Karen Kaye Caldwell
The Honorable Karen Kaye Caldwell, a Lexington resident and a native of Lincoln County, is an alumna of Transylvania University and the University of Kentucky College of Law. After serving as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 1987 – 1991, Caldwell became the youngest in the nation to head the Office of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky at age 35. She was nominated by former President George Bush as one of eight women in the nation and the first woman in Kentucky to serve as a U.S. Attorney. Under her direction, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky successfully prosecuted numerous state officials in the widely known BOPTROT investigation. She was named “Outstanding Lawyer of the Year” and recognized by the Department of Justice for her efforts in this investigation.
Caldwell returned to private practice in 1993 specializing in civil and criminal litigation at one of Kentucky’s leading firms. Due to her quality work and reputation for successfully fighting public corruption, President George W. Bush nominated her to the federal bench in 2001. She was unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate to serve as U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky, where she continues to serve today.
As a Transylvania trustee since 2001, Karen has served as a member of the Alumni Executive Board, the president of the Bluegrass Area Alumni Club, and as an adjunct professor. She has given and helped raise money for several projects, including establishment of an endowed scholarship fund for students to study abroad. Transylvania University has honored Karen as a recipient of the Distinguished Services Award, as a nominee at National Philanthropy Day, and as the commencement speaker for the Class of 2005.
Karen has served on boards and committees for numerous organizations including the Fayette County Ethics Commission, Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky, Lexington Ballet, Kentucky Board of Bar Examiners Character and Fitness Committee, Kentucky Commission on Women Executive Board, Georgetown College Leadership Center, and Midway College. She was named one of the “Top Women in Business” in Lexington in 1994 and the Kentucky Bar Association’s “Outstanding Lawyer” in 1995. She also received the Future Homemakers of America National Alumni Achievement Award in 1996 and a personal achievement award from the Kentucky Commission on Women.
As an attorney, judge, education activist and generous philanthropist, Judge Caldwell has become one of Kentucky’s leading citizens. She is well known across Kentucky for her initiatives in child abuse prevention, engaging young Kentuckians in leadership programs, and working to facilitate opportunities for women.
Marcetta York Darensbourg
Dr. Marcetta York Darensbourg is a native of Artemus, Kentucky in Knox County. She received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Union College in Barbourville and her doctorate in inorganic chemistry from the University of Illinois in Urbana. Dr. Darensbourg currently resides in College Station Texas and is a professor at Texas A & M University where she directs the Marcetta Y. Darensbourg Research Laboratories. In addition to her undergraduate and graduate course offerings, Marcetta has served as a research advisor to nearly 40 doctoral students and numerous undergraduates. She goes out of her way to make sure students are exposed to national meetings and visiting scientists, including Noble Prize winners, and continues to be a mentor to many students long after graduation.
Dr. Darensbourg has served as a foreign lecturer and published over 140 research papers, including an article in Nature, a premier international scientific journal, in 2005. She has received several awards for her work in inorganic chemistry including the American Chemical Society Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry. She served on a panel that developed the “Hydrogen Storage Think Tank” report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy to discuss potentially new and promising hydrogen storage technologies. Dr. Darensbourg attributes much of her success as a scientist and an educator to her experience at Union College. Union college honored Dr. Darensbourg with its inaugural Distinguished Alumni Scholar Award.
One of her students at Texas A&M said of her: “One of the most personal and life-changing approaches to encourage women to continue a career in chemistry is through finding mentors like Marcetta Y. Darensbourg who care deeply about their students’ involvement in science.” Students of Dr. Darensbourg say she instills in them a sense of scientific integrity and politic, telling them “We stand on the shoulders of giants.”
William T. Robinson III
William T. Robinson III, a resident of Erlanger, Kentucky in Kenton County, is a graduate of Thomas More College and the University of Kentucky College of Law. He currently serves as managing partner of Greenebaum, Doll & McDonald, PLLC, managing the firm’s Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati offices.
