Guest Speakers

When we think of archaeology, we often conjure the image of Indiana Jones in a jungle temple or desert tomb. What if, instead, we see a man at a computer in a lab using high technology to recover the secrets of the past? That is exactly what Dr. Brent Seales does. He has recovered artifacts and information thought last forever. Imagine reading a 1700 year old bible or a 2000 year old scroll or seeing carvings on monoliths hundreds of years old. Brent has and is sharing these treasures with the world. Dr. Seales has been teaching and mentoring students in [...]

Join us for a fun meeting with Country Boy Brewing! We'll hear how they started and about their community outreach. And, we'll have a tasting! Daniel “DH” Harrison was born and raised in Scott County, Kentucky. Having attended Georgetown College, DH fell in love with Craft Beer in Japan while teaching English on an exchange program.  Upon returning to the U.S., he partnered with three other native Kentuckians to begin the first taproom model brewery in Lexington in 2012, Country Boy Brewing. DH has been a champion for Craft Beer in Kentucky. Serving on the board of the Kentucky Guild of [...]

Since being tabbed Kentucky’s head coach in December 2004, Craig Skinner has rejuvenated the Kentucky volleyball program into national prominence and is the program’s all-time winningest head coach. He will enter his 22nd season in 2026 with an all-time record of 497-157. He reached the pinnacle of the sport in April of 2021, winning the 2020 NCAA National Championship at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, becoming coach of the first volleyball team in Southeastern Conference history to win a national championship. He was named the AVCA’s National Coach of the Year in 2020-21. Skinner has directed the Wildcats to [...]

Join us to kick off the new year and hear Dr. Eli Capilouto, President, University of Kentucky Dr. Eli Capilouto became the 12th President of the University of Kentucky on July 1, 2011. Under his leadership, the Commonwealth's flagship and land grant research university has grown from $2.7 billion to nearly $8.6 billion in total operations and has gained significant momentum in advancing Kentucky – the institution’s singular yet multifaceted mission. Since 2011, President Capilouto has led a nearly $7.6 billion transformation of the campus, aimed at enriching the living-learning experience of UK's students, ensuring their success; strengthening the university's research [...]

Few topics today exceed that of global warming for presenting both factual and political disagreement over whether or not our earth is warming and if it is, why – natural vs. human activities, its impacts, and the best way to address it. A quick look at the NASA website (science.nasa.gov) contains the following rather stark assessment: “There is unequivocal evidence that the earth is warming at an unprecedented rate. Human activity is the principal cause.” Joining Lexington Rotarians this week to dig deeper into this existential topic is Donald “Don” Colliver, Ph.D., P.E. In a presentation entitled Does the Earth Have [...]

This week Rotarians are invited to climb into the “way-back machine” and revisit the glorious – for UK basketball fans – year of 1978. That was the year that the Wildcats defeated the Duke Blue Devils at the Checkerdome in St. Louis for their fifth NCAA national championship. And who better to travel with on that journey than two men who were there, front and center, Jack Givens and Rob Bolton. Jack “Goose” Givens, was born September 21, 1956, in Lexington, Kentucky. Growing up in a housing project, he honed his skills at Lexington’s Douglass Park in the Dirt Bowl league [...]

William Shakespeare famously noted in his play As You Like It that “All the world’s a stage.”  Performing for us today on the Rotary “stage” are Lyndy Franklin Smith and Jeremy Smith, co-founders and producing directors of The Lexington Theatre Company (The Lex).  Lyndy and Jeremy (who play a happily married couple in real life!) co-founded The Lex as a way to give back to the community and to the theatre industry. Lyndy enjoyed a successful performance career in New York, appearing in the Broadway companies of A Chorus Line and The Little Mermaid; the Radio City Christmas Spectacular; National Tours [...]

Few topics are of more interest to Rotarians than the economic health and vitality of our community and Commonwealth. And who better to address those issues with us than the leadership of two of Kentucky’s pre-eminent economic development entities: Commerce Lexington (CL) and the Kentucky Chamber. Bob Quick, Chief Executive Officer of CL, along with Ashli Watts, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Kentucky Chamber will address all things economic in a panel format, with Andi Johnson, Chief Policy Officer of Regional Engagement for CL serving as Moderator. Bob Quick has more than thirty-six years of experience in the Chamber [...]

This week Lexington Rotarians will hear from Lexington Mayor and Honorary Rotarian Linda Gorton. In this eagerly anticipated annual presentation she will give us an update on the state of our community and some of the challenges we face in the year to come. Mayor Gorton, the longest continuously serving member of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council, is serving her second term as Lexington mayor. Mayor Gorton was re-elected in a landslide victory on November 8, 2022, winning 71% of the vote. In her first term Mayor Gorton successfully led our city through the pandemic, protecting our health and safety during [...]

Kenny Brooks, who was chosen as the 2025 Sporting News National Coach of the Year, was named the ninth head coach of the University of Kentucky women’s basketball program on March 26, 2024. He enters his sec­ond season as the Wildcats’ head coach in 2025-26, while he enters his 24th season overall as a head coach. Boasting a 540-212 (.718) career record through 23 seasons as a head coach across his times at James Madi­son, Virginia Tech, and Kentucky, Brooks has compiled five Colonial Athletic Association Tournament titles, four CAA regular-season titles, one Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title, one ACC regular-season [...]