Campus + Community

After leaving UF prematurely in the late 1970s, Gil Ziffer returned to the university four decades later to earn his UF degree while in retirement. After starting in 2021, Ziffer graduated in Fall 2023 at almost 67, fulfilling the dream he began in 1975.

All nine University of Florida students who applied for the 2024 Boren Awards were successful, with six awardees and three alternates. Their achievement earned UF recognition as a Top-Performing Institution for Boren Scholars this year, ranking 5th.

The University of Florida’s Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education is proud to welcome 21 new faculty members for the coming academic year.

The education partnership agreement will support workforce development initiatives and efforts to cultivate undergraduate students with backgrounds and interest in AI and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

University of Florida researchers are virtually replicating Jacksonville to build solutions to tomorrow's problems.

The University of Florida Research Foundation has named 34 of the university’s most productive and promising faculty members as UFRF Professors for 2024.

Inspired by their children, Sonal and Sanjeev Tuli are enhancing their business and leadership skills with MBAs from the UF Warrington College of Business.

UF graduated the first group of teacher apprentices in the state of Florida. UF had nine apprentices completing a pilot program, with six students graduating Spring 2024 and the remainder finishing over the summer.

Carlton Ward Jr. is a UF alumnus, conservation photographer, National Geographic Explorer, and the face of the Florida Wildlife Corridor land conservation project.

David Richardson, dean of the University of Florida’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is stepping down after a decade at the helm of UF’s largest college, effective June 30. 

UF’s Student Success and the Office of Prestigious Awards congratulate Yu Tin Lin on becoming the university’s first Gator to receive the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship. He will join the 2024 Cohort, the seventh class in the award’s history, and use it to fund a PhD in Chemistry from Stanford University. 

Science and health educators from more than 20 counties across the state recently gathered at the University of Florida to meet College of Medicine experts and experience lab demonstrations, participate in hand-on activities and learn about the latest research advances, gaining knowledge and skills to bring back to their students and classrooms.

Dr. Gilbert Upchurch is a vascular surgeon, the chair of UF’s department of surgery and a member of the National Academy of Medicine. He specializes in treating aortic aneurysms and leads pioneering science on their causes and treatment. UF’s surgery department performed some of the first COVID-19-related lung transplants in the nation under his leadership as chair.

The University of Florida’s Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education received its largest donation to-date, a $1 million pledge expected to have an outsized impact on the new center devoted to research and teaching on Western Civilization and the principles of a free society.

From world-renowned speakers to identical twins, the 2024 spring commencement season is in full swing beginning May 1. 

Student Success and The Office of Prestigious Awards congratulate Sofia Aviles and Natalie Triana on receiving the Udall Scholarship. They are the first University of Florida students to earn this award since 2011, both doing so in the more competitive Environment category.

UF Online, the University of Florida’s top-ranked online bachelor’s degree program, announced an education partnership with Nicklaus Children’s Health System, as part of a commitment to empower Florida healthcare workers in achieving their education goals today.

The taskforce will examine a broad set of issues centering primarily, but not exclusively, on future enrollment in UF's undergraduate programs. 

With artificial intelligence and other technological innovations poised to create major workforce disruptions, today’s college students are likely to change jobs many times over the course of their careers, experts project.

UF implemented a co-responder program into its campus police department to better assist those suffering from a mental health crisis or experiencing mental distress. UF is the first higher education institution in the country to implement this crisis intervention model. 

Samuel Proctor Oral History Program begins work highlighting civil rights struggle during slavery era with support from National Parks Service

UF, UF Health and community organizations launch high school transition program for neurodivergent students

UF engineering alumna Erin Jackson, a U.S. Olympic gold medalist speedskater, served as the Spring 2023 university-wide commencement speaker in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

More than 10,500 students are graduating from the University of Florida this spring. Among these graduates are two Machen Florida Opportunity Scholarship recipients who have big plans following graduation. 

To the Bertulfo family, which spans two generations and soon-to-be three Gator grads, the UF College of Nursing is a second home. Jillian Bertulfo will be graduating with a Bachelor of Nursing Spring 2023, 30 years after her parents did. 

The National Science Foundation announced today that it has selected a team of scientists from the University of Florida and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to lead a $20 million institute to advance artificial intelligence to promote STEM education.

Speech by Leslie A. Parker to graduating doctoral students at the UF Doctoral Commencement Ceremony in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Thursday, May 4.

The University of Florida hosted a panel on ethics in artificial intelligence on Tuesday, May 2, with faculty members exploring the important role of ethics as scientists race toward increasingly sophisticated AI technologies.

U.S. News & World Report has once again named Florida the top state in the country for higher education. Florida’s higher education system has held the top ranking since the inception of the rankings in 2017. This achievement can be credited to the collective commitment of our elected leaders, the Board of Governors, and the state universities to student success and affordability.

This week, Brianna Alderman will graduate with honors from the University of Florida with a triple major bachelor’s degree in economics, statistics and mathematics. She knows her experience at UF will help guide her as she pursues her Ph.D. in economics at Harvard University in the fall.

Loïc Adjevi-Neglokpe never would have imagined a Google search on the mechanisms of voice was going to change his career trajectory and propel him into the profession of speech-language pathology.

