Another example is the international competition, Solar Decathlon Europe. A group of DCP faculty and 75 students is leading a multi-college team to design and build a full-scale house powered entirely by solar energy. The house, constructed and tested in Gainesville, will be deconstructed and shipped to Madrid, Spain, for the final construction and exhibition next May. This serves as an excellent hands-on learning experience for the students involved.

Staying at the global level, an interdisciplinary DCP faculty team will offer a master’s program in sustainable design in Singapore. The program will integrate distance education and on-site instruction. Along with the Bachelor of Science in Sustainability and the Built Environment launched last fall, DCP is supporting UF’s well-deserved reputation as a national leader in advancing sustainability.

Christopher Silver
Dean, College of Design, Construction and Planning

Nothing could be more important when many students, faculty and staff will have been in some way affected by this year’s flu virus. Various departments within the university, along with the Alachua County Health Department, are working together to ensure campus safety in response to this year’s H1N1 influenza illness.

The Student Health Care Center will assist in vaccination efforts for seasonal and H1N1 influenza shots. We are expecting the H1N1 vaccine on campus this semester, and a plan is in place to initially vaccinate those considered high risk or who have direct patient-contact. As more doses become available, high volume vaccination initiatives will likely occur.

A Web site, www.ehs.ufl.edu/H1N1/, will serve as the primary communication tool for university efforts this flu season — including frequently asked questions and self-care guidelines. If you have questions or want to discuss your symptoms, contact your health care provider.

The fall is always a busy and exciting time as we face new challenges, but if we work together we can meet these challenges head-on and charge forward to a successful and healthy spring!

Take care,
Phillip L. Barkley, M.D.
Director, UF Student Health Care Center
Clinical Associate Professor, Community Health & Family Medicine

They represent new beginnings, and strong, long-lasting foundations — especially relevant as we establish new homes for important components of UF and Shands HealthCare. Soon we will open three major buildings: the Shands Cancer Hospital at UF, the Biomedical Sciences Building and the Emerging Pathogens Institute. More than just bricks and mortar, the facilities represent our commitment to offering the best medical treatments, to improving scientific and scholarly research collaboration and to ensuring excellence in education across the health sciences.

They open their doors at a time when we are implementing our vision of an integrated academic health center, bringing together the Health Science Center and Shands such that the whole is greater than its parts. In doing so, we’ll better position ourselves to define our niche in the marketplace, maintain our national leadership status in the realms of research and education and continue to excel in delivering topnotch patient care. This strategic synergy will propel us forward.

I’m excited about what we will accomplish. The building blocks are in place. Let’s move ahead together.

David S. Guzick, M.D., Ph.D.
UF Senior Vice President for Health Affairs
President, UF&Shands Health System

The most successful engineers immerse themselves in the lives of the people around them, finding ways to make life better for everyone. They spend their careers in the service of others, solving practical problems and meeting tangible needs. Their passion for people motivates them to do the unexpected, attempt the risky and attain the impossible.
The best engineers — the ones truly destined to make a difference — reflexively reach beyond cultural, temporal and disciplinary boundaries. They understand that isolationism is a death sentence to creativity, but embracing differences cultivates innovation.

At the University of Florida College of Engineering, this is the kind of culture we encourage, and our students are heavily recruited as a result. It also allows us to create new interdisciplinary programs attacking problems from a variety of perspectives. Because of our people and our broad array of research initiatives, our college has the opportunity to be a leader in this new approach to addressing issues in energy, health care, sustainable infrastructure and the environment, information technology, nanotechnology, and a myriad of other questions facing society.

It’s an exciting time to be a new dean of engineering — especially Gator Engineering.

Cammy Abernathy
Dean, College of Engineering

Dear faculty and staff,

With new classes, faces and routines, the start of the school year often brings a fresh perspective. After spending some time reflecting this summer, I would like to share my own.

This university’s financial troubles have dominated the atmosphere on campus for a long time. It has not been easy, and we still have some $16 million in expenses to cut this year.

That said, the economic climate and funding pressures on the university are moderating. To my eyes, what’s emerging in this respite is this: a university that made real progress in difficult times, and one that now seems well equipped to leap ahead.

Faculty, research, students, fundraising, campus facilities – as I noted in my State of the University speech last week, wherever I look, I see gains.

Ten faculty members are National Science Foundation Early Career award winners, while two are Presidential Early Career winners. Research funding is up by more than 2 percent, to $574 million. With an average GPA of 4.24, our incoming students are the brightest ever. Our fundraising has held steady, and our endowment climbs. We will open three major buildings this fall and have launched several more. (Download President Machen’s presentation at http://www.president.ufl.edu/StateoftheUniversitySpeech2009.pdf and http://www.president.ufl.edu/StateoftheUniversity2009.pdf.)

