Distinguished Alumni
Brigitte Blom
Blom, a 2007 Martin School graduate with a master’s degree in public policy, has been an education leader for over 20 years. Before being named to lead the Prichard Committee in 2015, she was director of public policy for United Way of Greater Cincinnati. She spent 10 years as an elected member of the Board of Education in rural Pendleton County and is the former vice chair of the Kentucky State Board of Education, where she served from 2008-14. She has an undergraduate degree in economics and international studies.
Mark Birdwhistell, 2022
Mark D. Birdwhistell currently serves as the Vice President for Administration and External Affairs for the University of Kentucky HealthCare. In this capacity, he provides executive leadership in administration and strategic direction across the clinical enterprise, collaborating effectively with physicians and other leadership of the healthcare team. Mr. Birdwhistell is also responsible for the development and oversight of UK HealthCare, clinical outreach and development initiatives including clinical co-management approaches. In addition he provides direction and oversight to marketing and public relations. He represents UK HealthCare at the local, state and national levels, and serves as a national speaker on healthcare policy and Medicaid reform efforts.
Jeana Dunlap, 2019
Jeana Dunlap is an urbanist and community development practitioner who was awarded a 2019 Harvard Loeb Fellowship. Dunlap joined Louisville Metro’s Department of Housing & Community Development in 2004. Her responsibilities included managing the Louisville-Jefferson County Landbank Authority, the Urban Renewal Commission, the Vacant Property Review Commission and numerous entitlement grant programs supporting non-profits, housing developers and underserved households. She became Louisville’s director of redevelopment strategies in 2016 as the city received a competitive $29.5 million Choice Neighborhoods Initiative grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to redevelop the Beecher Terrace public housing complex in the historic Russell neighborhood. Dunlap is a proud Kentuckian having been born, raised and educated in the Commonwealth. She was a 1989 Governor's Scholar at Centre College and graduated from duPont Manual High School in Louisville, Kentucky. In addition to earning an MPA from the Martin School, Dunlap earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Louisville’s College of Business and a Master of Science from the Gatton College of Business and Economics.
Greg Hager, 2018
Greg Hager grew up on a farm in Kentucky, learning the value of work and an appreciation for agricultural policy. Thinking that he wanted to be a lawyer, he majored in political science and earned his bachelor’s degree at UK. Hager discovered that he was more interested in public finance and administration than law. He was admitted to the Martin School in 1983, receiving his master’s degree in public administration in 1985.
Hager eventually entered the political science doctoral program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating in 1995. He then became an assistant professor of political science at UK, with a joint appointment in the Martin School until 2000, when he began working for the Kentucky General Assembly. Since 2002, Hager has been the staff administrator for its Program Review and Investigations Committee, where he researches how state programs work and how they could be improved.
Karen Wilson, 2017
Karen Wilson has worked in Kentucky state government for 21 years in the cabinet overseeing environmental protection, natural resources, and energy programs. She has had roles in communications and outreach, legislative, regulatory and intergovernmental affairs, and strategic planning. Karen has assisted in the development of two com-prehensive energy plans and has been involved in a number of stakeholder initiatives. As part of a National Governors Association Policy Academy, she is currently involved in an initiative to encourage broad discussion on factors affecting Kentucky’s electric power sector. She has a BA in English from UK, in addition to her MPA from the Martin School. She and her husband Steve Gardner, also a UK alumnus, live in downtown Lexington.
Larry Gray, 2016
Larry W. Gray is president of Baptist Health Louisville, a 519-bed hospital that is part of Baptist Health, a Louisville-based healthcare system with more than 21,000 employees in its facilities across Kentucky and southern Indiana.
Gray began his 35-year career with Baptist Health as a clinical chaplain, becoming director of pastoral care in 1986. In 1993, he took on executive duties at Central Baptist Hospital (now Baptist Health Lexington), becoming vice president for System Support and Administrative Services in 1997, a role that included the Environment of Care, Education, Community Outreach, Human Resources, and Workforce Development departments.
Gray is an active volunteer in the community, serving two terms on the board for the Southern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and 12 years on the board of the Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, with two terms as chair. He has been active in Work Ready efforts in Whitley and Knox counties and served as chair of the March of Dimes Walk for two years. He and his wife, Mary Ida, are involved in several church and community activities, especially around issues of local markets and food insecurity.
John Hicks, 2015
John has served in the Kentucky State government for over 31 years, and 24 of those were with the State Budget Office. Since 2005, John has been the Deputy State Budget Director for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He manages the budget and support staff in the office and oversees much of the development and execution processes.
