmage and Pat Riley ’67 ED kicked Payne in the shoulder as he went up for a basket.

“He was like a freight train coming by me,” Payne remembers of Riley, who is often referred to as “the Godfather” because he’s regarded as one of the greatest NBA figures of all time.

Payne bought his Wildcat Thermos in the late 1960s or early 1970s. He filled it with hot cocoa — he’s not much of a coffee drinker, he said — and carried it to work. It traveled with him to Florida on fishing trips. His daughter Mishelle Payne Shaffo ’84 EN remembers when her dad delivered the Thermos filled with cocoa for her and her friends when they camped out overnight at Memorial Coliseum for UK men’s basketball tickets.

Payne is the longest serving member of the Committee of 101, or “the blue coats” as the group is also known, joining in 1967. Members of the volunteer organization serve UK as ushers, parking attendants and security at all home football and men’s basketball games. Why has he volunteered all these years? “I want to see the games.”

Doug Sutherland ’78 BE shared a keepsake football program from the Kentucky Tennessee football game in 1939.

The program was saved by Doug’s dad, Benjamin Sutherland ’40 AS, who attended the game.

Doug’s sister, Sally Sutherland Foulkrod ’71 AS, is also a UK graduate.

UK Alumni Association Executive Director Jill Smith '05 BE, '11 AFE said she was deeply honored to be named the 2004 UK Homecoming Queen during her senior year at UK. Here’s what she wrote about that time and her keepsake:

“It’s an experience that still feels wonderfully surreal all these years later. Coming from a place 250 miles away from Lexington, I arrived at UK not knowing what to expect, but my time at UK quickly unfolded like a storybook — full of friendships, opportunities and moments that shaped who I am today.

“I never imagined I would come here and stay, but I’m so grateful that I did. To me, the crown represents far more than a single moment. It holds the memories, friendships and sense of belonging that defined my time at UK. It reflects the people who shaped my experience and the honor of being recognized by peers I admired so much, something that continues to humble me even today.

“Representing UK and the Commonwealth over the past two decades has been a privilege I’ve always carried with gratitude, and I’m proud to be part of a legacy shaped by so many dedicated alumni before me.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge my fellow classmates in the Class of 2005 — filled with remarkable individuals who have served UK in a variety of ways. I’m reminded of that each year at Homecoming.”

Class Ring

The official University of Kentucky class ring is a time-honored symbol of excellence and tradition dating back to 1865. The ring represents a student’s academic achievements, campus pride and lifelong connection to Big Blue Nation.

Created as an enduring symbol of the university experience, the class ring serves as a tangible milestone for both current students and alumni.

Bill Moody ’56 ’57 AFE and his wife Fredda Moody ’57 AFE are proud graduates of the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. And their keepsakes prove it. For Fredda, who was a home economics major, her round Depression glass platter reminds her of the time she lived at the Hamilton House along with 20 other female students who were majoring in business, education and home economics.

Located at 342 S. Limestone, the Italianate house was built in 1850 and served as a residence. Home economics students had work assignments: they cooked and cleaned the house, and often hosted teas for deans and other college administrators. The platter was used as a serving piece in the house which was torn down in 2014.

Bill’s keepsakes are the trophies he won as a member of the Block and Bridle Club, UK’s premiere animal sciences club. He showed pigs, cattle and sheep majoring in what was then called “animal husbandry.” He was a faculty member in animal

HISTORICAL KEEPSAKE

University of Kentucky President's Medallion

The medallion was originally gifted to UK’s eighth president, Otis A. Singletary, by Robert McCowan, a former member of the UK Board of Trustees.

Traditionally worn by the university president over ceremonial academic regalia, the medallion is featured during major academic events such as commencement ceremonies, inaugurations and other official university occasions.

Darla Tomes Eisemann ’96 CI has held on to her graduation commencement book and a few other items from the time she was a student at UK, including tickets to the 1996 NCAA Final Four she won in a student ticket lottery.

She wrote, “In those days, after their senior season, the players would travel around the state doing autograph stops, and when they came to my hometown of Owensboro, I brought these items for them to sign.”

Her commencement program and Final Four ticket stub book includes the signatures of players Walter McCarty, Tony Delk and current UK Men’s Basketball Coach Mark Pope.

While a student at the University of Kentucky, Tom Mathews ’93 AS, president of the UK Alumni Association, worked as an RA (Resident Advisor) at Holmes Hall. This photo was taken in 1990 at the Residence Life spring banquet. Tom is holding a fellow RA on his shoulders, David B. Powers ’90 DE, in the second row from the back.

HISTORICAL KEEPSAKE

Alumni Magazine

In May 1929, the first issue of the Kentucky Alumnus was published.

At the time, the University of Kentucky had nearly 4,000 graduates between the ages of 35 and 40. Supported by thenPresident Frank L. McVey, the publication encouraged alumni to remain connected to and supportive of both the UK Alumni Association and their alma mater.

The inaugural issue was dedicated to the university’s first graduate, William Munson, who graduated in 1869.

Today, Kentucky Alumni magazine serves as the official quarterly publication of the UK Alumni Association, continuing a decades-long tradition of sharing the stories of UK’s students, faculty, alumni and campus advancements.

When former UK Alumni Association President Janie McKenzie-Wells ’83 AS, ’86 LAW sees her UK Band jacket, preserved in a clear dry-cleaning bag and hanging in the corner of her closet, she can’t help but reminisce about some of the best days of her life.

“Although I have been playing the clarinet since fifth grade, I will never forget my very first performance with the UK Wildcat Marching Band,” McKenzie-Wells wrote.

“Prior to the game, the band gathered and sang ‘My Old Kentucky Home,’ a tradition which I still honor to this day as a member of the UK Alumni Band. But on this sunny Saturday afternoon as we entered the field at Commonwealth Stadium for our pre-game show, I remember looking at all the thousands of Big Blue fans, cheering and waving, as we formed the traditional 'K' while marching up and down the field and providing the avenue for our team’s entrance.

“Our uniforms were often referred to as having the ‘Colonel Sanders’ style, accented with white cowboy hats. The band’s uniforms have changed several times since then, and we even made pillows out of material from our old uniforms to sell as a fundraising project. While the uniforms and the music may change, my band family will always remain.”

When University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto came to UK in 2011, he pledged to rebuild and transform UK’s Lexington campus. Today, his office is full of meaningful memorabilia he has collected in his 15 years as president.

One of his favorites hangs on his wall — a framed series of photos documenting the phases of the first campus construction project under his presidency.

The images capture the groundbreaking of Pigman Hall in 2015, a group of construction workers, the building’s completion and the ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the new $22 million facility.

Throughout Capilouto’s presidency, the campus has seen more than $7.5 billion in transformation, ensuring UK students, faculty and staff have facilities that match the rate of progress and the promise of possibility.

HAVE A KEEPSAKE YOU WANT TO SHARE?

The UK keepsakes featured here are just the beginning, and we want to hear even more stories behind the items that connect you to the University of Kentucky.

To share your cherished memorabilia and one-of-a-kind Wildcat treasures for a chance to be featured by the UK Alumni Association, visit ukalumni.net/keepsake or scan the QR code.

