ALUMNI NEWS

Chris Malachowsky

MALACHOWSKY ELECTED TO UF’S ACADEMY OF GOLDEN GATORS

An entrepreneur, a former university trustee, a business developer and a family of legal professionals are the latest honorees in the University of Florida’s prestigious Academy of Golden Gators. The academy honors alumni and friends whose support and guidance are driving UF’s ascent as one of the nation’s best institutions of higher learning. UF is ranked No. 5 on U.S. News and World Report’s recent list of public universities.

The 2022 inductees are NVIDIA Corp. co-founder Chris Malachowsky (BSCE ’80); Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough partner David Brown; Palm Beach County Business Development Board president Kelly Smallridge; and the family of UF College of Law namesake Fred Levin. This year’s awardees were recognized during the academy’s eighth annual induction ceremony.

“The Academy of Golden Gators represents people who have done extraordinary things for the University of Florida, for our students, and for public higher education and its continued positive influence on Florida and our nation,” said UF President Kent Fuchs. “I love that current and future generations of students will benefit from their farsightedness, generosity and commitment to helping others — and have the opportunity to look to them as leaders to emulate in their own lives and careers.”

This year’s Academy of Golden Gators Award categories are Transformational Leadership, Lifetime Philanthropy, Lifetime Volunteer and Annual Volunteer.

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP AWARD

Malachowsky is a leading force behind the university’s ambitious initiative to become “America’s AI University.” His investments in his alma mater and guidance are transforming courses across campus by incorporating artificial intelligence training in curricula to prepare students to use the cuttingedge technology in their chosen fields. Malachowsky established the Californiabased global technology giant NVIDIA in 1993. Along with his company, he has made significant contributions to building a data science and information technology center (the future home of the Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering) on campus and to turning the university’s supercomputer into one of the most powerful in all of higher education.

“Each of this year’s Academy of Golden Gators’ inductees is a game-changer in their own right. But taken together, their influence and goodwill is revolutionizing what it means to be a world-class institution of higher learning,” said University of Florida Foundation chairwoman Anita Zucker.

By recognizing philanthropists whose commitment enables UF to address societal and wellness challenges and improve lives throughout the world, the Academy of Golden Gators reflects UF’s goal to be one of the nation’s preeminent public research universities.

ALUMNUS DESIGNS APP TO MAKE PARKING ON UF'S CAMPUS EASIER

If you’ve ever parked on the University of Florida (UF) campus, you’re aware of the various parking restrictions. One recent alumnus has been working to create an app that alleviates some of the stress of navigating those parking restrictions.

Drew Gill (BSCS ’22) began creating EZ Park UF as a group project for his Human-Computer Interaction course. His professor, Jaime Ruiz, Ph.D., had each group come up with a problem to address that was relevant to UF students.

“We conducted interviews with potential users about what was currently difficult about the current parking system,” Gill said. “We sought to change the way students would find parking on campus so they could save time every day they came on to campus. After releasing it, I’ve realized it could be very helpful for UF Health employees and UF Visitors as well.”

With user-friendly features such as map or list views of campus parking lots and their specific limitations, the app makes campus parking information more accessible. Users can also find out the days and times the decal restrictions are in effect, if electric vehicle charging is available, and in some cases, information about how guest parking works. There are also built-in search features that allow users to specify which color decal they are looking for or what time/ day they want to park on campus.

“One of my main goals for the next update, besides ensuring the app has all up-to-date parking info, is to allow users to see the parking changes for holidays, football games, and other important events,” Gill said.

Though UF currently offers a virtual campus map, the EZ Park UF app’s date, time and decal filters, plus the option of getting directions to a preferred lot, provide a more seamless user experience.

The app is free for anyone to download and use. It can be found in the Apple app store and the Google Play store.

Drew Gill

By Allison Logan