UK Alumni Association announces new officers

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 2, 2025) — The UK Alumni Association announced its 2025-26 board of directors during its annual summer workshop, June 26-28. This year’s officers are Thomas K. Mathews, president; Kelly Sullivan Holland, president-elect; Quentin R. Tyler, treasurer; and Jill H. Smith, secretary. The new slate took office July 1, and will serve through June 30, 2026. 

Thomas K. Mathews, of Cypress, Texas, was elected president of the UK Alumni Association. Mathews attended UK as a Commonwealth Scholarship recipient and received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1993. The Louisville native is the president and owner of Industrial Solvents Corp. and previously worked as an environmental chemist and compliance manager for Blue Grass Chemical Specialties.

Mathews is a Life Member of the UK Alumni Association, a UK Fellow and served as secretary and president of the Greater Houston UK Alumni Club. At UK, he was a resident advisor and hall director at Holmes Hall, a member of Collegians for Academic Excellence and an RHA council representative.

Mathews received his master’s degree in liberal studies from Bellarmine University in 1999 before relocating to Texas in 2001. He is a member of the Houston Chemical Association and sponsor of its semiannual golf tournament. He volunteered at Career Gear Houston and helped to foster, vaccinate and find new homes for dozens of stray dogs in the Houston community via his wife’s involvement with the Big Love Rescue group. He served as a volunteer youth coach in the Cy-Fair Sports Association and assisted in multiple collection events for the Houston Food Bank. Mathews is married to Tonya Williams Mathews. They have two children, Shelby and Pierce.

Kelly Sullivan Holland of Lexington, Kentucky, was elected president-elect of the UK Alumni Association. The Danville, Kentucky, native earned two UK degrees: a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1993 and a master’s in kinesiology and health promotion in ’98. While attending UK, she was an Otis Singletary Senior Award recipient, Phi Beta Kappa and 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, 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 alumna to be honored with the Joseph T. Burch Young Alumni Award, receiving it in 2004. In 2010 Holland received the UK Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award. She 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 University of Kentucky 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 selected to the 2021 Class 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, national pharmacy accounts. She is married to Darin Holland (’93 AS) and they have a son, Jacob.

Quentin R. Tyler of Okemos, Michigan, was elected treasurer of the UK Alumni Association. The Hopkinsville, Kentucky, native earned three UK degrees: a bachelor’s in agricultural economics in 2002, a master’s in agricultural economics in ’05 and a doctoral degree in sociology in ’11. 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 Inc., a residential advisor and a member of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS). Tyler 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 MSU, he worked for the UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment 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 College of Agriculture, Food and Environment Alumni Association, where he served as president from 2020-24.

Tyler has chaired the UK Alumni Association’s efforts in engagement and diversity and served as the nomination committee chair for the last two years. He was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Service Award by the UK Alumni Association in 2022 and was inducted into the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in ’24. He is married to Jon’a Joiner Tyler and they have two children, Zoe and Quentin Jr. (Deuce).

Jill H. Smith of Lexington, Kentucky, was elected secretary of the UK Alumni Association. Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and management from UK in 2005 and a master’s degree in career, technical and leadership education from the University of Kentucky 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, Women & Philanthropy Member and serves on several university committees. She and her husband, Ryan (Martin-Gatton CAFE ’04), have two children, Tanner and Emmy.