The program started in 2002 by the nonprofit Greater Louisville Pride Foundation with the original intent of honoring Louisville native Muhammad Ali.

According to the Louisville Heroes website, the program has since grown to honor “a diverse group of famous Louisvillians from a variety of professions – all of whom have inspired others and represented our community to the rest of the world.”

The University of Louisville is well represented in this program, having a direct or peripheral connection to more than half of the 30 existing banners, underscoring the institution’s influence on its city.

The UofL ‘heroes’

The most recent banner was unveiled in October, honoring Alberta Jones, who graduated third in her business class from UofL in 1953. Jones went on to become the first African-American woman to pass the Kentucky Bar exam, as well as the first female prosecutor in the state (she was also Muhammad Ali’s first attorney). Jones’ life ended tragically in 1965 when she was abducted and murdered at age 34. The case remains unsolved.

Jones’ banner hangs on the River City Bank building at Sixth Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard.

Her client, Muhammad Ali – the impetus behind the Hometown Heroes program – is honored with a banner on the LG&E building downtown. Though the boxing and civil rights icon is not a UofL alum, . Prior to his death in 2016, Ali received the inaugural Grawemeyer Spirit Award, which was established to recognize an individual whose beliefs, actions and impact are in accord with Charles Grawemeyer’s reason for founding UofL’s awards program that bears his name. UofL also boasts the Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Justice, and the Ali Scholars is a part of this institute.��

Other UofL-related “Hometown Heroes” include:

American sculptor Ed Hamilton is honored with a banner on the Glassworks Building downtown. Among his many famous work, his public work, “The Spirit of Freedom” is a national memorial in Washington, DC. He received a Doctor of Arts Honorary Degree from UofL in 2004, when he was also the commencement speaker. Hamilton was honored as a 2005 Alumni Fellow and his work has been commissioned by the UofL Athletics Department.

Bob Edwards, the longtime NPR host, attended night school at UofL in the 1960s in order to graduate in four years to avoid being drafted without a degree. During his senior year, he started his radio career at WHEL in New Albany, Indiana, and went on to produce and anchor TV and radio news programs while in the Army. After completing his service, Edwards moved to Washington, DC, and eventually helped launch NPR’s “Morning Edition,” where he spent 25 years as the host. He has won numerous journalism awards and was inducted to the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2004.

Speaking of well-known journalists, Diane Sawyer did not graduate from UofL, but she did attend one semester of law school on campus. Her Hometown Heroes banner hangs on the Starks building on Muhammad Ali Boulevard.

Drs. Harold Kleinert and Joseph Kutz appear on the Jewish Hospital Heart and Lung Building, visible from I-65. The two helped make Louisville an internationally known destination for hand and upper extremity surgery and the center that bears their names produced the nation’s first five hand transplants. The hand transplant program, under the Louisville VCA Program, is a partnership of physicians and researchers at Jewish Hospital, the Christine M. Kleinert Institute, Kleinert��Kutz��Hand��Care��Center��and the��University��of��Louisville. Kleinert was a clinical professor of surgery emeritus at UofL. Kutz, who received his postgraduate training at UofL, also worked as a clinical professor of surgery at the UofL School of Medicine.

The Bulleit Distilling Company was created in 1987 so Tom Bulleit could revive his great-great grandfather’s (Augustus Bulleit) bourbon legacy. Prior to that first batch, Bulleit Bourbon had not been in production since 1860. Tom Bulleit is a graduate of the University of Louisville School of Law and his banner is located on South Third Street, between West Market and West Main streets.

Another UofL law graduate, Tori Murden McClure, appears on a banner on the Kentucky Exposition Center. In 1999, McClure became the first woman and American to row solo across the Atlanta Ocean. She also holds the distinction of being the first woman and American to travel over land to the geographic South Pole, skiing 750 miles from the ice shelf to the Pole. McClure has served as the president of Spalding University since 2010.

Though not a UofL graduate, Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis has a strong connection to the institution nonetheless, having donated his entire personal library and correspondence to the law school, which was named after him in 1997. After his death in 1941, his last remains, and later the remains of his wife Alice Goldmark Brandeis, were buried beneath the law school’s classical portico. Brandeis’ banner hangs on the Chase Bank building downtown.