2026 GREAT TEACHER AWARD

For the past 65 years, the University of Kentucky Alumni Association has recognized outstanding teaching at the university with the Great Teacher Award. In February, six faculty members were honored at an awards dinner

ZACH AGIOUTANTIS

Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering Mining Engineering

Graduate student Benjamin Diddle remembers the first time he met mining Professor Zach Agioutantis. It was while Diddle was wandering through the Mining and Mineral Resources Building his freshman year.

“Not 30 seconds into my self-guided tour, around the corner came Dr. Agioutantis, asking if he could help me find anything,” wrote Diddle in his nomination of Agioutantis for a 2026 Great Teacher Award. “I told him I was a freshman considering a degree in mining engineering. He immediately introduced himself and spent the next half-hour taking me on a tour of the labs, explaining the basics of what occurred in each one and describing how each would be used in the curriculum.

“Knowing what I know now, I am confident he had many more important tasks waiting for him in his office but was willing and excited to stop and tell just one student about what the mining department had to offer," said Diddle.

It’s that type of enthusiasm for his work and congeniality with students that makes Agioutantis a Great Teacher, Diddle said, adding that Agioutantis’s knowledge base is broad, deep and born out of a passion for the safety of miners and the sustainability of mining’s future.

Agioutantis is the chair of the department of mining engineering. A leading expert in underground mining, Agioutantis’ research advances equipment automation and user-friendly ground control software for safer, more efficient operations. He earned his engineering diploma from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, in 1982 and completed his master’s (1984) and Ph.D. (1987) degrees at Virginia Tech. After 25 years on the faculty in Greece, he joined the University of Kentucky in 2014.

He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters and contributed to more than 250 conference publications. His achievements have been recognized with the American Institute of Mining Engineers Howard N. Eavenson Award, multiple Outstanding Faculty Awards and selection as a 2025-26 UK University Research Professor. He has served on editorial boards, national and international advisory boards, and advises the American Rock Mechanics Association student chapter and the Mu Nu Gamma student chapter.

Agioutantis’s expertise and his teaching method serve UK students well, said Diddle, and have led to the creation of computer software products. Two of these, “Rockwin” and Blastwin,” were designed exclusively to increase student understanding by helping students visualize challenging concepts, significantly increasing comprehension and spatial awareness.

“Dr. Agioutantis makes sure students don’t graduate as technicians alone, capable of clicking the right buttons, but instead as true engineers, capable of questioning the results of these programs and ensuring an accurate result,” Diddle wrote. “He pushes his students beyond what they perceive as their capability.” ■

and recognized on the floor of Rupp Arena before a men’s basketball game. Throughout the year, Kentucky Alumni magazine will profile two of this year’s Great Teachers in each issue.

Meet all of this year’s Great Teachers and explore past honorees at www.ukalumni.net/GreatTeacher. Scan the QR code to learn more .

College of Arts and Sciences

Biology

Robin Cooper, professor of neurobiology and neurophysiology, believes hands-on demonstrations are one of the best ways to learn.

In the laboratory class he teaches each year, students take part in college-level research, collaborate on a class paper, and then engage in the publication process by submitting it to academic journals for review and publication, explained Elizabeth Elliott, a senior biology major who nominated Cooper for the 2026 Great Teacher Award.

Not only does data collection teach practical skills, but students leave the class with a clearer understanding of the abstract material and how it links to concrete research, as well as a publication or two on their CVs.

For Elliott, the approach is important in bolstering student understanding of difficult concepts. And, she said, it’s effective in the STEM Experiences Camp Cooper teaches, too, adding that he has developed a wide array of activities aimed at conveying complicated concepts (e.g., sensory integration, ion transport, public health concerns) to young audiences (i.e., elementary and middle schoolers).

One activity is designed to illustrate the link between smell and taste and involves giving students cinnamon candy to chew while not inhaling through their nose. Partway through the exercise, Cooper asks them to breathe in, allowing the flavor of the cinnamon to come through very strongly with the first breath.

“Many of the students who have attended this camp return the next year with successful retention of this concept,” she said.

Cooper’s research focuses on the mechanisms underlying synaptic differentiation and communication between neurons and muscle cells. A comparative physiologist, he has spent decades investigating how living systems work and fostering the same curiosity in his students. His lab uses invertebrate models — including crayfish and Drosophila (fruit flies) — to explore synaptic transmission, behavior and, more recently, receptor subtypes that influence the larval Drosophila heart.

Cooper earned his bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and zoology from Texas Tech University in 1983 and his Ph.D. in physiology there in 1989, followed by postdoctoral training in Basel, Switzerland and Toronto. He joined the UK faculty in 1996 and earned a bachelor’s in nursing from UK in 2012. An accomplished scholar, he has published extensively, served as editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Zoological Research, and is deeply engaged in community outreach and STEM education.

Part of what makes Cooper a Great Teacher, said Elliott, is his willingness to put students first.

“Dr. Cooper is the very definition of going above and beyond for his students, whether they are enrolled in his class or working in his lab. Not only is he ever available when students have questions, beyond merely being reachable by phone or by visiting the lab, but he is also very watchful of his email so that students might reach him by that avenue. He takes great pains to look out for us even when we don't,” Elliott said. ■

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Wildcats EVERYWHERE

Wildcats are gathering and celebrating across the country — and we love seeing it. If you or your alumni group have a photo to share, send it to ukalumni@uky.edu and you might see it featured here next issue!

DanceBlue alumni came together in April to celebrate the impact and legacy of the DanceBlue marathon. The 21st alumni gathering was a chance to reconnect, share memories and honor the difference DanceBlue alumni have made through the years.

UK PrideCats hosted a Lavender Graduation ceremony at Maxwell Presbyterian Church on April 17. The event is an affirming, independent ceremony celebrating LGBTQIA+ graduates. It honors student resilience, achievements and identity with a community-focused celebration.

Members of the Las Vegas UK Alumni Club gathered this spring to cheer on the Cats at a basketball watch party.

The San Diego UK Alumni Club hosted a networking event in April at Carruth Cellars in San Diego. Alumni posed with club presidents Jay Hornback and Kim Kent, as well as Caroline Francis and Amy Gamblin from UK Alumni Career Services.

Some members of the Lyman T. Johnson Alumni Constituency Group attended the UK Alumni Serve and Social Pickleball Night networking event. They enjoyed networking with some undergrads who were also in attendance.

The inaugural Nation’s Capital UK Alumni Club Kentucky CAN (Capital Alumni Network) softball team took the field in late April at East Potomac Park in Washington, D.C. In its opening weekend doubleheader, the team went 1-1, falling to Elon before earning a win over Xavier. The CAN is a local softball league made up of alumni teams from universities across the region.

DERBY PARTY EDITION Wildcats EVERYWHERE

The Las Vegas UK Alumni Club celebrated the Kentucky Derby in style. From UK blue gear to Derby hats and festive attire, alumni brought plenty of Kentucky spirit to Las Vegas.

From coast to coast, UK alumni clubs gathered this spring to celebrate the Kentucky Derby in true Big Blue style. Find your local alumni club and join fellow Wildcats at upcoming events and gatherings at ukalumni.net/Clubs.

The Kentucky Derby may happen at Churchill Downs, but many alumni celebrated the 152nd Run for the Roses far beyond the Bluegrass through 19 official UK alumni club Derby parties nationwide. Alumni showed up dressed to impress in colorful hats, bow ties and Derby attire while gathering with fellow Wildcats to enjoy Kentuckyinspired food, signature drinks, raffles, scholarship fundraisers and plenty of friendly wagering on the fastest two minutes in sports.

The Dallas/Fort Worth UK Alumni Club celebrated the Kentucky Derby this spring at Silks at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas. The event featured contests for best Derby hat, best fascinator and best Derby tie, with winners receiving a bottle of Maker’s Mark bourbon.

More than 70 guests joined the Sarasota-Suncoast UK Alumni Club for its annual Kentucky Derby Party this spring. Attendees enjoyed a “Kentucky Favorites” buffet, raffle prizes, a “pin the tail on the nag” game, a Derby hat contest and friendly wagering on the Derby race.

The Space Coast UK Alumni Club enjoyed time together watching the Kentucky Derby. The restaurant where the party was held even created a custom menu for the day — hot browns and all! They raised $314 for the club’s scholarship fund.

The Chattanooga UK Alumni Club celebrated the Derby in style with a party at Bill and Jane Pickering’s home. About 100 people attended their 31st annual Derby party.

The Central Ohio UK Alumni Club enjoyed the excitement of Derby Day. About 35 people attended the party in Columbus.

RECORD-BREAKING FOUR KENTUCKY WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PLAYERS SELECTED IN THE 2026 WNBA DRAFT

Four University of Kentucky women’s basketball players heard their name called in the 2026 WNBA Draft in early April and will embark on a lifelong dream of playing professional basketball.

Teonni Key, a 6-5 forward from Cary, North Carolina, was chosen in the second round as the 22nd overall pick to the Toronto Tempo. Tonie Morgan, a 5-9 point guard out of Tallahassee, Florida, heard her name called in the third round as the 32nd overall pick to Chicago Sky, while Amelia Hassett, a 6-4 forward from Albury, New South Wales, Australia, also was selected in the third round as the 35th overall pick to the LA Sparks. Jordan Obi, a 6-1 guard/forward from Hartford, Connecticut, also was chosen in the third round as the 44th overall pick to the Las Vegas Aces.

The Wildcats’ four selections are the most in a single draft in program history, breaking the previous record of two picks in 2017.

The four selections make 12 total draft picks in program history, while five of those 12 have come in just the last two seasons under head coach Kenny Brooks.

Brooks has now produced 13 draft picks in his career, adding to a list that includes Georgia Amoore, Liz Kitley, Tamera Young, Lauren Okafor, Jazmon Gwathmey, Regan Magarity, Aisha Sheppard, Kayana Traylor and Taylor Soule.

Only UK and UCLA (6) had as many as four selections in this year’s draft. ■

KENTUCKY ATHLETICS LAUNCHES BLUEPRINT:

A FRONT OFFICE DATABASE FOR DATA-DRIVEN ROSTER DECISIONS

Kentucky Athletics has launched BLUEprint, a private front office database powered by Dropback, designed to leverage data and analytics to inform roster decisions across the university’s revenuesharing sports programs.

BLUEprint gives Kentucky’s front office leadership a unified platform to evaluate talent, model financial scenarios and make personnel decisions in a rapidly evolving college athletics landscape, all within a secure, Kentucky-owned environment.

Dropback is now live across Kentucky’s football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball programs, with more teams expected to come online this year.

The launch of BLUEprint is the latest in a series of forward-thinking investments Kentucky has made to build championship-caliber infrastructure across its athletics department. In the past year, Champions Blue LLC was formed to give Kentucky the business agility professional sports franchises have utilized for years.

BLUEprint extends that same philosophy to revenue-sharing sports by providing pro-style infrastructure to support roster management and decision-making. The platform centralizes performance, financial and other internal datasets, enabling decision-makers to build custom athlete valuation models and simulate scenarios to construct competitive rosters.

BLUEprint is powered by Dropback, one of the fastest-growing sports technology companies in college athletics. Built by former Microsoft and Meta engineers, Dropback is a centralized front office platform that combines personnel and financial data into one private system, similar to what many professional sports front offices use. ■

A HISTORIC SEASON FOR KENTUCKY WOMEN’S GOLF

For the first time since 1992, the University of Kentucky women’s golf team earned a berth in the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship, capping one of the most successful seasons in program history.

Kentucky secured its spot at nationals with a dramatic finish at the NCAA Tallahassee Regional, using a season-best final round to surge into the top six and advance to the championship field in Carlsbad, California. The Wildcats’ final-round 9-under-par performance marked one of the best postseason rounds in school history.

Freshman C.A. Carter emerged as one of the Wildcats’ key contributors during the team’s championship push. The Lexington native tied the course record during regional play with a 7-under-par 65, helping Kentucky complete its comeback and punch their ticket to the NCAA Championship in unforgettable fashion.

For many UK fans, the Carter name is already familiar. Her father, Jimmy Carter, played football at Kentucky and was one of the program’s standout punters during the early 1990s. Now, another Carter has helped deliver a memorable postseason moment for the Wildcats — this time on the golf course. ■

STUDENT-ATHLETES REPRESENT KENTUCKY THIS SUMMER AT NASA

Three Wildcats were selected by NASA this spring for the Launch Services Program (LSP) and Student Airborne Research Program (SARP), opportunities designed to support the growth and professional experience of college students. Lily DeLong of swimming and diving and Elisa Boozer of rifle participated in the LSP, while Devynn Bishop of swimming and diving is serving as an intern in the SARP this summer.

The LSP took place May 11-15 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The experience offers students opportunities in business, finance, education, outreach, public affairs and engineering. DeLong focused on outreach and public affairs, while Boozer volunteered on the business side of the program.

Bishop is participating in the SARP in Houston, Texas, and San Diego, California. The eight-week summer internship provides rising senior undergraduates with hands-on research experience in all aspects of a scientific campaign. ■

CONNECTIONS

She’s One of the Lucky Ones

By Sally Scherer

Ariana Rodriguez knows she’s one of the lucky ones.

Rodriguez is Miss Kentucky 2025 and, as such, she’s been a full-time employee of the state Department of Agriculture and spokesperson for the Kentucky Proud initiative since last summer.

As Miss Kentucky, she has worn the bejeweled crown and the satin sash bearing her title, visited schools, appeared at events, met with government officials and smiled often. In addition to her title, she received $20,000 in scholarship money from the Miss Kentucky Scholarship Foundation.

This fall, at 21, she’ll be returning to the University of Kentucky to enter her junior year as a social work major. But that’s not why she’s one of the lucky ones.

She’s one of the lucky ones because, although she grew up in an unstable environment in the state foster care system, she always believed she would have a better life.

She’s not ashamed to tell her story: she lived in more than 20 kinship or foster homes between the ages of 5 and 16 and ultimately became homeless in high school, living in her car. Even then, she remained determined to go to college and, one day, work within the system that had raised her.

