UK, Lexmark Collaboration to Boost Innovation, Economic Development; New Scholarship Program to Support Underrepresented Students

The University of Kentucky and Lexmark International are embarking on the next chapter in their longstanding partnership through a new agreement designed to accelerate innovation and spur economic growth. Lexmark is also sponsoring a new scholarship program for women and minority engineering students. 

The agreement, known as the Lexmark-UK Collaboration Guidelines, details intentional ways the two entities will work together to develop innovation that results in viable business opportunities. The collaboration will also encourage faculty across campus to submit proposals to Lexmark for funding.

“The University of Kentucky is excited about this next step in our partnership with Lexmark,” said Kim Kluemper, director of the UK Office of Business Engagement. “UK is proud of its efforts to create a partner-friendly approach to working with industry. We believe our streamlined research agreements and other processes help to create the business-friendly environment that will strengthen business collaboration and further expand UK’s economic impact.”

“Lexmark and UK have always had a strong relationship fostering collaborative activities across many disciplines,” said Sandra McCain, director of Supplies Delivery and University Engagement at Lexmark. “This new agreement serves to strengthen that relationship even further. Future activities will flow into a more formal process resulting in new innovations that benefit Lexmark’s business and create exciting growth experiences for UK’s students.”

The agreement builds upon the license agreement between UK and Lexmark made last year. Led by the UK Office of Business Engagement, the new agreement is a joint development effort between Lexmark, Lexmark Ventures, the UK Research Foundation, the Office of Technology Commercialization, the College of Engineering and UK Corporate and Foundations Relations.

“We are pleased to be building upon a strong collaborative relationship with Lexmark,” said Rodney Andrews, associate vice president for research and director of the UK Center for Applied Energy Research. “Along with the UK Department of Mining Engineering, we launched an electronics recycling research partnership between our organizations last year which leverages our respective strengths to solve an industry-wide problem. This new agreement will build upon that success and spur innovation that will help ensure Lexmark’s continued advantage in an ever-competitive global marketplace while providing new opportunities for our students, faculty and staff.”

In addition to the collaborative agreement, Lexmark will also partner with the UK College of Engineering to offer two, $10,000 annual scholarships to one woman and one underrepresented minority student majoring in engineering. The scholarships also come with a paid, 10-week summer internship at Lexmark headquarters in Lexington. 

“This scholarship program focuses on our two key areas of philanthropic giving — science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and diversity,” said Sheri Evans Depp, director of Human Resources at Lexmark. “We are looking forward to the program providing a pipeline of diverse new talent for Lexmark.” 

“The College of Engineering is grateful to Lexmark for creating this opportunity, which will benefit diverse engineering students not only through scholarship aid but also through a valuable internship experience,” said UK College of Engineering Dean Rudolph Buchheit.

The annual commitment will begin in 2021 and continue for an initial period of five years, with an option to be renewed. For more information about the scholarships, contact Jana Kennelly at jana.kennelly@uky.edu.

For more information about UK/Lexmark collaboration, contact Kim Kluemper at kim.kluemper@uky.edu.