Board of Trustees Election, Faculty Candidates

A lifelong Kentuckian, I was born and raised near Bardstown and graduated from Nelson County High School. I earned my bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and my M.D. from the University of Kentucky. After completing my Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency, serving as Pediatric Chief Resident, and finishing a Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine fellowship, I have spent my career as a Neonatal ICU physician at the Kentucky Children’s Hospital. 

Over the past 20 years, I have held leadership roles within the Kentucky Children’s Hospital ECMO program and have served on numerous College of Medicine committees, including Faculty Council (Chair 2020–21) and the Admissions Committee. I am passionate about mentoring students, advancing education, integrating AI, and building innovative bridges across campus. I continue to mentor undergraduate, graduate, and medical students, as well as junior faculty, and actively teach in the Pigman College of Engineering (course instructor for BME 303) and the College of Medicine. 

Since February 2024, I have had the privilege of serving on the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees and was elected to the Executive Committee (Fall 2024). During my time on the Board, I have advocated for a united University and will continue to have complete resolve for that mission. I remain firmly committed to shared governance, transparency, and advocating for all voices across our University community. I am passionate about faculty continuing to have a critical role within the University of Kentucky. It would be an honor to continue serving you.

To advocate for meaningful shared governance; To protect academic freedom; to promote responsible fiduciary and administrative oversight; To protect all of our students, staff, and faculty whatever their identities may be. These are the reasons why I am running for the position of Faculty Trustee. My name is Karen Petrone and I have spent my entire 31-year academic career as an historian at the University of Kentucky in the College of Arts and Sciences. I am a teacher and researcher of Modern Russian History, I have been a department chair, and I now serve Kentucky as the co-director of the UK-JHF Holocaust Education Initiative, a state-wide, grant-funded teacher professional development initiative.

Like President Capilouto and the Board of Trustees, I wholeheartedly embrace the idea that UK should be the University for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and know I can find much common ground with our Board. I believe that the University’s mission is best served by empowering faculty to deploy all aspects of their expertise. As President of UK’s Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, I have fought to preserve tenure and shared governance. We live in challenging times, and the degrading of shared governance, the weakening of tenure and the onset of self-censorship is eroding the University’s capacity to serve the Commonwealth as effectively as possible. We need two strong faculty voices on the Board of Trustees that value the roles and contributions of faculty. We need bold and responsive leadership at this moment of crisis.