By Jenny Wells
The University of Kentucky Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence has named three new Chellgren Endowed Professors.
The professors are:
- Janet Eldred, an English professor in the UK College of Arts and Sciences currently working on a special assignment to advance writing in the College of Engineering.
- Michael Kovash, a professor of physics and astronomy in the UK College of Arts and Sciences.
- Carl Lee, a professor of mathematics in the UK College of Arts and Sciences.
Chellgren Endowed Professors maintain an active research program in their discipline; teach courses in one of the university's programs of excellence or within their college or department; and direct a specific project intended to advance progressive reform of undergraduate education. Each endowed professor conducts a specific project designed to improve undergraduate education. They also collaborate with colleagues in the Chellgren Center on other initiatives and activities that are intended to improve the quality of the undergraduate experience and help UK become a beacon of undergraduate excellence.
Chellgren Endowed Professors were made possible by the Chellgren Center, which is an intentional collaboration among prestigious undergraduate programs with the mission of improving undergraduate education. The center was created in August 2005 with an initial gift of $1.5 million from alumnus Paul Chellgren and his family, with an additional gift of $250,000 in September 2006. His total commitment of $2.25 million was matched by the state’s Endowment Match Program, creating a $4.5 million endowment for the Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence.