Paula Pope Appointed to UK Board of Trustees to Represent Alumni
LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 23, 2020) — Gov. Andy Beshear has appointed Paula Pope to the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees representing UK alumni. She will replace Cammie Grant whose term expires June 30. Pope’s term begins July 1, 2020 and runs through June 30, 2026.
UK alumni voted last year for candidates for the upcoming open alumni position on the board. Pope was one of three top vote-getters whose names were presented to the governor from which to choose an appointee.
Pope joins two other alumni-elected trustees: Michael A. Christian, whose term expires in 2022, and Rachel Watts Webb, whose term expires in 2024.
An alumna of the UK College of Education, Pope earned her bachelor’s in education and master’s in higher education. She was a teacher in the Fayette County Public Schools and served as an assistant to Lexington’s mayor and assistant director of the Greater Lexington Chamber of Commerce before joining her alma mater as a fundraiser in 1983.
She worked first for UK Libraries, where she played an integral role in the William T. Young Library fundraising campaign, as well as co-chairing the university’s United Way campaign. Pope then moved to the Office of Philanthropy in 2000 where she oversaw the UK Fellows Society, the campaign to restore the historic Main Building, UK Women & Philanthropy, and she co-chaired the university’s 2015 Sesquicentennial Celebration, among other responsibilities. She retired from UK in 2018.
A Life Member of the UK Alumni Association, Pope has been very active at all levels of the organization. She was a 1999 recipient of the association’s Distinguished Service Award and served as national president in 2008-2009. She also has held leadership positions in numerous Lexington civic and charitable organizations.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.