UK Alumni Association announces new officers

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 1, 2026) — The University of Kentucky Alumni Association announced its 2026-27 board of directors during its annual summer workshop. This year’s officers are Kelly Sullivan Holland, president; Quentin R. Tyler, Ph.D., president-elect; Chad D. Polk, treasurer; and Jill H. Smith, secretary. The new slate officially takes office July 1, and will serve until June 30, 2027.  

Kelly Sullivan Holland, president

Holland, a Danville, Kentucky, native who now resides in Lexington, earned two degrees from UK: a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1993, and a master’s degree in kinesiology and health promotion from the College of Eduation in 1998. While attending UK, she was an Otis Singletary Senior Award recipient, a member of Phi Beta Kappa and UK Homecoming queen. She served as president of Chi Omega sorority and secretary of Omicron Delta Kappa. In 2005, Holland was inducted into UK’s Greek Alumni Hall of Fame.  

After graduation, Holland represented UK as an admissions counselor and later as the director of recruitment and associate director of undergraduate admissions. She was a board member of the Kentucky Association of Secondary and College Admission Counselors where she received the Most Outstanding Admissions Professional Award in 2000. She is the first alum to be honored with the Joseph T. Burch Young Alumni Award, receiving it in 2004. In 2010, she received the UK Alumni Association's Distinguished Service Award. Holland began her work with the UK Alumni Association serving as president of the Fayette County Young Alumni group and later as president of the Fayette County UK Alumni Club. Her service continued with the UK Alumni Association Board of Directors.  

In 2012, Holland was appointed as a UK Alumni Trustee, serving a six-year term. She served as a committee chair and secretary of the Board of Trustees during her term. Holland was a 2021 graduate of Leadership Kentucky and led UK’s Women & Philanthropy as network co-chair in 2023. She volunteers as a trustee of the Central Kentucky American Heart Association. For 23 years, she has been employed by Merck & Co. Inc. in sales and account management roles, where she has been awarded the prestigious Hall of Fame distinction. She serves as an associate director of national pharmacy accounts. She is married to Darin Holland, a 1993 graduate of the UK College of Arts and Sciences, and they have a son, Jacob.  

Quentin R. Tyler, president-elect

Tyler, a native of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, now resideing in Okemos, Michigan, earned three degrees from UK: a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics in 2002, a master’s degree in agricultural economics in 2005 from the UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE) and a doctoral degree in sociology from the UK College of Arts and Sciences in 2011. He graduated from the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in June 2022. While attending UK, he was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, a residential advisor and a member of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS). He served as national professional president of MANRRS from 2015-16, chair of National MANRRS advisory board from 2018-24, and he received the National MANRRS Legend Award in 2022 for his commitment and legacy with the organization.  

Tyler serves as the director of Michigan State University Extension and senior associate dean for outreach and engagement. As director of MSU Extension, Tyler provides leadership and oversight for all extension programs. Prior to joining Michigan State, he worked for the UK Martin-Gatton CAFE as an assistant dean and extension associate for recruitment and retention. He is a life member of the UK Alumni Association and the UK Martin-Gatton CAFE Alumni Association where he served as president from 2020-24.  

Tyler has chaired the UK Alumni Association’s efforts in engagement and served as the nomination committee chair for the last two years. He was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Service Award by the UK Alumni Association in 2022 and was inducted into the UK College of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 2024. He is married to Jon’a Joiner Tyler, and they have two children, Zoe and Quentin Jr. (Deuce). 

Chad D. Polk, treasurer

Polk, a Hopkinsville, Kentucky, native who now resides in Nashville, Tennessee, earned a bachelor's degree in architecture from the UK College of Design in 1994. He is a life member of the UK Alumni Association, a member of the Wildcat Society and recipient of the UK Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2021. 

Polk is a licensed architect and president of Creative Design Professionals Architecture LLC, a Nashville-based award-winning architecture and interior design firm he founded in 2007. A longtime leader within the American Institute of Architects (AIA), he has served as a Young Architects Forum regional liaison and communications director on the national advisory committee, as well as on the AIA Middle Tennessee Board. He currently serves as president of AIA Tennessee. The commitment of Polk’s firm to architectural education includes serving as the naming sponsor of a first-year architecture studio in the UK College of Design’s Gray Design Building. 

Polk has served multiple terms on the UK Alumni Association Board of Directors since 2009. He has chaired the awards and scholarship, nominating, membership and communication committees, as well as the bylaws subcommittee. He also has served on the Alumni Center and Alumni Plaza task forces and remains actively involved in advancing the association's mission and strategic priorities.  

Polk is a past president of both the Greater Nashville UK Alumni Club and the Green Hills Rotary Club. He and his wife, Sims, a licensed architect and life member of the UK Alumni Association, have two sons, Bentley and Knox. 

Jill H. Smith, secretary

Smith, of Lexington, earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and management from the Gatton College of Business and Economics in 2005 and a master’s degree in career, technical and leadership education from the College of Education in 2011. She began working at the UK Alumni Association in 2006 as a program coordinator and held four other positions at the association before becoming executive director in February 2020. She also serves as associate vice president for stakeholder engagement at UK.  

Smith has been an active volunteer with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education at both the state and district level, and an active member of the Council of Alumni Association Executives. She is an advisor to the Delta Rho chapter of Delta Delta Delta and a 2022 graduate of Leadership Kentucky. She is a life member of the UK Alumni Association, a UK Fellow, UK Women & Philanthropy member and serves on several university committees. She and her husband, Ryan, who is a Martin-Gatton CAFE 2004 graduate, have two children, Tanner and Emmy.