FLORIDA WINTER 2017
FLORIDA
GOING GREATER
GO GATORS. Join us as we GO GREATER. Go Greater forof The University the University Florida Launches its 15 15 of Florida next campaign.
TAKE A TOUR 24 | IN MINT CONDITION 32
Florida GATOR The Magazine of the University of Florida Alumni Association Volume 6 Issue 1 EDITOR Renee Houston Zemanski DESIGN JS Design Studio — Shannon Paulin (BSF 96) and Julie Esbjorn (BSJ 95) CONTRIBUTORS Scottie Andrews (3JM), Mike Boslet, Alisson Clark (BSJ 98, MAMC 16), James Cusick (PHD 93), Karen Dooley (MAMC 11), Dana Edwards * (BSJ 14, BA 14), David Finnerty, Mary Goodwin (BSJ 11), Stella Heekin* (BSPR 17), Joseph Kays, Jillian Kremer (BSJ 12, BALAS 12), Ellison Langford, Joey Mazzaferro (BSA 01), Abigail Miller (2JM), Steve Orlando (BA 86, MAMC 07), Matthew Walker (MAMC 11) VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT Thomas J. Mitchell* INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UF ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Matthew Hodge, Ph.D. (BSADV 94) UFAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT Karen H. Unger* (BALAS 92), Tallahassee PRESIDENT-ELECT Brian D. Burgoon* (BA 94, JD 97), Atlanta VICE PRESIDENT Katrina D. Rolle* (JD 91) IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Michael G. Browne* (BSBA 91, MBA 97), Kalamazoo, MI PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS Mark Criser* (BALAS 92, MA 94, JD 97), Tampa Lizette Dunay* (BA 92), Atlanta REGIONAL DIRECTORS Region 1: Amanda L. Robinson* (BSPR 01), Sebastian Region 2: Christopher L. Carmody* (BA 02, JD 05), Orlando Region 3: Jess Johnson* (BSBA 04, BSS 04, MS 06), Tampa Region 4: Derek Bruce* (BSTEL 94, JD 98, MBA 98), Orlando Region 5: Dr. Sunil Joshi* (BS 94, MD 98) Jacksonville Region 6: David Uslan* (BSAC 90, MACC 91) Pensacola Region 7: James E. Gadsby* (BSBA 91), Marietta, GA Region 8: Gretta Granado* (BSCHE 12), Houston Region 9: Jacqueline M. Davison* (BS 06), Alexandria, VA AT-LARGE DIRECTORS Ashton Adler* (BA 09, MS 11), Ft. Lauderdale; J. Carter Andersen* (BSBA 91, JD 98,), Tampa; Pam Bondi* (BALAS 87), Tallahassee; Jason T. Brodeur* (BSA 97, MBA 03), Sanford; Steve Bunch* (BSAC 98, MACC 99), Tampa; Betty Cortina-Weiss* (BSJ 92), Pompano Beach; Renee Dabbs* (BA 85), Tampa; Bobby DuBose* (BALAS 95), Fort Lauderdale; Juan C. Enjamio* (BSBA 82 ), Miami; Jessica Furst Johnson* (JD 07), Alexandria, VA; Kristine Lambert* (BA 91, JD 94), Portland, OR; Brad Levine* (BSA 90), Boca Raton; Kevin Mayeux* (BA 92, JD 96), Vienna, VA; Larry Medvinsky* (BSAC 90), Scarsdale, NY; Jocelyn Moore* (BA 98, Med 00), Washington D.C.; Barbara PresslyTilman* (BSR 00), Tampa; Ed Scales* (BSTEL 88, JD 91), Miami; Linnea Schramm* (BSLAS 80, BSN 84, MSNSG 87, JD 95), Chicago; Bettina Weiss* (BSAC 97, MACC 97), Hobe Sound; Scooter Willis* (BSEE 98, MBA 03, MSCE 05, PHD 10), Boca Raton; Carlina Womeldorph* (BSAC 94, MBC 96), Parker, TX; Danny Wuerffel* (BSPR 96), Decatur, GA; Tad Yates* (BALAS 91, JD 94), Orlando
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UF BOARD OF TRUSTEES REPRESENTATIVE Marsha D. Powers* (MBA 79), Ponte Vedra Beach STUDENT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT Jonathan D. Newman (4PHHP), Melbourne STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT W. Smith Myers (4LAS), Tampa FLORIDA GATOR Email: floridagator@ufalumni.ufl.edu Phone: 352-392-1905, P.O. Box 14425, Gainesville, FL 32604-2425 UF ALUMNI ASSOCIATION: ufalumni@uff.ufl.edu, 352-392-1905, P.O. Box 14425, Gainesville, FL 32604-2425 SUPPORTING UF: To make a gift to the University of Florida or any of its programs, contact the University of Florida Foundation at www.uff.ufl.edu/OnlineGiving or contact Joe Mandernach at jmandernach@uff.ufl.edu, 352-392-5406. *Indicates UF Alumni Association Life Member FLORIDA GATOR is published quarterly by the University of Florida Alumni Association, Inc. for its members. Address changes can be sent electronically to ufalumni@ufalumni.ufl.edu, faxed to 352-846-3636 or mailed to Alumni Records, UF Alumni Association, P.O. Box 14425, Gainesville, FL 32604-2425.
Standard postage paid in West Allis, Wis., and at additional mailing offices. Membership and advertising queries should be sent to the above address.
24
Winter 2017
features
15
Go Greater
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Take a Tour
In October, the University of Florida kicked off a $3 billion fundraising effort that will fundamentally impact the university and the people it serves. The Go Greater campaign will shape UF’s future. Learn how an alumnus, faculty member and student are going greater in their own ways.