A University of Florida ophthalmology professor emeritus who has led a decades-long effort to reverse genetic forms of vision loss and an engineering alumna who is a pioneer in the semiconductor polishing industry are among 10 new members of the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame announced today.

As UF advances a sweeping effort to modernize its campus and enhance pedestrian safety, two “gateway projects” are nearing completion that will make the campus entrances more pedestrian friendly and ultimately create approximately 86 acres of walkable, bicycle-friendly space.

Gainesville High School physics students recently conducted an egg-drop science experiment off of the third tallest building in town, Beaty Towers East. Students were tasked with making a vessel that would keep an egg intact when launched from the 13-story building.

UF will hold a candlelight vigil today to mourn the lives lost in the mass shooting that tragically unfolded in Buffalo, New York. The vigil will begin at 5:30 p.m. at Century Tower. All are welcome to attend.

Derris Lee won the 45th Annual DownBeat Student Music Award for Outstanding Performances in the Best Jazz Soloist category at the undergraduate college level. 

UF jumped eight spots from last year to land among Money magazine’s 2022 top 10 best colleges for students to get the best bang for their academic buck.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will speak and engage in a Q&A about how America’s leading research universities, including the University of Florida, and Ukrainian officials and educators can work together to help rebuild and transform his country’s decimated higher education sector.

UF ranks first among public universities and second nationwide in a new study that evaluates which U.S. universities are best at moving new discoveries from the lab and into the real world through research commercialization and STEM graduates.

A new collaboration between the College of Veterinary Medicine and Alachua County will have students gaining hands-on learning in the field of shelter medicine.

Robert D. Holt of the Department of Biology has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, joining the ranks of leading scientists recognized for their distinguished achievements in research.

Dani McVety-Leinen won the 2022 Bustad Companion Animal Veterinarian of the Year Award, one of veterinary medicine's highest honors. She graduated in 2009 from the College of Veterinary Medicine.

As the new chief financial officer for UF Scripps, James Lapple will provide strategic direction, guidance and oversight for the institute’s important mission of advancing scientific discovery and education for the betterment of human health.

Charles Roberson is the oldest graduate of the University of Florida’s Spring 2022 class. He received a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship from the Warrington College of Business at 79 years old.

Evelyn Moore Mickle, the first African American nursing student to graduate from UF, was honored as the 2022 College of Nursing Alumnus of the Year at the college’s recent pinning ceremony.

The University of Florida announced it has chosen Chartwells Higher Education as the official food provider for campus dining, effective July 1.

This year marks the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, when a prosperous Black community saw hundreds of lives taken and their neighborhood destroyed by a white mob. UF forensic anthropologist Phoebe Stubblefield is working to uncover the truth of the tragic event, whose history has been suppressed over the decades.

Hurricane season officially starts June 1, but it’s never too early to prepare. Over the next six months, we must stay alert to news reports and be ready to face a tropical storm or hurricane in the state of Florida.

Mary G. Parker, vice president of enrollment management at Kent State University, has been named the University of Florida's new vice president for enrollment management and associate provost.

State Representative. Florida’s Speaker of the House. World War II and Korean War Veteran. Commissioner of Education. Professor of Business. Namesake of UF’s largest classroom building and the State Department of Education headquarters. Ralph Turlington (BSBA ’42) donned many titles during his lifetime that spanned 100 years and ended at his home in Durham, NC.

Michael Bowie, Ph.D., has been named assistant dean of diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. His appointment was effective May 1, 2021.

President Kent Fuchs draws on the life of alumnus Stephan Mickle and the words of Tom Petty in his commencement speech for 2021 and 2020 master’s and bachelor’s graduates.

UF President Kent Fuchs’ speech for 2021 and 2020 doctoral graduates

The University of Florida, the city of Gainesville and the Florida Department of Transportation continue to create a safer pedestrian and traffic environment on and around campus. Projects continue to be completed and will continue through the summer and into the fall.

When Jaylen Reinhart's graduation ceremony transitioned online last fall due to the pandemic, he participated, celebrated with his family, and refocused his excitement on his younger brother Tyler's upcoming graduation in the spring. With a hopeful ask and some paperwork, the brothers were able to walk together in the same ceremony this spring.  

The University of Florida today announced plans to move toward a more proactive, preventive stance to address sexual assault and harassment as part of its ongoing efforts to improve the culture surrounding those issues.

Angel Bu is a Spring 2021 graduate from the J. Clayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering. He came to UF from Miami, and after graduation will pursue a master's degree at MIT in mechanical engineering.

New York Times Bestselling Author, UF Alum and 2019 IA Keynote Speaker, Josh Linkner, has launched his new book titled Big Little Breakthroughs: How Small, Everyday Innovations Drive Oversized Results. University of Florida’s Innovation Academy is proud to celebrate this achievement, and is honored to be featured in the book.

UF Innovate welcomes Karl R. LaPan as the incoming director of incubation services. He will join the team May 3 and work alongside current Director Mark S. Long, who will retire this summer. 

When Dean Chimay Anumba arrived in 2016, he touted his vision for the College of Design, Construction and Planning as OneDCP, meaning all disciplines would come together as one. 

The University of Florida Research Foundation has named 33 faculty members as UFRF Professors for 2020. The recognition goes to faculty who have a distinguished current record of research and a strong research agenda that is likely to lead to continuing distinction in their fields.