What’s more, many of these achievements seem to pave the way for future gains. We received a $26 million grant from the National Institutes of Health this summer that will keep our medical research enterprise among the nation’s top competitors for funding and faculty. The Innovation Hub, our second biotech incubator funded with a new $8.2 million federal grant, will grow the commercialization of UF inventions. Those 12 NSF and Presidential Career award winners? All will receive substantial grants to grow and expand their research.

I believe we are well-positioned to make the most of these achievements.

Unlike some other Florida universities, we elected to keep our budget in line with our state funding and to set stimulus money aside. As a result, we will spend $10 million to hire dozens of new faculty – faculty initially paid by stimulus funds, and later by the statewide tuition differential. We plan to place these new faculty in high-demand areas across the university.

Earlier this summer, a group of University of Florida astronomers joined the inauguration of the world’s largest optical telescope in the Canary Islands. It seems to me, our participation in a project of this scale and reach embodies the University of Florida today: We are reaching up, in some cases all the way to the stars. And we are reaching out, seeking opportunities, pursuing relationships and exerting an influence beyond our walls – even across oceans.

As we begin the year, I hope you share my sense of renewed appreciation and optimism for this university. We have some momentum. Let’s make the most of it!

Sincerely,

Bernie Machen

Within the past couple of months we announced a $26 million grant from the National Institutes of Health and a new $13 million initiative to open a second biotechnology incubator. We broke ground on a major new office building on our Eastside Campus. And our astronomers helped inaugurate the world’s largest telescope, located in the Canary Islands.

Workers will complete the Biomedical Sciences Building, the Pathogens Research Facility and the Shands Cancer Hospital at UF within the next few months. Our latest incoming class is the most accomplished ever, with students arriving with an average GPA of 4.24 and 29.6 on the ACT. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation not long ago awarded UF nearly $1 million for a new master’s program, one of several recent indicators we remain highly regarded nationally.

There is no denying the difficulties we have faced as a result of three years of budget cuts. But UF scholars, scientists, staff and students have continued to excel, even amid what was probably the university’s most difficult era in decades. Some economic indicators suggest the economy is stabilizing. If UF can achieve such notable gains in tough times, we will surely make even longer strides in better ones.

Have a terrific fall, and Go Gators!

J. Bernard Machen, President

I am pleased to have the opportunity to share significant news about the University of Florida’s expanding role in nurturing the local and statewide economies.

Last Friday we announced that we won a federal grant to build our second technology incubator in Alachua County (See story below). This comes on the heels of news that UF has become Florida’s only university to win a $26 million National Institutes of Health Clinical and Translational Science Award aimed at speeding the transformation of research and ideas into new treatments and cures. Both developments will help us expand and broaden our longstanding technology commercialization efforts — efforts that have already led to the creation of at least 100 spinoffs employing well over 1,000 Floridians, many in highly skilled, highly paid positions. Recently UF also broke ground for a new building to be constructed at UF’s Eastside Campus, 2124 N.E. Waldo Rd. The building will expand the university presence in East Gainesville, while also assisting with economic revitalization efforts in that area.

I am proud of the University of Florida’s track record of supporting the diversification of the local and state economies, and the latest developments suggest our role will only expand in coming years. Thank you, and enjoy the rest of your summer!

Sincerely,

J. Bernard Machen

This partnership offers unparalleled research and educational opportunities for our faculty and students in an international setting that complements the international mission of our university.

Through our GTC partnership, nine students from Spain have joined our astronomy program, and two have completed their doctoral degrees. We have also given two postdoctoral fellowships to talented young scientists from Spain. These young professionals will strengthen our partnership into a long term friendship rich in collaborations and stimulating interactions.

A telescope has two equally important parts. The large mirror gathers the light. We congratulate the director of the GTC, Pedro Alvarez, and his team of engineers and scientists for the amazing engineering feat that is this mirror. But the dance of photons across the heavens must be analyzed by sophisticated instruments that interpret the dance. They produce the spectra that become the science.

The design and construction of these astronomical instruments will be a strength of the GTC, and Florida is proud to participate in their creation with our colleagues In Spain and Mexico. We have already built an infrared camera and spectrograph called Canaricam that is one of two major instruments initially employed ont he telescope. We anticipate the completion of other instrumentation projects currently underway.

