Leadership Kentucky, one of the first and most prestigious statewide leadership development programs in the United States, will host its 23rd Annual Alumni Luncheon in Louisville at the Kentucky Derby Museum’s Oaks Garden Terrace on March 25, 2025, where the Flame of Excellence Award will be presented to Steven E. Trager, Executive Chair of Republic Bank and Republic Bancorp. 

The Flame of Excellence Award honors an outstanding Kentuckian who bravely lights the way for others. Leadership Kentucky alumni, board members, and guests are invited for networking at 11:00 a.m., followed by lunch and the Flame of Excellence Award presentation. Tickets are $80 per person and may be purchased on the Leadership Kentucky website, www.leadershipky.org.    

“Leadership Kentucky is proud to honor Steven Trager with the Flame of Excellence Award for his significant work toward improving our state,” said Janice Way, President and CEO of Leadership Kentucky. “Impactful leadership comes from those who make conscious efforts to support their communities and Steve certainly exemplifies that through his work, not only with Republic Bank and the Trager Family Foundation, but also with organizations across the Commonwealth.” 

Steve Trager, a Louisville native, received his B.A. in finance, and went on to receive his J.D. from the University of Louisville School of Law. Mr. Trager has been with Republic Bank since 1987 and now serves as Executive Chair where he remains actively involved in the operation and management of Republic’s 47 banking centers throughout five states: Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee with assets of more than $6 billion. 

Mr. Trager is past chair of the Kentucky Bankers Association, the University of Louisville Board of Overseers, the 2016 Fund for the Arts Campaign and Leadership Kentucky; and a former board member of Bellarmine University Board of Trustees, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ Louisville Branch, and the Louisville Regional Airport Authority. Mr. Trager currently serves on the boards of the University of Louisville President’s Council and Board of Advisors, and the Louisville Economic Development Alliance. 

As a highly involved member of local nonprofit organizations, he received the 2023 U of L Alumni of the Year Award and the 2023 David and Betty Jones, Sr. Legacy Award. He was named a 2022 Bellarmine University Knight of Knights Honoree, received the Lincoln Foundation’s 2018 Spirit of Excellence Award, and was recognized as the Louisvillian of the year in 2017. Mr. Trager was also the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Man of the Year in 2003, recipient of the 2003 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Southern Ohio and Kentucky region, inducted into the Atherton High School Alumni Association’s Hall of Fame Class of 2004, named a 2005 Distinguished Alumni for University of Louisville’s Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, Council Chair with the Boy Scouts of America for the 2009 Friends of Scouting Campaign, and induction into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame in 2015.   

Past Leadership Kentucky Flame of Excellence Recipients:

2002 – Dr. Thomas D. Clark, Kentucky Historian Emeritus

2003 – Edward T. “Ned” Breathitt, Former Governor

2004 – John R. Hall, Retired Chairman/CEO, Ashland Inc.

2005 – Martha Layne Collins, Former Governor; Chair/CEO Kentucky World Trade Center

2006 – Wendell H. Ford, U.S. Senate, retired, Wendell H. Ford Government Education Center

2007 – Albert P. Smith, Jr., Retired Host of “Comment on Kentucky”

2008 – David A. Jones, Founder & Former Board Chairman, Humana, Inc.

2009 – Eula Hall, Founder, Mud Creek Clinic

2010 – Owsley Brown Frazier, Founder & Chairman, Frazier International History Museum

2011 – Dr. T. Pearse Lyons, Founder & CEO, Alltech

2012 – William T. Samuels, Jr., Chairman Emeritus, Maker’s Mark Distillery, Inc.

2013 – Dr. Lee T. Todd, Jr., Past President, University of Kentucky

2014 – Bill Goodman, former Host, KET

2015 – John A. Williams, Sr., Computer Services, Inc.

2016 – Helen Carroll, Toyota, retired

2017 – William (Bill) Jones, U.S. Bank

2018 – David Adkisson, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, retired

2019 – Myra Ball, Ball Homes and Donamire Farm

2020 – Alice and Wade Houston, HJI Supply Chain Solutions

2021 – Porter G. Peeples, Sr., Urban League of Lexington-Fayette County

2022 – Former Governor Paul E. Patton and Judi Conway Patton

2023 – Wilson W. Wyatt, Sr., LKY Founder, Statesman, (Posthumous)