In 2016, New York Times bestselling author Sue Grafton, who received a BA in English from UofL in 1961, was honored with a banner on the Springhill Suites/Fairfield Inn hotels on East Jefferson Street. Grafton received the Distinguished Alumni Award from UofL in 1993 and the Alumna of the Year Award in 1997. Grafton’s work is published in 28 countries and 26 languages and all of the books in her Alphabet Series are international bestsellers. Grafton passed away in December 2017.

The banner honoring Patrick Hughes is draped on the side of the OK Storage Building on East Broadway at Barrett Avenue. Hughes was born without eyes and with arms and legs that can never fully extend, but that didn’t stop him from studying piano and trumpet as a child. In 2006, at the suggestion of marching band director Dr. Greg Byrne, Hughes joined the UofL marching band and played trumpet while his father pushed him in his wheelchair. Hughes graduated from UofL magna cum laude with a Spanish major, and later wrote the book “I Am Potential,” which was turned into a movie in 2015.��

Actress Jennifer Lawrence has been snapped by the paparazzi on a few occasions wearing her UofL gear. Though she didn’t attend the school, she is an ardent supporter, lending her voice to UofL’s ACC entrance video in 2014, donating money toward arts grants that benefit UofL programs and more.

Lisa Harrison’s banner hangs on her alma mater – Southern High School. The basketball star, who played for the University of Tennessee from 1989 to 1993 and later in the WNBA until 2005, joined UofL’s athletic department after her playing career to serve as an outreach coordinator.

Speaking of putting Louisville on the basketball map, Darrell Griffith, UofL’s all-time leading scorer, is honored on the Watterson City Building along 1-264 East. The player, known as “Dr. Dunkenstein,” helped deliver UofL’s first NCAA men’s basketball championship in 1980. He went on to play for the Utah Jazz, was named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 1981, and was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014.

Griffith’s UofL coach, Denny Crum, is also honored with a Hometown Heroes banner, located on the Marriott Courtyard building across from the KFC Yum! Center. Crum led the Cardinals to 23 NCAA tournament appearances during his 30-year career, including the 1980 championship. Crum was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994.��

The Hometown Heroes program is slated to end, but at least three more murals are in the works before that happens. These tentative banners include the late Enid Yandell, a sculptress whose work has appeared on the Belknap campus, and the late artist Julius Friedman, who received a graphic design degree from UofL. The remaining banners are expected to be put into place by the end of the year. More information on the program, including how the banners are made, is .

At the 2^nd Annual Knock Out Stroke event, medical experts from the University of Louisville Stroke Program, the state’s first Certified Comprehensive Stroke Center, will share tips on how to manage high blood pressure and other risk factors related to heart disease and stroke. Guests will learn how to monitor their blood pressure, the importance of physical activity and how to incorporate it into their daily routine, recognizing the symptoms of stroke and understanding the latest treatment options. Plus, WAVE 3’s Dawne Gee will share her personal experience in suffering a stroke.

Knock out Stroke is May 12, 2017 from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Muhammed Ali Center, 144 N. Sixth St. The event is free and open to the public and includes lunch, door prizes and the opportunity to tour the Muhammad Ali Center museum at your leisure. Attendees are asked to . ��

Family Health Centers and the UofL Department of Neurology host the program in conjunction with Stroke Awareness Month. Additional partners include the Kentucky Department of Public Health Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program, Louisville Department of Health and Wellness, UofL School of Medicine, and UofL Signature Partnership Health & Quality of Life division.

The UofL Stroke Program is a collaboration of University of Louisville Hospital, a part of KentuckyOne Health, UofL Physicians and the UofL School of Medicine.

The touching tribute was all thanks to Maggie Cassaro, a Louisville artist with strong UofL ties.

Cassaro works part-time at the medical school. She graduated in 1986 with a BS in business administration and is now earning an English MA with a concentration in Creative Writing. After Ali died and plans were put into place for his funeral and memorial service to be held in Louisville, she came up with the rose petal idea and tapped others to help pull it off.

“It was truly a community effort to make this happen,” she said.

When she first heard of Ali’s passing, she wondered “How do you honor someone like that?”

Her family had lined the entrances to her mother’s home with rose petals when she died. The beautiful image stuck with her and inspired her.

Because she had worked with Cave Hill for her mother’s burial, she knew who to call. She posed her idea to Cave Hill’s director, who liked the idea but had to check with the funeral home.��

The funeral home passed the request along to Lonnie Ali, Muhammad Ali’s wife.

