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The goal of the Office of the Provost is to be a resource for all of the University of Kentucky, with a primary emphasis on enhancing UK's academic excellence and its brand as an institution that focuses on the Commonwealth in ways that have a global impact.

Making those priorities a reality involves cultivating strong and long-lasting partnerships with the campus community and fostering a culture of continuous improvement, trust, collaboration, diversity and inclusion. As such, the Office of the Provost is a resource for colleges, deans, students, faculty and staff at the University of Kentucky.

Contact Us

Phone: (859) 257-2911

Email: provost@uky.edu

Provost's Staff

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Jana Jasinski, Ph.D., Vice Provost

Dr. Jasinski joins UK from UCF, where she was an assistant professor of sociology in 1999 and has since served in multiple roles. As vice provost for faculty excellence at UCF, Jasinski helped lead efforts to foster a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration, faculty recognition and leadership development. She and her team helped develop faculty peer mentoring communities and facilitated an Academic Leadership Academy to develop future academic leaders. Prior to her role as vice provost for faculty excellence, Jasinski also served as associate dean in the College of Graduate Studies as well as the College of Sciences at UCF.

As vice provost at UK, Dr. Jasinski will partner with colleges and their leaders, along with other senior leadership on campus, to continue the university’s mission of advancing Kentucky. She will work closely with deans and serve as the liaison between college leadership and the Office of the Provost.

Photo of Padraic Kenney

Padraic Kenney, Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate School and Associate Provost for Graduate and Professional Education

Dr. Kenney is an internationally prominent historian and researcher who began serving as dean of The Graduate School in 2023. In his role, he also serves as associate provost for graduate and professional education.

Dr. Kenney previously held the position of associate dean for graduate education and for the social and historical sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University (IU) in Bloomington, Indiana. In this role, he had oversight of graduate degrees, students, departments and programs, developed and implemented a plan for $2 million in new funds to improve graduate funding, reorganized the college’s graduate office to promote recruitment and retention of graduate students from underrepresented groups and created a mentoring program to pair newly-hired faculty with senior mentors outside their department.

Before serving as an associate dean at IU, Dr. Kenney was the chair of the Department of International Studies at IU. Between 2011 and 2020, he also served as director for the Polish Studies Center, Russian and East European Institute and the Collins Living-Learning Center.

Sue Roberts

Sue Roberts, Ph.D., Associate Provost for Internationalization

As the associate provost for internationalization, Dr. Sue Roberts is the university's senior international officer or SIO. She oversees the UK International Center, including Education Abroad, International Student and Scholar Services, International Partnerships and Research, the Global Health Initiative, International Recruitment, and International Health, Safety and Security. Her campus-wide role includes enhancing global learning, international research, working with each of UK’s colleges on initiatives related to global engagement and chairing the International Advisory Council. She also is professor of geography. In her 30 years at UK, Dr. Roberts has held a number of roles including department chair, director of the international studies program and associate dean for internationalization in the College of Arts and Sciences.

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Matthew Sanger, Senior Executive Director

Matthew E. Sanger began his role as senior executive director in November 2022. He provides executive leadership on behalf of the provost to maximize relationships with university leadership, stakeholders, donors, alumni and others, both internally and externally. He works to align activities with university leadership partners in the president’s cabinet. He develops and operationalizes change management processes to achieve strategic project requirements as defined by the provost and other project stakeholders, including managing and directing interdisciplinary teams to meet objectives and goals. He coordinates daily operations of the Office of the Provost and provides leadership in the development and implementation of integrated business, operational, financial, facility and administrative programs, structures and policies. Prior to joining the Office of the Provost, he served as the executive director and chief of staff in the UK College of Medicine; director of administration and corporate affairs within the Office of the Executive Vice President for Health Affairs; and executive director for business operations for Beyond Blue Corporation. Sanger has been with the university since November 2012 and has more than 30 years of leadership experience in higher education and business administration.

This is a photo of Lisa Tacnnock.

Lisa Tannock, M.D., Associate Provost for Faculty Advancement

Dr. Lisa Tannock began her role as associate provost for faculty advancement in July 2023 after serving as vice dean for faculty affairs and development in the College of Medicine, where she served as the lead for virtually all issues related to faculty, in a college with more than 1,200 faculty of diverse disciplines and backgrounds including physicians, scientists and educators. She has been a tenured full professor since 2015 with a lengthy list of peer-reviewed publications, grants and an outstanding record of academic mentoring and advising to her credit. In addition to her ongoing administrative duties, she has continued an active and funded research lab as well as her clinical practice in endocrinology. She also previously held other senior administrative positions with the Department of Internal Medicine, which included faculty recruitment, development and retention for a unit with more than 300 faculty.

This is a photo of Brandi Frisby, Ph.D., Associate Provost for Academic Affairs.

Brandi Frisby, Ph.D., Associate Provost for Academic Affairs

Dr. Brandi Frisby began her role as associate provost for academic affairs in May 2024. In this role, she will focus on academic oversight, institutional effectiveness and accreditation, aligning with the UK strategic plan, the UK-PURPOSE.

Dr. Frisby has previously served as acting dean of the College of Communication and Information (CI), as well as senior associate dean and associate dean for student success. She was instrumental in CI’s efforts to stimulate transdisciplinary partnerships across campus to serve a variety of students, to promote career readiness for UK graduates and to engage both faculty and students in meaningful research.

 Dr. Frisby is also an accomplished researcher, having been named in the top 1% of communication studies researchers and the top 1% of communication studies prolific researchers by the Journal of Communication Education, with more than 80 journal articles published. She also serves on the editorial review boards of several communication journals.

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Christine Harper, Acting Associate Provost for Academic Operations

Christine joined the University of Kentucky in 2010, where she served in the role of assistant dean of admissions and student affairs within the College of Dentistry, and she has since worked in multiple other areas of the university, including the Office for Student Success and the Office of the Provost, as an associate provost. 

As associate vice president of enrollment and chief enrollment officer for UK, Christine has helped shape our success in growing our first-year undergraduate cohorts and expand access for transfer students to join UK through mapped Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) pathways. Through these efforts, she has worked closely with college faculty and staff to support their individual enrollment goals. In addition, Christine served on the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) compliance review committee through UK’s last accreditation. 

Christine’s experience collaborating with individuals and groups across the university, including faculty, staff and senior leadership, will allow her to continue working with college leadership and faculty as acting associate provost for academic operations. She will help the Office of the Provost and our colleges and programs focus and collaborate more on academic operational efforts at UK.