xt773n20dn4v https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt773n20dn4v/data/mets.xml Lexington, Kentucky University of Kentucky Alumni Association. 2013 journals  English University of Kentucky Alumni Association Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Kentucky alumnus Kentucky Alumni, vol. 84, no. 3, Fall 2013 text Kentucky Alumni, vol. 84, no. 3, Fall 2013 2013 2014 true xt773n20dn4v section xt773n20dn4v * * Fall 2013 • Volume 84 • Number 3

was
Features Helen25G.–King1963,honored the weekend of 10 Don and Cathy Jacobs: a difference
Oct.
26,
when the alumni house
Seeing blue and making
ON THE COVER was named in her honor.
Well-known Lexington couple Don and Cathy Jacobs have

Your UK Home:
50 years under one roof
Opened in 1963, the Helen G. King Alumni House was
named for a most inspirational UK alumna who was director
of the UK Alumni Association from 1946 to1969.

14

By Linda Perry

made major gis to Lexington nonprofit agencies, and their
generosity to multiple UK areas is making an impact on the
Commonwealth.

18 2013 Homecoming and Reunion schedule

Make your plans now to return to campus and reconnect
with your former classmates!

22 How things change
Take a close look at two aerial views of campus — one from
the late 1950s and one from April 2013.

24 Q & A with Joshua Rupp

From MTV Networks to the Moscow Ballet to Chicago’s
Lincoln Park Zoo, UK Young Alum Joshua Rupp ’09 CI
has had a variety of interesting job experiences.

We say ‘Thank you’ to our Wildcat
Society members
e UK Alumni Association says thank you to all UK
alumni and friends of the association who have given to
the Wildcat Society this year.

26

30 Wildcat Sports

e Mark Stoops era begins in UK football.

32 Leading by example
Photo: Jeff Hounshell

Meet the 10 newly-elected members on the UK Alumni
Association Board of Directors.

Departments
4 Pride In Blue

39 College View

7 Presidential Conversation 40 Class Notes
8 UK News

52 In Memoriam

19 Blue Horizons

54 Creative Juices

39 Alumni Clubs

55 Retrospect
www.ukalumni.net

1

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Head Football Coach, University of Kentucky
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* How To Reach Us

University of Kentucky
Alumni Magazine
Vol.84 No. 3
Kentucky Alumni (ISSN 732-6297) is
published quarterly by the University of
Kentucky Alumni Association, Lexington,
Kentucky for its dues-paying members.
© 2013 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.

Association Staff

Kentucky Alumni
UK Alumni Association
King Alumni House
Lexington, KY 40506-0119
Telephone: 859-257-8905
1-800-269-ALUM
Fax: 859-323-1063
E-mail: ukalumni@uky.edu

Publisher/Executive Director: Stan Key ’72
Editor/Associate Director: Kelli Elam ’11
Managing Editor: Linda Perry ’84
Senior Graphic Designer: Jeff Hounshell

Update Your Record
UK Alumni Association
King Alumni House
Lexington, KY 40506-0119
Telephone: 859-257-8800
Fax: 859-323-1063
E-mail: ukalumni@uky.edu
Web: www.ukalumni.net
For duplicate mailings, please send both
mailing labels to the address above.

Member of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education

Board of Directors
July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2014
President
Brenda B. Gosney ’70 HS, ’75 ED
President-elect
Elaine A. Wilson ’68 SW
Treasurer
David B. Ratterman ’68 EN
Secretary
Stan Key ’72 ED

District
Michelle Leigh Allen ’06 ’10 BE
Jeffrey L. Ashley ’89 CI
George L. Atkins Jr. ’63 BE
Lisa G. Atkinson ’92 CI
William G. Bacon Jr. ’82 MED
Trudy Webb Banta ’63 ’65 ED
eodore B. Bates ’52 AG
Richard A. Bean ’69 BE
Brian R. Bergman ’85 ’86 EN
Heath F. Bowling ’95 BE
Jeffrey J. Brock ’83 SCC ’84 BE
Michael L. Brown ’72 BE
Mark W. Browning ’80 AS, ’84 LAW
Michael A. Burleson ’74 PHA
Emmett “Buzz” Burnam ’74 ED
Bill P. Burton ’64 PHA
Rebecca F. Caudill ’72 ’76 ED
Dr. Michael A. Christian ’76 AS, ’80 DE
Judith G. Clabes ’67 AS
Elizabeth Cox ’69 AS
John R. Crockett ’49 AS
Jo Hern Curris ’63 AS, ’75 LAW
Bruce E. Danhauer ’77 AG
Bruce K. Davis ’71 LAW
Scott E. Davis ’73 BE
Ruth C. Day ’85 BE
Marianne Smith Edge ’77 AG
Katie Eiserman ’01 ED
Dr. Larry M. Elliott ’71 DE
Abra Endsley ’98 ’01 CI
Franklin H. Farris Jr. ’72 BE
Dr. Paul E. Fenwick ’52 AG

