xt71ns0kv471 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt71ns0kv471/data/mets.xml Lexington, Kentucky University of Kentucky Alumni Association 2015 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. 86, no. 1, Spring 2015 text Kentucky Alumni, vol. 86, no. 1, Spring 2015 2015 2015 true xt71ns0kv471 section xt71ns0kv471 * W HY NOT NO W ?
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* Spring 2015 • Volume 86 • Number 1

R. Benjamin ’79:
’62
Features Barbara RiceSpaceAFE hasinspent 25 years with 12 Gerald blue and making a difference
seeing
the Johnson
Center Houston, Texas.
ON THE COVER
A former UK scholarship

Barbara Rice: A lofty career

16 helping NASA with nutrition

Barbara Rice ’62 AFE has forged a long career at NASA
studying the nutritional needs of astronauts before, during
and after their space flights in the Human Adaptation and
Countermeasures Group.

By Robin Roenker

recipient achieved success and
now helps UK move forward
in transformational ways.
Revolution in Black and Blue:
Wagner documentary showcases
UK’s role in integrating SEC football
Paul Wagner ’70 AS, ’72 CI wants to set the record straight.

20

By Hal Morris

Greta Holtz:

24 Serving America’s international goals

Greta Holtz ’84 GS has
served in Saudi Arabia,
Yemen, Tunisia, Syria, Iraq,
Turkey and now is
ambassador in Oman.
By Robin Roenker

26

Jim Duff: Bringing order to the courts
As director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts,
Jim Duff ’75 AS assists the chief justice in the operation of the
federal judiciary, which includes more than 2,000 judges.
By Vickie Mitchell

Photos: Submitted

28

We salute the 2015
Great Teacher Award recipients
Each year, the UK Alumni Association recognizes six
professors for outstanding teaching, and this year’s
recipients are once again distinguished faculty
members who are appreciated by their students.

Departments
4 Pride In Blue
7 Presidential Conversation
8 UK News
11 Blue Horizons
32 Wildcat Sports
34 Alumni Clubs

40
52
54
55
56

Class Notes
In Memoriam
Creative Juices
Retrospect
Quick Take

www.ukalumni.net

1

* Where Wildcats have
banked for over 75 years.

Your savings federally insured to at least $250,000
and backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government

NCUA

National Credit Union Administration, a U.S. Government Agency

www.ukfcu.org

859.264.4200

* How To Reach Us

University of Kentucky
Alumni Magazine
Vol.86 No. 1
Kentucky Alumni (ISSN 732-6297) is
published quarterly by the University of
Kentucky Alumni Association, Lexington,
Kentucky for its dues-paying members.
© 2015 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
Publications Production Assistant: Hal Morris

Kelly R. Allgeier ’08: Alumni Career Counselor
Brenda Bain: Records Data Entry Operator
Linda Brumfield: Account Clerk III
Sara-Elizabeth Bush ’13: Program Coordinator
Nancy Culp: Administrative Services Assistant
Caroline Francis ’88, ’93, ’02: Alumni Career Counselor
Update Your Record
Leslie Hayes: Membership and Marketing Specialist
UK Alumni Association
Kelly V. Hinkel ’11: Staff Support Associate I
King Alumni House
John Hoagland ’89: Associate Director
Lexington, KY 40506-0119
Diana Horn ’70, ’71: Principal Accountant
Telephone: 859-257-8800
Albert Kalim ’03: Webmaster
Fax: 859-323-1063
Randall Morgan: IS Tech Support
E-mail: ukalumni@uky.edu
Katie Murphy: Membership Specialist
Brenda Riddle: Membership Specialist
Web: www.ukalumni.net
For duplicate mailings, please send both Ashley Ritchie: Marketing & Communications Coordinator
Darlene Simpson: Senior Data Entry Operator
mailing labels to the address above.
Jill Smith ’05, ’11: Associate Director
Alyssa ornton ’11: Program Coordinator
Member of the Council for Advancement
Loraine Verrette: Staff Support Associate I
and Support of Education
Frances White: Data Entry Operator

