_ PRESIDENTIAL PERSPECTIVE .  
. Y I i 2
l ; . . " I V  
 l Dear Fellow Alum; I ra: ;_ . l
 I Top 20 or Top 25 rankings have special meaning for universities and colleges in '_    _»i  
 l this country, whether we are talking sports programs or academic achievements. ! A   Z,
Q Certainly alumni of the University of Kentucky have grown accustomed to top—rated . ‘¢.  A . _ ll
; basketball teams. In the past three years, we have watched with fascination as the »  1 ~  
 V UK football program has made its way upward among football powers.  X . . I  
{ The quest to be included among the very best is why this University was so  4 / j  - I
l pleased and proud when the Kentucky General Assembly mandated that UK be- ,  g _·  I _
 _ come a top 20 public institution by the year 2020, kicking off the effort with the ‘ j   Y
j§ highly successful Research Challenge Trust Fund. It put us in a new league. Our _ I 2
lf peers are now academic heavyweights such as Michigan, Washington, UCLA and   *  ‘ ’ i ·  .     . ’ »~ ‘ l
jj North Carolina. Charles T Wethmgton, Jr: ·
UK is not passively waiting to be elevated to this elite status. Even before the top
` 2() mandate, UK recognized the need to move beyond what we already have achieved. We actively
pursued this new level of excellence with a strategic plan that calls for improvements in people, equip-
i ment, space and services, and calls for a first-ever capital campaign designed to raise at least $400
I million in private support. We raised the millions of dollars needed to build the state-of-the-art William
_ T. Young Library. We’ve achieved 40 national academic program rankings, including twelve top 20
 ‘ spots. Partnering with private entities, we built two new cancer facilities, developed a magnetic reso-
j nance imaging facility and funded the majority of the recent Kentucky Clinic development.
j UK recognized there was much to do to catch up as we joined other universities in this elite league.
  Improvement in our research is critical. With the support of the Research Challenge Trust Fund,
l matched by private dollars, we’ve tripled the number of available endowed faculty chair positions in
l just one year and have more than doubled the number of endowed professorships. The Trust Fund and
I private funding is helping to bring the nation’s brightest academic minds to UK to join the excellent fac- _ I
I ulty of the University.
l Research at UK is funded in large measure by endowment income, grants and research revenue.
l UK’s research is not only key to the University’s’·top 20 aspirations, but is vital to the economy and
health of our state. In 1999, more than 2,500 UK,research projects made a $271.1 million positive im-
l pact on the state’s economy and created 4,764 new jobs. Researchers found better ways to deliver
j life-saving drugs, developed three equine vaccines and invented an implant for treating eye diseases.
j Our research is helping fight lung disease and is advancing the nation’s understanding of Alzheimers
disease. ’rl. —
I To realize the goal of competing academically with such universities as Penn State, Ohio State and I . _ Q .
Wisconsin, we must sustain our progress and move forward with the same type of innovation that ' I
brought us the Research Challenge Trust Fund. We IHLISK push forward vigilantly and relentlessly in our
research — for current and future generations of students and for the future of Kentucky and the nation.
, We seek support from state government and the private sector to help continue bringing top research-
l ers to UK. We also seek support to fund the facilities essential to attract and keep these new faculty as
  we move toward top 20 status.
I The endowed professors and chairs newly recruited to UK and the building of the William T. Young
l Library are, in a sense, the top-notch standards that we are setting for ourselves as we attract the indi-
4 viduals and build the facilities that will make UK "top 20."
j UK alumni — as well as students, faculty, friends and state policy makers — must be satisfied with
  nothing less.
, Sincerely,
i Charles T. Wethington jr.
48 KENTUCKY Atumrtus r     .
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