William G. Francis ’68 AS, ’73 LAW
W. P. Friedrich ’71 EN
Linda L. Frye ’60 AS
Dan Gipson ’69 EN
Cammie D. Grant ’79 ED
John R. Guthrie ’63 CI
Ann B. Haney ’71 AS
omas W. Harris ’85 AS
Wallace E. Herndon Jr. ’67 BE
Kelly Sullivan Holland ’93 AS, ’98 ED
Derrick C. Hord ’83 CI
Ann Nelson Hurst ’80 BE
James L. Jacobus ’78 ’80 AG
Patricia Wykstra Johnson ’68 AS, ’70 ED
Jim Keenan ’90 BE, ’93 LAW
Shelia M. Key ’91 PHA
Sandra Kay Kinney ’78 BE
Turner LaMaster ’73 BE
Barbara M. Martin ’99 AS
Diane M. Massie ’79 CI
James D. McCain ’81 BE
Peggy S. Meszaros ’72 ED
Herbert A. Miller Jr. ’72 AS, ’76 LAW
Larry S. Miller ’73 ’76 ED
Robert E. Miller
Sherry R. Moak ’81 BE
Terry B. Mobley ’65 ED
Susan P. Mountjoy ’72 ED
Susan V. Mustian ’84 BE
Hannah M. Myers ’93 ED
John C. Nichols II ’53 BE
Dr. George A. Ochs IV ’74 DE
Kimberly Parks ’01 BE

Kelly R. Allgeier ’08: Alumni Career Counselor
Brenda Bain: Records Data Entry Operator
Robin Boughey ’08: Staff Support Associate I
Gretchen Bower ’03: Program Coordinator
Linda Brumfield: Account Clerk III
Nancy Culp: Administrative Services Assistant
Caroline Francis ’88, ’93, ’02: Alumni Career Counselor
Leslie Hayes: Member and Marketing Specialist
John Hoagland ’89: Associate Director
Diana Horn ’70, ’71: Principal Accountant
Albert Kalim ’03: Webmaster
Katie Maher: Staff Support Associate I
Randall Morgan: IS Tech Support
Katie Murphy: Membership Specialist
Meg Phillips ’09: Program Coordinator
Brenda Riddle: Membership Specialist
Darlene Simpson: Senior Data Entry Operator
Jill Smith ’05, ’11: Associate Director
Alyssa ornton ’11: Program Coordinator
Frances White: Data Entry Operator

Sandra B. Patterson ’68 AS
Quintissa S. Peake ’04 CI
William P. Perdue Jr. ’65 EN, ’68 BE
Robert F. Pickard ’57 ’61 EN
Chad D. Polk ’94 DES
Paula L. Pope ’73 ’75 ED
G. David Ravencra ’59 BE
James A. Richardson ’70 AS, ’72 ED
D. Michael Richey ’74 ’79 AG
David A. Rodgers ’80 EN
Charlene K. Rouse ’77 DES
Adele P. Ryan ’88 CI
William Schuetze ’72 LAW
Mary L. Shelman ’81 EN
David L. Shelton ’66 BE
Marian Moore Sims ’72 ’76 ED
J. Fritz Skeen ’72 ’73 BE
J. Tim Skinner ’80 DES
Daniel L. Sparks ’69 EN
James W. Stuckert ’60 EN, ’61 BE
Mary Kekee Szorcsik ’72 BE
Julia K. Tackett ’68 AS, ’71 LAW
Reese S. Terry Jr. ’64 ’66 EN
Hank B. ompson Jr. ’71 CI
Myra L. Tobin ’62 AG
J. omas Tucker ’56 BE
Sheila P. Vice ’70 ’72 ED
Craig M. Wallace ’79 EN
Marsha R. Wallis ’69 NUR
Rachel L. Webb ’05 CI
Lori E. Wells ’96 BE
Bobby C. Whitaker ’58 CI
Henry Wilhoit Jr. ’60 Law
Crystal M.Williams ’97 BE
Amelia B. Wilson ’03 AG, ’06 ’11 ED
Richard M. Womack ’53 AG

