Michael McKay, an associate professor in the University of Kentucky College of Design, is one of 16 University Research Professors for 2023-24. The University Research Professorships honor faculty members who have demonstrated excellence that addresses scientific, social, cultural and economic challenges in our region and around the world. 

College leadership develop criteria for excellence within their area of expertise and then nominate faculty who excelled at these criteria. Each University Research Professor receives a one-year award of $10,000. 

"I am immensely grateful to the university for acknowledging the value of creative scholarship and for their unwavering support of the arts,” said McKay. “This recognition not only validates the importance of artistic endeavors but also encourages further exploration and innovation in the field."

McKay’s research focuses on the intersection of design, collage and process-driven investigations that explore the relationship between form, material and perception.

McKay received his bachelor’s degree in architecture from UK and his master’s degree in architecture from Princeton University. His projects range in scale from urban landscapes to installations and two-dimensional work, and have been exhibited in Europe and throughout the United States.

Over the course of his career, he has sought opportunities to examine how formal processes of design can have an immediate and visceral impact upon the viewer/user of its outcome. Currently, McKay is invested in his research “Relative Positioning” which explores how opportunities for programming and space could arise from the collision or collage of otherwise autonomous forms.