It seemed a little peculiar Wednesday during an athletics department-wide meeting when UK President Dr. Lee T. Tood, Jr. addressed the staff and thanked them for their efforts over the years.It wasn’t out of Todd’s personality to thank the staff for what they do for the university – after all, he’s been doing it at the annual meeting for years – but Wednesday’s tone by both Todd and Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart seemed a little reflective.It all made sense an hour later when news started to leak out that Todd was announcing his retirement later Wednesday after nine-plus years of presidency at UK. Todd plans to retire June 30, 2011, at the end of the 2010-11 academic year.”This university is the love of our lives,” Todd said in a news release on uknow.uky.edu. “As I have said many times before, this is the only job in higher education I ever wanted because I feel it provides the greatest opportunity to improve the lives of Kentuckians. I believe – indeed, I know – that UK is the soul of this Commonwealth … I am convinced it is the most important institution in Kentucky, with the greatest capacity to improve the lives of Kentuckians and the condition of our state.”The news, while not directly athletics related, will have a tremendous affect on the university across all departments, including athletics. As Barnhart said repeatedly during his speech to the athletics staff Wednesday, Todd has been one of the biggest supporters of UK Athletics.Todd has been a huge proponent in transforming UK Athletics into a self-sustaining organization, one of only 14 programs that is completely self-supporting. UK Athletics provides $1.7 million each year to support general academic scholarship programs. When others didn’t stand behind the UK Athletics department, Barnhart said Todd “didn’t blink.””I’m extremely happy for Lee and Patsy, who have given their heart and soul to the University of Kentucky and the state of Kentucky for the last 10 years,” Barnhart said. “It’s always great when a person gets to enjoy looking back and seeing all the accomplishments that they have created, and he has certainly done that for the university.”From an athletics perspective, he has been a great friend and a great proponent of raising the bar of athletics at the University of Kentucky. We’re thankful that we could have been a part of that and we’re hopeful that we added to the accomplishments that Lee and Patsy will greatly look back upon. We wish them all the best in their retirement. We know that he will continue to make a long-lasting contribution to every facet of life in the state of Kentucky.”During Todd’s speech to the athletics department, Todd said Barnhart was one the best hires he’s made in his career, calling Barnhart the “total package.”While Todd has made a concerted effort to let athletics manage itself, he said the university could not thrive without the two sides working together. Todd said they received a record number of applications for this academic year thanks to the exposure of UK Athletics.When Todd and his wife, Patsy, were moving freshmen into the dorms just a few weeks ago, 80 percent of them said they came to UK because they had been Wildcat fans their whole lives. Todd said UK had the athletics staff to thank for that.Now, in Todd’s final year on the job, UK has Todd to thank for a decade of unprecedented growth and expansion and one of the most loyal supporters of the athletics program.”Dr. Todd called me this morning and left a message on my phone and when I listened to it, it made me sick to my stomach because of my confidence in him as a leader,” UK men’s basketball coach John Calipari said. “He’s maybe my best recruiter. Every player that comes on this campus has a chance to meet our president, who went to school here and taught here. On the other side, I’m happy for him and his wife. But it’s a big loss. This is not like, ‘Let’s just get another guy.’ This is a big loss.”Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive weighed in on the loss.”Dr. Todd has been a tremendous leader for the Southeastern Conference, the University of Kentucky and the state of Kentucky,” Slive said in a statement. “His advocacy for the integration of higher education and intercollegiate athletics was a constant theme of his presidency of the SEC (2008-10). During his tenure as league president, the SEC secured contracts that allowed it to become the most widely-distributed televised conference in the nation. All of us in the Southeastern Conference wish Dr. Todd well in his retirement. We will miss him.”Check out the full news release on Todd’s plan to retire, including a fact sheet of Todd’s accomplishments at UK and a collection of quotes, at uknow.uky.edu.
Additional quotes from UK’s staff:
UK football coach Joker Phillips: “The University is losing a great ambassador. Dr. Todd is a tremendous advocate of our University and our state. I’m both happy and sad – happy for him to be able to retire and also sad for our University to see him leave.”
UK women’s basketball coach Matthew Mitchell: “Dr. Todd was an extraordinary leader for this university. The example he set with his leadership was an inspiration to me personally and to all the people in leadership roles at UK. He is a man of great integrity and it is clear to me that his passion for UK is extremely sincere. It’s an honor to work under him and I will forever be grateful to him for giving me the opportunity to work at this great institution. He will be greatly missed. I know his legacy will be admired for a long time and he’ll be remembered as one of the greatest presidents in UK history.”
UK women’s soccer coach Jon Lipsitz: “Dr. Todd has worked incredibly hard to create the profile of this university and has been tremendously successful in the push to create both academic and athletic excellence. If he feels it’s his time for a rest, he’s certainly earned it. We greatly appreciate everything he has done academically and athletically for this university. I couldn’t imagine working for somebody that’s both a greater president or a greater human being than President Todd. “On a personal level, it’s been wonderful to meet him and his wife Patsy. As a newcomer to this state and this university to see their passion for the Commonwealth, the university and UK athletics is very infectious. Getting to meet them has certainly had a great effect on my family in our short time here.”UK baseball coach Gary Henderson: “Dr. Todd means a tremendous amount to the state of Kentucky, the University and the entire athletics department,” UK head baseball coach Gary Henderson said. “His vision, enthusiasm and passion for the University and the state is a great asset to the athletics department. I have had the pleasure of working at UK for seven years and feel privileged to work with such a wonderful leader and a man of great integrity.”
