video courtesy of UK Public Relations & Marketing

article by Jenny Wells

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 7, 2013) — In addition to research presentations, the 2014 National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) will offer numerous volunteer opportunities for the entire campus community when the University of Kentucky hosts the conference April 3-5, 2014. From helping direct traffic, to managing technology, to just helping students find where they need to go, there will be a variety of positions available to students, faculty and staff.

Students will have even more flexibility to get involved, as the University Senate has given permission for faculty to redirect their classes April 3 and 4 so students can attend conference events and presentations. 

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by Sarah Geegan 

UK Confucius Institute Director Huajing Maske describes the UK Faculty China Short-Term Teaching Program as "groundbreaking" for several reasons.

First of all, the numbers are groundbreaking. The program, which provides teaching stints by embedding American professors in the departments of partner universities in China, involved faculty members from several non-China institutions. In the program's inaugural year, UK's 29 faculty at Shanghai University represented nearly half of the overall faculty cohort.

"It was quite impressive to see how strong the UK numbers were among the faculty participating in the short-term teaching program," Maske said. "UK was by far

video courtesy of UK Public Relations and Marketing

article by Jenny Wells

Planning and hosting a national conference is no easy task, but for the UK community, collaboration makes it all possible. The University of Kentucky will host the 2014 National Conference on Undergraduate Research, or NCUR, next semester, which will bring nearly 4,000 additional students from across the country to the UK campus. And as students, faculty and staff can attest -- it is something worth bragging about.

NCUR will take place April 3-5, 2014, all throughout UK's campus. The conference will give undergraduates a unique opportunity to present their research and creative endeavors, while meeting other like-minded students from all across the country. They not only promote their individual

By Sarah Geegan

When UK chemistry professor Susan Odom was asked about one of her students at the 244th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia, her answer rendered her colleagues speechless.

Her colleague's question: "How many years of graduate school has she completed?" Odom's response: "She's still in high school."

Her student, Corrine “Nina” Elliott, works to synthesize and study new compounds for overcharge protection in lithium-ion batteries — essentially creating chemicals which can be added to batteries to make them safer and more efficient. Elliott won first place in chemistry at her regional and state science fair competitions, and presented this research at the Intel International Science Fair,

by Jay Blanton

video by UK Public Relations and Marketing.

University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto Thursday praised the partnership of Gov. Steve Beshear and legislative leaders who are strongly supporting UK's self-financing of a dramatic $275 million transformation of the campus.

"We are here this morning because of your leadership and your willingness to partner with us, as educational institutions, united to provide Kentucky with the best education, research and service," Capilouto said at a Frankfort news conference with the governor and legislative leaders who are supporting UK's proposal. "In offering your support for us to self-finance facilities that will help dramatically improve and transform our campuses, you are voicing your faith in Kentucky's

By Gail Hairston, Amy Jones, Kody Kiser

Six University of Kentucky professors were honored last night by the UK Alumni Association for the excellence they demonstrate in the classroom.

Click here for a transcription of the video above.

This year’s recipients of the 2012 Great Teacher Awards are:

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky departments of Statistics and Biostatistics have long been the campus consultants for making sense of all sorts of data.

"Quantitative data and analysis is vital to research in a data driven world, including many dissertations, but many students feel overwhelmed when they have to design their own studies or analyze real data, so they look to our department," said statistics Professor Arne Bathke of the College of Arts and Sciences. "They often know very precisely which research question they want to answer, but often they don’t know the most efficient and powerful way to collect the data, and how to make sense of it once it has been collected."

At the beginning of

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

A visiting Fulbright Scholar will give an insider's perspective on the past, present and future of Iraq at the University of Kentucky tomorrow.

Mohammed Saeed, a Fulbright Scholar in the Department of Statistics pursuing a master's in public health in UK's College of Public Health, will discuss the "Recent History of Iraq, U.S. Involvement and War and Current Issues" at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29, in the William T. Library. There will be a reception in the Keeneland Room after Saeed's talk.

Saeed was born and raised in Baghdad and arrived at UK in 2010 after receiving a Fulbright scholarship. 

The visiting scholar plans to discuss the Iraq-Iran War; the Gulf War; life under Saddam Hussein's

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences will host a trailblazing American diplomat next week to continue the college's Year of China initiative.

Former U.S. Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch will speak on “Leadership and Education in a Globalizing World: China’s Challenge” at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, in Room 118 of the White Hall Classroom Building on UK's campus.

Bloch’s talk, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the "Passport to China: Global Issues & Local Understanding" course taught by UK sociology Professor Keiko Tanaka.

Ambassador Bloch, the first Asian-American ambassador in American history, has had a broad career in U.S. government service. She is currently president of the U.S.-China Education Trust, a nonprofit

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

A University of Kentucky statistics professor's summer teaching trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was the final component in forming an international partnership between UK and a newly merged higher education institution at the source of the Blue Nile.

