UF Research Foundation names 2025 professors

The University of Florida Research Foundation has named 35 of the university’s most productive and promising faculty members as UFRF Professors for 2025.

“Since the professorships were created in 1997, over 900 faculty have been named UFRF Professors,” said David Norton, UF’s vice president for research. “These are our most innovative and productive faculty, with a proven record of research and scholarship and the potential for even more success in the future.”

The UFRF Professors were recommended by their college deans based on nominations from their department chairs, a personal statement and an evaluation of their recent research accomplishments as evidenced by publications in scholarly journals, external funding, honors and awards, development of intellectual property and other measures appropriate to their field of expertise.

The three-year award includes a $5,000 annual salary supplement and a one-time $3,000 grant. The professorships are funded from the university’s share of royalty and licensing income on UF-generated products.

UF Research will recognize the new UFRF Professors during an event in the fall.

This year’s UFRF Professors are listed below:

College of the Arts

Dori Griffin
Associate Professor of Graphic Design

Warrington College of Business

Christopher Janiszewski
Russell Berrie Eminent Scholar in Marketing

College of Dentistry

Yenisel Cruz-Almeida
Associate Professor of Community Dentistry & Behavioral Science

College of Design, Construction, and Planning

Jeffrey Carney
Associate Professor of Architecture

College of Education

Wanli Xing 
School of Teaching and Learning 
Associate Professor of Educational Technology

Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering

Prabhat Mishra
Professor of Computer and Information Science and Engineering

Kevin Butler
Professor of Computer and Information Science and Engineering 

Eric Du
Professor of Civil and Coastal Engineering

Yong Huang
Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Florida Museum of Natural History

Charles Cobb
Curator and James E. Lockwood Jr. Professor of Historical Archaeology

College of Health and Human Performance

Terence Ryan
Associate Professor of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology

Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences (IFAS)

Wonsuk "Daniel" Lee
Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Philipe Moriel
Associate Professor of Animal Sciences

Daniel Hahn
Professor of Entomology and Nematology

Michelle Danyluk
Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition

Jiangxiao Qiu
Associate Professor of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences

College of Journalism and Communications

Linjuan Rita Men
Professor of Public Relations

Levin College of Law

Amy Stein
Cone, Wagner, Nugent, Hazouri & Roth Professor of Law

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Adam Ginsburg
Associate Professor of Astronomy

Steven Bruner
Professor of Chemistry

Corene Matyas
Professor of Geography

Heather Vrana
Associate Professor of History

Michael Jury
Professor of Mathematics

Laura Blecha
Associate Professor of Physics

Timothy Vollmer
Professor of Psychology

College of Medicine

Linda Bloom
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Maurice Swanson
Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology

Habibeh Khoshbouei
Professor of Neuroscience

Marco Salemi
Holloway Professor of Experimental Pathology

College of Medicine - Jacksonville

Dominick Angiolillo
Distinguished Professor of Medicine

College of Nursing

Miriam Ezenwa
Professor of Biobehavioral Nursing Science

College of Pharmacy

Jay McLaughlin
Professor of Pharmacodynamics

College of Public Health and Health Professions

Andrew Judge
Professor of Physical Therapy

Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation Technology

Ben Shen
Professor of Chemistry 

College of Veterinary Medicine

Donald Bolser
Professor of Physiological Sciences