Mayor to Speak on Campus, Wishes to Inspire Women to Succeed

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 11, 2012) -- As a guest of the University of Kentucky Women’s Forum, Lexington Mayor Jim Gray will visit campus at noon Tuesday, Sept. 18, to discuss “Inspiring Women in Business and Public Service” in the UK Athletics Auditorium of the William T. Young Library.

The entire campus community is invited to the free event .

The Women’s Forum’s elected board chose “Connections” as theme this year’s monthly meetings, with September marked as “Connecting to the Community.”  Consequently, Mayor Gray is expected to focus on Lexington’s efforts regarding the empowering of women and other minorities in the community.

The UK Women’s Forum has been a valued contributor to the campus for more than 20 years. Created to encourage open discussion, creativity and problem solving, one of its earliest initiatives was UK Staff Appreciation Day, albeit a less complex version. Since then, members of the Women's Forum have dedicated themselves to making the university a better place for women to work. Determined to recognize and celebrate outstanding university women, the group created the annual Sarah Bennett Holmes Award ceremony and luncheon. It gives a voice to women’s issues through appointments in numerous committees. It educates women on issues that concern them through the annual Women's Conference, its lecture series and monthly board meetings, which also provide critical development and networking opportunities.

The Lexington mayor is the former CEO of Gray Construction, one of the nation’s leading designers and builders of large-scale manufacturing facilities. Gray has brought a businessman’s approach to city government by creating strong financial and operational management systems and making strategic investments in planning and development initiatives across the city. Among his stated goals and achievements, the mayor wants to bring new opportunities, new vision and new leadership to Lexington by creating a fertile environment to grow the city’s quality of life. He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and in 1996 was appointed a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University.

MEDIA CONTACT: Gail Hairston, 859-257-3302 or gail.hairston@uky.edu.