College of Arts and Sciences statistics Professor Arne Bathke oversaw the signing of the partnership agreement between UK and Bahir Dar University during a scholarly visit to Africa in May, The agreement establishes international faculty, student, study abroad and research collaboration for years to come.

"I didn't expect the partnership to happen so quickly," said Susan Carvalho, associate provost for

The son of a naval architect/marine engineer, Steven C. Grambow credits his father for putting him on the path to hard sciences.

“He was my biggest influence. At a relatively young age he was the chief engineer and naval architect of a World War II Navy Shipyard in Sausalito, CA that at its peak had over 20,000 employees. He went on to have a long and successful career as an engineer and project manager in international mining and minerals. He had a brilliant mind and enjoyed studying math, physics and general science as a hobby. It definitely rubbed off on me.”

Grambow grew up in Northern California and started college at UCLA, decided to take a break for a year, and then finished his undergraduate math degree (with an emphasis in statistics) at California State University at Chico.

“One of my stats professors at Chico, Neil Schwertman, one of

In an effort to streamline and centralize statistical consulting activities on campus, a new Applied Statistics Laboratory (ASL) will launch July 2011. The main objectives of this venture are to provide improved statistical services to groups preparing grant proposals, direct faculty involvement from the Departments of Statistics and Biostatistics for study design and data analysis throughout UK, foster collaborative research between scholars who develop quantitative methodology and those who use such methodology in their work, and to become a resource which may be referenced in institutional support for larger grants, in addition to direct statistical support typically included in such grants.



“We envision improved breadth and quality of statistical support for scholarship across the University,” said Arne Bathke, Founding Director of the ASL, but he also

UK Statistics Professor Arne Bathke was interviewed on WUKY about current research and projects coming out of the UK Statistics department. Bathke has long understood the importance of interdisciplinary work, and UK Statistics was recently ranked 16th of the nation's private and public universities. 

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William Rayens, UK professor of statistics in the College of Arts and Sciences, will deliver the annual Chellgren Center Lecture 1 p.m. Friday, April 8, in room 246 of the Whitehall Classroom Building. His lecture is titled "A Comparison of Concrete and Virtual Manipulatives for Learning Statisical Concepts." The lecture is free and open to the UK faculty and anyone who is interested.

This Chellgren Center Lecture series, implemented by the Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence, represents an opportunity for the UK community, particularly the faculty, to learn about best practices, key issues and challenges, strategies for improving instruction, and ways in which curricular innovation can enrich the

Kentucky Department for Energy Development and Independence (DEDI) policy analysts Aron Patrick and Alan Waddell were working intensely to complete the department's first edition of the Kentucky Energy Profile in mid-2010, when they encountered a problem of powerful proportion.

 

Since 1990, two federal agencies, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Energy Information Administration (EIA), have shared the responsibility of monitoring fuel shipments to electric generating facilities within the United States. 

 

The P-12 Math and Science Outreach Unit of the Partnership Institute for Mathematics and Science Education Reform  (PIMSER) was recently awarded $780,000 in state grant funds. The Math and Science Partnership Award from the Kentucky Department of Education will aid in the development of a Science Leadership Support Network (SLSN) in central and eastern Kentucky.



In order to facilitate the growth of the STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, PIMSER plays a vital role in public outreach programs at UK. These programs enhance learning in the STEM disciplines by working with Kentucky students as well as providing support, training, and resources for K-16 teachers.

University of Kentucky alum James Booth has found a perfect combination in statistics and genetics.

A Blackpool, England native, Booth studied at the University of Leeds before coming to the United States to study in the Bluegrass. He earned his undergraduate degree in mathematics and his master’s degree in statistics at Leeds before looking at Ph.D. programs.

“I decided to go to the United States for my graduate program and I really only looked at three universities,” Booth said. Those three were Florida State University, Cornell University and UK.

UK professor Joe Gani was well-known among math and statistics faculty at Leeds and Booth ultimately headed to Kentucky in January 1982.

Booth landed in New York before heading south. “It was the first time I came to America and

PhD Student

by Rebekah Tilley

photos by Mark Cornelison

Any person involved in academic research knows there is no way to avoid the field of statistics. Somewhere along the way you have to have a working knowledge of it. Statistics touches everything.

It was this very aspect of the field that captivated Angela Schörgendorfer, now a fourth year doctoral student in the UK Department of Statistics. “I’m a math person. I like doing math that I know will be applied to something. That was what intrigued me about statistics. You can use it for medical research, any kind of social science, and just about anything.” 

Schörgendorfer experienced the wide-ranging application of the field as a statistical consultant to the UK College of Agriculture where she worked on over 100 projects during a two-year period. The