UK Honors Outstanding Advisors With Freedman Award

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 16, 2015) — University of Kentucky's Denise Brazzell and Mike Farrell received the 20th annual Ken Freedman Outstanding Advisor Awards at a luncheon held March 13.

Ken Freedman, the award's namesake, was one of the founders of the UK Advising Network in 1986 and served as a professional advisor at UK until his death in 2001. Each year, the Ken Freedman Outstanding Advisor Award is presented by the UK Advising Network to one full-time professional advisor and one faculty advisor for outstanding service.

Brazzell was selected as the 2015 professional advisor winner and Farrell was selected as the faculty advisor winner from fields of 61 and 38 candidates, respectively. In addition to the award, each advisor is presented a $500 professional development voucher from the UK Division of Undergraduate Education to be used for attending a national or regional advising conference.

“We were so impressed with the number of nominations we received from all over campus. To read about the impact our advisors are having on the undergraduate experience at UK reaffirms that academic advising is integral to fulfilling the teaching and learning mission of higher education,” said Matthew Deffendall, chair of the Freedman Award selection committee and director of First Generation Initiatives.

Brazzell, director of student services at UK College of Engineering - Paducah Campus was described by one of her nominators as "the mother hen" of the campus who "knows her job, backwards and forwards," and by another as "going beyond the bounds of her job description."

Brazzell’s award was presented by David Silverstein, associate professor at UK College of Engineering.

“I am so humbled to be standing up here with such wonderful people,” said Brazzell. “I want to tell you first and foremost that I don’t do this by myself.” She credits her husband, son and family for helping her every step of the way.

Farrell is an associate professor in UK School of Journalism and Telecommunications, and received his master's and doctoral degrees from that same program. Farrell was described by one nominator as "an incredible friend and advocate for students," and by another as "a holistic advisor [who] goes far beyond prospective advising, as he also mentors his students."

Farrell’s award was presented by Beth Barnes, director of UK School of Journalism and Telecommunications.

“I’m passionate about teaching,” said Farrell, “but most of all I’m passionate about my students. They are our future.”

Runners up for the professional award were Jennifer Ellis, Jason Horger and Amy Luchsinger. Runners up for the faculty award were Roberta Dwyer and Lorraine Garkovich.

As Freedman Award recipients, Brazzell and Farrell will be nominated by UK for the Region 3 Excellence in Advising Award and the National Academic Advising Association Outstanding Advising Award.

The UK Advising Network is part of the Office of Student Success in the Division of Undergraduate Education. For more information, contact Susan Herrick, chair of the UK Advising Network, at slherr1@uky.edu.

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu