Independent Staff
Lexington — When he became the University of Kentucky’s 11th president in 2001, Lee T. Todd Jr. said he envisioned UK’s campus “stretching from Pikeville to Paducah.”
“The Commonwealth is UK’s campus,” Todd said.
It’s a vision that UK has taken to heart, as evidenced by the fact that the university’s scientists are conducting research in every one of Kentucky’s 120 counties.
That includes Boyd County, where UK Center for Applied Energy Research scientists are performing mine mapping and the College of Agriculture is researching developing biomass for fuel.
But that’s not the only way UK continually touches the lives of Boyd County residents. The university is educating 201 young Boyd Countians in the 2009-2010 academic year, assisting business people, advising homemakers and offering guidance on health care.
Forty-two Boyd Countians came to UK as a freshman in August, joining one of the university’s brightest and most diverse first-year classes ever.
"I’m impressed by the way UK continues to improve the quality and diversity of our student body, particularly with the addition of students like those from Boyd County,” Todd said. “We once again increased both the number of incoming freshmen and their average ACT score.
“What’s most exciting to me is that I feel that all of these increases can be tied to the quality of our faculty and staff and the unique, world-class educational experience those individuals consistently provide to our students.”
Boyd County already has 2,616 residents who are UK graduates. Of those, 41 are physicians, 21 are dentists, 56 are lawyers and 132 are engineers.
The county also relies on professionals at UK HealthCare to treat medical conditions. In the fiscal year ending in June 2009, Boyd Countians visited the UK Chandler Medical Center and its clinics on 1,442 occasions.
Business owners sought counseling and training from the Kentucky Small Business Development Center — part of the UK Commercial and Economic Development Office — on 139 occasions.
Meanwhile, Boyd County farmers, homemakers and regular citizens relied on College of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service agents Lori Bowling, Lyndall Harned, Rebecca Stahler and Suellen Zornes for information designed to improve the quality of their lives and health.
UK’s future economic impact also will extend into Boyd County, as coming generations seek their degrees both on the campus in Lexington and on the Internet via Kentucky’s Commonwealth Virtual University. Better earnings, a more educated work force and a higher tax base — the evidence of real prosperity — can be expected.
