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UK Reduces Carbon Footprint with $25 Million Retrofit
President Todd called to the attention ofthe board that this $25 million proj ect had been brought
to them before. He remarked on the numbers involved that UK will save and the reduction in
our carbon footprint by 23,000 tons of carbon dioxide. He lauded our effort to be green.
UK Libraries to House Georgia Powers Papers
UK Libraries will house the important papers and oral history interviews related to former
Kentucky State Senator Georgia Powers, the first African American and the first woman to hold
a seat in the Kentucky Senate. UK will also house an endowed chair in her name at the Center
for Research on Violence Against Women. The president recently met with Senator Powers
when she was on campus. He found her to be a dynamic lady and welcomes her papers and oral
history interviews to the university.
UK Ranks First for Creating Start-up Companies for Third Consecutive Year
UK-Affiliated Companies Attract 60 Percent of $65 million in Venture Funding
The president pointed out that these two items are linked. UK is number l among 20 benchmark
universities, which include University of Wisconsin — Madison, University of Arizona,
University of Maryland, University of Michigan, University of Illinois, The Ohio State
University, and University of Florida, in the number of start-up companies created by its faculty,
staff; and students according to a recently released report by the Association of University
Technology Managers. During fiscal year 2009-20l0 UK eamed $2.2 million is gross licensing
income and managed l62 total licenses. In addition, UK is well-known for attracting large
amounts of venture capital. The university has celebrated each year since 2005 the amount of
new capital that is invested in early-stage companies in this region, figures based on an annual
survey by the Lexington Venture Club. In 20l0, $65 million was attracted to the Bluegrass
region, and UK-affiliated ventures received 60 percent of that money. The 89 early-stage
companies that participated in the survey reported having an average full-time salary of $63,485
for the 748 people employed full time in these finns. In 20l0, these finns hired 240 people for
newly created jobs.
UK Center Awarded $5.5 Million Grant to Examine Childhood Hunger
The U.S. Department of Agriculture‘s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service is looking to the
University of Kentucky‘s Center for Poverty Research (UKCPR) for help in devising effective
strategies to confront the problem of childhood hunger. UK Gatton College Professor James
Ziliak, Gatton Endowed Chair in Microeconomics and director of UKCPR, and Craig
Gundersen, associate professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of
Illinois, have been awarded a five-year, $5.5 million grant to establish aResedrch Program on
Childhood Hunger. The program to be funded through this grant is soliciting extemal research
projects through UKCPR. When completed, Ziliak and Gundersen, as co-principal investigators,
will review the findings and make recommendations to the USDA.
Student Government Launches Cats Cruiser
President Todd asked Ryan Smith, Board member and Student Government Association
president, to give statistics on the Cats Cruiser program which was recently launched as a new
initiative to aid student safety while supporting existing community transportation efforts. The
program was launched at the beginning of 20ll and in the first three weeks had l,500 riders.