UK Board of Trustees approve gifts receiving RCTF matching funds

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 28, 2023) — The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees (BOT) on Friday approved $12.42 million in gift commitments eligible to receive Commonwealth of Kentucky Research Challenge Trust Fund (RCTF) matching funds to support endowments in the College of Engineering and College of Medicine.   

The 2022 Kentucky General Assembly allocated $20 million dollars in RCTF funding to support endowment growth in the fields of science, technology, engineering, math, and health sciences (STEM+H) at UK for qualifying gifts. UK will approve RCTF funding at a 2:1 ratio, matching one-half of the donor’s gift and effectively doubling support for UK’s critical research priority areas Research Priority Areas (RPA), which are cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity, diversity and inclusion/UNITE, energy, neuroscience and substance use disorder.

As a result of the 2:1 match, UK will grow the $12.42 million in approved gift commitments into $18.64 million total funding for transformative research efforts in UK’s College of Engineering and College of Medicine.

On April 27, the BOT approved RCTF matching funds for gifts including:

  • $1.23 million to endow the Stanley and Karen Pigman Heritage Science Professorship in the College of Engineering.
  • $7.25 million to endow the Lighthouse Beacon Foundation Endowment for Research and Graduate Education in the UK College of Engineering.
  • $2 million to endow the Goodman Family Chair in Pediatric Forensic Medicine Research in the College of Medicine.
  • $500,000 to endow the Bill and Donna Shively Endowed Pediatric Research Professorship in the College of Medicine.
  • $145,000 to support the endowed Allan and Ginger Brown Aerospace Faculty Excellence Fund in the College of Engineering.
  • $200,000 from the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Foundation to support the endowed Sally Humphrey Professorship in Cancer Health Equity in the College of Medicine.
  • $100,000 from the Aetna Better Health of Kentucky, ASC to endow the CHET Training Program Support Endowed Fund for the UK Center for Health Equity Transformation.

The RCTF program, administered by the Council on Postsecondary Education, provides Kentucky’s universities support with the goal of stimulating business development, generating increases in externally sponsored research, creating better jobs and a higher standard of living, and facilitating the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s transition to a knowledge-based economy.

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.