UK CPH Alumni Recognized with Hall of Fame Honors

For Crystal Miller and Ripley Lucas, the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Public Health (CPH) is more than where they earned their degrees. It’s where their public health journeys began — making recognition from their alma mater especially meaningful.

The two alumni were recently honored during the college’s annual Public Health Hall of Fame induction ceremony along with Hume Medallion Award honoree Connie Gayle White. Miller, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., received the Distinguished Leader Award for her decades of public health leadership and service, while Lucas, M.P.H., received the Promising Leader Award for the national impact of her work in maternal and infant health.

"I think one of the best compliments you can ever get is to be nominated by your peers and people who you've grown up with," Miller said. "Being able to use my degree, give back to the communities I serve and then have my peers recognize the work that I’ve done, I think that’s the best compliment that you can get professionally."

For Lucas, who earned her Bachelor of Public Health in 2020 and Master of Public Health with a concentration in epidemiology in 2021, the award represents both a connection to her alma mater and encouragement early in her career.  

“UK has been such a foundation to my career, and so it’s really incredible to get to continue to be a part of UK and have this continued support from the university after I’ve graduated,” Lucas said. “Especially being a young professional, I think something like this is very encouraging. I’m really honored to receive this award.”

A career built on community and relationships

Miller's connection to public health began at UK, where she worked as an undergraduate research assistant before earning both her Master of Public Health and Doctor of Public Health.  

Miller credits her mentors at UK,  including Tom Clayton, Ph.D., F. Douglas Scutchfield, M.D., and David Satcher Holsinger, M.D., Ph.D., with helping shape her career and understanding of community public health.

“I am only in this field because I was influenced by Dr. Clayton,” she said. “He was my boss at the time and a mentor. I was actually going down the path of education, and so he was a really big mentor for me and helped to get me started on the path of public health.”

After completing her doctorate, Miller spent nearly two decades leading the WEDCO District Health Department a regional health department serving Harrison, Nicholas, and Scott counties, before taking on her current role as the Commissioner of Health with the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department.

Among the defining periods of her career was leading a public health response during the COVID-19 pandemic. Miller said the experience helped strengthen relationships within the communities she served and gave public health a seat at tables where it had not always been represented.  

"We handled the pandemic in a way that allowed us to build credibility and have stronger relationships to do public health work after," she said.  

But when Miller reflects on her career, she points not only to the major public health initiatives she has led and the leadership positions she has held, but also to the people she has mentored and influenced along the way.

"The thing I'm most proud of is getting to influence other people to either get into public health work or become stronger leaders in public health,” she said. “That’s something that’s near and dear to my heart, helping people be the best version of themselves.”

Turning data into action  

As senior data analyst at the March of Dimes Perinatal Data Center, Lucas contributes to research and reports examining maternal and infant health and access to maternity care across the United States.

She serves as a lead contributor to the annual March of Dimes Report Cards and was primary analyst for the organization's 2024 report, Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S. The report drew national attention to gaps in maternity care access and was cited in the 2024 White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis.

For Lucas, however, some of the most meaningful evidence of her work’s impact comes from public health professionals who tell her how they are using the data in their own communities. She has met people at conferences who have used March of Dimes research for grants, advocacy and their own research.

“The meaning for me comes from knowing that the work my team works on is actually being used by other people and is a tool for them,” Lucas said.

Working alongside policy professionals has also reinforced Lucas with the importance of communicating research beyond academic or scientific audiences.

“You can do research all day long, but if there isn’t the desire to make meaning out of it and make change, then it’s so much more difficult to actually improve the health of moms and babies,” she said.

Lucas’ interest in maternal and infant health has roots in her time as a UK student, when she focused on women’s health and substance use. Those interests eventually helped her recognize a broader passion for family health.

Today, her work centers heavily on access to maternity care. Looking ahead, Lucas hopes new approaches can help communities address persistent challenges, particularly in rural areas and maternity care deserts.

“I’m excited to see new ideas about how we can use the money and the systems we have,” Lucas said. “I think we just need to take that as a proof point that what we’ve been doing the last decade hasn’t really worked yet. We might need to look at different ways of getting care to people.”

Investing in the next generation

Despite being at different points in their careers, Miller and Lucas share an emphasis on something that cannot necessarily be captured through research findings or career titles — relationships.

When asked what advice she would offer today's public health students, Miller’s message was simple.

“Develop relationships,” she said. “Relationships are the heart of getting public health work done in a community.”

Miller encourages students to develop their emotional intelligence and the skills needed to build strong relationships with the people and communities they serve.

Lucas offered similar advice, encouraging students to find mentors, meet professionals and take opportunities to see the many different directions a career in public health can take.

She continues that connection with UK as a mentor through the college’s Catalyst mentorship program. Lucas said her two years working with students has also provided opportunities for her own growth.

“I really encourage young people to put themselves out there and try and see as much of the field as possible,” Lucas said.

For Miller, the growing pipeline of students entering the public health workforce is one of the reasons she is optimistic about the future of public health in Kentucky.

She has seen that pipeline transform significantly since the beginning of her own career, with students now entering the workforce already equipped with a foundation in what public health is and how it serves communities.

“That gives me a lot of hope for the future of public health, because we need that educational pipeline, and we need people who are motivated and curious and enthusiastic about the hard things that we have to deal with in local communities,” Miller said.

Miller also pointed to the college’s efforts under Dean Heather Bush Ph.D. to strengthen relationships with local health departments across Kentucky as an important opportunity to further connect public health education with practice.

For Miller and Lucas, those connections reflect a common thread stretching from the college to communities across Kentucky and beyond — public health advances when knowledge, relationships and service come together.