At Large
R. Price Atkinson ’97 CI
Antoine Huffman ’05 CI
Lee A. Jackson ’70 SCC, ’73 AS
Matt Minner ’93 AS
Will Nash ’06 AS
Sharon P. Robinson ’66 ’AS, ’76 ’79 ED
Candace L. Sellars ’95 ’03 ED

College, Student Government,
University Senate
Agriculture
Michelle McDonald ’84 AG, ’92 ED
Arts & Sciences
P. J. Williams ’91 AS
Business & Economics
James B. Bryant ’67 BE
Communication & Information
Jeremy L. Jarvi ’02 CI
Dentistry
Dr. Clifford J. Lowdenback ’99 AS, ’03 DE
Design
Lu Ann Holmes ’79 DES
Education
Martha Elizabeth Randolph ’83 BE,
’87 ’92 ED
Engineering
Taunya A. Phillips ’87 EN, ’04 BE
Fine Arts
Tony R. Rollins ’97 FA
Health Sciences
Barbara R. Sanders ’72 AS, ’76 ED
Law
Christy Trout ’02 LAW
Medicine
Dr. William H. Mitchell ’70 MED
Nursing
Patricia K. Howard ’83 ’90 ’04 NUR
Pharmacy
Lynn Harrelson ’73 PHA
Public Health
Jennifer L. Redmond ’03 ’10 PH
Social Work
Willis K. Bright Jr. ’66 SW
Student Government Association
Jacob D. Ingram
University Senate
Vacant

www.ukalumni.net

3

* Pride In Blue

Welcome home!

4

Fall 2013

guished Alumni Service Award and the Joe Burch Award recipients. We want to say “ank you!” to these wonderful
volunteers and congratulations on the much-deserved
awards.
If you love our annual UK wall calendar, an exclusive benefit of your membership, please let us know that you would
like to continue to receive it. All the details you need can be
found on page 37.
I hope you will make plans to return to campus for the
2013 UK Homecoming. Be sure to stop by and see us at the
Helen G. King Alumni House – your UK home.
We hope you enjoy this issue of Kentucky Alumni magazine. As always, your feedback is appreciated — I love hearing
from you!
With Pride in Blue,

Kelli Elam ’11
Editor

Photo: Kelli Elam

It is with great pride
that we bring you the fall
2013 issue of Kentucky
Alumni magazine.
Happy Homecoming!
Even though I have
lived in central Kentucky
for several years now,
whenever someone asks
me where I’m from, I always say eastern Kentucky. In my mind I go back to a small farm at the head of
Rockhouse Creek on the Morgan and Magoffin counties line.
at will always be home. Home means different things to
each of us. For me, it carries with it feelings of comfort, welcome and love. It means family. It means long, hot days spent
in the tobacco patch, watching my dad watch over his cattle,
and, of course, mama’s cooking. It’s that and so much more.
I hope the University of Kentucky inspires some of the
same feelings of home and family in our alumni.
is issue is all about coming home to your alma mater.
Our cover story takes a look at Helen G. King, who had a vision of creating a home for alumni and friends of the University of Kentucky. Her dream and audacious spirit are still to
be admired today. On the 50th anniversary of the Helen G.
King Alumni House, we take a look back at the woman who
saw a great need for a place for alumni to call home on campus and simply refused to stop until it was done. I think it’s a
fastinating story. I knew that King served as director of the
UK Alumni Association from 1946 to 1969 and the building
where I make my professional home is named aer her, but
that is only the beginning. For example, did you know that
King was instrumental in getting the UK Athletics Association incorporated in the mid-1940s? I didn’t. She also was involved in the construction of several campus projects. But her
true legacy is the King Alumni House. She was tireless in the
pursuit of creating something much more than bricks and
mortar. She was determined to create a home.
ere is a lovely portrait of Helen King that hangs in the library of the King Alumni House. I recall seeing it for the first
time and thinking what an elegant woman. I will forever look
at the portrait with new respect. Now, I think what an elegant and inspiring woman.
Take a look at the aerial view of campus from the late 1950s
along with a recent photo on pages 22-23. e change is
quite remarkable. It’s hard to imagine that campus was once
in such a rural setting.
Also in this issue, see a full listing of events for the 2013
UK Homecoming along with the schedule for our Golden
Wildcats Reunion. Be sure to check out the 2013 Distin-

A portrait of Helen G. King hangs in the library of the house
named in her honor.

