LEXINGTON, Ky. (October 2025) — The University of Kentucky College of Social Work (CoSW) is proud to announce the 2025 recipients of the Lyman T. Johnson Awards. This year, BASW alumna and faculty member Dr. Laneshia Conner has been named the Torch of Excellence Award recipient, and BASW student Aniyah Maxey has been named the Torch Bearer Award recipient.
The awards will be presented during the 2025 Lyman T. Johnson Awards Luncheon on Friday, October 17, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Gatton Student Center Grand Ballroom.
The Lyman T. Johnson Torch of Excellence Award honors alumni whose values, faith, hard work and determination have positively impacted the lives of people on UK’s campus, the city of Lexington, the Commonwealth, and/or the nation. The Torch Bearer Award recognizes students whose academic achievement and ability have positively impacted the lives of others.
Both honors are named for Lyman T. Johnson, the civil rights pioneer who in 1949 became the first African American to enroll at the University of Kentucky, opening the doors for generations of students and scholars.
About the 2025 Recipients
- Dr. Laneshia Conner – Torch of Excellence Award
Dr. Conner, an assistant professor in the College of Social Work, is nationally recognized for promoting health equity and HIV prevention for older Black women through community-led solutions. Most recently, she was awarded a five-year, $635,000 grant from the National Institutes on Aging to develop and refine Woman to Woman (W2W)—a culturally tailored HIV prevention intervention for older Black women, an often-overlooked population. The project provides pilot data and professional development to support a future large-scale clinical trial. As part of her commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration and advancing racial health equity, Dr. Conner also received a UK UNITE Humanities Pilot Grant—an initiative supporting research teams across career stages to address racial disparities and generate sustainable, extramurally funded projects.
- Aniyah Maxey – Torch Bearer Award
Maxey, a student in the College of Social Work, exemplifies the spirit of leadership and service that defines the Lyman T. Johnson legacy. Earlier this year, Maxey received the “30 under 30” award during UK’s Sarah Bennett Holmes Luncheon and was named as a Student Government Association Student of the Month.
“We are thrilled to celebrate Dr. Conner and Ms. Maxey as this year’s recipients of the Lyman T. Johnson Awards,” said Ramla Osman, director of philanthropy at CoSW “Both have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to scholarship, leadership, and service, and they embody the spirit of excellence and perseverance that these awards represent.”