Myrle E. and Verle D. Nietzel Visiting Distinguished Faculty Program

The Myrle E. and Verle D. Nietzel Visiting Distinguished Faculty Endowment was established in 2004 by UK’s former Provost Michael T. Nietzel, Ph.D. in honor of his parents. Dr. Nietzel began his career as a faculty member in the UK Department of Psychology in 1973 and served as the Dean of the Graduate School between from 1997 to 2001. He was appointed UK’s first provost on Nov. 1, 2002, after having served as acting provost since July 2001. As he left UK in March 2005 to serve as the President of University of Southwest Missouri State University, Dr. Nietzel said, “ The University of Kentucky has defined my adult and professional life, and in the course of doing so, has afforded me more opportunities and rewards than I ever would have dreamed possible. ” Dr. Nietzel himself created this award for the benefit of our finest graduate students. The VDF allows programs to bring in a distinguished scholar to participate in the doctoral examination of their best students. The Graduate School is honored to use this legacy to the Nietzels to support the recipients of the Visiting Distinguished Faculty Award.

Award Winners

The Visiting Distinguished Faculty (VDF) program is intended to enhance the scholarly environment for doctoral students and graduate faculty. The goals of the program are to enrich the dissertation experience for selected doctoral students whose dissertations are judged to be especially meritorious, and to publicize for academic leaders at other institutions the high quality of scholarship achieved by our doctoral students. This program also serves to enhance the overall intellectual and research environment at the University of Kentucky through colloquia offered by some of the nation’s most outstanding scholars.

The Graduate School will provide the funding to bring a nationally recognized academic leader to campus to serve as the Graduate School’s Outside Examiner for a student’s dissertation. As the Outside Examiner, the distinguished visitor will serve as the Dean’s representative at the final examination. The distinguished visitor will be expected to promote especially high standards in the examination of candidates.

The visiting scholar will give a colloquium on his or her research. Priority should be given to identifying scholars whose work has the potential for benefiting as broad a campus audience as possible. In order to maximize the impact of this program, dissertations should be well publicized and scheduled for locations that can accommodate larger than usual attendance. The Graduate School will provide a $500 honorarium to the visiting faculty and also cover the travel and per diem costs associated with the visit up to $1,000.

Programs are invited to nominate dissertations that are believed to have unusually high merit for this award. Nominations should be made by the student’s major professor and include a letter of support from the Director of Graduate Studies and a copy of the nominee’s current curriculum vitae. A department or program may submit one nomination per academic year.

The nomination must include:

1. A brief summary of the dissertation topic and its scholarly significance;
2. A justification of the claim that the dissertation has unusual merit;
3. A summary of the candidate’s academic accomplishments and overall standing
4. Identification of a distinguished scholar, with a brief biographical sketch, who is nationally or internationally considered to be a leading expert in the research area represented by the dissertation;
5. A projected date (month and year) for the final examination.