UK College of Communication and Information Names New Members to National Advisory Board

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 12, 2016) – The University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information recently added four new members to its National Advisory Board: Angela Evans, Larry Forester, Lois Mateus and Peggy Noe Stevens.

The college’s National Advisory Board serves as an external advisory body to Dean Dan O’Hair. Members of the board have attained prominence in their respective careers and are chosen for their value in providing counsel to the dean. Advisory board membership includes graduates and non-alumni members throughout the nation and across professions.

Angela Evans is currently serving her first term as council member of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council. She earned her bachelor’s degree in social work from Clark Atlanta University. She received her juris doctorate in 2000 from the University of Tennessee College of Law.

Evans continues to practice law in her home state of Kentucky. Prior to her election in 2015, she served as an assistant attorney general of Kentucky for six years, providing legal services to various state agencies. She also served as general counsel to the Kentucky Secretary of State.

Larry Forester is senior vice president – senior lender for Cumberland Valley National Bank. He is a graduate of the University of Pikeville and the Wisconsin Graduate School of Banking.

Forester is active in the community and serves as a board member for many public and civic organizations in the Lexington area including Commerce Lexington, Urban League of Lexington, Lexington-Fayette Board of Adjustment, Lexington Community Land Trust and the East High Street YMCA.

Lois Mateus is a retired Brown-Forman executive, where for 26 years she oversaw the company's public relations, corporate communications, community relations and contributions activities. Representing Brown-Forman, she became the first woman to serve on the board of the Kentucky Distillers Association (KDA). In 2013, KDA created the annual Lois Mateus Mentoring Award in her honor.

Mateus serves on the board of Hardscuffle/American Life, a Louisville based insurance company and the Berry Center. She is chairman of the advisory board of the University of Kentucky’s Center for Rural Journalism and Community Issues and serves on Centre College President’s Advisory Board.

Currently Mateus and her husband operate Tallgrass Farm, where they raise grass-fed Black Angus cattle and their Tallgrass Farm Foundation regularly brings inner-city children to the country for farm field-day experiences. Additionally, the pair are co-developers of several historic buildings in the NuLu East Market restaurant and arts district in Louisville.

Peggy Noe Stevens has devoted herself to more than years of hospitality, entertaining and the exploration of experiential marketing in both her life and career. She began her career in hospitality and marketing with Hyatt Hotels Corporation, engaging in all aspects of guest services, professional event planning and culinary arts and entertaining. Stevens then moved to the Brown-Forman Corporation to lead a newly developed travel and event planning department. She later became the world’s first female Master Bourbon Taster in the industry.

Currently, Stevens uses her role as author, global speaker, media spokesperson and experiential brand strategist to work with corporations to design women’s research and strategy studies for corporations that will help them attract and retain female executives.

Evans, Forester, Mateus and Stevens join current National Advisory Board members John Antenucci, Cathy Black, Janice Birdwhistell, Michael Carozza, Lewis Donohew, Henry Evans, Rufus Friday, John R. “Jack” Guthrie, Shae Hopkins, Jim Host, Patrick Leddin, Terry Meiners, Patrick Mutchler, James Nelson, Jackie Powell, Doug Robinson, Michael Ruehling, Robert Slaton, Jesse Stallsworth (student representative), David Thompson and Bill Wilson.

The National Advisory Board meets biannually to advocate for college programs, students, faculty and staff by opening doors for corporate connections as well as educating and updating our faculty on developments in the professional community. Board members also help with long range and strategic planning and provide leadership for philanthropic efforts.

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. #uky4ky #seeblue

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