1 Splash:2-Media Info.qxp.qxd - University of Kentucky Athletics

Dr. Lee T. Todd, Jr., President
Lee T. Todd, Jr.
became the 11th
president of the
University of Kentucky
on July 1, 2001, after
serving as senior vice
president of IBM’s
Lotus Development
Corp. President Todd is
the sixth UK alumnus
to hold the presidency.
President Todd has concentrated his efforts
and energies on helping his alma mater achieve a
greater level of national prominence. He
launched the University of Kentucky’s Top 20
Business Plan in December 2005. The plan is a
quantitative analysis highlighting what it will
take for UK to achieve its state-mandated goal
of building a Top 20 public research university.
Widely hailed as the first business plan by a
public university in the nation, UK’s plan has
garnered widespread national attention. It has
been featured by national media outlets and recognized
by peer institutions, as several higher
education leaders have visited UK’s campus to
learn more about the Business Plan approach.
The Top 20 Business Plan has also gained support
throughout the Commonwealth, as the
Kentucky General Assembly fully funded the
plan beginning in 2007-08.
President Todd has spearheaded an effort to
revitalize health care in Kentucky. In June 2006,
UK unveiled the Commonwealth’s Medical Campus
of the Future, a multi-phased project aimed at
providing Kentuckians with cutting-edge, 21st century
health care. As part of a revamped academic
medical campus, UK will construct a new, one million
square foot University of Kentucky Albert B.
Chandler Hospital, a new College of Pharmacy, and
a new University Health Service facility. All three of
those projects are currently in progress.
President Todd is currently a member of the
Board of Directors and Executive Committee for
the American Council on Education (ACE) and
the National Association of State Universities
and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC). He also
serves on NASULGC’s Council of Presidents.
He serves on the Equitable Resources Board of
Directors and is chair of the National Science
Foundation (NSF) Education and Human
Resources Advisory Committee. He is chair of
the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education’s
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Mathematics) Task Force and is also a member
of the Business Higher Education Forum
and the Council on Competitiveness.
He is married to the former Patricia Brantley, a
UK graduate who earned her master’s degree from
Simmons College in Boston. They have two adult
children, UK graduates Troy and Kathryn.
UK Board of Trustees
and Athletic Board
Board of
Trustees
(as of August 2, 2007)
James F. Hardymon, Chair
JoEtta Y. Wickliffe,
Vice Chair
Pamela Robinette May,
Secretary
Mira S. Ball
Stephen P. Branscum
Penelope A. Brown
Dermontti F. Dawson
Jeffrey B. Dembo
Ann Brand Haney
Billy Joe Miles
Sandy Bugie Patterson
Phillip R. Patton
Nick Phelps
Erwin Roberts
Charles R. Sachatello
C. Frank Shoop
Myra Leigh Tobin
Billy B. Wilcoxson
Russ Williams
Ernest J. Yanarella
Athletic Board
(as of July 1, 2007)
Frank Butler
Charles Cassis
Dermontti F. Dawson
Luther Deaton
Alan DeSantis
C. M. Gatton
Steve Hricenak
Scott Kelley
Kathi Kern
Frank Shoop
Gerald Smith
William B. Sturgill
Kumble Subbaswamy
Patricia Terrell
Lee T. Todd, Jr.
Bruce Walcott
Emeritus Member
S. T. Roach
Mitch Barnhart, Director of Athletics
Mitch Barnhart is
in his sixth year
as Director of Athletics
for the University of
Kentucky, having set a
clear course for making
Kentucky one of the
top athletics programs
in the country.
Hired July 15,
2002, Barnhart has made the desire for overall
excellence the cornerstone of Wildcat Athletics.
His decision to fully fund all 22 varsity sports
has produced a wave of firsts in a number of
programs, while also allowing UK to achieve its
highest NACDA Directors' Cup finish (33rd in
2005-06) in eight years.
Numerous sports have reached never-before
seen levels of success. Baseball won the school’s
first ever Southeastern Conference title in 2006,
following in the SEC championship footsteps of
women’s tennis, men’s golf and men’s basketball
from 2005. Four Wildcat coaches earned SEC
Coach of the Year honors in 2005-06, including
women’s basketball’s Mickie DeMoss, volleyball’s
26 T h i s i s U K Vo l l e y b a l l
Craig Skinner, diving’s Mike Lyden and baseball’s
John Cohen.
The women’s soccer and rifle teams added
league titles in 2006-07, with conference Coach of
the Year honors going to Warren Lipka and Harry
Mullins, respectively.
Barnhart instructed his staff to seek out new
revenue streams, and that resulted in a record
$80 million multimedia rights agreement with
Host Communications. The additional resources
allow UK to continue its commitment to its student-athletes,
a commitment Barnhart takes personally.
Athletics spends $1.5 million annually
on its nationally-renowned CATS Academic
Center and each spring hosts the CATSPYs, an
awards program designed to recognize the very
best in UK Athletics.
Other initiatives begun under Barnhart's leadership
include the Big Blue Caravan, which connects
UK to its vast fan base each spring, the UK
Athletics Hall of Fame, which honors past greats
across all sports, a revamping of UK's donor program
that has resulted in record K Fund dollars,
and a 10-year, $10-million commitment to help
fund the University's general scholarship program.
UK also completed the Joe Craft Center, a $30
million expansion of Memorial Coliseum that
includes new practice and office space for a variety
of sports, basketball chief among them.
Barnhart's connection to UK's studentathlete
is evident by his personal interaction
and commitment to provide all support services
necessary to meet the needs of these students.
Barnhart arrived at Kentucky from Oregon
State, where he served four successful years
(1998-2002) as athletics director. Before his
tenure at OSU, he worked at Tennessee for 12
years (1986-98); served as assistant executive
director of the SMU Mustang Club (1983-86);
regional director for the Duck Athletic Fund at
Oregon (1983); and was an intern for the Aztec
Athletic Foundation at San Diego State (1982-
1983). Barnhart, 48, is a native of Kansas City,
Kan. He received his bachelor degree from
Ottawa University (Kansas) in 1981 and a masters
in sports administration from Ohio University
in 1982. He and his wife, the former
Connie Brown, have three children, Kirby, 19,
Blaire, 16, and Scott, 13.