Rodriguez is from Bardstown, Kentucky. Her mother suffered from addiction, and other family members couldn't afford to help raise her and her siblings, and eventually she was separated from them. She graduated from Thomas Nelson High School, often balancing schoolwork with the uncertainty of where her next meal would come from.

It’s not the kind of story most people associate with a pageant winner — but Rodriguez saw opportunity where others might not. Knowing that pageants offered scholarship money, she entered the Miss My Old Kentucky Home pageant in 2023. She didn’t win.

Still, she considers herself lucky. After the pageant, director Kimberly Lile told her that if she wanted to pursue Miss Kentucky, she would help her. Lile created a Facebook fundraising page, and the effort raised enough money for Rodriguez to compete for two years, ultimately winning the title in 2025. Last September, she represented Kentucky in the Miss America pageant. Talk about lucky.

“When I was filling out the Miss America application, it asked me for information on my parents. I don’t have that. I bring something different to the pageant world. Most people think of pageant winners as having privilege. They don’t see what they’re really going through,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez made history as the first foster care alumna to serve as Miss Kentucky and to compete in the Miss America competition, where she finished in the top 11. In total, she has earned more than $30,000 in scholarships.

Lucky, again.

In her first two years at UK, before winning Miss Kentucky, she began sharing her purpose. She told friends she had been cutting up old clothes and making bags for foster children so they would have something other than a trash bag for their belongings. A trash bag was all she was given when she moved from one foster home to another.

SUPPORT

“I was studying with friends in the library, at Willy T., and we decided to start a student organization to sew bags and fill them with items foster kids need,” she said. They called the club The Lucky Ones. With the help of College of Social Work Dean Jay Miller — Rodriguez said his input was “pivotal” — the club has become a full-fledged, student-run nonprofit organization. The Lucky Ones provides suitcases for foster children filled with items such as hygiene products, blankets and stuffed animals, while also offering support, resources and a sense of community.

Rodriguez wants foster children to know they are not alone and that their circumstances don’t define their future — a message she shared throughout her time as Miss Kentucky.

“When I tell my story in schools, kids want to share their stories,” she said. “At every school I visit, someone comes to me and tells me what’s happening with them. I hope after they talk with me, the weight is lifted, knowing they can overcome what’s happening to them.”

And, as luck would have it, Rodriguez says the College of Social Work faculty and staff support the passion and success of all their students. Coincidentally, Dean Miller was in foster care as a child, too.

"There's so much you can do with a degree in social work," Rodriguez said. "You can help people in different ways. As a foster alumna, I know social work isn’t 9 to 5. UK does a great job of setting up social work majors for success. There’s a lot of networking and talk about self-care, mentally and physically, so by taking care of ourselves we can take care of others.”

Her plans include working with youth in the foster system. She also wants to earn her master’s in public policy and work with policymakers.

“I’ve always been a bit of a rebel,” she said. “And I’ve always been focused on learning and growing.”

So who’s the lucky one? ■

THE LUCKY ONES

Help provide foster children with dignity, resources and a sense of belonging by giving online at the-lucky-ones.org or listening to The Lucky Ones podcast on Spotify.

Class Notes

1960s

Robert Sparks ’67 ED, ’68 BE had his article, “Combat Leadership Requires Physical and Moral Courage” published in the May 2026 issue of ARMY magazine, a professional journal devoted to the advancement of the military arts and sciences. Sparks is a retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. having served 21 years with the Regular Army, the U.S. Army Reserve and the Ohio National Guard. He received an Army ROTC commission upon graduation from UK.

Robin A. Lloyd ’68 AS has been recognized for his leadership and long-standing service to the Vero Beach community in the January 2026 Leaders of Vero Beach issue of Vero Beach magazine. Lloyd is a senior attorney at Lulich & Attorneys.

1970s

Seth Hancock ’71 AFE has joined the Pillars of Turf category in the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame 2026 class. He followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps and took over the reins of historic Claiborne Farm in 1972.

Michael Carrell ’76 BE was named to Louisville’s Seneca High School Hall of Fame. He received the highest title, Regents Professor, from Northern Kentucky University, where he also served as dean of the College of Business. Previously he was elected for five terms to the City of Louisville Board of Aldermen and was elected president of the Board of Aldermen for three terms.

Dr. Charles Eckerline Jr. ’77 ’79 MED was honored at the Department of Emergency Medicine 30-year alumni reunion at UK. The department has established the Charles Eckerline MD Endowed Professorship in Emergency Medicine. Eckerline is vice chairman and tenured professor in emergency medicine and has been on the UK faculty for 40 years.

Paul Bollinger ’78 AS (right) received the Gay S. Lynn Memorial Trophy in recognition of his commitment and contributions to adaptive sailing. Bollinger took the helm of Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating in 2016. One of his first accomplishments was the procurement of a new fleet of Beneteau First 22A’s sailboats that were customized to accommodate a wide range of disabled guests. In addition, he was instrumental in acquiring a power catamaran that was modified to host wheelchair guests for fishing. The latest addition to the fleet is radiocontrolled sailboats for guests who do not wish to leave the dock. Bollinger’s greatest achievement was the search for a new homeport for CRAB in Annapolis. He was

1980s

Larry W. Myers ’80 AFE, ’82 BE has been appointed to the Board of Directors of First Merchants Corporation and First Merchants Bank. Myers was president and CEO of First Savings Bank and First Savings Financial Group, Inc. He has served as chairman of the Indiana Bankers Association and on the board of the American Bankers Association.

Art Still ’80 AS, a dominant defensive end at UK and in the National Football League, has been named to the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. Still

PROFILE

responsible for leading the public funding, planning, design and construction of the new state-of-theart, fully accessible and sustainable facility called the Annapolis Adaptive Boating Center. Under his leadership, CRAB has undergone growth and transformation. CRAB hosts more than 1,800 guests every year and it instructs 140 skippers and crew to perform “The CRAB Way” while sailing with guests.

In his role as board member, executive director, and now president & CEO of CRAB, Bollinger has welcomed US and international delegations at the ABC to learn more about CRAB’s facilities and operations.

Gay S. Lynn was an active member of the adaptive sailing community as a racing judge and jury chief at international adaptive sailing events. Recipients of the Gay S. Lynn Memorial Trophy are nominees who have made an outstanding contribution to adaptive sailing over an extended period, much like Lynn did. Bollinger was selected by the Para Sailing Committee for his meritorious service to the adaptive sailing community and the construction of the premier adaptive boating center in the country in Annapolis. ■

played at UK from 1974-1977 under Coach Fran Curci. He helped the Wildcats to a 19-4 record in his final two seasons.

James A. Wheatly ’86 BE has been named president and CEO of Wacoal America, an intimate apparel industry. He joined Wacoal America in 2016. His background includes leadership roles at Vanity Fair and Maidenform, followed by his six-year tenure as vice president of sales at Wacoal America.

Jim Hill ’88 BE has been appointed vice president of distribution for Continental’s group sector ContiTech’s Industrial Solutions Americas business area. He previously served as IAM vice president of marketing and strategy.

