“Honorary degrees salute special achievements and recognize outstanding service to the university and to the community,” said Gonzalez. “I am pleased and proud to confer this degree on such an extraordinary individual.”

Nolan’s leadership and efforts have resulted in $50 million to help support public education initiatives in Louisville to provide equitable access to quality educational opportunities for all students. For Nolan’s commitment to public education, in 2020, he received the Kelly Award from the Kentucky Department of ����ֱ��.

During his time as vice president of technology at GE Appliances, Nolan created FirstBuild, a global maker destination, in partnership with UofL. The partnership continues today, boasting 15 products on the shelf and 454 prototypes created.

Nolan is also a longtime member of UofL’s J.B. Speed School of Engineering’s advisory board. Gonzalez noted that, thanks to Nolan, strong ties between UofL and GE Appliances have been built resulting in the development of scholarships and GE’s participation in student organizations such as Speed Spectrum, Society of Women Engineers, the Women’s Leadership Conference and the Engineering Living Learning Community.

Since 2004, GE Appliances has hosted 575 co-op students from the Speed School, which have completed 1,314 co-op rotations. In 2020, UofL honored GE Appliances as its “Outstanding Corporate Partner of the Year.”

“With Kevin’s leadership, GE Appliances invested in first-generation college students through support of the Speed School’s Brown-Forman Engineering Academy,” said Gonzalez. “Kevin has also invested personally, giving to the Mechanical Engineering Fund in the Speed School.”

In his remarks to the graduating class of 2022, Nolan emphasized the importance of how one’s unique gifts and differences can define character and create future opportunities. Nolan, an honors scholar graduate from the University of Connecticut, where he received a mechanical engineering degree, shared how struggles with dyslexia early in his studies hampered his interest in school. It was one of his professors at the University of Connecticut whose belief and support helped drive and influence Nolan’s success.

“It’s your differences that make you special,” said Nolan. “Leverage those differences to create opportunities for yourself. Don’t try to fit in by becoming something else or someone else. Be who you are and who you want to be. We need all of you with all you have to offer. After all, creativity thrives on the diversity of ideas. And that’s why I have been so committed to this university and why I have appreciated the many partnerships we have built with UofL.”

Nolan’s final word of advice to the 2022 graduates: Stay curious.

“Use your skills and innate curiosity to fuel your passion and discover what you love,” he said. “I have been so fortunate to have my career and passions intersect. It is truly something I wish on all of you. Keep learning. Keep growing. Keeping asking the question, ‘what if’.”

Hear Kevin Nolan’s complete remarks on the UofL YouTube channel .

The inaugural winners of these awards are:

Community of care: Jenna Orwick, program coordinator, UofL Health Promotion

Orwick was a lead facilitator on the Growing Mindfulness Initiative, a campus-wide collaborative effort built around the Cardinal Principles to cultivate a community of care through mindfulness. She has coordinated weekly mindfulness programming and other services and workshops for the entire campus community. “Jenna has been essential in creating a culture on campus of compassion, gratitude, kindness and health mentally and physically,” according to her nomination.

Accountability: Cathy Carter and Roberta Devers from the Human Subjects Protection Program Office 

The office reviews research submissions that involve human participants and serves as the administration office to support the UofL Institutional Review Board. In 2020, the office transitioned its entire operation despite a high volume of time-sensitive work due to COVID. Carter and Devers have motivated the team by hosting discussions and meetings based on the Cardinal Principles.

Respect: Tamara Russell, academic coordinator senior, University Honors

According to her nomination letter, Russell “has a rare and extraordinary ability to subvert existing hierarchies to uplift and empower students. She is ceaseless and unwavering in highlighting students’ strengths, making space and creating platforms for them to speak their own truths, and supporting them to carry out their visions and plans … At the same time, she is able to see multiple perspectives and act as a liaison and mediator.”

Diversity and inclusion: Jonathan Hughes, director of admissions, Speed School of Engineering

Hughes has come up with creative initiatives that have yielded an increased number of African American and Black students attending the Speed School, according to his nomination. He also greatly increased the Latinx and first-generation student population at the school.

Integrity and transparency: Julie Dials, senior executive director of Development, University Advancement

According to her nomination, Dials exhibits the Cardinal Principles in her daily work. One of her values is also integrity. “She doesn’t just expect this of us as we deal with one another as well as with donors, but she also walks the walk. I have seen her time and time again display herself as an honest leader, one that extends grace and always assumes good intention.”

Noble purpose: Karen Thompson, administrative assistant, A&S Criminal Justice

During the pandemic, Thompson continued to come into the office, stating the work needs to be done and the faculty need support. According to her nomination, “Her belief in the noble purpose of our collective work has definitely helped the department’s faculty weather the storm of 2020-21, but it has also helped to shine a bright light on how her kindness, generosity and sense of care are too often underappreciated. This past year has made it abundantly clear … that things would fairly quickly start coming apart at the seams if she wasn’t there to keep holding it all together.”

Agility: Michael Mardis, Stephanie Reibert, Tim Moore, Angela Taylor, Heather Gentry, Kevin Lush, Ryan Sears, Joe Elliott, Amanda James, Lily Assgari, Kassie Flanery, Scott Burks, Vanessa Blair, Janet Cappiello, Paul DeMarco, Courtney Kerr, Reilly Brown, Zach Pennington, Mary Ann Vetter, Commencement Planning Team

The team recommended the postponement of May 2020 commencement due to the pandemic and began planning for a virtual celebration to honor what would have been the spring 2020 commencement date. The team then started to plan the virtual commencement ceremony in December 2020 and continued to meet weekly to plan and execute a return to in-person commencement exercises in May.

Leadership: Brandyn Bailey, Nubia Bennett, Blaz Bush, Valerie Casey, Sarah Garrison, Leondra Gully, Lisa Gunterman, LaJa Hurt, Jamieca Jones, Faye Jones, Goldie Latta, Daquarius Mahone, Marcos Morales, Monica Negron, Patsy Russell, Enid Trucios-Haynes, Marian Vasser, Aaron Weathers II, Phyllis Webb, Brevin Woodford, Shonna Boyd-Wagner, Kiana Fields, Vicki Hines-Martin, Karen Krigger,Jon Moody, Steven Osborne, Ryan Simpson, Tonia Thomas, Craig Ziegler, Diane Whitlock, Diversity and Equity Division

The DEI has stayed the course of its noble purpose, including some pushing back, to make a difference in the campus and the community, the nomination notes. “Even when they receive messages that their policy recommendations, messages or trainings are ‘too much’ or ‘not realistic’ or ‘don’t play nice enough,’ the DEI unit continues to speak up and out to try to make the action that is needed … As we move forward, this group will most likely continue to be instrumental in the leadership of the [Cardinal Anti-Racist Agenda] as the agenda must move from a dream into realities.”

Read more about these .