Out of the Big Blue

As you know, through the generous donations of our alumni, the UK Alumni Association and association Clubs sponsor several scholarships for undergraduate and postgraduate students on an annual basis.

While we all enjoy contributing to such a worthy cause, it is always nice to hear back from the scholarship recipients who are constantly letting us know how grateful they are for the opportunity.  One such recipient is Lindsay Lush, who will attend UK as a Freshman this coming Fall. Her letter is reprinted, with her permission, below:

“I would like to extend my most sincere gratitude to the UK Alumni Association for providing me with a $1,000 scholarship towards my 2011-2012 college expenses.

Lindsay Lush

“I cannot wait to attend the University of Kentucky in the fall of 2011 and begin my journey as a Wildcat. I am so thankful for all the opportunities I have been blessed with up to this point in my educational career. The university has been more than helpful in assisting me, a first generation college student, with all the responsibilities of college preparation.

“I cannot explain in words how thankful I am to the Alumni Association for this award. I look forward to one day being able to proudly call myself a UK alumna, and to be able to change the lives of students, just as the association has done for me.

“You have not only made it possible for me to become a college student, but have also allowed me the opportunity to further my education at a university that I feel so honored to be a part of. Thank you for helping me to make my dreams of attending college a reality. Your impact on my life will someday allow me the opportunity to impact the life of many others.

“Thank you!! Sincerely, Lindsay M. Lush”

And that, my fellow alumni, is why we do it! Congrats Lindsay and we look forward to seeing you on campus this Fall!

by Linda Perry

I’m happy to say that the summer issue of Global KY just came to my attention. It’s an e-newsletter published by the UK Office of International Affairs (OIA) that highlights UK’s international initiatives. Some of the articles in this particular issue: agricultural librarians from China visit the UK campus for a month; the global vision of UK’s health colleges; a UK student living in Tokyo, Japan, tells of the recent natural disaster; and a delegation from Iraq learns about curricular development during a visit to the UK campus.

Did you know that UK has students from more than 100 countries? The OIA supports more than 1,500 international students and scholars attending UK. Support comes in a variety of ways, including assisting with travel documents, social programs and activities that help students make new friends, and community involvement that allows students to experience life outside of campus.

UK has an abiding commitment to diversity and inclusion and you can learn more  by watching a video about UK’s global mission.  For example, since fall 2009, there’s been an increase in UK’s international undergraduate population, the expansion of a grant with the German Fulbright Commission, and increased funding for Education Abroad scholarships, among others.  Global KY regularly covers UK’s international activities, such as these, bringing successes to the attention of faculty, staff, and alumni. Check it out!

Dr. Joseph Berger, professor and chairman of the Department of Neurology, is pictured with local residents on the hills outside Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He has taught at the area university and has been actively addressing HIV/AIDS issues in east Africa since 1999.

Proving once again that our UK Alumni are among the most generous individuals in the world, members of the Greater Louisville UK Alumni Club recently joined with members of the Louisville Alabama Alumni Club to host a fundraiser for Alabama Tornado victims.

The event was held on Tuesday May 10th at Selena’s Retaurant in Louisville. Free entertainment was provided by the band $ocial $ecurity which featured both Alabama and Kentucky Alumni. The cooperative venture between Selena’s, the Greater Louisville UK Alumni Club, the Louisville Alabama Alumni Club, and many donors netted a donation to the victims of over $4,000.00!

George Ochs, past president of the Greater Louisville UK Alumni Club with Louisville Alabama Alumni Club President Chris McRae.

Former Alabama letterman David Dean on guitar with former UK drum major Bill Block on drums.

Former UK marching band member and UK alumnus Steve Hester on base guitar.

Two 2010 alumnae were selected as recipients of Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships. The UK recipients are among 1,500 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad for the 2011-2012 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

Megan Collins, of Lexington, is a 2010 international studies graduate.  Influenced by her experiences studying abroad and learning foreign languages, she applied for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship. Collins assistantship will allow her to teach English for one year at a German high school. In the future, the UK alumna is considering a career in speech therapy.

Jordan Covvey, of Richmond, Va., earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from UK in 2010 and is currently completing a pharmacy practice residency at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System.  She received the highly competitive Fulbright-Strathclyde Research Award, which will allow her to pursue her doctor of philosophy degree at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. While most Fulbright awards are one-year grants, Covvey’s will cover three years of study and research. Covvey received the only Faculty of Science award provided by Strathclyde this year.

Covvey’s doctoral project will focus on use of comparative medicines in respiratory disease patient populations within Kentucky and Scotland. Through a comparison of practice standards and prescribing statistics, Covvey is seeking to determine if differences in clinical guidelines and medicine use between similar populations result in differences in patient outcomes and cost-effective delivery of health care. This project will involve collaborative research between UK, University of Strathclyde and NHS Scotland.

“This is a dream come true,” Covvey said in an interview with UKPR. “As a scholar, having your name associated with the Fulbright Scholarship is the pinnacle, and I am humbled to have this opportunity to represent our country and the UK College of Pharmacy on a global stage.”

Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has given approximately 300,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in government, science, the arts, business, philanthropy, education and athletics and won such prestigious honors as the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, MacArthur Foundation Award and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Fulbright recipients are among the more than 40,000 individuals participating in U.S. Department of State exchange programs each year. For more than 60 years, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has funded and supported programs that seek to promote mutual understanding and respect between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is administered by the Institute of International Education. For further information about the Fulbright Program, visit the website at http://fulbright.state.gov.

*compiled from material written by Whitney Hale, UKPR

Guest post by Kelly Higgins, M.A., NCC, UK Alumni Career Services   

Total Quality Logistics (TQL) is the nation’s 4^th largest freight brokerage firm. Headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, TQL has satellite offices in Charleston, Charlotte, Chicago, Columbus, Denver, Indianapolis, and Tampa. TQL recently announced the addition of a Lexington, KY office in the coming months. UK alum, Lincoln Hendricks (’07 CIS) has been selected to lead the new Lexington office. He currently works at the Cincinnati site, and will be relocating back to the Bluegrass.

Lincoln shared the following, “My wife, Devin (’08 CIS) and I are both UK alums, with personal ties back in Lexington and the Central Kentucky area. We have always considered Lexington home, and hoped that we would ultimately end up there. After college I came to Cincinnati to begin my career at TQL in sales. It’s a terrific company with new challenges on a daily basis. I now have the opportunity to open and manage a TQL satellite office in Lexington beginning in August. I am thrilled with the opportunity.” By the end of 2011, TQL will open offices in Louisville, KY and Dayton, OH as well.  With the help of successful staff members who want to transfer, this rapidly growing firm plans to open an office in every Tier I city across the U.S.

TQL has hired 58 UK alumni since July 2007, a handful of them former UK athletes. Among those 58 hires is former UK baseball player Brian Hastings who has been with the company since June of 2009. He will also be part of the founding team for TQL’s Lexington office. Former UK football Guard, Mike Webster, has been with the company for the past 8 years.  He is now TQL’s 2010 #2 Account Executive in the company. UK graduate, Kelly Tate is another founding member of the Lexington Team. She has been with the company since October of 2008. TQL is dedicated to their continued partnership with the University of Kentucky in their recruiting efforts. TQL representatives have attended UK Career Fairs, and have spoken at numerous career-related workshops and special events. We look forward to our continued partnership with TQL throughout their expansion. Click here if you are interested in viewing TQL employment opportunities in the Bluegrass and across the country. TQL currently has positions posted in Wildcat CareerLink, the UK Career Center’s online job database. This database is free to all UK students and alumni.

In 1937, members of the UK Livestock Judging Team, including George M. Kurtz ’37 AG, won the SEC championship. Kurtz’s daughter, Julia Kurtz Tackett ’68 AS, ’71 LAW, made the trophy pictured above to commemorate the achievement.

We were lucky enough to view the trophy, and learn more about Kurtz, an outstanding alum who passed away last December.

Kurtz attended the University of Kentucky from 1933 to 1937, graduating with a bachelor of science degree from the College of Agriculture. While at UK, he was a Danforth Scholar, president of Block and Bridle, vice president of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity and in 1936 was selected to join the Lamp and Cross senior men’s honorary society.

Aside from his successful career as a purebred-livestock auctioneer and owner of a real-estate auction business, Kurtz kept strong ties with his alma mater. He was president of the Union County UK Alumni Club for seven years, was honored as a member of the UK Animal Science Hall of Fame and was named a University of Kentucky Fellow.

To quote his hometown newspaper, “he built a family and a business and cheered at countless UK ball games.” He will be missed by his UK Alumni family.

This photo of Kurtz was taken when he served as Grand Marshall of the 2005 Corn Festival Parade.

This Sunday, May graduates of the University of Kentucky will don their caps and gowns as they prepare to receive hard earned diplomas.

One grad, Edward Francis Schuler, will be receiving his diploma 52 years after completing his last semester at UK.

Schuler studied Chemistry and Bacteriology at UK from 1955 to 1959, but left just a few credits shy of receiving his degree due to being .01 short of the required GPA. “I took the toughest courses the school offered as my main goal was to succeed in the science field,” he wrote in a letter to Dr. Todd last December.

Despite hindering his GPA, the rigorous course of study enabled him to accomplish much during his long career. “I attribute any success I achieved to my years and education at UK,” he continued in his letter. Schuler formed several companies dealing with enzymes over the course of his career, and received six U.S. Patents and has another three currently pending.

On Sunday, 80-year-old Schuler will receive an undergraduate degree in Topical Studies from the College of Arts and Sciences.  Although he is not able to attend commencement in person, his family is throwing a graduation party for him where he lives in Charlottesville, Va.  In his hand, he will hold the tassel and diploma cover sent by the university to mark the occasion.

Next fall, Schuler’s granddaughter, Megan Collier, will begin her first semester at UK. And the UK legacy will continue.

 Congratulations to all our 2011 Graduates!

We welcome you as UK Alumni!