David L. Kinsella ’89 BE joins the Lexington office of Stites & Harbison, PLLC as counsel in the Construction Service Group. Kinsella was senior associate general counsel at the University of Kentucky.

1990s

Joe Matthews ’90 CI, ’98 ED has been named principal at Scott County High School. Matthews served as an educational recovery leader at the Kentucky Department of Education and has previously served as principal at Paris High School and Lexington Christian Academy. In addition, Matthews was an assistant principal at East Jessamine High School for 13 years.

Whitney McDaniel ’90 FA is the recipient of the 2025 Rotary Bowl, the Rotary Club of Beaufort, South Carolina’s highest honor. She joined Rotary in 2004 and has held the positions of club secretary, club treasurer, club president and assistant governor for Rotary District 7770.

Donnie Ginn ’92 EN has been promoted to lead Black & Veatch’s strategic integrated Water and Environmental Solutions business, including the company’s public agencies and utilities client segment.

Angela Rodell ’92 GS, former CEO of Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, has joined Star Mountain Capital as a senior advisor.

Joe Tannehill Jr. ’95 EN has been appointed to the Gulf Coast State College District Board of Trustees. Tannehill is the president and CEO for MERRICK Industries.

Jeff Stivers ’91 DES, managing principal of RossTarant Architects, has been elevated to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects.

Stivers has been recognized for his significant contributions to the profession of architecture and to society on a local, state and national level. The AIA College of Fellows recognizes architects who have achieved a standard of excellence in the profession and demonstrated a sustained impact on architecture and the built environment.

Stivers centers his practice around the belief that leadership is a form of service. This philosophy, also applied to his work within the AIA, motivates him to serve others while cultivating leadership skills at all levels of the profession. His service and leadership

Chrisandrea L. Turner ’95 AS, ’98 LAW earned the 2026 Lawdragon Global Honor in Bankruptcy & Restructuring. An attorney with Stites & Harbison, PLLC, Turner has been recognized six times by Lawdragon.

Laura D’Angelo ‘96 LAW, a partner at Jones Walker LLP’s Lexington office, has been named co-leader of the firm’s gaming industry team.

Nicholas Walker ’96 DES is the recipient of the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s 2026 Construction Leadership Institute Alumni Leadership Award. Walker is vice president of project development and strategy of IMPACT Strategies.

Mark Gallegos ’97 BE has been appointed to the Illinois CPA Society Board of Directors for a three-year term. Gallegos is a tax partner at Porte Brown LLC.

PROFILE

has created a lasting impact on the profession of architecture. He has founded and championed critical leadership programs, including the Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program of Kentucky and the ACE Mentorship Program of the Bluegrass.

As a key contributor to the Strategic Council and Secretary’s Advisory Committee, his work has been instrumental in creating a more efficient, diverse, and equitable AIA, shaping how the Institute serves its members. Stivers has also received the AIA Louise Blanchard Bethune Fellowship (2020), the AIA Kentucky’s C. Julian Oberwarth Gold Medal (2025) and the Distinguished Service Award (2018). ■

Class Notes

David Krebs ’97 BE has joined Pinnacle Financial Partners as a financial advisor in its Louisville Lakeview office. Krebs joins the firm from Stock Yards Bank & Trust, where he served as vice president and senior commercial banking relationship manager.

Heath Lovell ’97 EN, ’99 BE has been promoted to chief operating officer at Hallador Energy Company. Lovell has been with Hallador since 2022, recently serving as president of Hallador Power Company and Sunrise Coal.

Shadow J. Q. Robinson ’97 AS has been appointed president of Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland. Previously he was the provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith.

Holly Harris ’99 CI, ’04 LAW has been named executive vice president for advocacy for Arnold Ventures. She will oversee legislative campaigns at federal and state levels and across all of Arnold Ventures’ portfolios. Previously she was president of the Network.

Dr. Caroline R. Pogge ’99 PH was assigned as the Deputy Commanding General, United States Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command. Prior to her new assignment, she served as the Process Improvement Chief for the US Army Recruiting Command’s Medical Processing Augmentation Team. Pogge was commissioned in the Army Reserve as a Second Lieutenant in 1996 as an Adjutant General.

Jason Rankin ’99 BE has joined Higginbotham, one of the nation’s largest independent insurance and financial services firms, as employee benefits practice leader for the Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio region.

2000s

Holly Danneman ’00 MED, associate dean of the UK College of Medicine at Northern Kentucky University, received the St. Elizabeth Healthcare Henrietta Cleveland Inspiring Woman honoree

award presented by the Northern Kentucky Chamber Women’s Initiative Outstanding Women of Northern Kentucky Awards 2026.

Matt Shelton ’00 BE has joined Wilson & Muir Bank & Trust Company as vice president, loan officer in its office in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

Anne Todd McKnight ’03 CI, ‘07 LAW has been promoted to vice president of talent at Latitude, a globally ranked flexible legal staffing company. She joined Latitude in 2022 as a director of legal recruiting and placement.

Geoffrey Young ’03 AS has joined Barclay Damon as a partner in the firm’s Commercial Litigation & Complex Trials and Trademarks, Copyrights & Licensing Practice Areas, based in the New York City office.

Ryan Hall ‘04 AS has been appointed Innovation and Artificial Intelligence Lead at Owensboro Community and Technical College. Most recently, he served as director of Adult Education at OCTC, leading the program to statewide recognition as a Kentucky Program of Excellence for the past two years.

Caroline Ellender Compretta ’07 ’13 AS is a recipient of the 2026 SEC Faculty Achievement Award which “recognizes faculty whose work leaves an enduring imprint on students, colleagues and institutions through excellence in teaching, research and service.” Compretta is the assistant vice chancellor for research at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Lonnie Loutzenhiser ’07 MED has joined Box Butte General Hospital in Alliance, Nebraska. Loutzenhiser is a spine surgeon who previously worked at Panorama Orthopedics and Spine Center in Denver.

Zachary Sage ’08 ED, ’09 PH has been named director of the Cincinnati VA Medical Center. He has 18 years of service to veterans.

Chad Carwein ’09 AS has been appointed campus sustainability officer at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Most recently he served as East Carolina University’s first university sustainability manager.

Joshua Holliday ’09 ED has been named assistant superintendent of operations for the School District of Oconee County, South Carolina. Of his 24 years in public education, 21 of them have been in Oconee County where he has served as a teacher, coach, assistant principal and principal.

2010s

Sarah Brown ’10 AS, ’13 ED has been named principal of Estes Elementary School, Owensboro, Kentucky. Brown has been part of the Owensboro Public School district since 2018. Prior to that, she was a program coordinator for Fayette and Clark County schools.

Erin Wiggins Gilliam ’10 ’18 AS has been appointed vice provost for student academic progression at Albany State University, Albany, Georgia. She has 20 years of higher education experience, including several leadership roles at Kentucky State University.

Fred Strecker ’11 BE is a trust portfolio manager at Pinnacle Financial Partners, based in Louisville. He recently served as a fiduciary investment advisor at American Trust Wealth.