We stand here today in celebration of the GTC, one fo the world’s finest scientific facilities. But to keep it on the cutting edge of science, we must create the next generation of instruments. The design and construction of astronomical instrumentation is one of Florida’s hallmarks, and we pledge our expertise in collaboration with our colleagues from Spain and Mexico to ensure that the scientific life of the GTC is long and fruitful. We are proud to be members of the GTC’s leading international teams in scientific discovery. We look forward to a long, productive and starlit future.”

UF Provost Joe Glover
Inauguration of the Gran Telescopio
Canarias in La Palma, Canary Islands
June 24, 2009

This is especially relevant now, as we are experiencing a sharp downturn in the world’s economy and, closer to home, steep cuts to our state budget. No public university today can rely on public appropriations alone to produce excellence and multiply its value to society.

The good news is that UF has raised $870 million in private gifts and pledges since the beginning of the campaign in 2005.

Without the hard work and dedication of its faculty and staff, UF could not have achieved its current level of excellence. Faculty and staff participation in the campaign also helps to influence the gift decisions of corporations, foundations, alumni and friends. And finally, faculty and staff participation helps to motivate volunteers and potential donors in all areas of the campaign.

Gifts received during the “Orange, Blue and You!” faculty and staff annual campaign are counted as commitments in the “Florida Tomorrow” campaign. I encourage you to make your contribution to UF now. Your gift will directly benefit the students, faculty, staff and academic programs that you elect to support.

If you have already given, thank you. You are truly the foundation for The Gator Nation.

Carter Boydstun
Senior Associate VP for Development
Director, “Florida Tomorrow”

In the past, the center has co-hosted a series of international colloquia, “Transforming Encounters,” which have featured such scholars and public figures as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Genevieve Patte, Phillipe Cousteau, Richard Louv and Geoffrey Canada. The Center has helped sponsor a range of other public programs — from an exhibition of the childhood photographs of Jacques Henri Lartigue (in conjunction with the Harn Museum of Art) to the development of a comic book for use with migrant teens in North Florida.

The center also has produced “Recess!” — a nationally distributed, daily public radio program (http://www.recess.ufl.edu) about the dynamic cultures of childhood. The show has been called “a ‘New Yorker’ of kid’s stuff” because of its mix of biographical and historical notes, original stories, and reviews of the latest books, music, movies and other media being produced for children.

Currently, the center is developing a series of short, online documentaries about children’s culture, using UF’s remarkable Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature, http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/baldwin/baldwin.html, as one of its primary resources. The center hosts a monthly speakers’ series on children’s literature and culture. These “conversations” are free and open to the general public.

For more information about the center and any of its activities, please visit http://www.clas.ufl.edu/cclc, call 352-392-6650, ext. 290, or contact me at jcech@english.ufl.edu.

John Cech
Director, UF Center for the Study of Children’s Literature & Culture;
producer/host of “Recess!”

Alumni serve as ambassadors for the university by sharing the good news about their alma mater.

Alumni help the university by being effective advocates through such programs as Gators for Higher Education, http://gatorsforhighered.ufl.edu, a grass roots advocacy program.

Alumni provide valuable career advice to fellow alumni and students through the nearly 100 Gator Clubs around the globe, along with the Gator Nation Network, which is accessible through the UF Alumni Association’s Web site, http://www.ufalumni.ufl.edu.

Alumni, through their respective Gator Clubs and special-interest organizations, provide more than 200 scholarships a year. Alumni also provide much-needed financial support for UF through the Florida Tomorrow Campaign, http://www.FloridaTomorrow.ufl.edu.

Alumni serve as the torchbearers of the institutional spirit. The Alumni Association, through the work of the Florida Cicerones and the Student Alumni Association (the largest such organization in the nation), produce the “F Book” as a way to celebrate UF’s proud history.

Alumni express their loyalty to their alma mater by joining the UF Alumni Association. UF’s Alumni Association has more than 55,000 dues-paying members, the largest in the SEC.

The University of Florida Alumni Association is proud to support these efforts. We encourage the upcoming Class of 2009 to stay connected to its alma mater. You are a student for a few years, but an alumnus for life.

The Gator Nation is everywhere. We look forward to working with you in advancing the university and enriching the lives of our students, friends and alumni.

Go Gators!

Leland D. Patouillet
Associate Vice President, Alumni Affairs
Executive Director, UF Alumni Association

The institute offers extensive English-language programs, taught by UF faculty, which prepare students to speak English in academic and real-life settings. Students come from approximately 30 countries.

