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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

Students launch UK’s 2nd edition of undergrad research journal

Undergraduate students at the University of Kentucky who participate in research under the guidance of faculty mentors now have the opportunity to publish and broadly share the outcomes of their work and collaborative experiences. The second edition of Aperture Journal of Undergraduate Research (AJUR) highlights the projects of 15 student-professor partnerships, including four students from Lewis Honors.

9 UK students earn Gilman Scholarships for education abroad

Nine University of Kentucky students, including Sophia Wielawski and John Luke Wood from Lewis Honors College, were awarded Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships to support their education abroad goals.

UK students selected to participate in global service fellowship

The University of Kentucky is one of nine institutions across the United States to have students selected to receive the NextGen Service Fellowship from the Institute of International Education (IIE). Eight UK students (including one LHC student) have been selected to receive funding from the program to complete service projects around the globe.

KY Blood Center Drive

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Lewis Scholars Lounge

420 Hilltop Ave, Lexington, KY

KY Blood Center Drive

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Lewis Scholars Lounge

420 Hilltop Ave, Lexington, KY

Help Prep for a Pollinator Garden

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Lewis Honors College Courtyard

420 Hilltop Avenue

Blue Outline Checkerboard

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