Lewis Honors College

Plan Your Visit Class of 2030: Get ready for Lewis Launch!

By the Numbers

100% Experiential Education Participation

96% First-Year Retention Rate

90% Employment or Graduate/Professional School

Mission in Action

Explore Your Purpose

Honors advisors and the Center for Personal Development counselors partner with students in their exploration of purpose to cultivate well-being, leadership, and career readiness.

Savannah King with her Honors Thesis Showcase poster

Honors at Kentucky has a long and proud history, dating back to 1959, and thousands of students have passed through our program, exploring themselves and the boundaries of thought with outstanding faculty.

Singletary Scholar speaking at the Leadership Conference

Lead With Integrity

Providing leadership development opportunities enables students to fulfill their experiential credit while bolstering lifelong skills to apply as a graduate student or employee.

The Honors classes I took my freshman year exposed me to ideas that I would not have otherwise thought deeply about. The topics we discussed have allowed me to engage with current events and the social sciences more than I would have been able to otherwise.

Asa O'Neal '25

NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Barry M. Goldwater Scholar, Astronaut Scholar

Honors students wearing Honors medallions at the Honors Medal Ceremony

Why Honors?

Honors Residential Experience

Tamika Tompoulidis with student during EXPO

Center for Personal Development

Internship, Research, Education Abroad, Service-Learning Opportunities

Dr. Ryan Voogt with Honors students in HON 310

Dedicated Honors Faculty

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News and Events

Public Health Student Hollie Hagan found her calling in rural Kentucky

By Jonathan Greene

Jul 10, 2026

Growing up in Grayson County, Hollie Hagan always knew she wanted to help people. She just wasn’t sure what that looked like.

2 UK engineering graduates awarded Defense Department SMART Scholarships

By Tom Musgrave

Jun 23, 2026

Student News

Recent University of Kentucky engineering graduates Grant Fischer (Lewis Honors College) and Spencer Goode-Kulchar were awarded U.S. Defense Department SMART Scholarships.

New dean of UK Lewis Honors College announced

By Johnson Lam

Jun 5, 2026

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 5, 2026) — After a comprehensive national search, James Buss, Ph.D., has been selected as the next dean of the University of Kentucky’s Lewis Honors College.

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