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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

Support your local blood center, UK HealthCare at upcoming campus drives

University of Kentucky students, staff, faculty and the community can support Kentucky Blood Center (KBC) and UK HealthCare by donating blood at upcoming drives on campus. The drives, scheduled for April 6-10, are the final opportunities of the 2025-26 academic year to give blood on UK’s campus.

UK’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter inducts 49 new members

The University of Kentucky’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter inducted 37 new members into the prestigious academic honor society March 24, and 12 new members in December 2025. This year’s induction ceremony in the Lewis Honors College Scholars Lounge featured a keynote address from Ana Franco-Watkins, Ph.D., dean of UK’s College of Arts and Sciences.

12 UK students named Gaines Fellows amid record number of applicants

Twelve University of Kentucky students have been selected as the newest Gaines Fellows, representing nine colleges across campus and marking a record number of applications for the highly competitive program.

"River Cowboys" Film Screening and Discussion

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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

Cooking & Community

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The Food Connection in The 90

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