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Dr. Tom Appleton, who will retire from the EKU history faculty at the close of this academic year, was honored on the floor of the U.S. Senate by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday morning, Oct. 4.

In congratulating the professor on his retirement, McConnell called Appleton “one of Kentucky’s premier historians” and said he had “made a lasting impact on the next generation with his teaching.”

On a personal note, McConnell thanked Appleton for his “invaluable counsel” during his preparation of a series of lectures the senator gave about former Kentucky senators.

Appleton, who joined the EKU faculty in 2000 after 21 years with the Kentucky Historical Society, was named a 2015-17 EKU Foundation Professor, the highest honor bestowed by the University for teaching excellence. He is the co-editor of six books, including the recently published “Kentucky Women: Their Lives and Times.” Other titles include “Negotiating Boundaries of Southern Womanhood: Dealing with the Powers That Be” and “Searching for Their Places: Women in the South across Four Centuries.” Appleton is currently working on a biography of legendary Kentuckian Albert B. “Happy” Chandler.

To view the entire tribute, visit https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4684638/tom-appleton.