Six University of Kentucky educators were recently named recipients of the UK Alumni Association 2015 Great Teacher Award.

The Great Teacher Award, started in 1961, is the longest-running university award recognizing teaching. In order to receive the award, educators must first be nominated by a student.

University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences history associate professor Gerald Smith loved his time on campus so much as an undergraduate and graduate student, he decided to return to his alma mater to share his passion for history.

"When we think about a skyscraper, cathedral, or monument, we seldom ask: what was there before? Who benefited from its construction? Who lost? What could have been?" UK History professor and Pulitzer Prize nominated author Tracy A. Campbell said.

In celebration of the University of Kentucky's upcoming sesquicentennial in 2015, the 46th of 150 weekly installments remembers the accomplishments of integration pioneer Doris Wilkinson, one of the first African Americans to participate in the integration of UK after the Supreme Court declared public school segregation illegal.

The University of Kentucky Alumni Association presented its 2013 Great Teacher Awards to six recipients last night at a recognition dinner, followed by an appearance at Rupp Arena’s center court during halftime of the South Carolina vs. UK basketball game.