Flame of Excellence


About the Flame of Excellence Award

Leadership Kentucky annually honors a Kentuckian with the Flame of Excellence Award.  This award recognizes someone who has contributed immeasurably to the success of Kentucky and its residents.  The awardee demonstrates exemplary character and has impacted Kentucky positively either through professional or volunteer activities. The awardee does not have to be a Leadership Kentucky alumni.

2022 Recipients - Former Governor Paul E. Patton and Judi Conway Patton

Flame of Excellence Award Recipients

2002 – Dr. Thomas D. Clark, Kentucky Historian Emeritus

2003 – Edward T. “Ned” Breathitt, Former Governor

2004 – John R. Hall, Retired Chairman/CEO, Ashland Inc.

2005 – Martha Layne Collins, Former Governor; Chair/CEO Kentucky World Trade Center

2006 – Wendell H. Ford, U.S. Senate, Retired; Wendell H. Ford Government Education Center

2007 – Albert P. Smith, Jr., Retired Host of “Comment on Kentucky”

2008 – David A. Jones, Founder & Former Board Chairman, Humana, Inc.

2009 – Eula Hall, Founder, Mud Creek Clinic

2010 – Owsley Brown Frazier, Founder & Chairman, Frazier International History Museum

2011 – Dr. T. Pearse Lyons, Founder & CEO, Alltech

2012 – William T. Samuels, Jr., Chairman Emeritus, Maker’s Mark Distillery, Inc.

2013 – Dr. Lee T. Todd, Jr., Past President, University of Kentucky

2014 – Bill Goodman, Host, KET

2015 – John A. Williams, Sr. – Computer Services, Inc.

2016 – Helen Carroll, Toyota, retired

2017 – William (Bill) Jones, U.S. Bank

2018 – David Adkisson – Kentucky Chamber of Commerce

2019 – Myra Ball – Ball Homes and Donamire Farm

2020 – Alice and Wade Houston - HJI Supply Chain Solutions

2021 - Porter G. Peeples, Sr. - Urban League of Lexington-Fayette County

2022 - Former Governor Paul E. Patton and Judi Conway Patton

2023 Wilson W. Wyatt, Sr. LKY Founder, Statesman, (posthumous)

LG&E-KU
Toyota
Brown-Forman
Norton Healthcare
Pikeville Medical Center
Kentucky Power
US Bank
RunSwitch PR
Stites & Harbison, PLLC
Republic Bank
Whitaker Bank
Putting Kentuckians First and Reentry with the Kentucky Office Of Adult Education and the Education and Labor Cabinet
Truist
CHI St Joseph Healthcare
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield
University of Louisville
Delta Dental
Kentucky Association of Health Plans
Whitaker Bank Foundation
St. Elizabeth Healthcare
Tennessee Valley Authority
Appalachian Regional Healthcare