Enjoy a campus tour of UF’s newest facility renovations at the Plaza of the Americas, Joseph Hernandez Hall and Newell Hall.
departments
6
2 Conversations with Kent Fuchs 3 Alumni Board News 4 Faculty Focus 5 University Avenue 30 Two Bits: Nutrition and Fitness
35 Give It Like A Gator 43 I’m A Gator
45 Class Connections 57 Lasting Legacies
58 Life Members 61 Then & Now
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ON THE COVER: The university embarks on its largest campaign in history. Go Greater!
Conversations with Kent Fuchs F E L LO W G ATO R S, THIS IS A TIME OF WONDERFUL PROMISE FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA.
ERIC ZAMORA
After many years of focused work and a keen sense of purpose, we have officially joined the ranks of the nation’s top 10 public universities — and we’re off and running on the most ambitious fundraising campaign in UF’s history, one that will propel our ascent even higher. As many of you are aware, U.S. News & World Report in September ranked UF ninth among public universities in its 2018 Best College rankings, a historic first. A month later, we publicly launched the Go Greater campaign to raise $3 billion for UF. We raised more than $1.3 billion during the campaign’s “silent phase,” and I’m confident we will reach and eclipse our $3 billion goal, making UF even more exceptional. But we need your help. First, UF alumni and friends have been increasingly generous,
particularly since 2013, when the university began its preeminence effort to achieve top 10 status. In that fiscal year, we received $271 million in gifts and commitments. Gifts and commitments for one year had grown to $449 million by 2017. I am grateful to everyone who has been a part of that spectacular and sustained surge in support for UF. Second, as gifts and commitments continue to rise, so, too, their positive impact. As the articles in this issue of the Florida GATOR make clear, the Go Greater campaign will grow our superb faculty, support our excellent students and advance our path-breaking research in ways that are simply not possible otherwise. This is especially important to college deans and department chairs as they gain the tools to realize their visions. Third, your participation is critical — not just for the success of the campaign but also for future U.S. News rankings. U.S. News bases its annual rankings on seven overarching educational quality factors, including the percentage of alumni who give to the university. On that factor, our numbers are in decline. From a peak of 16 percent, our average giving has recently dropped to 12 percent, according to the U.S. News rankings. Many other higher-ranked universities have higher average giving rates, including the University of Virginia, where 21 percent of alumni contributed; the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 18 percent; and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 16 percent. Simply put, the more alumni who give to UF (no matter the amount), the more we can influence our annual U.S. News ranking. Thank you to
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“HAVING REACHED TOP 10, I’M CONVINCED UF CAN ACHIEVE TOP FIVE.” everyone who is already giving back to their alma mater, and I hope you will encourage all the Gators in your circle to follow suit. UF is on a remarkable trajectory. Since 2012, we have advanced further and faster in the U.S. News rankings than any other leading public university. Our ambitious Go Greater campaign is now in full swing and with the unflagging support of Florida lawmakers, our total revenue — that’s tuition and state appropriations combined — is climbing, unlike the case for many of our peers. All of this will give our university faculty and leaders exceptional new tools to achieve their ambitions. Having reached top 10, I’m convinced UF can achieve top five. Thank you for being a part of our ascent. It is great to be a Florida Gator. Kent Fuchs* President University of Florida
UFAA Board News D E A R F E L LO W A LU M N I A N D F R I E N D S O F T H E G ATO R N AT I O N ,
C VAN AD EMENT STAF F
launched its most ambitious capital campaign this fall, with a goal of raising more than $3 billion. The Go Greater campaign belongs to all of us: alumni, friends and the global Gator community. As alumni and friends of UF, we have an important role to play. We need to do our part to support the Go Greater campaign by engaging, giving back and keeping others connected. We invite you to learn more about the Unger Go Greater campaign at www.uff.ufl.edu/ gogreater/ and help us spread the word. Thank you for all that you do to keep The Gator Nation strong. Please follow us on social media, download the UFAA app and visit our website to stay up-to-date. Go Gators!
