2017-2018 University Research Professors

College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
Department of Plant and Soil Sciences
Wendroth is a world leader in soil physics research. He has pioneered studies in geospatial and temporal statistics related to water and gas flow in soil systems. Wendroth’s 109 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and reviews are a testament to his productivity over the last 25 years, as well as having mentored 11 Ph.D. and M.S. students. He has supported his research with more than $1.4 million in extramural funding from nationally competitive, regional and university grants. 

College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Psychology
Bhatt is internationally known for his scholarship in the area of perception, memory and conceptual development in infants. Bhatt and his colleagues have published more than 80 articles on their research in this area. Bhatt won an NSF CAREER Award and is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. With the exception of one year, he has been continuously funded by NIH and NSF since 1996. 

College of Arts and Sciences
Department of History
Firey is an eminent scholar of medieval canon law. By uncovering previously unknown sources and developing digital approaches to rare medieval documents, she has revolutionized research that depends on accessibility to manuscript sources. External granting agencies such as the Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for Humanities have recognized the potential of Firey’s digital humanities vision and awarded her over a million dollars in funding for current projects.

College of Communication and Information
Department of Communication
Johnson has produced a body of work that has greatly influenced the field of organizational communication and has made a public impact, with 87 refereed articles, four book chapters, and nine published books. Johnson is among the top three most cited professors in the College of Communication and Information. He has received grants from the National Cancer Institute and National Association of Broadcasters. 

College of Design
School of Architecture
Luhan is the John Russell Groves Endowed Professor of Architecture and the College of Design’s associate dean for administration. Luhan’s project on eco-tourism in West Liberty to rebuild the local economy is an example of how he has improved the lives of Kentuckians by integrating his research into the pedagogy of his studios. He has received numerous research awards totaling more than $1.25 million from the National Science Foundation, Tennessee Valley Authority, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

College of Education
Department of Educational, School and Counseling Psychology
Ruble is a nationally recognized researcher in the field of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). She and her colleagues developed the Collaborative Model for Promoting Competence and Success (COMPASS), to equip teachers and families to work collaboratively to help students with ASD succeed. Ruble’s work on COMPASS has been federally funded since 1996, which includes awards from the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. 

College of Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Jawahir is the James F. Hardymon Endowed Chair in Manufacturing Systems and founding director of the Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing. His pioneering work on modeling of machining processes and his foundational work on sustainable manufacturing are recognized internationally. He has published more than 360 technical research papers, including 135 refereed journal articles, and has been awarded four U.S. patents. 

College of Fine Arts
School of Art and Visual Studies
Patterson is an associate professor of painting and mixed media at the School of Visual Arts and Visual Studies at the UK College of Fine Arts. Patterson has a strong record of both solo and group exhibitions. Her work has been included in notable group exhibitions such as “Visual Art and Music in a Post-Hip-Hop Era” at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, Brooklyn, 2013. She has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Frieze Magazine, Huffington Post, Art Papers, Art Nexus and The International Review of African American Art. 

Gatton College of Business & Economics
Department of Marketing and Supply Chain
Hardesty is the Carol Martin Gatton Endowed Chair of Marketing, and the director of UK’s Behavioral Research Lab. Hardesty’s research focuses on marketing and consumer behavioral aspects of pricing, emotional intelligence, knowledge and political ideology. He serves on the editorial boards for the Journal of Product & Brand Management, and for the Journal of Retailing. Hardesty has served as consultant for NASA and the Promotional Products Association International. 

College of Health Sciences
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences
Peterson is the Joseph Hamburg Endowed Professor and the director of the UK Center for Muscle Biology. She has published 95 peer-reviewed articles and is currently funded by NIH and by the Department of Defense to study the role of satellite cells in adult skeletal muscle growth and maintenance. She is also funded by the National Institute on Aging to study the effect of exercise on cell dynamics during aging. She is the principal investigator on another NIH grant to research the actions of metformin, the most widely prescribed drug for type 2 diabetes, on resistance-training in older adults. 

College of Law
Dr. Price is the Robert E. Harding Professor of Law. She is also the director of UK’s African American and Africana Studies Program. In 2016, she was awarded an NSF Rapid Response Research grant for a collaborative project on the impact of felon disenfranchisement. Price is the recipient of the College of Law’s Duncan Teaching Award in recognition of her excellent teaching of Torts, Women and the Law, Law and Social Science, Law and Popular Culture, and Immigration Law. 

College of Medicine
Department of Physiology
Taylor studies how neurotransmitters and drugs act upon the central nervous system to regulate touch and pain. His laboratory has more than $16 million in external research grant funding, including a $3 million NIH/NIDA R01 to test the hypothesis that constitutive activity of opioid receptors prevents the transition from acute to chronic pain by inhibiting synaptic mechanisms. Taylor’s funding also includes a $2.4 million R01 to study the contribution of endogenous neuropeptide receptor signaling to the suppression of chronic pain.

College of Medicine
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry
Gentry is the director of the UK Lafora Epilepsy Initiative, which was established by a $9.2 million NIH/NINDS P01 grant based on the application of his innovative work on plant proteins to the human protein laforin. In addition to the P01, Gentry is currently supported by $29 million in funding from NIH, NSF, COBRE and KSF grants. 

College of Nursing
Lennie is widely recognized for his groundbreaking research into appetite, nutrition and inflammation in patients with advanced heart failure. He is currently supported by nearly $8 million in funding from two R01 grants from the National Institute of Nursing Research, from the Health Services Research Administration, and from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. He is the author of eight book chapters and has published 120 articles in top-ranked journals. 

College of Pharmacy
Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science
Talbert is the founding director of the Institute for Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy (IPOP), which serves as the primary developer of the clinical data warehouse for UK HealthCare and the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS). His impressive output of publications includes 65 articles, 42 contract technical reports, and 36 published abstracts. Talbert is the principal investigator of 57 funded projects totaling $38 million and an additional $24 million as co-investigator. 

College of Public Health
Department of Health Services and Management
Mays is the F. Douglas Scutchfield Endowed Professor of Health Services and Systems Research at the UK College of Public Health. His research focuses on mechanisms for organizing and financing public health services, preventive care, and care coordination strategies. He has produced 82 peer-review articles and is currently funded by more than $22 million in research grants from NSF, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), CDC, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.