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* Presidential Conversation
Promises made. Promises kept.
600 freshman students as
they unloaded their cars,
met their suite mates and
made a home in these stateof-the-art facilities.
We took a bold step into
a new frontier for higher
education and eLearning.
e University of Kentucky recently announced a
partnership with Coursera,
a leading Massively Open
Online Course (MOOC)
platform, to create online courses that will help improve the
readiness and performance of current and incoming college students. Our first course is being designed to help students prepare
themselves for university-level chemistry classes and to support
current students in existing chemistry classes with supplemental
materials.
We are building on our success by focusing on the right things
for the right reasons ― investing in students, investing in people
and investing in the facilities that help make learning, research
and service possible. You are a part of our progress — part of our
promise. Your continued support is the difference maker for the
university and for Kentucky.
Mary Lynne and I greatly value your passion, and we look forward to seeing you in the near future.
“see blue.”

Eli Capilouto
President

Photo: Chris Crumrine

When walking on our campus at night, I oen visit the Kentucky Wall in the UK Chandler Hospital. On the video boards
in the atrium of Pavilion A, photographs fade in and out in a
digital collage of the Commonwealth. People, places and landscapes create a colorful tapestry that illustrates the spirit of our
state and cradles friends and family in search of solace as their
loved ones undergo treatment.
e faces of the Kentucky Wall remind me of our institution’s
important role as the state’s flagship and land-grant research university. ey are from all across the Commonwealth — black,
white, brown, old, young. ey call on the university to do more
for them and for Kentucky, asking us to be their champion on a
path toward a brighter future.
Despite the deep and longstanding efforts of many on campus
and throughout the state, we all know of the challenges that continue to confront Kentucky in categories such as income, education and health outcomes. e region served by the UK Markey
Cancer Center, for example, has the nation’s highest incident
rates of cancer and cancer-related deaths.
Even as the development of prevention and modern treatment
are making death less prevalent in the United States, in Kentucky
such rates remain stubbornly high. Families in the state and region we serve feel the full weight of cancer’s indiscriminate cruelty more than anyone else.
A new beacon of hope for patients and families shined bright
this summer when the UK Markey Cancer Center announced its
designation as a National Cancer Center by the National Cancer
Institute. is designation places UK among an elite group of 22
research universities with the triple crown of federal research
awards: NCI-designation, the Clinical Translational Sciences
Award and a federally supported Alzheimer’s Disease Center.
The company we keep in these areas means that UK is,
without question, among the top research universities in the
nation. More important, it means we are among the leaders
in confronting the great medical challenges of our time, and
— increasingly — finding treatments for those in our care.
Over the last several years because of the leadership, vision
and investment of those who came before me, we have gained
incredible momentum in our scientific research and health care
enterprise. In unique and impactful ways, we have begun translating that momentum on campus by revitalizing our infrastructure, improving the student experience and supporting
our faculty and staff.
e UK Board of Trustees approved Phase II-B of our publicprivate housing partnership with Memphis-based EdR. is
phase includes three additional buildings and completes the
Woodland Glen residential community located on the former
Cooperstown property. e new facilities will add more than
1,600 additional resident beds, four classrooms, 10 multipurpose
rooms and 41 study rooms.
As construction continued across campus, we opened the
doors to Central Halls I and II, the first two facilities completed
in our housing partnership. It was a pleasure to join more than

Central Halls I and II opened for the fall semester.