UF
IT’S GREAT TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR. Those words are more than a slogan. They are an undeniable truth each of us — every member of The Gator Nation® — understands. A truth we reinforce through our personal and professional careers, our passion for our alma mater and compassion for all. It’s great to be a Florida Gator because we believe together, invest together, and achieve and succeed — together. The U.S. News and World Report 2018 rankings released in September positioned the University of Florida as the No. 9 public university. We succeeded in our mission to be one of the top 10 public universities in the nation, and our increased alumni participation was one of the factors that got us there. For this reason, growing membership in the University of Florida Alumni Association will remain a top priority, and we ask for your help in encouraging others to become members. Becoming a member of UFAA is easy and can be done by visiting https:// connect.ufalumni.ufl.edu/membership/join-the-ufaa. To ensure that we have the resources needed to successfully continue our upward trajectory, UF
Karen Unger and her daughter, Olivia, representing the UFAA at homecoming this year.
Take care, Karen Unger* (BA 92) President University of Florida Alumni Association
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AVENUE
TOP TEN UF cracks U.S. News list of top 10 best public universities
T
he University of Florida became the first school in the state to crack the list of top 10 best public universities, rising to No. 9, according to the 2018 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings released this fall. The 2018 list of top 10 best public universities now looks like this: 1) University of California, and Berkeley and University of California, Los Angeles (tie); 3) University of Virginia; 4) University of Michigan, Ann “THIS IS A Arbor; 5) University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; 6) College of SIGNIFICANT William & Mary; 7) Georgia Institute of Technology; 8) University MILESTONE THAT of California, Santa Barbara; and a three-way tie for No. 9 WE CAN ALL BE with University of Florida; University of California, Irvine; and PROUD OF.” University of California, San Diego* — UF President “This is a significant milestone that we can all be proud of, and Kent Fuchs it happened as the result of many years of focused work and a keen sense of purpose,” UF President Kent Fuchs* says. “Our faculty — the core of our academic reputation — and staff deserve tremendous credit for lifting us up to get us here, as do previous leaders, particularly Bernie Machen*, and UF’s Board of Trustees. We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Legislature, Gov. Rick Scott and the Board of Governors for their continued support to ensure that the nation’s third most-populous state has the worldclass university it deserves.” The U.S. News rankings are based on 15 key measures that evaluate each university’s academic quality. The measures include undergraduate academic reputation; graduation and retention rates; faculty resources; student selectivity; financial resources; alumni giving; and graduation rate performance. Fuchs says UF alumni and friends represent one of the strongest and most loyal communities in the world and should be especially proud. He also thanked to university leaders nationwide for their votes of confidence in UF. While he welcomed the new ranking, Fuchs says the university’s work is far from complete. “Now is the time to double down,” he says. “We have the talent, the collective will and the means to keep moving up. We owe it to our students and the people of Florida to be the very best public research institution we can be.” —STEVE ORLANDO (BA 86, MAMC 07)
UF ranks 10th among public schools in Money magazine O N C E AGA I N , UF
ranked as one of the nation’s Best Colleges for Your Money by Money magazine — 10th among public institutions and 18th overall in rankings released this summer. “The University of Florida is one of the best bargains in higher education,” UF’s entry in Money reads. “Despite the low net cost, students get access to some of the world’s top professors in fields such as biotechnology, gerontology and astronomy.” Money listed 711 schools that it ranked on 27 factors in three categories: Quality of Education, Affordability, and Outcomes.
