Campus News

‘Behind the Blue’: UK Provost DiPaola on supporting faculty, inspiring students and mission of UK HealthCare

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Robert S. DiPaola
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LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 3, 2024) — The Office of the Provost serves as the primary resource at the University of Kentucky for faculty, colleges and their leadership to support the core missions of excellence in teaching, research, service and care. Housed within the Office of the Provost are departments and individuals dedicated to supporting faculty as they continue inspiring students in the classroom, pushing the boundaries of knowledge with their research and building up our communities in new and innovative ways. These departments and offices, such as the Office for Faculty Advancement, provide the university’s faculty with the resources necessary to continue advancing Kentucky.

UK Provost Robert DiPaola, M.D., leads these initiatives to support faculty with a focus on transdisciplinary efforts, where experts from across disciplines come together early on to not only solve problems and issues, but also identify potential ones. In addition, DiPaola also serves as UK co-executive vice president for health affairs. 

On this episode of “Behind the Blue,” DiPaola talks about UK’s mission, as the flagship university for Kentucky, to leverage the collective strengths of the faculty to solve society’s problems of tomorrow, as well as efforts to continue UK HealthCare’s essential work for all of Kentucky.

“Behind the Blue” is available on iTunes, Google Play and Spotify. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.

For questions or comments about this or any other episode of “Behind the Blue,” email BehindTheBlue@uky.edu or tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue. Transcripts for this or other episodes of “Behind the Blue” can be downloaded from the show’s blog page.

To discover what’s wildly possible at the University of Kentucky, click here.

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.