Patrick Lee Lucas: 2026-27 University Research Professor Q&A

UKNow is highlighting the University of Kentucky’s 2026-27 University Research Professors. Established by the Board of Trustees in 1976, the professorship program recognizes excellence across the full spectrum of research at UK and is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research.  

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 16, 2026) — Patrick Lee Lucas, Ph.D., professor in the School of Interiors in the University of Kentucky’s College of Design, has been honored as a 2026-27 University Research Professor.

Through research that combines ideas from multiple fields, Lucas explores how buildings, interiors and everyday objects reflect culture, identity and history. His work focuses especially on regions of the United States where different cultures and traditions meet, including the Midwest during the 1800s and the American South during the 1900s.

This approach is reflected in his current collaborative project, “Language and Home in the Commonwealth.” The project combines language research with the study of homes, objects and visual culture to challenge common stereotypes about different regions.

Since joining UK in 2013, Lucas has served on major academic committees and held significant leadership roles, including director of the School of Interiors, director of International Programs in the College of Design, and Provost’s Faculty Fellow. He was awarded a Great Teacher Award from the UK Alumni Association in 2026. 

His scholarly contributions include numerous publications, notably “Athens on the Frontier: Grecian-Style Architecture in the Great Valley of the West, 1820-1860,” published in 2023 and “Modernism at Home: Edward Loewenstein’s Architectural Innovation in Piedmont, NC,” published in 2013.  

He spoke with UKNow about his latest honor as a University Research Professor in this Q&A.

UKNow: What does it mean to you to be recognized as a University Research Professor?

Lucas: I so appreciate the recognition by my colleagues in the College of Design and by the university through the Office of the Vice President for Research. This distinction underscores the trust others have placed in my work as a design historian to explore the near environments in which we all live that silently communicate our human values and materialize our aspirations for the future. The designation as a University Research Professor carries triple importance because my work intertwines with that of my research partner, Allison Burkette (linguistics), and involves a transdisciplinary undergraduate team of researchers, past and present — Kerry Brown (architecture), Donald Caudill (linguistics), Noah Nolan (interiors) and Prisha Patel (architecture). This distinction underscores that collaborative scholarship remains important to the institution and that the involvement of undergraduates in the research process is both worthwhile and fruitful.

UKNow: How will the professorships program advance your research?

Lucas: With funding provided to me as a University Research Professor, Dr. Burkette and I plan to advance the dissemination of the team’s collective work through a podcast series on language and home. While podcasts certainly exist on various scales of design, language and linguistics, and American history, no single podcast brings these topics together. We believe there is a market for such a show because everyone lives in, has lived in or has experienced home spaces in some way. We may go as far to argue that no other building form tells us more about the American psyche than the single-family home. By exploring the tensions and resonances of interior design and linguistics, we hope to invigorate and engender thinking and conversation about how we live and what we mean by the ways that we live.

UKNow: What inspired your focus on this area of research?

Lucas: The house stands as a place fundamentally varying in individual taste, but probably most universal in scope and content, and provides a profound and evocative collection of material goods and memories ripe for study. The project began with a series of conversations centered on a simple idea: What does it mean to feel at home? From there, we developed broader questions about how people create a sense of belonging, how homes reflect geographic and cultural influences and how individuals express their identities through the spaces they inhabit.

UKNow: What continues to motivate your work?

Lucas: Dr. Burkette, our undergraduate research team and I continue to be amazed by the breadth of visual and written materials available to explore this topic. We have found valuable examples in magazines, newspapers, artwork, photographs, advertisements and television programs. Many of these sources document the homes, spaces and belongings of middle- and upper-income Americans.

What excites us most, however, is the opportunity to uncover stories from everyday households. Those stories are often preserved in family photo albums, scrapbooks, journals, diaries and personal letters that are scattered across archives, historical collections and private homes throughout the country. Many of these materials have received little scholarly attention, which means there is still much to discover about how people have experienced, described and shared a sense of home across generations.

UKNow: How does your research impact Kentucky?

Lucas: This project has at its core, a desire to positively impact the people of Kentucky, who still confront stereotypes of the state. Recent museum exhibitions have begun to highlight the diversity and complexity of Kentucky homes and households. Institutions such as the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts and the Speed Art Museum have shown how Kentucky residents from a wide range of backgrounds filled their homes with meaningful and valued possessions.

Our research builds on this growing understanding by examining how people described and experienced their homes. We have found that prized possessions and decorative objects could be found in homes across the social and economic spectrum, including rural households that are often overlooked or misunderstood. In some cases, these items were known by distinctive regional names, such as “firedogs,” a local term for brass andirons, the decorative metal supports used to hold logs in a fireplace.

By exploring both the language and material culture of Kentucky homes, our project aims to challenge long-standing stereotypes and offer a more complete picture of life in the Commonwealth. In doing so, we hope to celebrate the richness and diversity of Kentucky’s history, culture and ways of speaking.

About the University Research Professors

Each year, the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees approves a cohort of faculty as University Research Professors. The distinction recognizes excellence in work that addresses scientific, social, cultural and economic challenges in Kentucky and the world.

College leadership developed criteria for excellence within their area of expertise and then nominated faculty who excelled at these criteria. Each University Research Professor receives a one-year award of $10,000.