The institute’s extensive Cultural Immersion Program enriches students’ English-learning process by hosting ELI social activities throughout the Gainesville area. Students may participate in weekend trips, weekday activities and volunteer activities. Upcoming weekend activities include an annual trip to the Gainesville Spring Arts Festival on Saturday, March 28. Weekday activities include soccer, basketball and game nights.

On Saturday, April 4, ELI will partner with the Girl Scout Council of North Florida to host “Around the World in 240 Minutes,” an event held to teach girls in grades 6 through 8 about ELI female students’ home countries.

The public is welcome to attend ELI events. All attendees must sign-up for trips on the activities board outside ELI’s main office, 315 Norman Hall, by 4 p.m. on the Thursday before the scheduled trip. Attendees also may sign-up on the ELI Web site, http://www.eli.ufl.edu.

The student section of ELI’s Web site offers opportunities for students to network with their peers, professors, language assistants and the institute’s alumni.

ELI is the only English-language program that hires two language assistants to aid listening/speaking course teachers. Assistants are undergraduate English-speakers who help students practice informal, conversational English and teach about American culture for four hours per week.

UF undergraduates interested in working as language assistants may contact Noreen Baker, ELI’s listening/speaking coordinator, at noreenb@ufl.edu.

Megan Forbes
Director, English Language Institute

One of the larger annual events includes a Field Day in April when elementary students have the opportunity to come to campus to play games with the athletes.

Another large event is “Climb for Cancer,” which occurs each October. Children and adolescents who either suffer from or have survived cancer come with their families to campus and literally play sports with our student athletes for “Climb for Cancer.” This past October, we had more than 100 athletes interacting with approximately 75 young people for a few hours in the morning, and the event was capped off with a pizza lunch.

Just before the December holiday break each year, student athletes and coaches participate in the “Gator Tracks” program. We gather monetary and/or shoe donations to provide a new pair of athletic shoes to needy elementary school children. This past fall, we brightened the holidays for 550 kids.

Our weekly events range from playing games and chatting with seriously ill patients in the Shands pediatric unit to visiting local elementary schools to read or play sports with the children.

UAA and the individual student athletes are proud to interact with and help brighten the lives of many children in our community each year.

Rew Woodruff
Life Skills Coordinator/Career
Counselor for UAA student athletes

“Commemorating 50 years of Integration: Celebrating the Firsts,” began last February. As part of the recognition, the history of UF integration has been examined while also focusing on the future of UF’s commitment to diversity. A keystone gala and performance, scheduled for Feb. 7 at Emerson Alumni Hall, will be the event culmination.

The “Celebrating the Firsts” gala honors the first African-American graduates from each college at UF who broke through racial barriers to make the university a more humane institution. Fifteen honorees will be recognized. UF Board of Trustee Courtney Cunningham will serve as host and emcee.

The weekend features Denyce Graves on Feb. 6 at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. On Feb. 7, UF’s Elizabeth Graham will be accompanied by Kevin Sharpe and Anthonio Canty, and on Feb. 8, the African Children’s Choir will perform at the Phillips Center.

Reservations for the gala will be accepted through today at http://www.urel.ufl.edu/50/ or by contacting Tamara Johnson, UF Conference Office, at 392-1701 ext. 239.

For additional information, contact me at 352-392-4567 or bridgefl@ufl.edu.

Florida Bridgewater-Alford
Director of Community Relations

• Area Studies — CLAS is home to area studies programs focused on Europe Africa Studies, Asia Studies, and is a major contributor to UF’s Center for Latin American Studies. We are working to develop a program in Global Islamic Studies as well.
• Innovation in teaching — Faculty in language departments, the Linguistics Program, and the English Language Institute are developing new techniques for teaching languages. For example, Franz Futterknecht leads an innovative program, with funding from the U.S. Department of Defense, to improve language teaching and cultural awareness using the virtual reality site Second Life.
• Global service — UF faculty are making a difference around the world, while connecting Florida to it. The Center for African Studies recently held a conference for the business community in Tampa entitled “Doing Business with Africa: Practice, Issues and Potential.”
• International collaborative research — Faculty and students in virtually every CLAS department and program are engaged in international research collaboration. For example, Physics has a large group of faculty and students at the new Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, and designed one of the key particle detectors.
• Undergraduate research — Through Research Experience for Undergraduates grants, CLAS students conduct research with faculty on a wide range of global topics, and travel the world doing so.

In a globalizing world, this increased international emphasis will enhance our ability to meet our local, state and national missions more successfully.

Paul D’Anieri
CLAS Dean