By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 3, 2026) — Faith Hensley, Ph.D., a former University of Kentucky graduate teaching assistant, is among 10 educators honored with UK’s 2026 Outstanding Teaching Awards.

These awards identify and recognize UK faculty and graduate teaching assistants who demonstrate special dedication to student achievement. Recipients were selected via nomination and reviewed by a selection committee based in the UK Provost’s Office for Faculty Advancement and the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching.

Hensley earned her Ph.D. in mathematics from UK this May, where she served as a graduate teaching assistant in the

By Alicia Gregory 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 27, 2026) — The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees recently approved 17 University Research Professors for the 2026-27 academic year. Established by the Board of Trustees in 1976, the professorships program recognizes excellence across the full spectrum of research at UK.

Among those selected are Ashley W. Seifert, professor of biology, and Nathaniel Stapleton, associate professor of mathematics, in UK's College of Arts and

Schubert considered the space of kxn matrices whose Gaussian elimination has fixed pivot columns. The "volume" of this space, in some sense, is a Schur polynomial, with many combinatorial interpretations. Pipe dreams were introduced in 1993 in [Bergeron-Billey] to give a pictorial calculus for "Schubert polynomials," the corresponding volumes of a more general class of Schubert varieties.

In 2005, Miller and I gave a geometric retrodiction of pipe dreams based on Gröbner degeneration. In the same year, I introduced the "lower-upper scheme'' {(X,Y): XY lower triangular, YX upper} to study the scheme of pairs of commuting matrices. I'll explain a (much more natural) pipe dream theory for the lower-upper scheme, use it to rederive the old one (also Lam-Lee-Shimozono's "bumpless pipe dreams'') and give a formula for the degree of the commuting scheme. This is

With deep sorrow, we share the news of the passing of our beloved friend and colleague

Nathan Druivenga,

who left us on June 23, 2025 at the age of 45.

Nathan earned his PhD in Mathematics in 2016 from the University of Iowa. Shortly thereafter, he joined the Department of Mathematics at the University of Kentucky as a Lecturer.

Nathan was a truly gifted teacher. Known for his calm and friendly demeanor, he regularly taught up to 600 students per semester. His students deeply appreciated his warmth and clarity, as one reflected: “He re-sparked my love of Math that had faded over the last few semesters. He is funny, respectful, and helpful beyond belief.” For many years, Nathan smoothly coordinated the uniform instruction of about 1000 students per semester by guiding teams of up to 15 instructors

By Avery Schanbacher and Francis Von Mann

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 9, 2025) -- Diksha Satish has always been a problem solver with a passion for helping people. That passion led her to pursue dual degrees in mathematics and biology at the University of Kentucky, combining analytical thinking with a desire to improve lives through science.

This Friday, Satish will graduate from the UK College of Arts and Sciences with dual degrees. Her academic journey has been shaped as much by research as by coursework.

During her first year at UK, Satish joined Lance Johnson’s neuroscience lab in the College of Medicine Department of

By Alexis Baker

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 7, 2025) — Anna Cox never planned to pursue a career in medicine.

After graduating from the University of Kentucky in 2017 with a degree in mathematical economics in the College of Arts and Sciences, she began working as a logistics broker. Less than two years later, Cox said her life changed when she was rushed to the UK Albert B. Chandler Emergency Department with severe abdominal pain.

At 23, Cox said she had never been seriously ill and had no primary care doctor.

Her arrival at the emergency department set off a whirlwind of care. Within hours, she had

By Jesi Jones-Bowman 

LEXINGTON, Ky (Oct. 10, 2024) — The University of Kentucky Office of Undergraduate Research has selected 15 undergraduates for the 2024-25 Undergraduate Research Ambassador program.

The program’s mission is to increase awareness and create opportunities for students to  engage in research. Ambassadors must demonstrate academic excellence, leadership potential and be involved in mentored research. This year’s ambassadors represent four colleges, nine disciplines and 10 research areas.

The student leaders’ goal is to make undergraduate research more accessible. Ambassadors promote undergraduate research involvement through

By Richard LeComte

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kate Ponto, professor of mathematics in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, has received a three-year, $313,000 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation to explore questions involving topology in a project titled “Parameterized, Algebraic and Chromatic Traces.” 

The grant will fund Ponto’s continued research into algebraic ways of solving questions in topology.  

“I am an algebraic topologist, which means I like to turn my topology into algebra,” Ponto said. “When I’m trying to solve topological questions. I say, ‘Well, you know, algebra can make these things easier.’ I take the topology problem, and I turn it into an algebra question.”