Board of Directors
Officers
Elaine A. Wilson ’68 SW - President
David B. Ratterman ’68 EN - President-elect
Peggy S. Meszaros ’72 ED - Treasurer
Stan R. Key ’72 ED - Secretary
District
Michelle Leigh Allen ’06 ’10 BE
Jeffrey L. Ashley ’89 CI
Lisa G. Atkinson ’92 CI
William G. Bacon Jr. ’82 MED
Trudy Webb Banta ’63 ’65 ED
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
Emmett “Buzz” Burnam ’74 ED
John S. Cain, ’86 BE
Shane T. Carlin, ’95 AFE
Rebecca F. Caudill ’72 ’76 ED
Dr. Michael A. Christian ’76 AS, ’80 DE
Judith G. Clabes ’67 AS
Elizabeth Cox ’69 AS
D. Michael Coyle ’62 BE, ’65 LAW
Bruce E. Danhauer ’77 AFE
Ruth C. Day ’85 BE
Eugene L. DuBow, ’53 AS
Philip D. Elder, ’86 AFE
Abra Endsley ’98 ’01 CI
Linda L. Frye ’60 AS
Robert Michael Gray, ’80 ’81 BE
Wallace E. Herndon Jr. ’67 BE
Derrick C. Hord ’83 CI
Ann Nelson Hurst ’80 BE
Lee A. Jackson ’70 SCC, ’73 AS
Patricia Wykstra Johnson ’68 AS, ’70 ED
Jim Keenan ’90 BE, ’93 LAW
Shelia M. Key ’91 PHA
Turner LaMaster ’73 BE
omas K. Mathews, ’93 AS
James D. McCain ’81 BE
Herbert A. Miller Jr. ’72 AS, ’76 LAW
Ashley S. “Tip” Mixson III, ’80 BE
Sherry R. Moak ’81 BE
Susan P. Mountjoy ’72 ED
Susan V. Mustian ’84 BE

Hannah M. Myers ’93 ED
Kimberly Parks ’01 BE
Quintissa S. Peake ’04 CI
Nicholas C. Phelps, ’08 BE
Chad D. Polk ’94 DES
James A. Richardson ’70 AS, ’72 ED
David A. Rodgers ’80 EN
Charlene K. Rouse ’77 DES
Philip Schardein, ’02 BE
Mary L. Shelman ’81 EN
Marian Moore Sims ’72 ’76 ED
J. Fritz Skeen ’72 ’73 BE
George B. Spragens ’93 BE
Mary Kekee Szorcsik ’72 BE
Reese S. Terry Jr. ’64 ’66 EN
Craig M. Wallace ’79 EN
Rachel L. Webb ’05 CI
Lori E. Wells ’96 BE
Crystal M. Williams ’97 BE
Amelia B. Wilson ’03 AFE, ’06 ’11 ED

Alumni Trustees
Cammie DeShields Grant ’77 LCC, ’79 ED
Kelly Sullivan Holland ’93 AS, ’98 ED
Terry B. Mobley ’65 ED
Appointed
Katie Eiserman ’01 ED - Athletics
omas W. Harris ’85 AS - University Relations
D. Michael Richey ’74 ’79 AFE - Development
Bobby C. Whitaker ’58 CI - Honorary
Mariel Bridges Jackson - Student Government Association
Vacant - University Senate

