Professional News

UK Alumni Association Names Service, Alumni Award Winners

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 6, 2016) The University of Kentucky Alumni Association Distinguished Service Awards and Joseph T. Burch Young Alumni Award are presented annually to honor and recognize those who have provided extraordinary service to the university and the association. The 2016 recipients were honored during the recent UK Alumni Association Board of Directors Summer Workshop in Lexington.

Shelia Key, of Pineville, Kentucky, graduated from UK with a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy in 1991. She is a pharmacist at Walgreen’s Pharmacy. She has served on the UK Alumni Association Board of Directors since 2004 and she’s been part of the association’s Membership, Scholarship/Great Teacher, Executive and Nominating for Board of Directors Committees. Key also served as chairwoman and vice chairwoman of the Club Development Committee. She is past president of the Cumberland Valley East UK Alumni Club, where she has been instrumental in assisting with many club activities including the annual student sendoff, club scholarship initiatives, student recruitment events and community outreach. She led the effort to bring a DanceBlue mini marathon to Bell County High School and helped put together an event for honor students in Eastern Kentucky to encourage the best and brightest students from the region to attend UK. She has served the university as part of the UK Advocacy Network, Women and Philanthropy Network and as a contributor to the Wildcat Society, College of Pharmacy, the annual fund, Cumberland Valley East Scholarship Fund and K Fund. She is married to UK graduate Brian Key and is a Life Member of the UK Alumni Association. 

John Ryan, of Louisville, Kentucky, graduated from the university with two degrees, earning a bachelor's degree in finance in 1992 and an MBA in 1995. He also earned a juris doctorate from the Brandeis School of Law, graduating cum laude, in 2000. He is senior vice president at Stock Yards Bank where he manages the credit department and performs various legal functions. Ryan's previous experience includes director of development for Churchill Downs where he managed mergers and acquisitions and negotiated the Derby TV contract and capital markets attorney for Stites & Harbison where he closed over $1 billion in capital markets transactions. Ryan also serves as a member of the UK College of Law Continuing Legal Education faculty where he has taught various financial institution law topics. Ryan has served on the board of directors for the Greater Louisville UK Alumni Club since 2004. He was chairman of the annual Greater Louisville UK Alumni Club Kickoff Luncheon and is past president of the Young Alumni. Ryan was instrumental in negotiating sponsor contracts for the club. As a student at UK, he served as manager of the football team and as an undergraduate advisor. Ryan coaches multiple sports at Holy Trinity Parish. He is married to UK graduate Adele Pinto Ryan and they have twin boys who are 12 years old. He is a Life Member of the UK Alumni Association. 

Barbara R. Sanders, of Austin, Texas, graduated from UK in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy and in 1976 with a master’s degree in educational and counseling psychology. She earned her doctoral degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1976. She is the chairwoman of the Department of Physical Therapy and associate dean of the College of Health Professions at Texas State University-San Marcos. Sanders is completing her second term on the UK Alumni Association Board of Directors. She has served on the Communications, Scholarship/Great Teacher and Executive Committees. She has served as chairwoman and vice chairwoman of the Diversity/Group Development Committee as well as chairwoman of the Programs Optimization Task Force Strategic Planning Group. She was instrumental in starting the Central Texas UK Alumni Club and remains active in the club today. Sanders has worked throughout her career as an advocate for physical therapist education and is an active leader in the Academic Administrators Special Interest Group. She was named to the UK College of Health Sciences Dean’s Advisory Board in 2010 and inducted into the UK College of Health Sciences Hall of Fame in 2004. She is a UK Fellow and a Life Member of the UK Alumni Association. She is married to UK graduate Mike Sanders and they have one daughter, Whitney Duddey, who is also a UK graduate.

Will Nash, of Lexington, is this year’s Joseph T. Burch Young Alumni Award recipient. He graduated from UK with a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science in 2006. He is a member of the UK Alumni Association’s Board of Directors and the Young Alumni Council. Nash currently serves as vice-chairman of the Membership Committee and has previously been a member of the Budget/Finance Committee. After graduating from UK, he began his career with Teach For America, spending time teaching students in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Houston, Texas. He proposed and successfully founded Teach For America Appalachia, relocating to Hazard, Kentucky. As executive director of Teach For America Appalachia, he was responsible for vision, goals, priorities and strategies; managing staff and teachers; fundraising for the organization;' and cultivating partnerships with school districts. He recently joined the Education Advisory Board as director in the account management group. While a student at UK, he was voted Homecoming King and held various positions within the Student Government Association and Sigma Chi fraternity. He was a College of Arts and Sciences Student Ambassador and received the Otis Singletary Award, which recognizes the most outstanding male and female graduating student. He is married to UK graduate Katti Nash and is a UK Fellow and member of the UK Alumni Association.

About the Awards

The UK Alumni Association's Distinguished Service Awards are presented annually to honor and recognize up to four recipients, of which one can be a non-alum friend of the University of Kentucky, who have provided extraordinary service to the university and the association. Nominees for this prestigious award should have:

  • Demonstrated a history of diligent work for the UK Alumni Association and/or a local alumni club.
  • Contributed to the accomplishments of the UK Alumni Association and/or a local alumni club.
  • Provided leadership and dedication to university and association programs.
  • Provided meaningful service to alumni and friends of the university, community and profession.
  • Shall have at least 12 credit hours.

The UK Alumni Association's Joseph T. Burch Young Alumni Award is named for a longtime UK administrator who has spent the better part of his or her life in service to UK students. A nominee for this award must be an alumna or alumnus who is an active member of the University of Kentucky Alumni Association, who is 10 years or less out of college at the time of nomination and who has worked on behalf of young people through the university, the association, their alumni club or in the local community:

  • Raising funds for scholarships and/or awarding scholarships for students to attend UK.
  • Working with local high school students through club-sponsored event and/or Preview Nights to interest students in attending UK.
  • Working to educate youth in the local community, whether through tutoring, coaching or other means to keep them interested in learning.
  • Assisting in efforts to support the student alumni association through mentoring or other means.

The UK Alumni Association is a membership supported organization committed to fostering lifelong engagement among alumni, friends, the association and the university. For more information about the UK Alumni Association or to become a member, visit www.ukalumni.net or call 1-800-269-2586.

UK is the University for Kentucky. At UK, we are educating more students, treating more patients with complex illnesses and conducting more research and service than at any time in our 150-year history. To read more about the UK story and how you can support continued investment in your university and the Commonwealth, visit uky.edu/uk4ky. #uk4ky #seeblue

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Harder, 859-323-2396, whitney.harder@uky.edu