A key term in Ponto’s

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 7, 2024) — Martha Yip, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, is one of nine winners who received a 2024-25 Outstanding Teaching Award this past spring.

The awards identify and recognize individuals who demonstrate special dedication to student achievement and who are successful in their teaching. Recipients were selected via nomination and reviewed by a selection committee based in the UK Provost’s Office for Faculty Advancement and the 

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 17, 2024) — Bradley Elliott, Ph.D., lecturer in the Department of Mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences, is one of nine winners to receive the University of Kentucky’s 2024-25 Outstanding Teaching Awards.

These awards recognize individuals who demonstrate dedication to student achievement and who are successful in their teaching. Recipients were selected via nomination and reviewed by a selection committee based in the UK Provost’s

By Jesi Jones-Bowman 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 24, 2024) — Two University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences students will participate in the Beckman Scholars Program, titled Scholars United by Chemistry: Cultivating Excellence through Science Stewardship. 

The Beckman Scholars are:

They will begin their independent, laboratory research this summer.

The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation’s Beckman Scholars Program is a 15-month mentored research experience for exceptional

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 23, 2024) — In March, the University of Kentucky Alumni Association honored six recipients with this year's Great Teacher Awards. 

Launched in 1961, they are the longest-running UK award recognizing accomplished and passionate educators.

To receive the honor, teachers must be nominated by a student. The UK Alumni Association Great Teacher Award Committee, in cooperation with the student organization Omicron Delta Kappa

By Ryan Girves 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 29, 2024) — The University of Kentucky recognized exceptional faculty and teaching assistants with the Outstanding Teaching Awards during the 2024 UK Faculty Awards Ceremony onApril 25.

The Outstanding Teaching Awards recognize faculty and graduate teaching assistants who go above and beyond what is expected and demonstrate outstanding performance in the classroom or laboratory. Selected via nomination, candidates were reviewed by a

The University of Kentucky has announced recipients of the 2024 Faculty Awards. The College will have an awards program and reception in early fall to recognize the recipients. More information will follow soon.

2024 College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Awards recipients are: 

Outstanding Teaching Award

Excellence in Teaching Large Courses Award

Innovative Teaching Award

Outstanding Undergraduate

By Daily Bates

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 2, 2024) — The University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities has selected 12 undergraduate students for its fellowship program. 

The Gaines Fellowship Program began in 1984 thanks to a gift from John and Joan Gaines. The program aims to recognize exceptional academic achievement, independent research capabilities, commitment to public issues and a passion for deepening the understanding of the human condition through the humanities.

“I want to acknowledge the hard work and difficult decisions made by our volunteer faculty selection committee led by Chelsea Brislin. This was a record year for Gaines applications and every one of them was stellar,” said Richard H. Schein, acting

By Jennifer T. Allen

As a young girl growing up in the small mining community of Molus, Ky., in Harlan County nestled in the mountains of Appalachia, Annie Saylor excelled at math.  

“I enjoyed being good at something that other people weren’t,” she said. “I like being able to teach it, and I like that sense you get when you solve the problem.” 

Her acumen for math made college possible. While in high school, she won a math contest that allowed her to attend Cumberland College (now known as University of the Cumberlands) in Williamsburg, Ky., on scholarship. After earning her bachelor’s degree, Saylor came to the University of Kentucky to pursue her graduate studies in mathematics and numerical analysis.  

“I chose UK partly out

By Haven L. Patrick

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The 22nd annual Posters-at-the-Capitol on March 7 featured 13 University of Kentucky undergraduate research projects that address such issues in Kentucky as public safety, energy conservation, homeownership and lung cancer prevention. 

Posters-at-the-Capitol is hosted by Eastern Kentucky University, Kentucky Community and Technical College System, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville

By Meredith Weber and Steve Shaffer 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 8, 2024) — What makes a good teacher a great one? University of Kentucky students were eager to share their opinions about the best teacher in their lives, nominating them for one of the most esteemed awards on campus.

The UK Alumni Association 2024 Great Teacher Award was recently bestowed upon six UK educators. Initiated in 1961, UK’s

By Alicia Gregory 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 11, 2023) — The University of Kentucky is well-represented on a list of the most-cited researchers in the world. In a database compiled by Stanford University in a partnership with Elsevier, 119 current UK scientists and scholars appear among the top 2% of the most-cited researchers across 22 disciplines.

Citations are one measure of the impact of academic research. For researchers, publishing their work in a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal is a key step in sharing research findings and new discoveries. 

“Being cited is one sign that your work matters to the research community,” said Lisa Cassis, Ph