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U N I V E R S I T Y AV E N U E
Together, we Go Greater Go Greater, the University of Florida’s fourth campaign, officially kicked off in October with a series of exciting events. A “Reflections” event on Oct. 12 highlighted past campaigns and university leadership, while a rousing celebration at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Oct. 13 marked the public launch of the $3 billion Go Greater campaign.
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U N I V E R S I T Y AV E N U E
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THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA PREPARES FOR WHAT’S NEXT B Y D AV I D F I N N E R T Y
T
he University of Florida made a bold statement about its future on Oct. 13 when it announced its Go Greater campaign, a $3 billion fundraising effort that will fundamentally impact the university and the people it serves. The campaign — the university’s fourth — is the planned catalyst for UF’s continued rise as a public university that Florida, the nation and the world looks to for leadership and innovation. Making a difference, shaping the future and impacting humanity is what the Go Greater campaign is all about, says Anita Zucker* (BAE 72), the campaign’s volunteer
chair for 2017-18. Gifts made during the campaign will drive discovery and arm students and faculty with tools to solve society’s most-pressing problems. Classrooms, laboratories, libraries, study centers, studios and other collaborative spaces will be upgraded and created. Funding will bolster outreach opportunities and establish professorships and scholarships as well as enhance transformational programs such as advocacy for young learners; efforts to discover and develop tools that help the elderly age with grace; and treatments for brain conditions such as memory loss and Parkinson’s disease.
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university address real issues that matter to most people. It will bridge revelations and innovations; hypotheses and discoveries; problems and solutions. With that in mind, university officials have outlined five broad focus areas:
YO U R WOR L D LO O K I N G B EYO N D O U R B AC K YA R D S .
Humans will number 9.7 billion in a few decades, according to the United Nations. To feed this expanded population, agriculture will need to produce 70 percent more food. Brand new health threats will need to be handled. And according to sources, energy consumption will be from 61 to 80 percent higher. The good news: The University of Florida is working on it. UF engineers and doctors; biologists and agriculturalists; geologists and geographers; and other university experts are mapping out plans to help humans thrive as our habitat evolves. The university’s Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems is a good example. Continued on page 18
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UF AGAIN LOOKS TO THE FUTURE AND CONSIDERS HOW IT CAN “GO GREATER” — BOTH IMMEDIATELY AND IN THE DECADES AHEAD. It’s the scope of UF’s academics and research, its massive size, its reach across the whole planet and its zip code in a bellwether state that will continue to make the University of Florida an invaluable resource, Zucker predicts. “The wonderful thing about UF is there’s really no challenge we’re not capable of addressing and, given the means, solving,” she says. “More importantly, we have an obligation — a responsibility to ourselves, our grandchildren, our neighbors and fellow humans — to do what we can now to ensure that the decades to come are healthier and more abundant; that we, as a civilization, are able to thrive in an uncertain future.” UF’s predecessors, the headmaster and students of the East Florida Seminary in Ocala, couldn’t have dreamed in 1853 — “not in a million years” — that their school would mature into a university for the ages, UF historian Carl Van Ness (MA 85) says. Their reaction, he says, would be “utter bafflement.” The first Gators in Gainesville, on the other hand, were determined to “go greater” from Day 1, Van Ness says — ever since the university moved into town in 1906 when enrollment was a scant 102. “They always thought the university would be bigger and better than it was,” Van Ness says.
