Grandparents Rights Alabama

Profile: New University of Kentucky president's voice shaped by Alabama childhood

Age: 61

Family: Wife, Mary Lynne, daughter, Emily

Hometown: Montgomery, Ala.

Education:

■ University of Alabama, B.S. 1971

■ University of Alabama-Birmingham, D.M.D. (Dentistry) 1975

■ University of Alabama-Birmingham, M.P.H. (Epidemiology) 1985

■ Harvard University, Certificate (Dental Public Health Residency) 1987

■ Harvard University, S.M. (Health Services Administration) 1987

■ Harvard University, Sc.D. (Health Policy and Management) 1991

Favorite book: The Best and Brightest by David Halberstam

Hobbies: Traveling with daughter, hot yoga, reading; formerly a long-distance runner

In the early evening of Sunday, May 1, the figurative white smoke rose over the Hebron Marriott in Northern Kentucky with the announcement that the next president of the University of Kentucky would be Eli Capilouto, the provost of the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

For many, it was an unexpected and puzzling choice, particularly when compared to his colorful predecessors: Otis Singletary, whose outsized personality ruled UK for nearly two decades; Charles Wethington, the former community college chancellor who was promoted by one governor and fought with another; or even Lee Todd, small-town Kentucky boy turned Massachusetts Institute of Technology inventor and businessman who topped his career with a decade at UK.

Instead the search committee had introduced a quiet Alabamian, a dentist-turned-provost who may be most intriguing for his lack of Kentucky connections or national prominence, lack of publicly expressed opinions, lack of baggage, even lack of strong charisma.

Capilouto's subsequent visit to campus didn't do much to solve the mystery. While clearly adept at connecting with people one on one, he declined to be specific about his thoughts for UK.

"I don't want to say he doesn't have any vision," commented Alan Nadel, a UK professor of American literature, "but when people asked him he did not articulate one."

Still, behind closed doors, Capilouto won over the members of the search committee and the Board of Trustees. Hollie Swanson, the faculty Senate Chair and search committee member, thinks the dark horse choice may continue to puzzle and intrigue, but his particular skills will be the right fit for UK in the end.

"I want someone quiet with integrity rather than flash and charm because I trust that more than someone who's trying to sell me something," she said shortly after Capilouto's name was announced. "I'd rather have someone think something through than to say the first thing off the top of their head.

Alabama SC strikes down grandparents visitation rights law ...

In a sad blow to grandparents rights the Alabama Supreme Court last week struck down a state law that guarantees visitation rights for grandparents , ruling that it unconstitutionally violated the rights of fit parents who might not want their kids to be around their grandparents.

The SC justices overturned Alabama’s recently passed Grandparent Visitation Act in a 7-2 decision.

To read more about this controversial issue check out my post on Grandparents Visitation Rights .

Here is some of what the Associated Press said about the ruling:

The opinion, written by Associate Justice Tom Parker, was 34 pages long, and Parker and other judges wrote another 100 pages that included biblical, personal and historical references explaining their positions on the law.