Meet UK College of Pharmacy's Louvonna Dunn

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 13, 2009) —  To hear Louvonna Dunn talk about her job at the UK College of Pharmacy is to receive a history lesson in copy machines. The college's mail and copy room is a hub of activity and Dunn has spent the past 37 years in the center of it.

Known as "Miss Lou" within the college, she began her career fresh out of high school in 1972 when she was just 18 years old. A friend told her about the opening in pharmacy and she was hired on full-time in the college's copy room. "I've never wanted to leave," Dunn said.

Many things stand out about Dunn when you first meet her, including her seemingly inability to not smile, her contagious laugh, her take-charge attitude and her extensive knowledge of the college.

Dunn's first 15 years with at the College of Pharmacy were spent with an old A. B. Dick ink and water machine in the Slone Building, the original site of UK's pharmacy program.  She describes the copier as a noisy, bulky machine with several parts. Making copies required her constant attention as she continually had to adjust the ink levels and make sure the machine ran smoothly without any glitches with the paper. Not only was print work extremely messy, requiring her to wear a smock to keep ink off her clothes, it was also very physical.  Making copies required turning a big hand crank, and unlike the modern machines of today, she did all the collating and stapling of copies herself. 

The repetitive motion over the years has required several surgeries on her hands but it certainly hasn't slowed her down. Dunn describes herself as someone who is easily bored and likes to stay busy. After one of her surgeries when she was off on sick leave, she said she decided to come back early because she got so restless at home with nothing to do. "And, I missed the people," she said.

Dunn speaks with great fondness of everyone in the college and describes them as a family.  "When people come here to work, they tend to stay because it's such a good environment." In fact, in 1975, when Dunn married,  the women at the college helped her plan the wedding. 

That family type camaraderie continued in Dunn's early days. The college was small enough that when one of the faculty or staff had a birthday, everyone would gather and easily fit in Dean Joseph Swintosky's office for cake. Today, of course, there are too many people to do that but they maintain the family atmosphere by having departmental get togethers. "I work for everybody so I'm included in everything," Dunn laughingly said.  She still keeps in touch with many of the college's retirees.

New Building, New Deans, New Copy Machines

In 1985, the college moved to its current facility on Rose Street and in 1988, a new era began with Dean Jordan Cohen.  Although the old A.B. Dick machine followed Dunn to the new building, it was in 1988 that Dunn got a new IBM copier that she describes as her first nice copier. Gone were the days of assembling countless handouts and exams by hand. The new machine did the collating for her, although she still had to staple.

Throughout her career with the college, Dunn has seen many changes in the college and in the UK campus, most notably how quickly both have grown. In the pharmacy program, research funding  tripled and the continuing education program expanded nearly tenfold between the late 1980s and the mid-1990s. The number of faculty and students increased as did the number of classes.  The year 2000 ushered in a new dean, Kenneth Roberts, who led the effort to get funding for a new state-of-the-art college of pharmacy building that will help advance the academic and research goals of the college and the university.

"The whole campus has grown so much," Dunn said. "I remember when we were in the Slone Building and it seemed we were so far away from the Medical Center."

As the college continued to grow and expand along with the campus, so did Dunn's job and the amount of copy work. Some years after the IBM copier, the college purchased a new Canon machine, making Dunn's job even easier. The Canon collated and stapled, freeing up Dunn's time for multi-tasking.  Three years ago, the college acquired an Icon that Dunn describes as a 'super machine.'  Her current copier is connected to her computer and faculty can email her Power Point presentations or copies they want made. She simply programs in the correct information to the machine and everything is done for her - a far cry from the laborious old ink and water copy machine.

If you think sophisticated new copy machines over the years have freed up Dunn's time, think again. As the copy machines have evolved, so has Dunn's job. "As my machines got better, I've added jobs to keep myself marketable,"  she said. The more the updated copiers took over, the more Dunn looked for jobs to add to her original job description. In addition to sorting mail, copying, receiving shipments for the college, calling in orders and handling online and SAP requisitions, she has worked with the faculty data base and helped out in accounting.  

Cynthia Mattingly, lab core director of Pharmacy Practice and Science at the college, said that Dunn is the official rep on the first floor. “Everyone congregates in her office and stops in to ask her things,” Mattingly said. “What Lou does for the college has really grown and changed over the years. She's a gem.”

Dunn is not all work and no play, however. Outside her job, she enjoys spending time with her husband, attending Bryan Station Baptist Church where she has attended all her life, eating out, going to the movies and shopping. For many years, she coached 4, 5 and 6-year-olds for Dixie Cheerleading Basketball. Dunn also enjoys cooking and often provides one of her dishes for luncheons and potlucks at the college as well as for catering events outside the college, such as weddings.

Looking Forward

The new College of Pharmacy building will officially open this December. "I can't wait to move, I'll tell you that," Dunn said as she looks over the blue prints of the basement, pointing out where her desk, copy machine and mailboxes will be located.

Although Dunn is excited to be occupying her spacious new office in the basement of the new building, she expresses a little fear that she will go from being overly visible in the college to being not visible enough.  Although her office can be a little crazy at times, she enjoys the people and all the comings and goings. Somehow, the thought of 'Miss Lou,' the driver of the 'hub of the college,' suddenly becoming invisible doesn't seem likely.

After 37 years, Dunn is more than eligible for retirement. However, she says she's not ready to think about that yet. "I love it here," she said. "I'd miss the people too much. I'm here until I get tired or they get rid of me."