Todd Gets an 'A', Declines Performance Award

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 15, 2009) − University of Kentucky President Lee T. Todd Jr. today received a score of 96 for his 2008-2009 performance review by the UK Board of Trustees. That would have translated into a performance award of $168,000 this year (96 percent of the maximum $175,000 for which the president is eligible under management review). However, Todd declined the award in its entirety.

“I appreciate the Board of Trustees’ strong expression of support for the progress and accomplishments of the past year, but it has been yet another very challenging year from a budget standpoint, and I am simply not comfortable accepting the performance award at a time when every department on campus is dealing with severe budget reductions.”

The $168,000 will remain in UK's general fund. Todd's base salary for 2008-2009 was $304,010, and he received $25,000 for serving as chair of the UK Research Foundation Board of Directors and $25,000 for serving as chair of the UK Athletics Association Board of Directors, making his total compensation $354,010 for last year.

In other action today, the UK Board of Trustees accepted more than $2 million in gifts and pledges from donors.

The largest came from the Keeneland Foundation of Lexington, which made a gift of $200,000 and a pledge of $400,000 to create and endow the Orchestra Research Endowment Fund in the School of Music in the UK College of Fine Arts. The gift, supported by Keeneland's partnership with Maker's Mark Distillery's distribution of collectors' bottles, qualifies for matching funds from Kentucky's Endowment Match Program.

The board also accepted a gift of $74,752 and a pledge of $425,248 from Dr. F. Joseph III and Mrs. Joan Halcomb of Camarillo, Calif., to create the Halcomb Family Endowed Fellowship in Medicine and Engineering in the UK College of Engineering. The board is submitting $400,000 of the total $500,000 commitment to the state Endowment Match Program.

The Halcombs, both of whom are UK alumni, established the interdisciplinary research fellowship in the field of bioengineering to enable students to experience "hands on" research and collaborative skills, as well as opportunities to work on publications, articles or products generated from the research. Dr. Halcomb is vice president for environmental health and safety for Amgen Inc., while Mrs. Halcomb is a registered nurse.

The estate of Lilialyce Akers presented a gift of $333,333 to the board, which voted to create and endow the Dee Ashley Akers Scholarship Quasi-Endowment in the UK College of Law. Her will directed that a scholarship be created in the memory of her late husband, Dee.

The board accepted a gift of $268,729 from the estates of William and Julia Cundiff and will create and endow the William and Julia Cundiff Scholarship Quasi-Endowment in the Office of Academic Scholarships. Mr. Cundiff, a 1935 mechanical engineering graduate, and his wife left an estate gift to establish scholarships for students from Pulaski and adjacent counties.

The board accepted a gift of $200,122 from the estate of Alice P. Killpatrick and will create and endow the Alice P. Killpatrick Quasi-Endowed Fellowship in the School of Human Environmental Sciences in the UK College of Agriculture. In 2007, she established an undergraduate scholarship. The board is submitting this gift for matching funds under the state's Endowment Match Program.

Several gifts and pledges totaling $100,000 were submitted to create and endow the Byron Young, M.D., Research Endowment for Neurosurgery Residents in the Department of Neurosurgery in the UK College of Medicine. The donors were Phillip Tibbs, M.D., a gift of $5,000 and a pledge of $20,000; Kenneth J. Rich, M.D., of Raleigh, N.C., John D. Johnson, M.D., of Huntsville, Ala., and the Kentucky Medical Services Foundation of Lexington, with each pledging $25,000. Drs. Tibbs, Rich and Johnson each served residencies under Dr. Young. The board is submitting the gifts and pledges to the state Endowment Match Program for matching funds.

The Kentucky Medical Services Foundation also made a gift of $20,000 and a pledge of $30,000, for a total of $50,000, to add to the existing Neurology Research Professorship No. 2 in the Department of Neurology in the UK College of Medicine. The board is submitting the gift and pledge for matching funds under the state's Endowment Match Program.

The board accepted a gift of $35,347 from the estate of Margaret Bell Humphreys to create and endow the Margaret Bell Humphreys Scholarship Quasi-Endowment for Business and Economics Teachers in the UK College of Education. Ms. Humphreys, who earned her bachelor's and master's degrees at UK, taught in the College of Education and the Gatton College of Business and Economics from 1942 to 1976.