On Feb. 1, the UK Pigman College of Engineering hosted its annual David K. Blythe Scholarship Brunch, recognizing all those who have established named scholarships in the college, either by endowment or annual gift.
This annual event is one of the College’s greatest traditions, with scholarship recognition luncheons or brunches dating back to the first in 1998. In 2005, the David K. Blythe Society was created to express the College’s appreciation to its many alumni and friends who so generously support undergraduate scholarships.
Former Dean Blythe was chosen as the society’s namesake in acknowledgment of his passion for undergraduate students and education. He was known for his advocacy for students, assisting them with everything from finances to résumé writing. He was a founder of the Engineering Alumni Association and worked tirelessly for the college for over 40 years. The David K. Blythe Society recognizes Dean Blythe’s outstanding accomplishments and his contributions to past and future generations of engineers.
This year, the event was sports-themed, featuring guest speakers Kathy DeBoer, former UK Volleyball Coach and Levi Sandidge, current member of the UK Swimming & Diving team.
Speaker Bios
Kathy DeBoer
Kathy DeBoer is the incoming chairperson of the Active Girls Healthy Women Board of Directors, a program started by Mary Lloyd Ireland in the UK College of Health Sciences to close the activity gap between girls and boys in under resourced communities.
She retired in 2023 after serving for 17 years as Executive Director of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). Prior to the AVCA, DeBoer spent twenty-three years in intercollegiate athletics serving as a coach, administrator and fundraiser. Eighteen of those years being at the University of Kentucky.
DeBoer is the widow of Mark Pittman, who worked at UK and with the Pigman College of Engineering as a research grant administrator for 38 years. Together, they started the Mark Pittman Engineering Scholarship to support need-based students majoring in mechanical engineering.
Levi Sandidge
Levi Sandidge is a Richardson, Texas native and a junior majoring in computer science.
Sandidge joined the University of Kentucky in 2022 as a freestyle swimmer and has already racked up many impressive accomplishments. As a freshman, he swam to sixth place in the 1650 freestyle in the NCAA Championships, the highest placing by a UK swimmer since 2012. He was also the SEC Champion in the 1650 freestyle, the first male swimmer to take gold for UK in the SEC since 2006. His time of 14:31.47 set a national record for the 17–18-year-old age group.
Sandidge was named to the 2023 SEC All-Freshman Team, the 2023 All-SEC First Team, qualified for the 2023-24 US National Team and swam in the 2024 Olympic Trials Qualifier.
He is involved in the UK chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery, Beyond the Blue Zone and a leader on the Swim Team. He is also a recipient of the Thomas W. Lester Scholarship Program Fund, created by former Pigman College of Engineering dean, Thomas Lester, who served as dean from 1990 to 2012.
