EXTENSION Annual Report 2007

Donor lists include gifts made
from January 1–December 31, 2007.

They were compiled using computerized methods. We have made every effort to assure that the lists are accurate. Any errors are unintentional and will be corrected if you contact the Office for Advancement. A complete listing of all donors is available on the College of Agriculture’s web site at: www.ca.uky.edu.

David and Sally Stevens

David and Sally Stevens have been leaders in Lexington‘s civic life for many years. As part of that, they have supported The Arboretum, a 100-acre oasis of natural beauty in the middle of urban Lexington.

Mrs. Stevens was one of the earliest presidents of the Friends of the Arboretum, which has supported The Arboretum in many ways over the years.

For several years, she also was exhibit chairperson for The Arboretum’s annual Arbor Day observance in April.

They were donors to the campaign to build The Arboretum’s visitor center, which opened in 2002. They also have helped sponsor the Gala in the Garden, a major fund-raiser held annually in May.

Dr. Stevens, who is an orthopedic surgeon, has been a member of the Urban County Council for nearly 15 years. He is keenly aware of how Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government and the University have worked together to help The Arboretum flourish. “It’s a conjoint effort of the city and UK,” he said.

Now, they have turned their attention and support to the latest jewel in The Arboretum’s crown: a children’s garden that will concentrate, in 1.8 acres, Kentucky’s landscape, plants, and history in which kids from ages 2 to 10 can explore, wonder, and yes, dig a little.

Dr. Stevens is co-chairing the fund-raising campaign to raise $1.3 million for the garden along with Dorotha Smith Oatts. (Oatts is another longtime supporter of The Arboretum. She made the $200,000 challenge gift that resulted in the visitor center that is named for her.)

Already, more than $750,000 has been raised for the children’s garden. Up to now, donations have come through large private gifts, grants, and in-kind donations such as soil transport and grading.

To help raise the rest of the money, Dr. Stevens wants to expand the campaign so that the general public can have a part in it. This final phase may include a mail campaign.

David and Sally Stevens believe in what the children’s garden will do.

“It’s a really good start for young people to being appreciative of the outdoors and plants,” Mrs. Stevens said.

The garden may, Dr. Stevens said, teach kids “that green is not so bad, that we need to protect the environment if the earth is going to be sustainable.”

Walter Zent

Walter Zent, a member of the Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Foundation for seven years and its chair for the past two, has become one of UK’s biggest advocates for horse health research funding.

It’s a cause that’s deeply personal. Zent has been a practicing equine veterinarian at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute since 1966, giving him a wide network of contacts in Kentucky’s signature horse industry. These attributes make him one of UK’s most valuable champions for Gluck’s equine research programs and initiatives.

Gluck Equine Research Center faculty are recognized internationally as leading experts on many of the world’s equine infectious diseases. The center’s researchers are credited with developing six of the 10 horse vaccines most commonly used today. The enhancement of its facilities is critical to the continuation of its cutting-edge research.

To that end, an initial $20 million capital campaign is currently under way for UK’s Maine Chance Equine Campus. Approximately $10 million is earmarked for horse health research facilities. (The other $10 million is for UK’s equine undergraduate education and research needs in equine nutrition.)

“I appreciate the importance of sustaining cutting-edge research capacity for our equine enterprises,” Zent said. “This campaign is a critical initiative to sustain the Gluck Center’s international preeminence in equine health research and, more importantly, to enhance its ability to serve the equine industry.

“The first priority is a containment facility to support the efforts of researchers in developing vaccines for emerging diseases. Such a facility is also necessary in continuing to attract the best researchers to Kentucky,” he said.

Ground was recently broken and fundraising completed for the first wing of this containment facility, a $1.2 million state-of-the-art building for infectious disease research. UK’s immediate objective is to raise an additional $1.7 million to complete it. Beyond this project, UK aims to invest an additional $3 million in a second infectious disease containment facility and undertake initial steps to expand facilities for reproductive health research.

Eleanor A. Botts

Eleanor A. Botts has never forgotten the University of Kentucky.

In 1957, with a home economics degree in hand, Botts went to Cincinnati to work for Procter & Gamble after graduation.

She worked at P & G for the next 31 years—four years in market research talking with consumers around the country, then in the foods division, where she developed and moderated test panels that led to products such as Duncan Hines cake mixes and Jif peanut butter.

Botts threw herself into Cincinnati’s civic life as well. She was a volunteer at Cincinnati’s Ronald McDonald House before the first brick was laid and was involved with a wide range of other groups, from the Salvation Army Auxiliary to the Cincinnati Museum Center.

Through it all, she remained grateful, and loyal, to UK. When students called in the annual phonathon, she always made a gift. She stepped up her generosity as her own success made it possible.

Then, in 2005, Botts established the C. Bryan and Frances Bush Botts Endowed Scholarship in Human Environmental Sciences in honor of her parents.

The scholarship goes to a deserving HES student each year. Procter & Gamble matched Botts’ gift (as do many corporations), so its potential to provide income for scholarships has doubled.

“My mother always said everybody should plant one tree in this life,” Botts said. “I think every person who gets an education should help somebody else get one, too.”

Botts is now retired, but she’s still active in the Cincinnati community and loyal to the University and to the School of Human Environmental Sciences. When Wildcat basketball is televised, her friends know not to phone her. When Winter Event takes place, she is here.

And when the scholarship in her parents’ name is awarded each year, Botts helps one more UK student move toward the kind of professional and community life she has so enjoyed.

For more information on investing in the Children’s Garden, the Maine Chance Equine Education and Research Campus, or other College programs, contact the Office for Advancement at (859) 257-7200.