Michael Chen ’12 ’13 ’15 AS has been named dean for the School of Liberal Arts at Georgia Gwinnett College. Chen joins GGC from Kennesaw State University, where he serves as associate dean for student success and engagement in the Norman J. Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences. He previously chaired the Department of Psychology at Eastern Kentucky University.

Jennifer Jewell ’13 ’16 AS received the M. Carey Brewer Alumni Award from the University of Lynchburg. Jewell, a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy,

is deputy director of research services for the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego. She is also a youth softball coach, a Girls on the Run coach and a Girls Inc. volunteer.

Gina Long ’12 LAW has been appointed to serve as judge of the 170th Judicial District Court in McLennan County, Texas. Long, of Axtell, Texas, is an associate attorney at Harrison Davis Morrison Jones, P.C., and an adjunct professor at Baylor University.

Thomas Napier ’13 BE has been promoted to director with BlackArch Partners, a middle-market investment bank. He is a senior leader of BlackArch’s industrial products, energy and industrial services, aerospace and defense, and business services groups.

Jordan Haney ’14 ’17 EN has been named the 2026 New Professional Engineer of the Year by the Kentucky chapter of the National Society of Professional Engineers. Haney is president of Thoroughbred Architects and Engineers.

Taylor Corbett ’16 EN, ’17 BE has been selected as a legislative fellow for the Department of the Air Force starting in July, where she will serve on the personal staff for a member of Congress and as a legislative liaison at the Pentagon.

Colton W. Givens ’16 LAW has been nominated as a shareholder of the firm of Kerrick Bachert PSC. He joined the firm in 2018 after clerking for federal judges in Paducah and London, Kentucky.

Cody Spence ’16 ED is the new director of workforce development for the Neshoba County School District, Philadelphia, Mississippi. He served at East Central Community College as workforce coordinator and director of career and technical education.

PROFILE

Olivia Raley ’18 AS, ’26 SW has been named one of six Rotary People of Action: “Champions of Tomorrow.”

The honor recognizes six Rotary members and program participants age 30 and under for their leadership in advancing impactful, youth-centered initiatives that are helping to create foundations for brighter futures.

A Rotary member and recent Rotary Youth Leadership Awards participant, Raley’s work with the Nelson County Yellow Tulip Project — an initiative supported by multiple local organizations — has helped combat the stigma around mental health in a rural community in Kentucky. Through the initiative, she has helped more than 400 Nelson County youth participants access mental health workshops and has helped more than 100 young volunteers gain expertise in advocating for mental health resources.

Raley is a certified social worker at the Bardstown Police Department and a member of the Rotary Club of Bardstown, Kentucky. She is the recipient of UK’s 2025 Sarah Bennett Holmes Award. Holmes was a distinguished dean of women at UK who worked tirelessly to champion the rights of women. ■

Autumn Nethery ’17 BE has been promoted to vice president of operations at Jeptha Creed Distillery, the women-owned and award-winning craft bourbon producer, in Shelbyville, Kentucky. Previously, Nethery was head of marketing and sales.

Mya O. Price ’17 AFE has joined Creating Healthier Communities as executive vice president and chief social impact officer. Prior to joining CHC, Price served as president and CEO of the Root Cause Coalition and previously founded a multi-milliondollar national impact fund for Feeding America.

Dr. Emily Hogancamp ’18 MED has joined Indianapolis Rehabilitation Hospital as its new medical director.

Lauren Shaifa ’18 DES has been promoted to associate with CO Architects in Los Angeles. Shaifa focuses on the firm’s higher education projects and participates in CO’s buddy program for interns and new hires.

Clay Thornton ’18 BE, ’21 LAW has been appointed interim chief financial officer at Clover Health Investments, Corp., a physician enablement company committed to bringing access to great healthcare to everyone on Medicare.

2020s

Karrington True ‘20 BE, ‘20 CI, ‘22 ED has been crowned United States of America’s Miss 2026. True works at Kentucky Wesleyan College as director of development.

Anna Lucchese ’22 AS has joined the Louisville law firm Fultz Maddox Dickens PLC as an associate attorney. She will practice with the firm’s commercial litigation group.

Janelle Samson ’22 GS was promoted to deputy city manager of Palmdale, California. She brings 15 years of public and private administration experience to the role.

Career Corner Career Corner

by Amy Gamblin

LEARNING TO PIVOT WHEN

LIFE THROWS CURVEBALLS

If there’s one thing a career will teach you, it’s this: the path rarely unfolds exactly as planned. Most people will go through three to five career pivots during their working lives.

When we begin our professional careers, we may have a clear picture in mind. Perhaps imagining a straight line: graduate, land a job, move up the ladder and everything falls neatly into place. But careers rarely behave that way. Instead, they twist and shift in unexpected ways. Jobs end. Industries change. Life events reshape priorities.

When life throws a curveball, the instinct is often to freeze, or worse, to believe that something has gone wrong.

But what if the real skill isn’t avoiding the curveball? What if the skill is learning when to move in another direction and pivot?

Pivoting is one of the most underrated career skills. It’s not about starting over, it’s about redirecting while staying grounded in your strengths and values. Sometimes the pivot is small, like learning a new skill or exploring a new project. Other times it’s bigger like changing industries, pursuing a passion or redefining success.

In those moments, one question tends to surface: Is this too risky?

It’s a fair question. Every meaningful decision involves some level of risk. But risk and reward often travel together. The opportunities that lead to growth are rarely found in the safest corners of our comfort zones. The key is taking thoughtful risks.

A thoughtful risk means asking questions before making a move, seeking advice, building new skills and testing possibilities through conversation. It’s not about having every answer but having the curiosity and courage to explore what’s possible.

Many of the most fulfilling careers have unexpected turns and opportunities. Be open to opportunities, even when the road ahead looks different than the one you imagined.

If you find yourself facing uncertainty in your career, remember a curveball is not the end of the game. Sometimes it’s simply an invitation to adjust your stance.

Paul Karem, a 2019 University of Kentucky Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award winner and an entrepreneur, experienced career pivots throughout his career. His advice is to, “Write three things you are good at, three things you will never do again in a job, and three jobs you would take this minute. Then read the tea leaves.” He also suggests to “look, ask, read, hear and talk to a career coach.”

Keep dreaming about what could be next. Stay curious about where your skills and passions might take you. Be willing to step toward opportunities that challenge you to grow.

Your career isn’t shaped by a single moment, job or decision. It’s shaped by being resilient, adaptable and having the courage to keep moving forward, even when the curveball comes in unexpectedly.

And sometimes, that curveball can lead you to the most rewarding destinations.

Recent University of Kentucky graduates may utilize the Career Center one year post graduation. UK Alumni Association Life/Active Members are eligible for two complimentary appointments per year with a certified career counselor. Visit http://www.ukalumni.net/career to learn more.

Class Notes

Eleanor Beavin ’25 CI has joined the West Virginia Volleyball team as an assistant coach. Beavin played at UK as a libero from 2021-2024. Beavin has coached at the club level with the Lexington United Volleyball Club, All-American Volleyball Camps and UK’s summer camps

Sydney Shouse ’25 CI is part of the 2026 Kentucky Derby Festival court. Shouse, from Louisville, is pursuing her MBA at Eastern Kentucky University.

COLLEGE INDEX

AFE Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food & Environment

AS Arts & Sciences

BE Gatton College of Business & Economics

CI Communication & Information

DE Dentistry

DES Design

ED Education

EN Pigman College of Engineering

FA Fine Arts

GS The Graduate School

HS Health Sciences

HON Honorary Degree

LAW Rosenberg College of Law

MED Medicine

NUR Nursing

PHA Pharmacy

PH Public Health

SW Social Work

Information in Class Notes is compiled from previously published items in newspapers and other media outlets, as well as items submitted by individual alumni.

Simply put, I would not have been able to enroll in an MBA program that didn’t offer the same level of

FLEXIBILITY AND THOUGHTFUL CURRICULUM

that UK applied to its program. UK’s willingness to accommodate, and capacity to understand, the struggles of being a full-time employee while completing an MBA made it much less daunting for me to enroll in the program. It’s one of the main reasons I ended up choosing UK over other programs.

CHASE WARNER

Director, North America R&D Site Communications, AstraZeneca

PART-TIME MBA:

A PROGRAM FOR BUSY LIVES

In Memoriam

Henry C. Durham ‘53 BE Highlands, N.C.

Margaret H. Mills ‘53 AFE Santa Fe, N.M.

Lorendz J. Smith Jr. ‘53 AFE Harrodsburg, Ky.

Charles R. Moffitt ‘55 BE Paducah, Ky.

George B. Wombwell ‘55 BE Louisville, Ky.

Dr. Raymond R. Hornback ‘56 CI, ‘63 ED Lexington, Ky.

John L. Kuegel ‘56 AFE Owensboro, Ky.

Jeremiah C. Day ‘58 EN Lexington, Ky.

Albert H. Rouse Jr. ‘58 ED Lebanon, Ohio

William R. Sims ‘58 EN San Antonio, Texas

Adrian H. Smith ‘58 BE Cincinnati, Ohio

Jane B. Woodall ‘58 AS Washington, D.C.

Don Blevins ‘59 BE Lexington, Ky.

Valinda E. Livingston ‘59 ED Lexington, Ky

Arline D. Wolff ‘60 ED Edgewood, Ky.

Walter M. Bauman ‘61 PHA Danville, Ky.

Larry Epley ‘61 ‘68 EN Frankfort, Ky.

Olen R. Thomas ‘61 PHA Cadiz, Ky.

Dr. Brenda J. Clay ‘62 ‘65 AS Lexington, Ky.

Dr. Jerry D. Westerfield ‘63 AS, ‘67 MED Russell Springs, Ky.

Carole H. Gill ‘64 AS Boise, Idaho

Ann Hunsaker AS ‘64 AS, ‘67 LAW Palm Desert, Calif.

Oresta M. Hale ‘65 ED Lexington, Ky.

Beata M. Kolaja ‘66 AS Morgantown, W.V.

David A. Polk ‘67 AS Lexington, Ky.

Pat E. Etcheberry ‘68 ED Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla.

Porter General “P.G.” Peeples Sr. ‘66 CC, ‘68 ED Lexington, Ky.

Porter General “P.G.” Peeples Sr. ’68 CC, ’68 ED, a lifelong advocate for equity, education and opportunity in Kentucky, died April 28, 2026, at age 80. A respected civic leader and proud University of Kentucky alumnus, Peeples dedicated more than five decades to improving the lives of others through public service and community leadership.

Born in Lynch, Kentucky, Peeples was raised in Harlan County and came to UK during a pivotal era in the university’s history. As one of only a small number of Black students on campus in the 1960s, he experienced firsthand the challenges of segregation and discrimination while earning his degree in education in 1968.

At just 24 years old, Peeples became the youngest Urban League director in the nation when he was named executive director

of the Urban League of LexingtonFayette County in 1972. Over a 57year career with the organization, including 55 years as president and CEO, he expanded programs focused on education, job training and affordable housing, helping shape a more inclusive Lexington. Under his leadership, the Urban League developed hundreds of affordable housing units and strengthened partnerships across government, business and education.

Peeples also served on numerous civic and educational boards throughout the Commonwealth and was inducted into the University of Kentucky College of Education Hall of Fame. Remembered for his calm leadership, mentorship and commitment to justice, Peeples leaves a lasting legacy at UK and across Kentucky. ■

Carson P. Porter ‘68 AS, ‘70 LAW Louisville, Ky.

Dr. Daniel S. Graves ‘69 MED Scottsdale, Ariz.

Thomas V. Handy ‘69 LAW London, Ky.

Arthur W. Hatfield ‘69 EN Bulverde, Texas

Ken E. Kurlas ‘69 BE Louisville, Ky.

Henry G. Lackey ‘69 FA Evansville, Ind.

Howard Shanker ‘69 LAW Novelty, Ohio

David L. Kraemer ‘70 ‘75 ED Florence, Ky.

Dr. James E. Parks ‘70 AFE Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Dr. Michael D. Avington ‘71 MED Stone Mountain, Ga.

Varina Hallock ‘71 ED Caldwell, Idaho

James G. Peak ‘71 BE Bainbridge, Ga.

Dr. H. David Robertson Jr. ‘71 AS, ‘77 ‘78 ‘80 MED Lexington, Ky.

James P. Settles ‘71 BE Bardstown, Ky.

Joseph H. Terry ‘71 LAW Lexington, Ky.

Alice Bangs ‘72 CI Norfolk, Va.

Patricia M. Collins ‘72 CI, ‘82 ED Lexington, Ky.

Elizabeth B. Barret ‘73 AS Whitesburg, Ky.

Donald G. Butte ‘73 BE Fort Myers, Fla.

Catherine M. Reynolds ‘73 AS Durham, N.C.

Jesse C. Crenshaw ‘74 LAW Lexington, Ky.

Dr. Richard L. Goodman ‘75 AS, ‘79 DE Lexington, Ky.

Rhoda L. Perkins-Boyer ‘75 CI Chelsea, Mich.

Jane Baucom Stephenson ‘76 ED Lexington, Ky.

Dr. Robert T. Davis ‘79 ‘81 MED Winchester, Ky.

Richard O. Lewis III ‘79 AS Louisville, Ky.

Lisa S. Cleary ‘80 HS Corbin, Ky.

Dr. Larry Gevedon ‘80 PHA, ‘84 MED Las Vegas, Nev.

Kaaren E. Westlund ‘80 BE Louisville, Ky.

James J. Jobe ‘81 EN Corydon, Ky.

Susanna H. Mays ‘81 FA Lexington, Ky.

Robert L. Brashear ‘82 EN London, Ky.

Jeff T. Walker ‘82 AS, ‘84 ‘85 ED Lexington, Ky.

Tracy L. Giles ‘84 CI Lexington, Ky.

Sandra L. D’Angelo, Ph.D. ‘85 ‘90 AS Springfield, Mo.

Larry M. Keeney ‘85 EN Science Hill, Ky.

Melinda W. Veirs ‘85 ED Stamping Ground, Ky.

Eric G. Westlund ‘85 BE Lexington, Ky.