Cassaro was told that “Lonnie cried and said it was the most generous gift of gratitude that she’d ever received.”

After Cassaro got the green light to continue, she contacted Nanz and Kraft Florists. They agreed to help and so did Schulz’s Florist, Valumarket and Costco. Between them all, some 2,000 roses worth more than $6,000 were donated.

Cassaro worked with friends to pull the petals apart and it took several hours to lay the petals down.

After the procession passed, people picked up the petals and took them home as souvenirs.

Mundkur, who also serves on the Muhammad Ali Center Council of Students, says the opportunity to be a part of Ali’s tribute is an honor and truly humbling experience.

“Every time I sit down to write something for Friday, I know that whatever I say it feels like it will never do justice to what he has meant to my life and the lives of millions of people in every corner of the world,” Mundkur said. “Speaking at this event is the culmination of a life’s dream.”

Even though Mundkur wasn’t born by the time Ali last entered the boxing ring (December 1981), that didn’t stop “The Greatest” from influencing her life when she was a little girl living in rural Virginia.

“Muhammad Ali has been my inspiration since I was 8��years old,” Mundkur said. “Growing up in a little country town, you don’t see a lot of people looking to be a part of your life because you are so different. It took an inspiration like Muhammad Ali – and his words about equality and looking at others as human beings first – to help take me to another level. It took me to be a McConnell Scholar and a member of the Ali Council of Students. That sort of impact cannot be described in words.”

Mundkur is a 2015 graduate of duPont Manual High School. She is a business and political science major at UofL, with a minor in women’s and gender studies. She is one of 11 McConnell Scholars who are expected to graduate in 2019.��

Born Cassius Clay in 1942 in the Derby City, Ali eventually became known as the “Louisville Lip” for his big talk, which he backed up with three world heavyweight titles.

Last year, , which was established to recognize an individual whose beliefs, actions and impact are in accord with Charles Grawemeyer’s reason for founding the awards program that bears his name.

During the awards ceremony, UofL President James Ramsey said Ali envisions “a world where every individual’s worth is cause for celebration; a world in which inspiration plus action can lead to transformation; a world where each of us can make positive change by discovering our own greatness.”

After learning of Ali’s death, Dr. Ramsey said, “It was an honor to share the stage with Muhammad at our Grawemeyer Spirit Award event. He was an inspiration to me and to everyone around the world. His message of peace and understanding is something for all of us to emulate. He will be forever missed but forever remembered.”

The Grawemeyer Spirit Award includes a $100,000 honorarium, a portion of which Ali and his wife Lonnie used to establish a leadership scholarship with the Cardinal Baseball team.

Their��son, Assad, played for the team from 2009 through 2012.

Upon learning of Ali’s death, UofL VP and Director of Athletics, Tom Jurich, said: “All of us in the Cardinal Athletics family are deeply, deeply saddened with the passing of an absolute worldwide legend in Muhammad. While he was undoubtedly one of the greatest athletes in history, the Champ made a difference in the lives of so many around the world. His generosity with his time for anything we asked of him – or things he offered to do without us asking – was incredible, as was the financial commitment he and Lonnie made to our baseball program at UofL. It was a true honor for me to know him and he will be greatly missed. Our deepest sympathies and prayers go out to Lonnie and the entire family.”

UofL also boasts the , with a mission of advancing the work, study and practice of peacebuilding, social justice and violence prevention through the development of innovative programs, training, service and research.

The is part of this institute, offered to full-time undergraduate UofL students who work toward social justice, violence prevention and peace building. Ali Scholars experience international travel to explore��these objectives��in different cultural, political and economic environments.

“The Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace & Justice at the University of Louisville mourns the loss of a transformative humanitarian who had the courage and conviction to make the world a better place. We remember him as he wished – as someone who helped people worldwide in their ‘fight for freedom, justice and equality.’ Our work will continue to be inspired by his lifelong commitment to these fundamental human values, including the pursuit of racial and social justice. We offer our heartfelt condolences to the Ali family and we grieve with our community for the loss of a transcendent civil rights and religious freedom icon and champion,” said��Enid Trucios-Haynes, Interim Director of the Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace & Justice.��

Below is video from last year’s Grawemeyer Spirit Award event honoring Muhammad Ali. It was one of his last public appearances.