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 { Positive Thinking
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-,9 I S A BOY GROWING UP IN GEORGETOV5/N, DAVID I<. Ik B , ,· _ , _
-t€ I Blythe wotched his mother work hord 0t jobs othermembersof hisf0miIy h0d to stondin line  J Y. _ _ 4, fv ’```   _ - .
,5- I thor poid minimum woges. But she instilled in for provisions. »   I.·`" _,.-EAS, 'L 
,,»y him the importonce of getting 0n educotion. Buthesoidthothisfcimilyexperiencestought »   ·`i` `  =  ,     I Z; I    -
qis I I·Iis fother lvie, died when Blythe w0s little him to persevere ond to follow 0 strong work v bw  _ I°     _ _V7*°      _,    
more th0n 0 yeorold, 0nd his mother lvlellie, ethic.   -Z-f 2:-  3     1 .-» °‘<<= 
WO who hodlittleeducotion orvocotionoltroining, Everysummer0s0 boy, heworked onforms ij   r~ I     = e. *  _  
he struggled to keep herfomily together. to e0rn moneyto help m0ke ends meet. Blythe     ‘ " - ` I ` M ""*
,¤| "She w0s dedicoted to keeping two children 0lso fished ond hunted sm0II g0me, which he ` U   - _
TO under very odverse conditions," Blythe soid, usu0I|y 0te.   /"Q.i¤. L
odding thotshe m0n0ged to notonly keepthe I·Ie s0idth0the enrolledinthe ROTC progrom   rg ,   `I
,H_ f0miIy together but 0lso to keep him 0nd his 0tUKOndwore his militory uniform often, which -
SO sister Ch0rIotte, in school. s0ved him from hoving to buy clothing. " _ _,
3,, "She believed thor you ought to get 0n l·Iis militorytroining boosted his c0reer. Upon  —.- is 
educ0tion," Blythe soid. groduotion, with 0 commission 0s 0 second g I r  
56 Apporently, he gotthe messoge. On July I, lieutenont, Blythe entered service in the U.S.    
|€, 0fter0bout50 ye0rs0s0student, educ0tor0nd Army AirCorps (nowthe U.S.AirForce) in l94I.   ;“""ff""" '"'   ‘ ‘ ‘‘'‘ D °  
nh 0dministr0tor Blythe, 70, retired 0s 0ssoci0te When he completed his service in l94o, he   `· ·~     —·=· —  = Q
En de0n for continuing educotion ond 0Iumni h0d 0tt0ined the r0nk of moior/oircroft m0in- :
, 0ff0irs 0tthe Universi of Kentuck 's Colle e tenonce officer. the n0tion’sinfr0structure, which includes ro0ds,
.re TV Y 9
wi, of Engineering. Thotyeor he wentto work0s0 civil engineer highwoys, bridges, oirports ond seoports.
nd l·Ie received 0 b0cheIor's degree in civil with the U.S. Corps of Engineers 0t the Ohio As 0 civil engineer Blythe s0id, he believes
engineering 0t UK in l940 0nd 0 m0ster’s Volley L0bor0tory in Cincinnoti. in using his skills to benefit the community. 4
degreeincivilengineeringfromCornellUniver- Blythe s0id he 0nd his wife, Jeonie, hod Blythe w0s octive in urb0n plonning ond ‘
C. sity in New York in lf?50. bought 0 house ond were pretty much settled served on the Urb0n County Plonning Commis— _
ml BIythe's c0reer ot UK ended 40 yeors to the into civili0n life, when he received 0 letterfrom sion in Lexington from l972 to l97B.
d0y from the doy it beg0n — July I, IQ47. UK osking him to teoch in the civil engineering "After0bout50 ye0rs, whotyou build we0rs
Despite humble beginnings, Blythe hos h0d deportment. out0nd you h0ve to begin upgrodingfocilities,"
0 long c0reerth0th0s included service 0s0 mili— Blythe come to UK 0s 0n instructor in IQ47. he s0id. _
t0ry mon, 0 civil engineer on educ0tor0nd 0n In l957, he become ch0irm0n of the civil One of BIythe’s otherinterests isintern0tion0l
0dministr0tor. engineering deportment. offoirs.
Aftergroduoting from G0rth I·ligh School in Don J. Wood, whom Blythe hired 0s 0n "We 0re living in 0 world thot is more th0n I
-- Georgetown, Blythe got 0 scholorship to 0ssoci0te professor 2l yeors 0go, described Kentucky," hes0id. "When I w0sch0irm0n of ·
I Georgetown College, where he took pre- Blythe 0s "0 positive-thinking" person. the civil engineering deportment 0t UK, I {
» engineering courses. "Dovid iso very energetic person who never 0lw0ys h0d 0 visiting professor" =
    "I h0d0Ire0dydecidedth0tifIgottocollege, s0ys thot something c0n't be done," Wood And Blythe himself hos visited 0 number of  
I would try to be 0n engineer" he s0id. "I did s0id. "l·le is encouroging everybody 0II the other countries.
well in m0th, science, physics 0nd chemistry, time to think positive." In l9ol, he w0s 0w0rded 0 visiting fellow-
0nd I liked it. A/lost ofthe engineering curriculum During his tenure 0t UK, Blythe hos seen 0 shipin science ond troveled tothe University of
I is rel0ted." number of chonges. Durhom, King's College, Englond. I·le 0Iso E
,= In IQ36, hewos occepted inthe work-study When he gr0du0ted from UKin I94l, there troveled to Equodor in l9o9 0s 0 Fulbright  
progrom otthe College of Engineering 0t UK. were 0bout50 students in his civil engineering lectureron highwoys 0tCity/University Gu0y0— E
Blythe worked his w0y through college. closs. quil, Equodor.
\. Buthe could notofford tr0nsport0tion from his Todoy, there ore between 300 ond 400 l·le visited Liberio in West Africo in lf?79 to .
\ I hometown of Georgetown. students groduoting from the engineering serve 0s 0 consulting engineer in forming ond  
I § Every d0y, he hitchhiked from his home to school, he soid. the development of ro0ds. ,
I Lexington. Blythe ottributed theincreosein students to   U     s so
y I Blythe reminisced obout hord times in the the populotion increoses in Kentucky 0nd the Stephen M Williams is G ,€pO,y€, {O, the rexgngmn é
I . l930$—dUrl¤g The Depression —when heond United SIGIGS. I·ler0Id-Leoder. Story reprinted with permission. © _
"The demondfor engineers is closelytied to IQ87
the popuI0tion," he s0id.
According to Blythe, civil engineers design
if UK 7 I