LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 11, 2024) — The International Center at the University of Kentucky has announced the 2024 UK Global Impact Award winners.
The awards recognize faculty, staff, alumni and community members who have contributed to the university’s global engagement through education, research and service, as well those who have fostered a culturally diverse, welcoming environment.
“These individuals are making a wonderful and positive difference with their dedication to helping create a more global University of Kentucky,” said Sue Roberts, associate provost for internationalization. “We are excited to honor their contributions to global engagement at the University of Kentucky.”
Among them are:
Michael McGlue
McGlue, Ph.D., has been selected as the recipient of the 2024 Global Impact Award for Distinguished Faculty Achievements in International Research and Scholarship. McGlue is Pioneer Natural Resources professor of stratigraphy and paleoenvironmental analysis in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences. He holds a Bachelor of Science in geology from Washington and Lee University, a Master of Science in earth science from Syracuse University and a Ph.D. in geosciences from the University of Arizona. Before joining UK, he worked as a Mendenhall post-doctoral fellow at the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver.
McGlue’s work on questions relating to geological records of environmental change, lakes/wetlands and conservation has resulted in significant advances. HIs research takes him to Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania and Zambia in Africa, the Pantanal wetlands in western Brazil and the Lower Amazon River in northern Brazil. McGlue has maintained decades-long relationships with many international research groups. He offers workshops to local early-career students in Brazil and Africa to guide them in examining environmental change. His research network has grown since he was named a National Geographic Explorer in 2015. McGlue won two Geoscientists Without Borders grants totaling $181,000 to complete work in East Africa, first in Tanzania and more recently in Zambia. He also has won major research funding for his international collaborative research from the National Science Foundation through its Biodiversity on a Changing Planet program. This international transdisciplinary effort addresses major challenges related to climate change. This five-year project was awarded nearly $2.5 million and will help build capacity for further work.
Tiffany Williams
Williams of the College of Arts and Sciences received the 2024 Global Impact Award for Distinguished Staff Achievements in Campus Internationalization. Williams serves as both the assistant director at the Center for English as a Second Language and international undergraduate student coordinator for the College of Arts and Sciences. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina Asheville in Spanish language and literature.
Williams manages administration of the English language programs, while also recruiting and advising international students from partner universities throughout the world. In Williams’ role, she also promotes education abroad in the College of Arts and Sciences. Williams consults with faculty, directors of undergraduate study, Education Abroad staff, academic advisers and others to support and promote education abroad. In addition, she works with UK Philanthropy to identify ways to make education abroad more affordable for students.
Williams has been with the College of Arts and Sciences since 2018, beginning as an English language instructor, where she developed a New Student Orientation that continues to be used today. She has taught English at other universities, including the esteemed LADO International Institute, in Washington, D.C., where she was trained, and for multiple governmental contracts abroad. She has also worked as a Spanish-English interpreter in Spain, Costa Rica and Kentucky. Williams studied abroad in Cordoba, Argentina, in 2005, and she worked as an intern for the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America, in Washington, D.C., in 2006. These experiences further instilled in her an international perspective that inspires her work today.
About the UK Global Impact Awards
The Global Impact Awards were established in 2020 to recognize, highlight and celebrate the wide range of global engagement activities undertaken by UK faculty, staff and alumni.
Nominees for the various award categories are reviewed by the International Advisory Committee and receive additional review from campus stakeholders, such as the Staff Senate.
The 2024 recipients will be recognized at an event on Oct. 2.