Katie Terrell Named Winner of 2016 Paul Kevin Burberry Award

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 21, 2016) — University of Kentucky student Katie Terrell has been named the 2016 Paul Kevin Burberry Award winner by the UK Human Development Institute (HDI).

Terrell is an educational specialist student in the UK College of Education and a research assistant at HDI. She has completed the Graduate Certificate in Developmental Disabilities and presented her research on mentoring partnerships for college students with disabilities at the 2015 American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities conference in Louisville, Kentucky. She is also the HDI trainee liaison to the Association of University Centers on Disabilities for 2015-2016.

The Burberry Award is named in memory of the Berea, Kentucky, native who pioneered a trail in the public school system as the first student with significant physical disabilities, due to cerebral palsy, to complete Berea Community High School. Kevin Burberry graduated with highest honors and went on to attend Berea College and UK, where he majored in philosophy. He was an exemplary student and self-advocate, and worked on an HDI project that created training modules in developmental disabilities for medical school students and other allied health student professionals that are still used today. Burberry’s life was cut short prior to his anticipated graduation, and he was awarded his UK degree posthumously, with highest honors, in May 2004.

The Burberry Award is HDI’s highest student honor and is given to a student involved with HDI who has exemplified in his or her life the leadership, advocacy and commitment to persons with disabilities and their families that Burberry demonstrated in his own life.

“Katie has always gone above and beyond … She has personally mentored no fewer than six students with developmental disabilities, facilitating their successful completion of postsecondary courses,” said co-nominator Barry Whaley. 

UK is the University for Kentucky. At UK, we are educating more students, treating more patients with complex illnesses and conducting more research and service than at any time in our 150-year history. To read more about the UK story and how you can support continued investment in your university and the Commonwealth, visit uky.edu/uk4ky. #uk4ky #seeblue

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Harder, 859-323-2396, whitney.harder@uky.edu