By Joan C. McKinney, director of university communications
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – The fourth in a series of gubernatorial candidate forums at Campbellsville University will feature Bruce Lunsford, an entrepreneur, business leader and health care executive, at 3 p.m. Thursday, March 29 in the Banquet Hall, former cafeteria, in the Student Union Building.
The sessions are sponsored by CU’s Kentucky Heartland Institute for Public Policy (KHIPP) and Team Taylor County.
John Chowning, vice president for church and external relations at CU and executive assistant to the president who is the founder of KHIPP, said all of the major candidates have been asked to participate in the forums.
All events are open to the public.
Chowning said each of the candidates will also be featured on his TV-4 television show, “Dialogue on Public Issues,” which is shown on Monday and Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m., Mondays at 6:30 p.m. and Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The Lunsford interview will be aired on Comcast Cable 10 on Monday, April 2 at 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. and on Wednesday, April 4 at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.
“We at Campbellsville University and at Team Taylor County are honored to be able to host these gubernatorial forums,” said Chowning. “Our goal is to allow the public to listen to the major candidates, hear their goals and platforms, and then make educated judgments on who to vote for in May. We also deeply appreciate the financial support of our local banks who are helping underwrite the costs of the series of candidate forums.”
“We invite everyone to come hear these candidates and to watch the show on our TV-4,” said Chowning.
For more information on the events, contact Chowning at (270) 789-5520 or at jechowning@campbellsville.edu.
Lunsford, a Democrat, grew up on a Kenton County farm. Lunsford graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1969 with a political science degree and a minor in accounting. While at UK, he worked as an intramural adviser on campus and joined the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.
Lunsford became a certified public accountant in 1970. That fall, he started taking evening classes at the Salmon P. Chase College of Law, and graduated in the top ten percent of his class in 1974.
Lunsford entered the National Guard, and became a member of the U.S. Army Reserves at Fort Thomas (Ky.), where he stayed for five and a half years.
He joined the firm of Keating, Muething and Klekamp and became interested in 1979 in the campaign of John Y. Brown Jr. He became the campaign’s Northern Kentucky representative, and when Brown won the primary, Lunsford became treasurer of the Kentucky Democratic Party. When Brown won the fall election, he tapped Lunsford first as deputy development secretary, then as his legislative liaison.
In 1980 Lunsford was named head of Kentucky’s first Commerce Cabinet.
After leaving state government, he joined the Greenebaum, Doll & McDonald law firm in Lexington.
A former member of the Churchill Downs Inc. Board of Directors, Lunsford has graced the winner’s circle many times as a thoroughbred owner and breeder. He has raced several stakes winners.
Lunsford has invested in several regional theme parks, including Louisville’s Kentucky Kingdom, which was sold to Six Flags Inc. in 1997. In addition, he was an original investor in Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky.
Lunsford has ventured into the motion picture industry and two films co-produced by Hart-Lunsford Pictures – “Grace is Gone” and “Dedication” — were accepted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007 and are likely to be distributed in theaters this year.
He has served on the Boards of Trustees at the University of Kentucky, Bellarmine University, Centre College and the Salmon P. Chase College of Law. He’s also served on the boards of the Greater Louisville Fund for the Arts and the Kentucky Economic Development Corporation.
Lunsford was inducted into the Kentuckiana Business Hall of Fame in 1994.
Lunsford has three daughters, Amy, Cindy and Brandy, and three grandchildren, Isabella, Liam and Noah.
Campbellsville University, now celebrating her Centennial year, is a private, comprehensive institution located in South Central Kentucky. Founded in 1906, Campbellsville University is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and has an enrollment of 2,310 students who represent 100 Kentucky counties, 32 states and 28 foreign nations. Listed in U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” 14 consecutive years as one of the leading Southern master’s colleges and universities, Campbellsville University is located 82 miles southwest of Lexington, Ky., and 80 miles southeast of Louisville, Ky. Dr. Michael V. Carter is in his eighth year as president.