The University of Kentucky Department of English held its 44th Annual Awards Day in May 2025 at the Lewis Honors College, honoring outstanding students, faculty and alumni across undergraduate, graduate and creative writing programs.
Awards Day Speaker: Professor Emerita Ellen Rosenman
Guest speaker Professor Emerita Ellen Rosenman, who retired in 2017, reflected on what English studies has meant to her and what the discipline can offer us all. Rosenman joined UK as an assistant professor in 1985 and became a full professor in 2004. She served as director of the Women's Studies Program and became the first woman chair of the Department of English in 2004. In April 2025, she was inducted into the Arts and Sciences Emeritus Hall of Fame at a special ceremony.
2025 Alumna of the Year: Dr. Ashley E. Reis
The 2025 Alumna of the Year Award was presented to Dr. Ashley E. Reis, who accepted the award in person. Reis graduated from UK in 2006 and completed her Ph.D. in 2016. Arriving at UK in August 2002, she initially intended to major in journalism, but English classes in her first year expanded her sense of what was possible, and she soon changed her major. Her time as a UK English major inspired her to earn her M.A. at the University of Oregon and her Ph.D. at the University of North Texas. Over the past 15 years, Reis has taught college composition, American literature and environmental studies at the University of North Texas, Texas Woman's University and the State University of New York at Potsdam. Her research has focused on contemporary U.S. literature, western American literature and the environmental humanities. She is currently working as a naturalist and guide in northwest Wyoming's Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Undergraduate Awards
- Dantzler-Dantzler Award for Academic Achievement by a Senior - Ella Brown-Terry
- O.J. and Ruby Wilson Scholarship for Outstanding Senior - Avery Bannister
- Julester Shrady Post Memorial Scholarship - Beaux Hardin
- Barbara Sutton Cowles Scholarship for an Outstanding Senior - Maggie Privette
- Patricia and William Stacy Endowed Fellowship in Undergraduate English Education - Macy Conley
- Bill Bridges Scholarship for Outstanding First-Generation English Graduate - Brenna Staser
- Michael Adelstein Award for Prospective Teachers of English - Ava Reeves
- William Hugh Jansen Undergraduate Award for Literary Writing - Aisha Conwell
- Best Undergraduate Essay in 200-Level Course - Elizabeth Kneibert
- Sigma Tau Delta Meritorious Service - Trevor Wells
Graduate Awards
- Ellershaw Award for an Outstanding Ph.D. Candidate - Jordan Rucci
- William J. Sowder Award for Best Graduate Student Critical Paper - Ph.D. candidate David Schwartz, M.A. candidate Terika Williams
- Ben Wathen Black Memorial Graduate Scholarship in British Literature - Robert Keim
- Robert L. Doty English Graduate Support Fund - Alex Gergeley, David Schwartz
- Outstanding Literature or Film Teaching Assistant Award - Mark Hines, Dane Ritter
- Patricia and William Stacy Endowed Fellowship - Hanna Denton
Creative Writing Awards
- Gurney Norman Prize - Abigail McDougal
- Jane Gentry Vance Poetry Prize - Catherine E. Vincent
- Dantzler-Farquhar Award for Creative Writing - creative nonfiction: Dani Fauzi, fiction: Hunter Coady, poetry: Carter Eckhardt
- MFA in Creative Writing Award - creative nonfiction: Jeremy Taveres, fiction: Herbert Girtley, poetry: Meg Whelan
- Nikky Finney Graduate Fellowship - Erik Zepeda
- UK Libraries King Library Press Poetry Broadside Contest - Noah Edgar (undergraduate), Samantha Ratcliffe (graduate student)
- Paul and Alice Richardson Creative Writing Scholarship - Jackie Suggitt
- Outstanding MFA Teaching Assistant - Meg Whelan
- William Hugh Jansen Award for Creative Writing - C.J. Jones (undergraduate), Jaydon Prichard (graduate student)
- Montana Big Sky Residency - Mallory Donoghue
- Wagner-Adler Summer Thesis Award - Leo Coffey, Isabella Mason, Erik Zepeda
Faculty Awards
- The Ellen Rosenman Distinguished Faculty Award - Jill Rappoport
- William S. Ward Prize - Jonathan Allison
- EGSO Faculty Award - Jap-Nanak Makkar
- 25 Years of Service - Michael Carter
College Teaching Awards
- College of Arts and Sciences Award for Excellence in Teaching Large Courses - Jordan Brower
- College of Arts and Sciences Certificate for Outstanding Teaching in English - Robert Keim
- College of Arts and Sciences Faculty and Teaching Awards in the Humanities - Emily Shortslef