Andrew Sledd, UF’s first president, even “drew up a dreamy sketch of what he thought a proper university would be. But he also realized that it would only happen with proper support from the Legislature and private donors,” Van Ness adds. Now, decades later — 164 years after its unassuming start and 111 years since Sledd envisioned what UF might become — the University of Florida touches almost all aspects of life. It has more than 200 centers, bureaus and institutes for research, service and education. It’s eighth among universities in U.S. patent applications, and in the past 15 years, 190 startups have been launched based on technologies developed on campus. Enrollment has grown to 54,000 — among the nation’s largest — and some 400,000 alumni deliver the “Gator Good” to communities across the continents. And just as UF’s first two presidents, Sledd and Albert Murphree, imagined a greater university, UF again looks to the future and considers how it can “go greater” — both immediately and in the decades ahead. The coming years, especially, will measure the Go Greater campaign’s success and, with it, bring a more potent UF, university officials say. Continued on page 18 AARON DAYE
T H E G O G R E AT E R C A M PA I G N will help the
YOUR WORLD
I
STUDENT: SKY GEORGES (9ALS)
f you had a toolbox that could improve our world, what would it include? A new food crop to end global hunger? Medicine to eradicate a life-threatening disease? But these can’t even be imagined without one basic tool — and that tool is education, says University of Florida doctoral student Sky Georges. To go greater, Georges intends to make a lasting, tangible difference in the world’s impoverished communities by empowering and inspiring young people. To do that, he’s pursuing a doctoral degree in agricultural education and communication with a specialization in leadership development through UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Georges, a former Machen Florida Opportunity Scholar born in Haiti, knows firsthand the value of an education — and knows the good it can bring to communities. His first visit back to his homeland after moving to the United States persuaded him to continue his studies in leadership. While there, he recognized that too many Haitians didn’t have access to education and other opportunities. “There is an untapped resource of bright, motivated, energized young people,” Georges says, “and we’re not really giving them the credit or investing in them as much as I think we should be.”
Given the chance, those young people will foster thriving communities, he says. He speaks from experience. Georges has helped build leadership development programs in the U.S. and beyond, including in India, Haiti and Jamaica — teaching practices that lead to more sustainable ways of life. He’s encouraged students to think about their communities, pinpoint opportunities for collaboration and create service projects that effect change. A neighborhood newspaper, an urban farm and a campaign to collect and distribute eyeglasses are just some of the ideas that students developed and brought to their communities. “The potential was there; all I did was pull it out,” Georges says, referring to the projects and their impact. He credits the exposure, experiences and tools UF provided for recognizing and reinforcing his passion to take action and go greater. “I think it’s about making an impact where it counts,” Georges says, “and doing work that is meaningful to the individual and to the community at large.” —STELLA HEEKIN* (BSPR 17)
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REFLECTIONS 1986-1992
1995-2000
Embrace Excellence: $392 million: 58 new eminent scholar chairs and 47 endowed professorships; Harn Museum of Art.
It’s Performance that Counts: $850.4 million: 339 new scholarships and fellowships; 57 professorships and five eminent scholar chairs; Emerson Alumni Hall.
2005-2012
2014-2022
Florida Tomorrow: $1.72 billion: 104 new professorships; 250 Machen Florida Opportunity Scholarships; George T. Harrell, M.D., Medical Education Building.
Go Greater: $3 billion goal: Target areas include early childhood studies, the brain, 200 new faculty endowments, 400 new scholarships and $1 billion in endowment commitments.
EMBRACE EXCELLENCE
CAMPAIGN LEADERSHIP
The Warringtons
Zucker
M O R E T H A N 1 ,0 0 0 P E O P L E are playing roles in the Go Greater campaign, including members of the University of Florida Board of Trustees and members of the President’s Campaign Cabinet who will partner with President Kent Fuchs*. Each individual or couple will have an opportunity to serve as chair or chairs for one year.
