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

The University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences has chosen the following professors as new department chairs: associate professor Deborah Crooks, Department of Anthropology; associate professor Jeff Clymer, Department of English (to begin spring 2012; associate professor of English Marion Rust will be interim chair of the Department of Anthropology for the fall 2011-2012 year); associate professor Karen Petrone, Department of History; professor David Leep, Department of Mathematics; professor 

When Shannon Hincker started her undergraduate work at the University of Kentucky in 2004, she was a mathematics major.

After two years, she switched to the College of Arts & Sciences’ mathematical economics program.

With its combination of math, statistics and economics, the program was a good fit for Hincker and prepared her well for a job doing actuarial work for Mercer.

“I loved math,” Hincker said. “I still love math. However, I knew early on that I didn’t want to go into teaching so I was very interested in getting a background that was strong in math and strong in the business field, too. That way, I just figured I’d have a lot more choices when I was finished.”

Robert Molzon, who is in the math

This year, the College of Arts & Sciences awarded four professors with 2011-2012 Awards for Outstanding Teaching: Ben Braun (Mathematics), Nathan DeWall (Psychology), Paul Koester (Mathematics) and Linda Worley (Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures).  Drs. Braun, DeWall, Koester, and Worley are all exemplary practitioners of the arts of teaching, to be congratulated for their dedication to making the classroom a rewarding place for students and instructors alike.  These faculty have also made significant contributions to education beyond the classroom, including to University-wide and national educational

Ph.D. Students

by Amber Scott

photos by Richie Wireman

During one typical afternoon in an average American high school, Nicholas Kirby, a junior at the time, found himself wandering into the "young, cool" math teacher's classroom. Curiosity about the different sizes of infinity had taken hold of him and he decided to give up his lunch break to get some answers.  His teacher patiently explained this complicated concept, crystallizing an appreciation for abstract thought that would eventually become Nick's whole life.

"It was just too cool," said Nick. "I was hooked. I became a math addict."

Setting out from his hometown of Nashville, Tenn., Nick went to Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh to complete his bachelor’s degree in math. While there, he did research in the field of materials under his advisor and received

Growing up in Los Angeles and studying as an undergraduate at Brigham Young University, Michael Dorff hadn’t heard a lot about Kentucky, let alone the University of Kentucky.

But while he was getting his masters in mathematics at the University of New Hampshire and trying to look for a doctoral program, one of his professors mentioned UK.

“She told me about a professor at UK, Ted Suffridge,” Dorff said. “He’s the reason I applied.”

Dorff, now an associate professor in Brigham Young University’s math department, said he wasn’t disappointed.

“The faculty at UK had high expectations that I would work hard and professors like Ted Suffridge were always looking for ways to help me and the other students,” Dorff said. “People there were very friendly, very nice. I have these fond

Ph.D. Student

by Robin Roenker

Josh Roberts didn’t always aspire to become a mathematician. "I took the time to find out what I really wanted to do," Roberts said. Between finishing high school and beginning college he was employed in jobs as varied as census taker to marina attendant. Roberts finally settled on sign language and enjoyed a seven-year career as a sign language interpreter before returning to college to receive his undergraduate math degree.

In college he initially planned to major in philosophy. But after taking his first college calculus class as a freshman, he was hooked.

“There’s a beauty and aesthetic quality to math that people tend to miss,” said Roberts, now in his fifth year in UK’s mathematics PhD program.

Roberts, a native of Wise County, Virginia, and graduate of the University of

At the end of every big chapter of our lives, we are faced with tough choices. As I was applying for graduate schools, I was overwhelmed by the opportunities that awaited... somehow in the jungle of choices, everyone finds one that seems most appropriate at the moment, chooses it, and hopes that it proves to be a good one for the future. These choices define us in some way. In case of graduate school, this choice defines us as mathematicians. In this sense, I have chosen the perfect department.

First of all, I came to graduate school torn between a few areas of mathematics and wasn't quite sure how to choose one. So I took classes in all of these areas during the first two years, and have had a chance to meet faculty that were happy to discuss research problems in each area. I was very happy with the choices I had! Also, during these first years I had a chance to read recent

Graduate student

by Sara Cunningham

Rachel Dunnagan has always been as dedicated to the education of others as she is to her own education.

Teaching comes natural to the math and classics senior.

Her love of education began with creating pretend assignments for her younger sister when they played school as children and continued with Dunnagan’s devotion to helping her classmates with their studies in high school.

The Louisville native was scheduled to graduate summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in math and a second Bachelor of Arts degree in Classics this past spring, and plans to progress to a graduate program to continue preparing herself for a long career in teaching math and Latin to high