As a student at Thomas More, he was instrumental in the founding of the Thomas More Chapter of Phi Alpha Delta International, a professional society for pre-law students, which continues to thrive today. Mr. Robinson began his practice of law in 1971 and continued to be very involved at Thomas More, as a member of the campus community and of the Thomas More Alumni Association. He serves as a college trustee and is very influential in fundraising for the college.
Mr. Robinson has served his community tirelessly and has volunteered to participate in and lead a wide variety of initiatives. At the national level, he has served the American Bar Association in many different positions including his current position as treasurer. He is a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers, a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, a Life Member of the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference, and a Sustaining Member of The American Law Institute.
Mr. Robinson has served Kentucky as the president of the Board of Directors of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, member of the National Conference of Community and Justice in Greater Cincinnati, member of the Board of United Way of Greater Cincinnati, an advisory trustee of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, vice chair for Economic Development for the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, chair of the Partnership for Greater Cincinnati, and founding board member of CINCY-TECH USA, the new economy initiative of the Cincinnati Chamber. He was a founding board member of the Tri-County Economic Development Corporation, which has spearheaded the economic renaissance of Northern Kentucky since 1987.
Mr. Robinson has been recognized with a number of distinguished awards and distinctions including Best Lawyer in America for five of the last nine years. He was presented the Governor’s Economic Development Leadership Award in Kentucky in 1997, and was given the Distinguished Alumni Award by Thomas More College in 1982.
Peter Stanley Fosl
Dr. Peter Stanley Fosl, a Louisville resident, earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in philosophy and economics from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He went on to earn a Master of Arts degree and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Currently he is a professor at Transylvania University, and has previously served as a faculty member at Georgia State University, Emory University and Hollins College in Roanoke, Virginia.
As one of his associates described him – “he is a superb and inspiring teacher, an active scholar, a dynamic colleague, and is more than deserving of national recognition.” Dr. Fosl was named Bingham-Young Professor at Transylvania University in 2004. This position brings responsibility to involve all on campus in a thematic and multidisciplinary exploration of a topic. To this end, Dr. Fosl developed and deployed a two-year “Liberty, Security, and Justice Program” that included a new philosophy course, a film series, faculty/student reading groups, and national guest speakers in an effort to focus campus intellectual life around this issue.
When describing why he chose teaching as a profession, he says “There’s a sense in which I didn’t choose teaching as a profession. Rather, teaching chose me.” He is a contributing editor to The Philosophers’ Magazine and has been a member of the editorial board of The Journal of Transcendent Philosophy. His latest book, a collaboration with Julian Baggini called The Ethics Toolkit expected later this year, discusses how to think about ethical issues aimed at a mass audience.
The outstanding quality of his teaching, expertise in his fields of study, the originality of courses and scholarship, and the role he plays as a mentor to students and faculty make Dr. Fosl an outstanding professor.
Thomas David Matijasic
Dr. Thomas David Matijasic, a resident of Hager Hill in Johnson County, earned his A.B. degree from Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio; his M.A. from Kent State University and his Ph.D. from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Dr. Matijasic has been teaching history courses at Big Sandy Community and Technical College for more than 20 years. He is well-respected by his colleagues as evidenced by receiving the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Teaching Excellence Award five times. Students view him as an outstanding instructor and find him to be accessible and approachable. As a result, Dr. Matijasic has been a four-time recipient of his college’s “Great Teacher” award determined by vote of the student body.
Dr. Matijasic says the greatest challenges and best experiences of his career thus far was to produce a series of DVD to teach U.S. History through 1865 to prisoners in maximum security federal prison in Martin County. Working alone he taped 36 hours of lecture and communicated only remotely with his students until time for the final exam, at which the prisoners asked questions and discussed course topics for two and a half hours.
Dr. Matijasic is a dedicated member of the faculty and the community. He truly reflects in action his own philosophy of education, “I believe that the nature of education is inherently dynamic rather than static. Just as society changes, so too do the needs of its members.”