Henry Hunt, center, receives the Joseph W. Kelly Award from the Kentucky Board of Education. Also pictured are Joseph Kelly, left and KBE chairman David Karem. Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 1, 2012
Henry Hunt, chief operating officer for Dataseam, is the recipient of the 12th annual Joseph W. Kelly Award.
The award was presented to Hunt Wednesday by the Kentucky Board of Education at its regular meeting in Frankfort.
“As chief operating officer of Dataseam, Mr. Hunt works diligently to fulfill the company’s mission, which is ‘By using technology as a vehicle to advance the commercialization of research, promote ongoing education statewide, and provide next-generation economic opportunity, Dataseam helps provide a brighter future for all Kentuckians,’” said Kentucky Board of Education Chair David Karem.
“Since its inception in 2004, Dataseam has placed over 15,000 computers in 48 school districts across the state. The computers are linked throughout the state on the Dataseam Grid and allow students and teachers to blog, share ideas and resources and create online video galleries of their work on the Dataseam Champions in the Classroom site. Additionally, researchers located at the University of Louisville’s James Graham Brown Cancer Center utilize the computers to process research data collected from the sites, forward research and commercialize ideas.”
Hunt was nominated by Carrie Nath, executive director of the Governor’s School for the Arts.
“Henry Hunt exemplifies the Kelly Award’s purpose of recognizing business leaders who enhance the educational opportunities for children on the school, community and state levels,” she said.
Hunt was cited for a number of contributions to education:
- He established Dataseam Scholar programs at Morehead State University and the University of Louisville to provide an opportunity for Kentucky to reduce the “brain drain.”
- He has established programming in teacher professional development to develop the skills needed for digital learning practices; the Visiting Professional Program that places university professors in participating school districts; and the National Institute of Health Supplemental Science Curriculum teacher kits that provide supplemental science curriculum benchmarked to Kentucky standards.
- In 2011, Hunt joined with the Governor’s School for the Arts to create the Dataseam Scholars Program and donated 15 state-of-the-art iMac computers to Governor’s School for the Arts to use in the New Media classroom. For the first time in the program’s history, the students and faculty were able to work on a consistent system.
The Joseph W. Kelly Award was created in honor of Joseph W. Kelly, a respected businessman and chair of the Kentucky Board of Education from 1991 to 1998. Kelly’sefforts and expertise were crucial to the implementation and nurturing of Kentucky’s school improvement efforts.
The annual award is given by the Kentucky Board of Education to businesspeople who have offered outstanding leadership and service toward promoting school improvement and equitable educational opportunities for all Kentucky children.
Board members Dorie Combs, Brigette Ramsey and Bill Twyman served as the selection committee for the award this year.
Leave A Comment