University of Florida News

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Stars are standard fare in astronomy departments, but this one is sure to win special attention.
Brian May, lead guitarist for the rock group Queen, is flying from London to Gainesville to help UF’s astronomers pay tribute to a renowned Spanish astronomer who will receive an honorary doctorate during Saturday’s commencement events.
May worked [...]

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida Department of Housing & Residence Education Recycling & Sustainability Committee is sponsoring the 2008 Spring Check-Out Recycling Project. The theme this year is “Be a Recycling Hero!”
Donations of nonperishable food, clothes, small appliances, new and used school supplies, and electronics are being collected through Saturday in residence hall [...]

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The American Institute of Certified Planners inducted Christopher Silver, dean of the University of Florida’s College of Design, Construction and Planning, and Claude E. “Gene” Boles Jr., director of the department of urban and regional planning’s Center for Building Better Communities, into the elite membership of AICP’s College of Fellows at a [...]

John Kaplan, College of Journalism and Communications professor, has been named a Fulbright Scholar for 2009 by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FSB). During his spring semester 2009 sabbatical, he will be based at Hong Kong Baptist University. At HKBU, Kaplan will teach a class on international journalism, do research on diabetes awareness [...]

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Joe Joyce, IFAS’ executive associate vice president for agriculture and natural resources, has been named to the state’s environmental regulation commission.
His three-year term began April 11 and ends in July 2011. The commission meets about once a month and approves air, water and waste management standards.
The commission’s seven members are appointed by [...]

The Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain, has honored UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher P.K. Nair with a doctor honoris causa degree for his contributions to the development of global agroforestry.
Nair received the award at a colorful ceremony at the 500-year-old institution’s “Salon Noble del Colegio de Fonseca” on April 1. [...]

GAINESVILLE, Fla. —The Florida Heritage Foundation and the Tallahassee Trust for Historic Preservation have announced that the University of Florida’s Ustler Hall has been recognized by the jury of the 2008 Tallahassee/Leon County Historic Preservation Awards with an outstanding achievement award, the Preservation Project of Regional Impact.
The award will be presented at the 2008 Tallahassee/Leon [...]

More than 350 employees gathered at the Reitz Student Union’s Grand Ballroom on April 22 for the 2008 Superior Accomplishment Awards ceremony. The annual program recognizes staff and faculty members who contribute outstanding and meritorious service, efficiency and/or economy to the quality of life for students and employees. Recognition by one’s peers is the highest [...]

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A handful of engineering students will soon have the chance to get a fresh and different perspective on their research — not from a new textbook or different experiment but from working in another country.
Two materials science and engineering faculty members have won a competitive National Science Foundation award to pay for [...]

The first full-scale test of the University of Florida’s emergency notification system concluded at noon today and proved successful, both in terms of what went well and what officials learned needs improvement.
The test, which began at 9 a.m., involved text messaging, e-mail, automated telephone messages to campus buildings and postings on UF’s home page. The [...]