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Overview

The University of Kentucky Lewis Honors College provides an enhanced course of instruction for outstanding, highly motivated students from all programs of study. Honors education is, at its heart, a liberal arts education that, coupled with the resources available at the major research land-grant University of Kentucky, make Lewis Honors College a unique experience. Regardless of major, the fundamental goal of Honors education is to provide all students with a broad, critical intellectual base from which they can then engage more deeply and thoughtfully in their chosen fields while prioritizing their health and well-being.

The mission of the Lewis Honors College is to better the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the world by helping students to explore their purpose, develop intellectually, and lead with integrity.

Honors students, made up of people with different backgrounds and experiences, are innovative, intellectually engaged, and interested in creative thought. They are expected to be citizens of their University and their world and to possess an inquisitive attitude toward a wide range of ideas and intellectual concepts.

News and Events

Making every opportunity count: Ryan Hidek’s UK Invests story

For many students, college is the first time they begin taking ownership of their finances. University of Kentucky freshman Ryan Hidek, from Lyndhurst, Ohio, is one of them. Through UK Invests, he is learning the fundamentals of budgeting, investing and financial decision-making while beginning to build a foundation for his financial future. Hidek, a civil engineering major in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering and student in Lewis Honors College.

New Sanders-Brown program helps recent graduates explore careers in Alzheimer’s research

Six recent UK graduates are participating in the Kentucky Alzheimer’s Disease Research Training and Education Program, or KYAD-PREP. Supported by a five-year, $2.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, the program provides paid, full-time research positions, mentorship, coursework and professional development for recent college graduates interested in aging and Alzheimer’s disease research. For one of the participants, Meghana Gazula, KYAD-PREP has provided structured mentorship and time to become a more independent researcher before applying to medical school.

UK welcomes UCLA political scientist to explore TV advertising’s role in elections

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 22, 2026) — Campaign advertisements are nearly impossible to escape during an election season. But what makes some ads memorable? Why do campaigns keep spending heavily on television advertising in an increasingly digital media landscape? And, perhaps most importantly, do campaign ads actually change voters’ minds?

CPD Resume & LinkedIn Lab & Nothing Bundt Research

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CPD Healthcare Observation Panel

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CPD Alumni Career Speaker Panel

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T.W. Lewis

Thomas W. Lewis is a seventh-generation Kentuckian who grew up in Lexington. He graduated from Bryan Station High School in 1967 and the University of Kentucky in 1971 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He received his Master’s in Business Administration in 1973 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Tom began his career in real estate development. After 18 years with four different companies and building upon those experiences, he started his own home building business in 1991 in Phoenix, Arizona. T. W. Lewis Company built approximately 250 homes per year from 1991 through 2011 and received many awards during this period, including America’s Best Builder in 1998 and the National Housing Quality Gold Award in 2009. 

In 2001, Tom and his wife, Jan, formed T.W. Lewis Foundation to support higher education, children and families in need, youth education and a variety of community nonprofit organizations. In 2015, in order to give back to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Tom and Jan made a generous gift to the University of Kentucky to establish the Lewis Honors College. 

Mr. Lewis’ vision for the Lewis Honors College is to provide a world-class Honors experience that is known for the success of its students, the quality of its faculty and curriculum, the respect of its peers and the economic and social progress of the Commonwealth of Kentucky

Tom Lewis