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58 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 10.14 Power THE 50 When we did our frst Louisville "power" survey 20 years ago, we set out to identify "the fve or six people who run this town." Then, as now, we used as our sounding board the graduates of Leadership Louisville programs, reasoning that their experience in leadership programs was more likely to expose them to the levers of power and infuence than was the case with the average citizen. This is the sixth time over that 20-year period that we've tried to answer that question and, though we can't claim to have defnitively settled the question — power, after all, does change with the times — we can give you a pretty good read on who's been at or near the top of the heap for the past two decades: Humana founder David Jones Sr. (who has never fnished any lower than third), Lt. Gov. (and former "Mayor for Life") Jerry Abramson, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, Frost Brown Todd attorney Ed Glasscock and St. Stephen pastor Kevin Cosby are the only members of this year's Power 50 list to have made every list since 1994. Not surprisingly, whoever is the current mayor has been number one each time except 1996 — when Jones edged out Abramson. Mayor Greg Fischer is in the top spot this go-round, as he was in 2011. If you narrow the time frame to the last 10 years, you fnd a few other names that make regular appearances near the top of the list, most notably U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, U of L president James Ramsey, Yum! Brands CEO David Novak, Papa John's CEO John Schnatter and businessman Jonathan Blue. And put a bullet next to U of L athletic director Tom Jurich, who frst appeared at number 26 on the 2011 list and shot up to number six this year. And so, without further ado, we present the 2014 Power 50, as well as the top 10 or 15 in six specifc categories. 1. Greg Fischer mayor of Louisville 2. James Ramsey president, University of Louisville 3. David Jones Sr. co-founder and chairman emeritus, Humana 4. Ed Glasscock chairman emeritus, Frost Brown Todd 5. John Yarmuth U.S. Representative 6. Tom Jurich athletic director, University of Louisville 7. Jonathan Blue chairman and managing director, Blue Equity 8. David Jones Jr. chairman, Chrysalis Ventures; Jefferson County Board of Education member 9. (tie) Kent Oyler president and CEO, Greater Louisville Inc. Kevin Cosby senior pastor, St. Stephen Church 11. David Novak retiring president, CEO and chairman, Yum! Brands 12. Christy Brown activist, philanthropist 13. Gill Holland developer (East Market Street, Portland) 14. Chuck Denny regional president, PNC Bank Kentucky/ Tennessee 15. Donna Hargens superintendent, Jefferson County Public Schools 16. Steve Wilson co-founder, chairman and CEO, 21c Museum Hotels 17. Junior Bridgeman president, Bridgeman Foods; former U of L basketball player 18. John Schnatter founder, chairman and CEO, Papa John's International 19. Paul Varga CEO and chairman, Brown-Forman 20. Jerry Abramson Kentucky lieutenant governor; former mayor of Louisville 21. Rick Pitino basketball coach, University of Louisville 22. Mitch McConnell U.S. Senator, Republican Minority Leader 23. Jim King Metro Council president, District 10 24. Stephen Williams president and CEO, Norton Healthcare 25. Dave Stone senior pastor, Southeast Christian Church 26. Craig Greenberg president, 21c Museum Hotels; Frost Brown Todd attorney 27. Laura Lee Brown co-owner, 21c Museum Hotels; philanthropist 28. Jay McGowan president, Bellarmine University 29. Jim Allen CEO, Hilliard Lyons 30. Joseph Kurtz archbishop of Louisville 31. Bill Samuels Jr. former president and CEO, Maker's Mark 32. (tie) Cathe Dykstra president and CEO, Family Scholar House Sandra Frazier CEO, Tandem Public Relations; philanthropist Bruce Broussard president and CEO, Humana 35. Steve Conrad Louisville Metro police chief 36. (tie) Steve Trager president and CEO, Republic Bank Barbara Sexton Smith former president and CEO, Fund for the Arts Paul Diaz CEO, Kindred Healthcare Bill Weyland managing director, City Properties Group 40. Vic Stafferi chairman, CEO and president, LG&E; 41. Jim Patterson entrepreneur, philanthropist 42. (tie) Ted Smith chief of Offce of Civic Innovation (Mayor's Offce) Mary Ellen Wiederwohl chief of Louisville Forward (Mayor's Offce) 44. (tie) Cynthia Knapek president, Leadership Louisville Center Sam Swope founder, Sam Swope Auto Group 46. Wes Jackson publisher, Courier-Journal 47. Dan Jones CEO, 21st Century Parks 48. Jim Welch vice chairman, Brown-Forman 49. Kerry Stemler president and owner, KM Stemler Co. (general contracting); bridges project 50. Ellen Hesen chief of staff, Mayor's Offce