The Banks
The McGurns
4 Al Warrington* (BSBA
58) and
Judy Warrington
4 Anita Zucker* (BAE
72)
4 Andrew Banks* (BA
76) and
Pamela Banks
The Wertheims
Heavener
4 Ken McGurn*
(BSBA 72, MBA 73, PHD 81) and Linda McGurn* (BSBA 73, JD 78)
4 Dr. Herbert Wertheim
and
Nicole Wertheim
4 James W. “Bill” Heavener* (BSBA 70)
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NEWELL HALL
TAKE A BY DA N A E D WA R D S * ( B SJ 14 , B A 14 )
PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS SEEING THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA FOR THE FIRST TIME MAY TAKE IN THE VASTNESS OF THE SPRAWLING CAMPUS WITH AWE. THIS YEAR, RETURNING ALUMNI MAY EXPERIENCE THAT SAME WONDER WHEN THEY SEE THE LATEST FACILITY RENOVATIONS, LET’S TAKE A TOUR OF UF’S THREE RECENT PROJECTS:
PLAZA OF THE AMERICAS
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TOUR JOSEPH HERNANDEZ HALL
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Plaza of the Americas W E B E G I N O U R T O U R just north of main campus in front of Library West. Here, we see the newly landscaped Plaza of the Americas, a hub of student activities and one of UF’s free-speech zones. “I like to call it the Central Park of UF,” says Robert Hatker (BDES 93, MBC 95), project manager of the plaza construction. “As an alumnus, to get to renovate this project is incredible.” On a typical afternoon, students can be found studying and relaxing in their hammocks or enjoying Krishna Lunch. Some might recall past plaza events like the Family Weekend barbecue, spring student productions of Shakespeare in the Park and UF Inter-Residence Hall Association’s Writing on the Wall project. When all graduations were held in the University Auditorium, the plaza served as a graduation recessional. Concerts both formal to impromptu, including Tom Petty’s band Mudcrutch, were performed on this open lawn. Freshmen on the The plaza’s name stems from UF’s venture into Plaza, 1950s national prominence in the 1930s with former UF President John J. Tigert’s creation of the Institute for InterAmerican Affairs. The university hosted the International Latin American Association’s first conference, and students planted 21 live oaks on the plaza representing one for each of the republics of the Americas at the time. Harold Barrand (BDES 76), director of minor projects and architecture services with UF’s planning, design and construction department, says the renovation has been about 10 years in the making. The work is a continuation of the landscaping in front of Ustler Hall and Murphree Area residential halls made possible through donations by Herb Yardley* (BA 55) and Catherine Yardley* (BSP 56). Private donors, led by the Yardleys, have funded more than $1.3 million of the plaza project. “The Yardleys were influential in getting this project started. They are a very rare kind of donor in that they appreciate the aesthetic beauty of campus landscaping for the benefit of all,” Barrand says. “All preeminent universities have a prominent quadrangle, and now, UF will have one worthy of its stature.” In addition to its fresh landscape, the plaza now offers more bike racks, tables and benches as well as an irrigation system, Wi-Fi and a new service drive for pedestrians and bikes. Back in the ’50s when the Yardleys attended UF, all classes required students to walk across the Plaza, says Herb Yardley. “Everything you did was centered around it,” he says. “And now, it will continue to be the center of the university.” Yardley credits Willard Harrison, former dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, for kick starting the renovation and Carter Boydstun* (BA 78), a senior philanthropic adviser for UF, for raising the necessary funds. “Without Dr. Harrison’s continued leadership, none of this would be possible,” Yardley adds.