John was the Executive Director over policy, budget, and administrative services for the Workforce Development Cabinet from 1990-1996. Throughout his tenure in the State Budget Office, he has been a lead staff person in many areas of the office including post-secondary education, capital projects and debt, criminal justice, workforce development, and natural resources and environmental protection. He was tasks with maintaining the state General Fund’s budgetary scorecards, preparing the biennial budget instructions, implementing the first budget information technology system, and drafting and reviewing the Executive Branch appropriations bill. He served as President of the National Association of Budget Officers (NASBO) for the 2011-2012 year. John is the only person to receive both of NASBO’s top awards, the George A. Bell and the Gloria Timmer award.
Margaret Prizer Graymer, 2014
For twenty-five years, Peggy Graymer served in administrative and executive roles in many settings, including the NC Governor’s State Budget Office, the University of Kentucky, the University of North Carolina, and UCLA. Prior to establishing a consulting firm for institutions of higher education and not-for-profit organizations, she was Associate Dean of the Division of Continuing Education and University Extension at UCLA, the largest continuing education organization in the United States. She has had responsibility, over her professional life, for over $1.5 billion, almost 2,300 employees, planning for/implementing five computer systems, and close to a half million square feet of space. She led successful efforts throughout her career to return deficit-ridden budgets to health; to streamline and restructure operations in order to achieve elusive goals; to create new resource bases; to improve productivity; and to use planning processes to drive strategic efficacy.
Peggy is a native of North Carolina. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree at Salem College (NC), a Master of Music degree from Yale University, and was in the first class of graduate students to be awarded a Master of Public Administration degree from the Martin School.
Ron Sowell, 2013
Ron has enjoyed a very rewarding career in health care administration and education for over thirty-four years. He currently serves as Executive Vice President and CFO of Commonwealth Health Corporation. At CHC, Ron led the organization to its first-ever bond rating by Standard and Poor’s and oversees the finances of over $1 billion gross revenue operations. Ron is actively involved in healthcare policy and legislation at the state and federal level and regularly serves as an advocate for CHC and Kentucky’s healthcare industry in Frankfort and Washington. Currently, Ron serves his community on numerous board most recently as a member of the WKU Gordon Ford College of Business Executive Advisory Council, as a member of the Kentucky Hospital Association’s Legislative Committee, as the Chairman of the of the Building Committee for State Street United Methodist Church. To recognize his efforts, the Board of Directors for the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce selected on as their Volunteer Board Member of the Year for 2000 and in October, 2001, Ron was named by WKU at its Summit Awards as the Volunteer of the Year for the Hilltopper Athletic Foundation. He is a native of Bowling Green, earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Western Kentucky University and a Masters of Public Administration from the Martin School in 1977.
Timothy Adams, 2012
The Martin School's third Distinguished Alumnus Award was presented to Timothy Adams, a native of Murray, Ky. Adams, a 1986 graduate, is managing director of The Lindsey Group, an economic advisory group in Washington D.C. Previously, Adams served as under secretary of the Treasury for international affairs, where he was the administration’s point person in international financial and economic issues, including the G-7 and G-20 meetings and IMF issues. Adams also served as chief of staff to Treasury secretaries Paul O’Neill and John Snow.
Robert Wiseman, 2011
Bob Wiseman currently serves as Vice President for Facilities Management overseeing Campus Physical Plant Division, Medical Center Physical Plant Division, Capital Project Management Division, University Architect and Planning Office, Real Estate Services, and Auxiliary Services including Housing. Mr. Wiseman received his undergraduate degree and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the Martin School at the University of Kentucky. He previously served as Lexington Commissioner of Public Works overseeing five operating divisions and numerous construction projects involving buildings, parking garages, roads, utilities and historic structure renovations. In addition, Wiseman served two Lexington mayors in the capacity as Executive Assistant overseeing major capital programs and serving as liaison to UK and the General Assembly. He has served as a member of the Campus Master Plan Committee, College Town Steering Committee, Martin School Board of Visitors, the Top 20 Steering Committee, Provost Search Committee, University Neighborhood Advisory Council, Presidents Sustainability Advisory Committee, along with other University wide committees.
Michael Carozza, 2010
Michael Carozza is a retired federal affairs and biopharma executive. For over two decades he was an executive at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, retiring in 2010 as Vice President, Federal Government Affairs, and head of the Washington office, where he led a team that focused on issues important to the R&D based biopharma industry. Michael served as Deputy Commissioner of Social Security in the Reagan Administration and on the staff of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Penn State and two master’s degrees from the University of Kentucky; Communication (’77) and Public Administration (’78). Michael was named the 2013 Outstanding Alumnus of the College of Communication and Information.
About the Award
The Distinguished Alumni Award, started in 2010, is awarded to Martin School alumni each year who exhibit excellence in their chosen career path within public service. Past awardees have demonstrated success in their leadership roles across the public, nonprofit, and private sectors. The Martin School Board of Visitors selects the awardee, and they are honored each year at the Alumni and Friends event. Martin School community members can nominate alumni for the award by reaching out to the chair of the Board of Visitors.