www.ukalumni.net

7

* UK News

Markey earns prestigious
National Cancer Institute Designation
e University of Kentucky Markey
Cancer Center was joined by national,
state and local leaders in July to celebrate
its designation as a National Cancer Institute cancer center. e UK Markey Cancer Center is the 68th medical center in
the country to receive this prestigious designation and is the only NCI-designated
cancer center in the state of Kentucky.
Earning NCI designation was a lengthy
process that required strong efforts in research, recruiting and improving many of
the programs at Markey. As a result of the
designation, patients will have access to
new drugs, treatment options and clinical
trials offered only at NCI centers. e
UK Markey Cancer Center will be able to
apply for federal research grants available
only to NCI-designated cancer centers,
with the potential to bring millions in additional funding to the area.
Additionally, the NCI designation allows Markey to communicate and collaborate on new advances in cancer care with
other NCI-designated cancer centers
across the country. Locally, Markey will
be able to increase community engagement, including volunteers, patient advi-

sory groups, and education and intervention programs.
UK also joins an elite group of medical
centers across the country who have
earned the “trifecta” of national federal
funding. UK is one of only 22 medical
centers in the United States that have
earned an NCI designation, have a federally funded Alzheimer’s disease center
(UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging),
and have earned the Clinical and Translational Science Awards grants.
“is is a historic day for the University
of Kentucky,” said UK President Eli Capilouto. “is is why we are here; beginning
today, with the National Cancer Institute’s
Markey Cancer Center, we will no longer
indulge the scourge of cancer in Kentucky."
As the major referral center for Central
and Eastern Kentucky, the designation
also strengthens UK HealthCare's overall
mission of ensuring no Kentuckian will
have to leave state lines to get access to
top-of-the-line health care.
“At UK HealthCare, we serve not only
Lexington and the Bluegrass region, but
all of Kentucky and beyond,” said Dr.
Michael Karpf, UK executive vice presi-

UK faculty named Fulbright recipients
Sponsored by the United States Department of State and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Fulbright
Program provides funding for professionals, teachers, students and scholars to undertake graduate study, advanced research,
university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools.
UK faculty members recently awarded
Fulbright grants are:
• Srimati Basu, an associate professor of
gender and women’s studies in the College of Arts and Sciences (India)
• Mel Coffee, an assistant professor of
journalism and telecommunications in
the School of Communication and Information (Republic of Zambia)
• Alan Fryar, an associate professor of
earth and environmental sciences in the

8

Fall 2013

College of Arts and Sciences (Morocco)
• Michael Samers, an associate professor
of geography in the College of Arts and
Sciences (Lille, France)
• Doug Slaymaker, an associate professor
of Japanese in the College of Arts and
Sciences (Tokyo, Japan)
• Paul Vincelli, a professor of plant
pathology in the College of Agriculture (Montevideo, Uruguay and
Nicaragua)
• Matthew Zook, an associate professor of
geography in the College of Arts and
Sciences (Tartu, Estonia)
Fulbright recipients are offered and accept their honors at various times
throughout the year, therefore, this list of
faculty recipients may not reflect the comprehensive list of all UK awardees. n

dent for health affairs. “Earning an NCI
designation is a stamp of approval that
means Markey is a first-class cancer center, comparable to the very best centers
in the country — we can assure our patients that no matter how ill they are, or
how complex their medical problems
are, we can care for them right here in
the state.”
NCI designation has been the goal for
Markey since Cancer Center Director Dr.
Mark Evers arrived in 2009.
“We’ve taken extraordinary steps in recent years to help combat cancer incidence and mortality, through promoting
preventative measures, improving current
treatments and patient access and facilitating cutting-edge cancer research,” Evers
said. “Our NCI designation will shine a
new light on this area in Kentucky and
allow us to take even bigger steps to improve cancer care and research in this
state through prevention programs and
clinical trials.”
Markey’s clinical and research work is
backed by the university, the Commonwealth of Kentucky and philanthropy
through the Markey Cancer Foundation. n

College gets new name
On July 1, the University of Kentucky
College of Agriculture became the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. Research, teaching and outreach
programs within the college encompass
farms, forests, food, fiber, families and
communities. n

UK Student Center
celebrating 75 years
e upcoming fall and spring semesters will see UK celebrating the 75th anniversary of the center with a series of
events. For more details, visit
www.uky.edu/studentcenter/anniversary n

