Dr. William E. Murphy and Paducah & Louisville Railway were among 28 individuals, businesses and foundations recently honored by the Kentucky Community and Technical College System during the 13th annual President’s Gala and Benefactors’ Awards Dinner in Louisville.
More than 600 state and local dignitaries from across the Commonwealth attended the October 27th event, which recognized the benefactors’ generous philanthropic and voluntary support to KCTCS.
Dr. William E. Murphy was appointed Director of the University of Kentucky College of Engineering Extended Campus at West Kentucky Community and Technical College in May 1998. He resigned as site director on July 1, 2012, but remains an active faculty member of Paducah’s mechanical engineering program. Throughout his tenure in Paducah, he has been an advocate for engineering education in western Kentucky and contributed to the construction of the Fred Paxton Engineering Research Wing of the Emerging Technology Center.
Paducah and Louisville Railway is a partner of the West Kentucky Community & Technical College Community Scholarship Program. The company pledged $50,000 to this project. The goal of the program is to make post-secondary education a reachable objective for the graduates of all high schools in McCracken County. Participating students who meet the program guidelines receive gap funding for tuition for up to 60 hours of college credit. Paducah and Louisville Railway is a full-service, 265-mile, regional railroad directly connected with four North American Class I carriers.
“We are extremely thankful for the continued support of all of our individual and business donors,” said Barbara Veazey, WKCTC President. “P & L Railway and Dr. William Murphy are certainly excellent examples of the generous spirit which has allowed us to be one of the top community colleges in the nation.”