Meet Our People
Our people in the Office for Institutional Diversity and in the units that support OID's mission are dedicated to ensuring all students, staff and faculty know they belong at the University of Kentucky. OID directors and their staff work to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in all areas, from the classroom to the broader Lexington community.
Learn more about the remarkable people who are advancing inclusive excellence at UK and beyond.
Meet the team Office for Institutional Diversity (OID)
Celebrate their stories OID Spotlights
It is a great honor to join the Big Blue Nation. Kentucky has ambitious and audacious diversity, equity and inclusion goals. I am thrilled to be in partnership with the ongoing efforts of creating and enhancing a culture of belonging.
National Leader Named UK Vice President for Institutional Diversity
Within my role, I feel that I have an obligation as an educator to transcend past the rhetoric of diversity and inclusion but become more of a transformative ally in the promotion of equity and justice.
Meet the Team Center for Graduate and Professional Diversity Initiatives (CGPDI)
The Center for Graduate and Professional Diversity Initiatives focuses on recruiting diverse graduate and professional students in UK's six health colleges and retaining diverse graduate and professional students in all nineteen colleges, contributing to an inclusive campus environment where all students can fully engage and succeed. These are the people deeply committed to supporting our students and helping them determine their next steps to lifelong success.
Celebrate Their Stories CGPDI Spotlights
Change is slow. It's incremental, it takes time. But if we have people on the front line, if we have people opening doors for other underrepresented minorities, if we have people who can lead and show the path forward, that's how change becomes permanent.
DEI is about showing up as authentically as possible to the point where people can feel safe or brave enough to be who they are around you.
meet the team Inclusive Excellence and Diversity Education (IEDE)
Inclusive Excellence and Diversity Education serves the university as a centralized educational unit for expanding diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Their work is rooted in an organized effort to create a campus community invested in exposing, challenging and minimizing the effects of interpersonal and institutionalized discrimination. These are the people who are helping the University of Kentucky grow.
celebrate their stories IEDE Spotlights
meet the team Martin Luther King Jr. Center (MLK Center)
Since January of 1987, the Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural Center has provided space, programming and a community for underserved populations at the University of Kentucky. From their humble beginnings in an old utility closet, to being centralized in the Gatton Student Center, the MLK Center remains a pillar on our campus. These are the people who carry on this legacy of service and undeniable care for UK students.
celebrate their stories MLK Center Spotlights
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is and should be everyone's job, but I am glad that through this role I will be able to help lead the charge towards providing spaces for dialogue, education and opportunities to dive deeper in this work.
Building Belonging at UK: Ruth González Jiménez
meet the team Office of Community Engagement | Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI)
The Office of Community Engagement's mission is to support and create community engagement opportunities that meet the economic, health and educational needs of our community.
Visit the Office of Community Engagement's website for more information
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UK offers educational and enrichment courses, forums, shared interest groups, trips, events and more for adults 50 years and older. More than 1,500 adult learners participate annually. The University of Kentucky has been at the forefront nationally in lifelong learning since 1964. The OLLI at UK has sites in Lexington and Morehead.

Lisa Higgins-Hord (she/her)
Assistant Vice President
Lisa Higgins-Hord (she/her) has held several positions at UK and is currently the Assistant Vice President for Community Engagement at the University of Kentucky. In this role, she develops, implements and assesses significant community based projects that create robust partnerships between the University community (faculty, students and staff) and local, state and regional constituencies. The responsibilities within the University Community Engagement department include the, AmeriCorps VISTA Program and the Office of Lifelong Learning.
Lisa serves as DEI Executive Sponsor for the Community Outreach Workstream.
Lisa is active in many state and local activities. Currently, Lisa serves on the Bank of the Bluegrass & Trust Board, Blue Grass Community Foundation Board, Carnegie Center for Literacy Board and the Town Branch Project (Town Branch Partner). She is also a partner of the Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Consortium at the University of Kentucky which provides training, access and opportunities for faculty and their classes regarding community projects.
Lisa was born in Harlan County, Kentucky and raised in Lexington. Lisa continued her education at the University of Kentucky where she received her Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree. Lisa is a graduate of the Center for Organizational and Technological Advancement’s Academy for Leaders at Virginia Tech. She is also a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa, National Honor Leadership Society.
Email: lisa.hh1@uky.edu