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Joseph Hernandez Hall WA L K I N G F R O M T H E P L A Z A past Keene-Flint Hall, we can’t miss UF’s new chemistry building — Joseph Hernandez Hall — at the corner of Buckman Drive and University Avenue. The building was named after Joseph Hernandez (BS 96, MS 98, MBA 98), who gave a $10 million endowment to the project, which led to funding from a number of other donors. Hernandez’s gift was the largest to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences from a donor under the age of 50. UF Chemistry “Only in this country Lab, 1950s can a little Cuban boy work hard and get his family name affixed to a temple of knowledge like this, so I’m grateful … for this opportunity,” said Hernandez in his speech at the building’s dedication ceremony. “One of the things [my parents taught] was that in life you must pay back to the people and places that change your life and make your life better.” Hernandez, a biotechnology entrepreneur and co-founder of several companies in the health field, attributes his attitude and scientific aspirations to a UF
Newell Hall
UF PHOTOGRAPHY
MATT GOOD, AJAX BUILDING CORP.
FROM HERNANDEZ HALL, we head south on Buckman Drive and pass Pugh Hall. To our right, across from Turlington Plaza we find the renovated Newell Hall. In 1910, a new building opened to house the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station that had previously been hosted at UF’s Thomas Hall. The building was renovated and The Newell Hall third floor renamed Newell Hall in 1944 during World illustrates branding graphics and War II and added to the National simple, open flooring design. Register of Historic Places in 1979. As allowed by the federal standards for historic preservation, Newell Hall’s new construction and renovations preserved or reintroduced elements from both the 1910 and 1944 Newell Hall, 1944 periods. Throughout the Newell Hall “social stairs.” building, design and graphic professor who first hired him to elements pay homage to the wash dishes in the lab. After finishing site’s agricultural roots. Each floor staircase includes a timeline of the his tasks, Hernandez could conduct building history as well as the original experiment station sign. The floors expose experiments under the professor’s guidance. the original brick, wood and terracotta materials in artistic preservation designs. “Chemistry is a very important pillar in The second floor features a study room table repurposed from original 1910 an educational background, specifically in a radiators and salvaged tongue-and-groove wood from the attic. scientific background,” Hernandez says. “It’s In the south courtyard, student-maintained raised gardening beds an area that needs focus philanthropically echo the experiment fields that once stood in this space. On the front lawn, a and academically, so it was an area I wanted public art piece created with organic structures also conjures images of the site’s to do whatever I could to help students and original purpose. professors advance that field.” The project was unique in that it included student vision and involvement UF is one of the top three chemistry during the initial funding stage. Construction began in November 2015 and was departments in terms of enrollment, says completed in April of this year. Ryan Marsh, CLAS assistant vice president “We had a team of students working on the project, and they came up with of development and alumni affairs. So when the four guiding principles of what a modern learning commons should facilitate: former UF President Bernie Machen* collaboration, interaction, focusing and rejuvenation,” says Howie Ferguson first came to UF, he was surprised by the (BSCE 90, ME 96), assistant director in UF’s planning, design and construction outdated chemistry facilities and vowed to department and Newell Hall project manager. All design elements and furniture upgrade them. However, the recession halted selections were based off of the four guiding words. those plans until the groundbreaking in Ferguson says the students also conducted research on how people learn in October 2014. workforce environments and space functionality. Findings were applied to interior Hernandez Hall spans 111,552 square layouts, furniture selection and outside features. feet and consists of six levels, four of which With history preserved, the space has transformed into a modern learning are used for teaching and research. The commons that supports the different ways people work and learn. The furniture space supports 650 people at a time and is meant to move around, and open “social stairs,” complete with outlets and has a student-centered design with few space to sit, connect the floors. Featuring a new restaurant venue, Au Bon administrative offices. Pain, the 24/7 facility includes formal and informal seating with Wi-Fi inside and “Chemistry is a symbol for what a outside. The building received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design 21st-century land-grant university should be,” gold-level status for its resource efficiency. Machen said in a UF News release. “This is “The building feels closer to Google headquarters than a traditional higher a celebration — not just of a building, but of ed library,” Ferguson says. “That’s relevant because it somewhat replicates the a department; not just for what we’ve done, atmosphere and environment many students will encounter when they graduate but for what we’re going to do.” and go to work.”
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Together we contribute to something much greater than ourselves.
The Pride of the Sunshine performs at the Go Greater kickoff event.
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AARON DAYE
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