Past Presidents
George L. Atkins Jr. ’63 BE
eodore B. Bates ’52 AFE
Richard A. Bean ’69 BE
Michael A. Burleson ’74 PHA
Bruce K. Davis ’71 LAW
Scott E. Davis ’73 BE
Marianne Smith Edge ’77 AFE
Franklin H. Farris Jr. ’72 BE
At Large
Dr. Paul E. Fenwick ’52 AFE
R. Price Atkinson ’97 CI
William G. Francis ’68 AS, ’73 LAW
Jo Hern Curris ’63 AS, ’75 LAW
W. P. Friedrich ’71 EN
Antoine Huffman ’05 CI
Dan Gipson ’69 EN
Matt Minner ’93 AS
Brenda B. Gosney ’70 HS, ’75 ED
Will Nash ’06 AS
Cammie DeShields Grant ’77 LCC, ’79 ED
Jane C. Pickering, ’74 ED
John R. Guthrie ’63 CI
Ann B. Haney ’71 AS
College
Diane M. Massie ’79 CI
Michelle McDonald ’84 AFE, ’92 ED - Agriculture
Robert E. Miller
P. J. Williams ’91 AS - Arts & Sciences
John C. Nichols II ’53 BE
James B. Bryant ’67 BE - Business & Economics
Dr. George A. Ochs IV ’74 DE
Jeremy L. Jarvi ’02 CI - Communication & Information Sandra Bugie Patterson ’68 AS
Dr. Clifford J. Lowdenback ’99 AS, ’03 DE - Dentistry
Robert F. Pickard ’57 ’61 EN
Lu Ann Holmes ’79 DES - Design
Paula L. Pope ’73 ’75 ED
Martha Elizabeth Randolph ’83 BE, ’87 ’92 ED - Education G. David Ravencra ’59 BE
Taunya Phillips ’87 EN, ’04 BE - Engineering
William Schuetze ’72 LAW
Tony R. Rollins ’97 FA - Fine Arts
David L. Shelton ’66 BE
Barbara R. Sanders ’72 AS, ’76 ED - Health Sciences
J. Tim Skinner ’80 DES
Christy Trout ’02 LAW - Law
James W. Stuckert ’60 EN, ’61 BE
Dr. Emery R. Wilson ’68 ’72 MED - Medicine
Julia K. Tackett ’68 AS, ’71 LAW
Patricia K. Howard ’83 ’90 ’04 NUR - Nursing
Hank B. ompson Jr. ’71 CI
Lynn Harrelson ’73 PHA - Pharmacy
Myra L. Tobin ’62 AFE
Jennifer L. Knight ’03 ’10 PH - Public Health
J. omas Tucker ’56 BE
Willis K. Bright Jr. ’66 SW - Social Work
Henry Wilhoit Jr. ’60 LAW
Richard M. Womack ’53 AFE

www.ukalumni.net

3

* Pride In Blue

A year to celebrate greatness!
It’s with great pride
that we bring you the
2015 spring issue of
Kentucky Alumni
magazine.
You will never
convince me that time
doesn’t somehow move
faster now. It’s hard to
believe that it is 2015.
Doesn’t it seem like just last year we were ushering in 2000
and fearing the world’s end?
2015 is a big deal for many reasons. It’s certainly a year to
celebrate greatness around here. First, the University of Kentucky marked the 150th anniversary of its founding in February. ink about that for a moment. ink of all the
monumental things that have happened in the world during
this span of time. Our university has been right here through
it all. It’s incredible to me to think about all the people who
have been a part of shaping UK into what it is today. Just
think for a moment about all the students, faculty, staff and
alumni who contributed to the rich history of the University
of Kentucky. We are all part of the hashtag #WeAreUK.
Here’s to the next 150 years!
We will also celebrate the UK Alumni Association Hall of
Distinguished Alumni as we welcome the Class of 2015 inductees in April. Every five years, we recognize a select
group of outstanding alumni for their distinguished contributions to the Commonwealth and the nation in their fields
of endeavor. If you want to be impressed, you don’t have to
look any further than the members of this prestigious
group. You can find a complete listing of all inductees at
www.ukalumni.net/HODA.
Speaking of impressive, our cover story this issue just happens to be a member of our Hall of Distinguished Alumni.
Barbara Rice was inducted in 2010. I had the pleasure of
meeting her at the awards ceremony. In her role as research
dietitian working at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, she has studied the nutritional needs of astronauts
before, during and aer space flights for over 25 years. at
certainly gives new meaning to the age-old question, “What’s
for supper?” Just as impressive, Rice followed her four older
sisters to UK. ey all graduated with degrees in home economics. Now, that’s a family legacy!

