News & Events

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University bestowed its top awards to distinguished alumni and friends during its recent alumni weekend awards luncheon.

Karen K. Caldwell ‘77, received the Irvin E. Lunger Award, which is presented for unique and exceptional service to Transylvania; Dorothy Steinbeck Smith ‘42 received the Morrison Medallion, which is presented to graduates for outstanding service to Transylvania and its programs; Jennifer A. Moore ‘95, received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award for extraordinary involvement at Transylvania; and Richard J. Corman received the Transylvania Medal for outstanding service to the university.

Caldwell rarely misses an opportunity to support her alma mater. She is a member of the board of trustees and recently served on the presidential search committee. She is a former member of the alumni executive board and past president of the Bluegrass Area Alumni Club. She connects with prospective students, speaks at Scholarship Days and delivered the commencement address in 2005, where she was presented with an honorary doctor of laws degree. In 2006 she received an Outstanding Alumna of Kentucky Award from the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.

The first woman to serve as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Caldwell was chief federal prosecutor for several high-profile cases that drew statewide attention. In August 2001, President George W. Bush nominated Caldwell to serve as United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky, a lifetime appointment. The nomination sailed through Senate confirmation hearings, and she was sworn in on November 30, 2001.

Thanks to the generosity of Dorothy Smith and her late husband, Fred Smith ’40, the Dorothy J. and Fred K. Smith Endowed Concert Series has welcomed the Kronos Quartet, Chanticleer and Tiempo Libre to Transylvania. The series will continue to be an annual event, bringing world-class musical entertainment to the campus community, free of charge. The series also features a teaching component as the musicians conduct master classes and give lectures that enrich the cultural experience and spur conversations across disciplines and discussions of values among Transylvania students. Smith also established an endowment to support four music scholarships in memory of her daughter, Sharon Sue Smith.

A published composer and poet, Smith graduated from Transylvania with a degree in music and English and completed a master’s degree from the University of Kentucky. A former violinist with the Lexington Philharmonic and a performing member of the Louisville Summer Opera Corps, Smith taught music for 35 years, including 20 in Fayette County Public Schools and four at The Lexington School. Three years ago, Transylvania presented Smith with a Distinguished Service Award. Last fall, she was honored as Transylvania’s nominee for National Philanthropy Day.

As one of Kentucky’s premier young attorneys, Moore has amassed a long list of credentials, including the Kentucky Bar Association’s Outstanding Young Lawyer in 2005. Long active on the political front, she was the nation’s youngest state party chair when she served the Kentucky Democratic Party in that capacity from 2007-09. Moore, who organized the College Democrats and served as its president during her student days at Transylvania, graduated magna cum laude with a major in political science and a minor in history. Moore earned the juris doctorate and graduated cum laude in 1998 from the University of Kentucky College of Law, which selected her for its Young Professional Alumni Award in 2008.

Moore is a partner in Grossman & Moore, PLLC in Louisville, has several articles to her credit and is a popular seminar speaker. She also has served in leadership roles in several of the many professional organizations to which she belongs.

Corman is known for his unassuming manner and generosity. He has established a foundation that supports research being done at Boston’s Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, the largest comprehensive cancer center in the world. A cancer survivor, he has also sought practical ways to help those with cancer. He recently helped bring Paul Richardson, his physician and an expert on multiple myeloma, to the University of Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center for a seminar for physicians and patients’ families. He is a major supporter of the new Saint Joseph-Jessamine, R.J. Corman Ambulatory Care Center, which houses Jessamine County’s first and only 24/7 emergency room. He also helps area civic and charitable organizations, not just with donations, but also by making R.J. Corman Railroad Group property and facilities available for charity functions.

Corman joined the Transylvania board of trustees in 2007, and is the impetus behind the Trustee Challenge to alumni, which promises to match the full amount of gifts from lapsed alumni donors and the amount of any increase over the most recent gift by other donors. Corman’s daughters Shawna and April attend Transylvania. Shawna is set to graduate in May, and April is a sophomore.