The building housing the University of Kentucky’s college of pharmacy now bears the name of the school’s 11th president, Lee Todd.
He says it’s not something a kid from the small town of Earlington, Kentucky would have dreamed possible, but Monday Todd looked on as his former colleagues rechristened the modern, glassed-in Biological-Pharmaceutical Building on South Limestone in his honor.
"To say that I'm flattered to have such a world-class facility bear my name would be an understatement," he said.
While talk of Todd's ambitious top 20 research initiative faded after his departure from the post in 2011, several speakers at the event credited the push with jumpstarting the highly-visible growth that’s taken place in the years since.
"This building, home to one of the best colleges of pharmacy in the world, is the physical manifestation of [Todd's] top 20 plan," current UK president Eli Capliouto told the audience. "And it is fitting that we dedicate it as the Lee T. Todd, Jr. Building."
Todd told WUKY he sees the building boom launched under his successor as evidence of a shift that occurred under his leadership.
"I think we changed the attitude, and that was the main thing..." Todd says. "When I first started and I mentioned top 20, people would just kind of roll their eyes like 'Fat chance, not us,' but by the time I left we were making some progress and that's all you can ask to do."
Todd also coined a phrase for the state’s stubborn health problems – “Kentucky Uglies” – that’s made its way into the state lexicon. He told the crowd he’s proud of the school’s progress in funding medical research.
The Lee T. Todd, Jr. Building is the largest academic building in the state.
