2018 Hall of Fame inductee W. Bruce Lunsford was born in Northern Kentucky and arrived on the University of Kentucky campus in 1965. While at UK, he worked as an intramural advisor and was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He graduated in 1969 with a B.S. in political science and a minor in accounting. After graduation, Lunsford went to work for an accounting firm in Cincinnati and became a Certified Public Accountant in 1970. He then continued to take classes at the Salmon P. Chase College of Law, graduating in 1974 among the top 10 percent of his class.

Lunsford is known as an entrepreneur, businessman and thoroughbred owner who has founded and led numerous companies in Louisville, Ky., for nearly 40 years. These companies eventually employed more than 100,000 individuals nationwide and included Vencor, Inc., a Fortune 500 healthcare company that became Kindred; Ventas, Inc., a healthcare REIT listed on the NYSE; Atria Communities; and Lunsford Capital.

From 1983 to 1987, Lunsford was a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Kentucky, and from 1991 to 2017 he served as a board member for a variety of prestigious companies, including Churchill Downs, ResCare, Zirmed, and National City Corporation. He is a current member of the Boards of Directors of AeroCare, Arcadia Communities, Creative Strategies, Edumedics and the Breeders’ Cup Limited.

Throughout his career, Lunsford has had a strong interest in public service, beginning with his role in the administration of Governor John Y. Brown, Jr., as Kentucky’s Secretary of Commerce from 1981 to 1983. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of Bellarmine College, Centre College, and Salmon P. Chase College of Law, as well as chairman of Kentucky Country Day School and the Kentucky Economic Development Corporation.