4

Spring 2015

The UK Alumni Association Great Teacher Award has
been recognizing excellence in the classroom since 1961.
This year’s award recipients (featured on Pages 28-29) certainly continue the tradition of outstanding teaching and
dedication to students.
Also in this issue, read about Greta Holtz, the U.S. ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, a prosperous nation situated
southeast of Saudi Arabia on the Arabian Peninsula. Read
about how a summer European backpacking trip during college eventually led to her lifelong career in Middle Eastern
diplomacy. Her story makes my mind wander around the
world. Get to know Jim Duff. He is the former CEO of the
Newseum, the Washington museum that educates the public
about the importance of the First Amendment, and president
and CEO of the affiliated, nonpartisan Freedom Forum.
Now, he has returned to a job he held from 2006-2011. At
the request of Chief Justice Roberts, he became director of
the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
You will want to read about academy award-winning documentarian Paul Wagner’s commitment to telling the story
of UK breaking the color barrier for football in the Southeastern Conference. He is working on a documentary that
will share the story of Nate Northington and Greg Page becoming the first African Americans to sign with an SEC
school in 1965, and how two years later, Wilbur Hackett
and Houston Hogg continued to tear down barriers.
We also introduce you to J.D. Shelburne, an aspiring
country music singer who has kept his day job — and keeps
right on singing and performing. We also catch up with former Wildcat All-American Tony Delk, who is a part of the
SEC Network college basketball broadcast team. He offers
great insight into the game.
Finally, I hope you enjoy this issue of Kentucky Alumni
magazine as much as I enjoy sharing it with you. Kentucky
Alumni magazine is another way we say “thank you” to our
members. We couldn’t do what we do without you! As
always, I welcome your feedback.
With Pride in Blue,

Kelli Elam ’11
Editor

* * Page

WILDCATS ON THE MOVE
Another member benefit from the
University of Kentucky Alumni Association

“Preferential Wildcat Treatment”
•
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•
•
•

Minimum of 55% discount on all interstate moves
Free full value coverage up to $50,000 on relocations
Guaranteed on-time pick-up and delivery available
Personalized attention from start to finish
Sanitized Air-ride Vans

Contact Tom Larkins (The Wildcat Relocator)
for details on this program

1.800.899.2527
or email him at tom.larkins@atlanticrelocation.com

U.S. DOT No. 125550

Atlantic Relocation Systems
Interstate Agent for

ATLAS VAN LINES
6314 31st Street East
Sarasota, FL 34243
A portion of the proceeds collected
from the transportation costs will be
paid to the UK Alumni Association.

Tell your UK story with a
commemorative brick paver
and help raise money
for scholarships!
www.wildcatalumniplaza.com – 800-269-ALUM(2586)

6

Spring 2015

* Presidential Conversation
A university for Kentucky
" I gleaned the remains of my life, turned toward the
hills that give me help, give me shelter, hold the sky where
it belongs."
— Jane Hicks
What began as a mild winter gave way to Mother Nature’s
fury at the end of February. The University of Kentucky was
planning to host its Board of Trustees meeting in Hazard, but
historic snowfall kept us in Lexington.
Why Hazard? From the October Trustees Retreat, your
board expressed a desire to see more of the state we serve. It
was an enticing opportunity to spend more time in and with
the communities where our students are from, many of our
faculty work, our Extension agents serve and where our clinicians and partners heal.
Over the last several months, we’ve been sharing and discussing the special relationship and partnership the University of Kentucky has with the Central Appalachian region.
We launched a new series of stories, “Rooted in Our Communities: The University of Kentucky in Appalachia,” that examines the myriad ways in which UK faculty, staff and
students are working in — and, more important, with —
communities throughout the mountains. Those stories and
other compelling features can be found at www.uky.edu/appalachia.
These stories bring to life the significant challenges and
even more promising opportunities that exist not only in
Eastern Kentucky, but throughout our Commonwealth in
areas such as health care, energy and conservation, education
and economic development.
One of those stories is our partnership with the Shaping
Our Appalachian Region initiative, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, Appalachian Regional Commission and Appalachian Regional
Hospitals. With these partners, UK is engaged in a five-year,
$1.5 million project to help patients with cancer navigate the
often confusing and growing system of treatment options. We

are also developing a
three-week initiative to
train community leaders
and health-care leaders in
the mountains.
From unlocking
through research the mysteries of disease at the cellular level to engaging in
evidenced-based approaches to problems at
the community level, UK
is investing in micro interventions that, taken together, offer the promise of macrolevel change. These are just two examples of the dozens of
programs and initiatives ongoing at UK that total nearly
$350 million.
This work and the stories captured through the UK in Appalachia initiative celebrate and promote the incredible culture and heritage of the region, as well as the progress we’ve
made together. The richness of the mountains emboldens our
shared effort and the promise of tomorrow.
At the University of Kentucky, we take pride in the fact that
our 150-year legacy of education, research, service and care
means that we are — in creative and compelling ways — the
university for Kentucky.
In Appalachia, that service and those partnerships are
deeply rooted and grounded in a sense of community, in a
spirit of partnership, with the idea that we, too, look toward
the hills — for help and shelter, for partnership and meaning,
for stronger communities and for a brighter future for our
Commonwealth.

Eli Capilouto
President

www.ukalumni.net

7

* UK News

UK HealthCare has opened its first Observation Unit at the UK Chandler Hospital. Across the nation, observation units
are increasingly being used to provide high
quality, safe and efficient care to patients
who come to the Emergency Department
and are too sick to be discharged home
and need additional evaluation.
In the 24-bed unit located adjacent to the
UK Chandler Emergency Department, patients with symptoms such as chest pain,
abdominal pain, dehydration or syncope
(fainting or passing out) will be managed
and cared for up to 24 hours until either
discharged or admitted as an in-patient for
more intensive care. e patient will remain
as an outpatient while in the unit.
Studies show benefits of patients cared
for in observation units include better
clinical outcomes, greater patient satisfaction, less diagnostic uncertainty and
improvements in the use of hospital resources and staff.
“ere are times when a patient doesn’t
meet criteria set by Medicaid or
Medicare to be admitted to the hospital
but as a physician you just don’t feel that
they are well enough to be sent home,”
said Dr. Romil Chadha, medical director

Photo: UK Healthcare

New Observation Unit at UK HealthCare

of the Chandler Observation Unit. “is
unit allows us to monitor them for an extended amount of time and ensure they
get the care they need.”
The new unit, which opened with 12
beds, will eventually expand to 24 beds

and provide patient care with close collaboration among Hospital Medicine,
Emergency Medicine and Cardiology
to provide prompt, high quality and
efficient observation care. n

Family and Consumer Sciences Extension personnel honored
an early, influential Extension educator and their program’s
centennial anniversary with a historical marker. e marker
was unveiled in December outside of the Myrtle Weldon Suite
in the E.S. Good Barn on campus.
“ousands of agents have served the people of Kentucky
over the last century. It is fitting that we also recognize Myrtle
Weldon on the same marker. She had the initial vision for what
has become the FCS extension program in 2014,” said Ann
Vail, assistant director of UK Family and Consumer Sciences
Extension, during the ceremony.
In Kentucky, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension programming began in 1914 when UK hired 17 county Extension
agents to teach food preservation. Weldon became state leader
of the then UK Home Economics Extension program in 1924.
Weldon oversaw the program grow in educational emphasis
and in agent numbers during her 31-year tenure. In addition,
she played an instrumental role in the beginnings of the Kentucky Extension Homemakers Association, a group that
formed in 1932. n

8

Spring 2015

Photo: UK Ag Communications Services

UK unveils historical marker

From left to right, Bob Weldon, Ann Vail and Jimmy Henning
unveil the newest historical marker at UK.

* UK News

UK celebrates December graduates
bright Commission Summer Session last
year, spending a month in Berlin.
e university also awarded honorary
doctorates. One went to Brady Deaton,
former chancellor of the University of
Missouri-Columbia and chairman of the
Board for International Food and Agricultural Development. Don Jacobs also
received an honorary doctorate. He is
co-founder of the Don Jacobs Organization, one of Central Kentucky’s largest
family-owned car dealerships. Don
Jacobs and his wife Cathy Jacobs have
served as leading donors for many university projects, such as the Don and
Cathy Jacobs Health Education Center
at the new Pavilion A in the Albert B.
Chandler Hospital. n

Photo: UK Public Relations & Marketing

ere were 839 undergraduates and 125
graduate and professional students who
were expected to participate in the Commencement Ceremonies that were held inside Memorial Coliseum in December.
A total of 1,357 undergraduate degrees, 536 graduate degrees and 22 professional degrees were conferred for
August and December 2014.
Lauren ompson of Louisville was
the 2014 December Commencement
student speaker. e communication
major has spent her time at UK participating in the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the National Association of Black
Accountants, Ad Club and serving as a
UK 101 Peer Instructor. She was also selected for the German-American Ful-

UK earns 2015 Community Engagement Classification
Recognizing UK’s commitment to its surrounding local, national and global communities, the Carnegie Foundation for
the Advancement of Teaching selected the university to receive
the 2015 Community Engagement Classification.
“The success of our reclassification efforts is the result of
the efforts of a committed group of campus stakeholders
who contributed their expertise, time and knowledge in the
drafting of the report,” said Katherine McCormick, professor of interdisciplinary early childhood education and James
W. and Diane V. Stuckert Endowed Professor in ServiceLearning, who chaired the team responsible for completing
the application process.
e classification recognizes institutions that provide evidence of substantial engagement and contribution to their
communities. A significant achievement, institutions complete

a two-year long application process. UK also received the 2010
Community Engagement Classification.
In a letter to McCormick, the Carnegie Foundation and New
England Resource Center for Higher Education praised the
university, saying that UK’s report “documented excellent
alignment among campus mission, culture, leadership, resources, and practices that support dynamic and noteworthy
community engagement.”
“Prominent in the reclassification application was the work
of the colleges, the Center for the Enhancement of Learning
and Teaching, the Center for Community Outreach in the Division of Student Affairs, the Office of Community Engagement, the University of Kentucky International Center and the
Office of the Associate Provost, Division of Undergraduate Education,” said McCormick. n

UK Art goes 3D
As the Smithsonian Castle displayed the first 3D-printed
bust of a U.S. president, students in one UK art course
wrapped up a semester learning how to not only create art with
the assistance of a 3D printer, but also to build 3D printers.
e concept for the new course came from a suggestion by
Derek Eggers, senior faculty instructional consultant with the
UK Center for Enhancement of Learning and Teaching, and
Jeremy Colbert, a facilities specialist in metal arts at the UK
School of Art and Visual Studies. Eggers then teamed up with
senior lecturer James Wade in sculpture and art foundations to
design a 3D printing course that would teach students to not
only use the printer but also build one from kits, capitalizing

on the wealth of open source information available.
Initially imagined for model making and prototyping, opportunities to use 3D technology have boomed in recent years.
More and more, the forms produced by printers can now be
used as the final product. And the industry is pushing the
realm of possibilities even further by transforming them into
other materials using casting and mold making processes, making this another tool in the inventory.
Egger and Wade’s course, “A-S 390: Hybrid Fabrication,” is
cross disciplinary and open to all majors with the goal of creating interaction between several departments and colleges on
campus — engineering, art, media, agriculture and design. n
www.ukalumni.net

9

* * Blue Horizons

UK study on campus tobacco-free policies
Amanda Fallin, assistant research professor at the UK College of Nursing, recently published a study, “Association of
Campus Tobacco Policies With Secondhand Smoke Exposure, Intention to
Smoke on Campus, and Attitudes About
Outdoor Smoking Restrictions,” in the
American Journal of Public Health.
Fallin and her co-authors surveyed
California college students between September 2013 and May 2014 with a range

of policies (smoke-free indoors only, designated outdoor smoking areas, smokefree, and tobacco-free).
Fallin said that findings indicate smoke
and tobacco-free policies are widely accepted and are working on campus.
Findings include:
• Stronger policies were associated
with fewer students reporting exposure to secondhand smoke or seeing
someone smoke on campus.

• On tobacco-free college campuses,
fewer students smoked and reported
intention to smoke on campus.
• Strong majorities of students supported outdoor smoking restrictions
across all policy types.
• Comprehensive tobacco-free policies
are effective in reducing exposure to
smoking and intention to smoke on
campus. n

Grant to meet demand for behavioral health in primary care
e UK College of Social Work, in
collaboration with the UK Department
of Family and Community Medicine,
has been awarded a $1.4 million Health
Resources and Services Administration
grant to train graduate social work students to meet the rising demand for social workers trained in primary
behavioral health with children, adolescents and transitional aged individuals
(ages 18-25).
e federal grant will provide $10,000
stipends that will allow the College of
Social Work and the Department of
Family and Community Medicine to
create an integrated behavioral health
track. is track will train 92 clinical social work students in a fully-integrated
model of primary behavioral health care
over a three year period. Second year

graduate social work students will practice intensive case management, behavioral health interventions and secondary
prevention screening for
children/teens/and transitional age
young adults at risk for mental illness,
family violence, trauma, substance misuse and risky sexual behavior. Students
will serve at-risk and underserved populations including rural, impoverished,
refugee, immigrant and inner city clients,
including families.
Compared nationally, Kentucky has
higher poverty rates, child and adolescent risk of illegal substance use, youth
suicides and child obesity. Kentucky’s
high school youth experience higher
rates of violence and have had higher
rates of child abuse fatalities in recent
years. Kentucky was also an early state to

experience targeted gun violence in
schools.
“is is really a great opportunity to
increase interdepartmental collaboration
here at UK for preparing social work
graduate students to meet the critical
shortages of behavioral health care professionals across the Commonwealth of
Kentucky. I cannot imagine a more community engaged project,” said Carlton D.
Craig, associate professor in the College
of Social Work and the project’s principal investigator.
The collaborative team working on
the project also includes William Elder,
professor in the College of Medicine,
David Royse, professor in the College
of Social Work and Pamela Weeks, associate clinical professor in the College
of Social Work. n