* Blue Horizons

UK research focuses on
bringing back pollinators
Golf courses may provide a haven to rebuild dwindling pollinator populations,
which in turn could boost ecosystem
health and benefit everyone, according to
researchers in the University of Kentucky
College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. In a project called Operation Pollinator, Emily Dobbs, a graduate student in
entomology, and her advisor, UK entomology professor Dan Potter, are working with
five Lexington golf courses to attract pollinators and monarch butterflies by establishing areas of native wildflowers.
“e goal is for the wildflowers to provide a diverse group of pollinators with a
food source and refuge, and for the wildflower mixture to be a sustainable choice
for turf managers in Kentucky,” Dobbs says.
In the past five to 10 years, researchers
estimate that pollinator populations have
declined anywhere from 30 to 60 percent,
depending on the pollinator. Potter believes habitat loss and fragmentation
caused by urban development are the
main culprits.
“By augmenting pollinator habitat with
sites like these, we can help to conserve
their benefits for gardens and the like,”
Potter says. “In the case of monarchs,
these areas will provide stepping stones
for them, or weigh stations, as they mi-

grate from North America to Mexico
each winter.”
One wildflower mixture targets
monarch butterflies. Two other mixtures
were designed to attract bees native to
Kentucky, which includes small, solitary
bees like halictids and andrenids and
large, social bees like bumble bees.
Dobbs received help developing the
mixtures from Sharon Bale, UK extension
floriculturist, and Diane Wilson of Applewood Seed Company in Arvada, Colo.
All flowers used in the mixtures are native
to Kentucky and are either perennials or
self-seeding annuals. ey designed the
mixtures for season-long bloom, which
aids in aesthetics in addition to providing
the ideal pollinator habitat. us far,
some of the top performing species have
been lanceleaf coreopsis, plains coreopsis
and bergamot. n

Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences research
Bradley Gelfand, assistant professor
in the Department of Ophthalmology
and Visual Sciences at the UK College
of Medicine, has been awarded a research grant from the American Heart
Association to study atherosclerosis.
The grant will be used to determine
whether the same novel findings previously discovered in human age-related
macular degeneration also apply to
human atherosclerosis — in particular,
which levels and activity of the enzyme
Dicer are altered in the vessel wall during atherosclerotic lesion formation.
Dr. Mark E. Kleinman, assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the UK

College of Medicine, and principal investigator in the laboratory of ocular
biology and imaging, has been
awarded a research grant from the
American Federation for Aging Research to pursue his research on age-related macular degeneration.
Age-related macular degeneration is an
epidemic in the developed world and
the leading cause of irreversible vision
loss in people over 55 years old. The
research supported by this grant seeks
to resolve critical intersections in pathways leading to retinal cell death and
identify feasible approaches to noninvasively image retinal cell death in vivo
using fluorescent probes. n

Researchers investigate
mechanism of Alzheimer’s
Therapy
Researchers at the UK SandersBrown Center on Aging, led by faculty
member Donna Wilcock, have published a new paper in the Journal of
Neuroscience detailing an advance in
treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
Gammagard IVIg is a therapy that has
been investigated for treatment of the
disease and despite small clinical studies that have reported efficacy of the
approach, the mechanism of action is
poorly understood. UK set out to investigate the mechanism by which the
treatment may act in the brain to lower
amyloid deposition, a key pathology in
Alzheimer’s.
To conduct their investigation, researchers introduced IVIg directly into
the brains of mice which carry a
human gene causing them to develop
amyloid plaques. They found that IVIg
lowers amyloid deposits in the brains
of the mice over the course of seven
days. Their data suggest that the modulation of inflammation in the brain
by IVIg is a key event that leads to the
reduction in amyloid deposition. The
scientists hypothesize that the IVIg
acts as an immune modulator, and this
immune modulation is responsible for
the reductions in amyloid pathology.
The data suggests that modulating
the immune response in the brain may
help ameliorate the Alzheimer’s
pathology. Researchers are currently
investigating other ways to produce
the same modulation of the immune
response because the access of IVIg to
the brain when administered peripherally is very limited.

Compiled from news reports
about research at UK.
For more information about
research taking place at UK,
visit www.research.uky.edu

www.ukalumni.net

9

* New Developments

10

Fall 2013

* www.ukalumni.net

11

* New Developments

* www.ukalumni.net

13

* Youryears under one roof
UK Home:
50

Helen King watches as Richard Cooper, president of the UK Alumni
Association in 1965, hands UK President John Oswald, center,
a check from a donor.

