LEXINGTON, Ky. — Douglas A. Boyd, director of the University of Kentucky Libraries' Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History and former president of the Oral History Association, has been recognized as a 2026-27 University Research Professor, a distinction honoring excellence in research that addresses scientific, social, cultural and economic challenges.

Boyd is a nationally recognized leader in oral history and digital technology. He envisioned, designed and implemented the open-source Oral History Metadata Synchronizer (OHMS) system, which combines text with audio and video to make archival materials more accessible. The OHMS software is used in libraries and archives in 52 countries around the globe. In 2019, Boyd received a Fulbright Scholars Research Grant to collaborate with the National Library of Australia on innovative access to online oral history.

Boyd has authored "Oral History: A Very Short Introduction" and "Crawfish Bottom: Recovering a Lost Kentucky Community," and co-edited with Mary A. Larson "Oral History and Digital Humanities: Voice, Access, and Engagement." More recently, he designed SpeakEZ, an AI-driven system that transcribes, describes and assesses archived oral history interviews, integrating sensitivity review into a workflow that models responsible AI integration within the humanities.

Before joining UK in 2008, Boyd managed the Digital Program for the University of Alabama Libraries, served as director of the Kentucky Oral History Commission and worked as senior archivist for the Kentucky Historical Society. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in folklore from Indiana University. Each University Research Professor receives a one-year award of $10,000 to further their research.