UK Scholar Selected for National Educational Leadership Network
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 22, 2022) — Stacey Love, a doctoral scholar in the University of Kentucky College of Education, has been selected to participate in the Barbara L. Jackson Scholars Network.
Love, who resides in University Heights, Ohio, is pursuing a Ph.D. online in the UK College of Education Department of Educational Leadership Studies.
"Stacey has big ideas and a deep passion for diversifying education and bringing more leaders of color into STEM careers. Being part of the Jackson Scholars Network will help her hone those passions into specific research and projects and I'm very excited to see her grow over the next two years. She is well-deserving of this recognition. It will build upon her wealth of experience in education while creating networking opportunities for her doctoral work and career as an aspiring faculty member,” said Justin Bathon, chair of the Department of Educational Leadership Studies and Love’s dissertation committee chair.
Love is a former higher education administrator who has spent the last two decades building bridges between post-secondary institutions and K-12 education. She currently serves as the chief education officer for The Education Brain Trust, an education consulting company that serves families navigating K-12 education and the college admission process.
“I am passionate about team-building, community partnership development and college access for historically underrepresented populations,” Love said.
After completing her doctorate, Love plans to pursue a faculty position within an education leadership program that is committed to systemic student success. She will also continue her work with The Education Brain Trust to help families navigate ongoing changes in education.
The Ohio native has a bachelor’s degree in Black world studies/sociology and a master’s of education in curriculum and teacher leadership. Her research interests include identifying and resolving barriers that restrict the transition between secondary and post-secondary education and beyond, urban STEM school success and underrepresented student representation and success in STEM majors in both undergraduate and graduate education.
The Jackson Scholars program, part of the University Council for Education Administration (UCEA), was created to provide a support system for graduate students of color and to help increase the number of students of color poised to serve as faculty at higher education institutions that prepare educational leaders for the nation’s schools and children.
“The Jackson Scholars Network is an intentional network that will help me to watch, learn and grow from scholars across the nation as I pursue my own scholarly interests,” Love said. “This network, with its unique purpose of increasing the number of underrepresented faculty in educational leadership, provides a tremendous opportunity to connect with accomplished scholars and researchers.”
In addition to her roles in education, Love is a multi-state licensed insurance broker and founder of The Love (Insurance) Agency.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.