2021 Distinguished Service Award

“My aim is to spread more smiles than tears. I will utilize lessons learned from my childhood years.”

The late Tupac Shakur immortalized the words. Dale Morgan, ’09, lives them.

By day, Mr. Morgan is an investment analyst with Lexington-Fayette County Urban Government. But that doesn’t begin to describe the countless lives this accounting graduate has enriched in his hometown as a community leader, volunteer, radio show host, motivational speaker, mentor, advocate, and father of two children.

Growing up on Lexington’s east side, Mr. Morgan experienced “relative, situational and generational poverty and all the by-products associated with them.” A first-generation college student, he came to believe that learning and applying financial management skills would be the key to escape the poverty he saw all around him.

But he was never satisfied with just his own success. “I believe we should do all we can to help elevate ourselves as well as our fellow men and women, regardless of race,” Mr. Morgan said. “Everybody needs a little help on their way to becoming self-reliant. No independent person just grew up and was born independent. It is because of this that I believe it is very important to give back to others and the community.”

Mr. Morgan has served on the advisory boards of the Charles Young Center and Partners for Youth, always bringing what one associate termed “infections optimism.” He counts his proudest professional achievement as his work with hundreds of students in the Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences professional development program at the University of Kentucky. “The overwhelming feeling of joy and happiness I experienced helping the students attain scholarships, internships, and their first career job is something I will never forget.”

The extensive list of Mr. Morgan’s community activities is matched only by his love for Lexingtonians. “I take pride in going back to the same community that produced me, in those same buildings that once frequented and teaching financial literacy to children who, like me, are yearning for a better future and opportunity, not only for themselves but their families and community.”

Mr. Morgan recalled some other words from Shakur: “I’m not saying I will change the world, but I guarantee you I will spark the brain that will.”

Originally published in EKU Alumni Awards.