14

Fall 2013

Photo: ExploreUK

By Linda Perry

* I

t’s only natural when University of Kentucky alumni hear the name “Helen
King” that they associate it with the years
of service that this one strong woman dedicated to furthering her alma mater and
the UK Alumni Association. Helen G.
King ’25 CI, director of the UK Alumni
Association from 1946 to1969, tirelessly
pursued whatever she thought best for the
university and its alumni.
But how many of us also know that
this petite go-getter was instrumental in
getting the UK Athletics Association incorporated? at’s right, King and several others — for example, M. E. Potter,
head of the UK Department of Physical
Education, and Guy Huguelet, active in
the alumni association — joined forces
to help make the athletics organization
an independent entity in the mid-1940s.
But that’s not all. King had a “hand” in
the construction of several familiar campus landmarks, starting with McLean
Stadium on Stoll Field. Understanding
the benefits of philanthropy at an early
age, King, while a UK student, helped
with fundraising for the stadium, which
was completed in 1924.
Aer graduation, King worked in several advertising jobs before her first position at UK in the Public Relations
department. Later she accepted the position as director of the UK Alumni Association, operating out of an office in the
UK Student Union. She quickly became
aware of the importance of an alumni facility — a lovely gathering place for UK
alumni, faculty and friends to enjoy special events.
“I dogged the presidents, first Donovan and then Dickey, about establishing
an alumni/faculty club where the alumni
and faculty could become better acquainted and develop a rapport,” King
told Terry Birdwhistell, now dean of UK
Libraries, during an interview in 1977
for the UK Louie B. Nunn Center for
Oral History.

tell that UK President Frank Dickey and
Gov. Happy Chandler had decided that
the beautiful house on the Coldstream
property was too nice a building to turn
into offices. “Frank Dickey said to the
governor, ‘Helen King has been crying
for an alumni/faculty club. If she can
raise the money to activate it and decorate it, may she have it?’ And Happy
said, ‘at’s fine with me,’” related King.
King threw herself into the project and
quickly identified a potential benefactor
by the name of James W. Carnahan,
1896 AS, a businessman in Chicago, Ill.
Aer three visits to Carnahan, she got a
pledge from him for $65,000 to activate
and decorate the house, and the university subsequently named the building the
Carnahan House in his honor. It was one
of the first buildings that became available for use as a club for UK alumni, faculty and staff, beginning in 1958. A few
years later it became clear a larger alumni
facility was needed and events shied to
Spindletop Hall, which had been acquired by the university from the Miles
Yount family, famous for an oil field
called Spindletop in Texas.
It was inevitable that an alumni gathering place on campus would eventually be
necessary, one that could also house a
growing staff.
Here begins the story of Helen King’s
fundraising drive for the current 50-yearold facility on Rose Street, for she knew
that it was important for alumni to feel

connected to their alma mater. What better way than to have a comfortable place
on campus so that alumni can reconnect
with their former classmates and professors? Her dream was that an alumni/faculty house would be a place for business
and social meetings, recreation and the enjoyment of friendships, and where faculty
and staff could have a large and lovely
house in which to entertain.

Fundraising for a campus
alumni house

In 1959 King and the UK Alumni Association Executive Committee
launched the Century Club drive, with a
goal of $250,000 to meet the acute needs
of the university, such as financial recognition for outstanding faculty, assistance
to some student organizations, continuation of the scholarship program, and
helping to maintain the university’s educational standards among the highest in
the country.
But most important, the fund would
provide for construction of a building to
house alumni offices and activities and
serve other university functions, such as
faculty and student seminars and conferences, solving an on-campus need of the
university which had been apparent for
many years. e objective was to enroll
500 members who would give $100 each
year for five years to amass $250,000 by
the university’s centennial in 1965. at
way UK alumni would be making a sub-

Her efforts paid off and eventually an
opportunity presented itself. Coldstream
Farm had been acquired by the university for potential use for the UK Medical
Center. e property already had a huge
home situated on it. King told Birdwhis-

UK students patiently waited for their turn for food and to
participate in games and prizes during the 2012 Welcome
Back Cookout at the King Alumni House.

www.ukalumni.net

15

Photo: Jeff Hounshell

Early alumni dwellings

* The King Alumni House has provided accommodations for special occasions, such as during Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s visit
to campus in 1999 officially marking “50 Years of the UK African-American Legacy.” Derrick Ramsey ’83 AS, right, now the
director of athletics for Coppin State University, was happy to be able to meet with Tutu, a South African social rights activist.
“One of the highlights of my professional career was to be a part of the celebration of 50 year