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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

UK researcher shines light on maintenance work in ‘The Keeping Space’ documentary

Thousands of people move across the campus of the University of Kentucky every day. They enter buildings that are already clean, walk through hallways already mopped and settle into classrooms prepared for the day. That work became a topic of research for Jena Seiler, Ph.D., lecturer in the UK Lewis Honors College, filmmaker and interdisciplinary artist whose creative practice focuses on helping audiences see the extraordinary in everyday life.

4 UK faculty members named 2026-27 SEC Academic Leadership Development Program fellows

Four University of Kentucky faculty members, including Pearl James, Ph.D., associate dean of academic affairs in the Lewis Honors College, have been selected as 2026-27 fellows in the Southeastern Conference Academic Leadership Development Program (SEC-ALDP), a prestigious initiative that prepares emerging academic leaders for leadership roles across higher education.

Record participation reflects growing demand for honors education abroad programs

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 15, 2026) — A record 60 Lewis Honors College students participated in four honors faculty-directed education abroad programs this summer, a 54% increase over last year. Overall, a record 250 honors students studied abroad through a variety of programs during the past academic year. In the four honors faculty-directed programs, students traveled to Ecuador, England, Greece, Italy and Scotland to study sustainability, leadership, writing and distilling.

Lewis Launch

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CPD Honor the Balance: Create Your Well-Being Toolkit

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Lewis Scholars Lounge

420 Hilltop Ave, Lexington, KY

Breakfast with Buss!

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Lewis Scholars Lounge

420 Hilltop Ave, Lexington, KY

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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