Study examines communication and end-of-life decisions
For many people, talking about end-oflife decisions can be very difficult. Although making choices about health care
at the end of life is an important outcome of these conversations, recent research suggests that talking about
end-of-life choices with family members
in a way that pays attention to how they
perceive themselves and maintains your
relationship with them may be more important than actually reaching decisions.
Allison Scott, assistant professor at
the UK College of Communication and
Information, focuses her research on
the quality of communication about

end-of-life health decisions. In her
study published this year in Communication Monographs, “Enacted Goal Attention in Family Conversations about
End-of-Life Health Decisions,” Scott
and co-author John Caughlin, professor
and department head at the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, used
a multiple goals theoretical perspective
to demonstrate that the quality of communication about end-of-life decisions
matters. Members of 121 older
parent/adult child dyads (N = 242) engaged in an elicited conversation about
end-of-life health choices and reported

their assessments of the conversation.
Scott and Caughlin found that people
who paid better attention to task, identity, and relational goals were more satisfied with the conversation, felt more
hopeful after the conversation, experienced less hurt after the conversation
and felt less relationally distanced after
the conversation. n
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

11

* New Developments

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Spring 2015

* www.ukalumni.net

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* New Developments

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Spring 2015

* www.ukalumni.net

15

* Barbara
Rice:

A lofty career helping
NASA with nutrition
By Robin Roenker

’62
When Barbara Landrum RiceasJohnAFE accepted her position a research dietitian working at NASA’s
son Space Center in Houston, Texas, she
thought it would be a two-year role.
at was 25 years ago.
Rice, a native of Franklin, has forged a
long career at NASA as a contractor,
studying the nutritional needs of astronauts before, during, and aer their
space flights in the Human Adaptation
and Countermeasures Group.
“Student groups often ask me, ‘What
did you do in your background to be
able to work for NASA?’” says Rice,
who graduated from the University of
Kentucky with a degree in dietetics
from the School of Home Economics,
now called Human Environmental Sciences in the College of Agriculture,
Food and Environment.
“e truth is, when I was hired I knew
nothing about microgravity or spaceflight. But the woman who hired me
said, ‘We can teach you those things. You
have intrinsic values and experiences that
we can’t teach,’” Rice says.
Early Training
Rice grew up in an agricultural family of
nine children. Her mother taught Rice
and her siblings from an early age how to
help grow and prepare their own foods
and make their own clothing. “We only
shopped in town, which was, I think,
about 12 miles from our home, on Saturday aernoons. It was a very different
world than it is now. We made almost

16

Spring 2015

everything ourselves. Looking back, I’m
very grateful to have had that type of upbringing,” says Rice, who credits those experiences with her lifelong passion for
healthful foods and style of eating.
As Rice and her six sisters grew, there
was never any question about their educational path. “Our mother was adamant
that all of the girls would go to college or
technical school,” Rice says. “She just
said, ‘is is what you need to do, and
you can do it if you work really hard.’”
Rice followed her four older sisters
to UK, where they also had majored
and graduated with degrees in home
economics.
“I was familiar with UK from my sisters’ experiences there, and also from the
many camps and conferences that I had
attended there through my 4H work,”
Rice says. “Really, it had been driven into
me by my mother that UK was the best
place for me to study and get a degree.”
Once on campus, she says she found
herself motivated and shaped by another strong woman: Abby Marlatt,
who was the director of the School of
Home Economics.
“Abby Marlatt taught all of our advanced nutrition classes. She was a very
vocal person who didn’t always follow all
the rules. She would oen stand on one
of the main streets and hold signs in support of Black freedom and other civil
rights issues and was just so bold. I remember thinking she had such courage
— not to mention a very good knowledge of nutrition,” says Rice.

When Rice e