Helen S. Paul ‘87 NUR Lexington, Ky.

Denise Gore ‘91 NUR Morehead, Ky.

Kathy D. Orndoff ‘93 CI Oak Hill, Ohio

Scott Edward Gould ‘02 ED Georgetown, Ky.

Kathleen M Meyer ‘04 AS Covington, Ky.

Dr. Brian C. Jensen ‘05 DE Eagle, Idaho

Dr. Yusef Ahmed Sayeed ‘05 PH, ‘10 MED Downingtown, Pa.

Chelsea Morgan Mefford ‘07 BE Winchester, Ky.

Austin Armond Tiller ‘10 AFE, ‘16 HS Shelbyville, Ky.

Jordyn H. Daws ‘17 ‘19 ED Lexington, Ky.

University of Kentucky Alumni Association Life Member U niversity of Kentucky Fellow

THE BIG BLUE NATION.

In the Spotlight

STANLEY AND KAREN PIGMAN HONORED WITH 2026 FOUNDERS DAY AWARD

In honor of the University of Kentucky’s founding in 1865, the UK Alumni Association named Stanley and Karen Pigman as the recipients of the 2026 UK Founders Day Award. The award recognizes individuals who personify goodwill, service and dedication to the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

The Pigmans were recognized at a ceremony this spring attended by friends, family, alumni and university leaders. Also in attendance were students from the Pigman College of Engineering, who came to celebrate the couple’s impact. As part of the award, the Pigmans received a commemorative medallion, and a one-time monetary donation of $10,000 will be made in their name to the fund of their choice.

Photos by Brad Nally

The Bookshelf

Joe Bill Campbell ’68 LAW has published three Christian devotionals including the most recent, “The Christian Lawyer: Not an Oxymoron.” The book seeks to answer questions and to provide strength, knowledge and encouragement to Christians who practice law, judges who enforce the law and law students who want to practice law while remaining true to their Christian values.

Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr. ’24 AS has written “Tore All to Pieces,” a fragmented novel that delves into the lives of Appalachian characters with similar struggles, backgrounds and experiences and examines how people are often lonely despite these connections. “Willie Carver writes with deep understanding of the hill culture, its vernacular and specific details of place. This book is brimful with compassion, a quality we all need now more than ever,” wrote Chris Offutt, author of the Mick Hardin series.

Jeff Caudill ’94 EN has published “Exoskeleton: Phantom Cell Prequel,” under the pseudonym Jeff Scott. Second in the “Phantom Cell” series, “Exoskeleton” is the story of Alec Byrne who was once an elite Air Force Special Operations Lieutenant whose career ended in a shattered spine and a wheelchair. Trapped in a purgatory of self-pity and alcohol, his only hope for redemption comes from a top-secret military project: the Exoskeleton, a revolutionary super skin designed to transform a paralyzed soldier into a super warrior. One reviewer wrote, “‘Exoskeleton’ is a heart-pounding, mind-bending thriller that masterfully blends cutting-edge technology with raw human emotion.”

Perry T. Cooper ’79 CI has written “The 1890 Louisville Cyclones.” In 1889, the Louisville Colonels, the city’s major league baseball team, lost 111 games, won only 27, and went bankrupt in midseason. The new owners could not find a manager with a history of success willing to take the reins. Two trades were made to bring in veteran players who could help the

team; both players refused to report to Louisville. When the 1890 season arrived, only minor leaguers were on the club’s roster, and its manager had a consistent losing streak. Yet, over the course of that astonishing year, the team surged to the top of the standings, quickly earning a new name that stuck — the Louisville Cyclones. This book tells the history of the underdog Cyclones’ record-breaking 1890 season.

Lyn Tindall Covert ’87 CI, ’89 ED, ’08 has written the historical fiction novel “Echoes of a Mother’s Heart,” set in the 1920s in Lexington, Kentucky. The book tells the story of Mae, an 11-year-old girl whose mother died leaving her with an alcoholic father who couldn’t care for his five daughters. The sisters are divided among older married siblings. Mae was sent to live with a sister in Cincinnati, forced to leave the safety and security of her home and thrust into a world where she learned to protect herself.

Jennifer Kilkus ’10 ’14 AS is the author of “Navigating Cancer: Research Supported Tools to Help You Cope with the Emotional and Physical Impact of Cancer.” This comprehensive resource offers people with cancer a roadmap for managing the extraordinary challenges posed by this disease. Kilkus draws on her extensive expertise in psycho-oncology to offer accessible, evidence-based strategies that help people with cancer improve their quality of life. It’s written specifically for the most common concerns experienced by millions of people with cancer worldwide.

Mark C. Russell ‘83 BE has released “A Classified Look at the Great Satan of America: Top Secret Government Persecution,” an exposé of government overreach and the systemic persecution of someone who questioned the system. Russell worked in a classified job for the Department of Defense Contract Audit Agency from 1986-1989, handling top secret Navy contracts. What followed were years of alleged surveillance, harassment and systemic persecution by a variety of government agencies. The book documents his experience through official letters, court records and personal accounts.

If you’re an alum who has written a new book, showcased your work in an art exhibit, launched a podcast or published another creative project, we’d love to hear from you.

Share your information to ukalumni@uky.edu.

UK and the UK Alumni Association do not necessarily endorse books and other original material mentioned in The Bookshelf. UK and the UK Alumni Association are not responsible for the content, views and opinions expressed on websites mentioned in The Bookshelf or found via links off those websites.

Brain Break

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Some stories deserve a second look. See what you remember!

1. What did Ariana Rodriguez make for foster children before starting her nonprofit?

A. Blankets C. Care packages

B. Journals D. Bags from old clothes

2. What animals are studied in 2026 Great Teacher Robin Cooper’s lab?

A. Mice and frogs C. Crayfish and fruit flies

B. Rabbits and snakes D. Turtles and fish

3. What candy did Mostafa Mubarak place in his dorm common area during his first week at UK?

A. Kit Kats C. Reese’s Cups

B. Snickers D. Twix

4. What instrument did Janie McKenzie-Wells play in the UK Marching Band?

A. Trumpet C. Saxophone

B. Clarinet D. Flute

5. What flower sits in the waiting room of The Diamond Face Institute?

A. White Rose C. Orchid

B. Tulip D. Lily

Answers? Turn the page upside down.

MORTARBOARD MASTERPIECES

INSIDE THE BLUE

From posing with Wildcat to stepping inside the UK men’s basketball locker room, members of the UK Alumni Association recently experienced the first-ever Inside the Blue event. The exclusive behind-the-scenes series is open to UK Alumni Association Life Members, with its debut experience taking place at Rupp Arena — and more events are on the way.

Throughout the year, Life Members will receive access to special experiences, benefits and opportunities to connect with fellow Wildcats across the country. Learn more about membership and upcoming events at ukalumni.net/Membership.

A few of our favorite decorated grad caps from the University of Kentucky’s Class of 2026.

JUNE 1, 1911

Commencement looked a little different in 1911. The 43rd annual graduation ceremony at State University of Kentucky was held under a tent on the Administration Building lawn, celebrating fewer than 100 graduates.

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