See how UCF academics and leaders intersect and collaborate with the community and others in making the world a better place.
Thu Jun 17
Judy Duda has made an indelible impact on UCF and the Central Florida community over the years. She has served on countless local, state and national boards to further her goals of education, arts, social ministry and history, fostered a 25-year relationship with the UCF Symphony Orchestra and served as the chairperson of the executive council for the dean of the UCF College of…
Thu Jun 17
Growing up in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the 1970s and 1980s, I didn’t celebrate Juneteenth. In fact, I didn’t know such a celebration existed until I went to college south of the Mason-Dixon line, in Virginia. This solidifies a curriculum perspective I have long held: Knowledge is the history you learn shaped by the…
Wed Jun 16
Golden retriever Halo hops onto the hospital bed and cozies up beside five-year-old Kade King, a patient at Nemours Children’s Hospital. Once they are settled, Kade begins reading to his four-legged visitor. “Two dots can make the eyes of a fox. One. Two.” With his head on his paws and big brown eyes staring intently, Halo seems to be…
Wed Jun 16
Roisin Stanbrook tried to ignore her love of bugs by studying computer coding her first year of college. It didn’t stick. She ended up dropping out of school and working at a pet store. But she couldn’t resist her interest in bugs, especially when she saw an ad about an opportunity to participate in a…
Tue Jun 15
Philanthropist and author â¯MacKenzie â¯Scott and her husband, Dan Jewett, today announced a $40 million unrestricted gift to UCF that will strengthen the university’s focus on fostering social mobility â¯while developing the skilled talent needed to advance industry â¯across ourâ¯state and beyond. This is the largest gift to UCF in its 58-year history. “This unrestricted investment⯠will⯠accelerate…
Mon Jun 14
Leaving his home in Romania wasn’t something Gabriel Popescu, Ph.D ’02, ever expected to do until the opportunity presented itself. Motivated by the chance to make an impact on the world, Popescu packed his bags and left home in 1997 to pursue an American education at the CREOL, College of Optics and Photonics. It’s been…
Fri Jun 11
The UCF community gathered Thursday evening to commemorate the individuals who were tragically killed at Pulse nightclub five years ago. The vigil has become an annual tradition that embraces both the grief and the love with which we remember the 49. Attendees of the vigil were encouraged to write notes on butterfly-shaped paper to help create a…
Thu Jun 10
Almost 20 percent of LGBTQ+ adults say they avoid seeking healthcare because they fear discrimination, according to a recent study, leading to poorer health outcomes for those patients. Oliver Klicker knows this fear all too well. Klicker, who was assigned female at birth and identifies as a transgender man, said that despite suffering from…
Thu Jun 10
UCF Lake Nona Medical Center announced today it is the first hospital in Central Florida to provide incisionless brain surgery to treat essential tremor and tremor-dominant Parkinson’s disease unable to be controlled with medication. Essential tremor (ET) is a progressive, neurological disease characterized by tremor, most often of the hands or arms, which can make…
Thu Jun 10
At 58 years young, UCF has grown into a powerhouse, making headlines that sets it apart on the national stage. As we look toward our bright future, UCF’s goal is to become the world’s leading public metropolitan research university and a top 50 public research university in the nation. In celebration of UCF’s birthday on…
Thu Jun 10
After a national search, Andrea Guzman has accepted the position of vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at UCF. She anticipates starting her new role on July 6. Para la versión en Español, oprima aquÃ. Guzman is currently the associate vice president for student outreach and diversity at Florida Atlantic University, where she leads efforts to provide a…
Thu Jun 10
Every so often, Professor Martha Brenckle thinks about a group of people she never met who gathered at Bill Federick Park at Turkey Lake more than 40 years ago. This group of ordinary people organized Orlando’s first pride picnic. “It’s just amazing to me that they did that — these regular, everyday people who had…
Wed Jun 9
What does courage look like? It’s a question that gets answered every day if you look closely. The simplest things we take for granted today took incredible courage to create. The courage it takes to do a dangerous job, despite the hazards — in the face of hatred? People do it. The courage it takes…
Tue Jun 8
As UCF continues returning to pre-pandemic operations, Summer 2021 graduates and their families will have the opportunity to participate in two celebrations. Graduates are allowed to sign up for Grad Walk and in-person commencement, both of which will be held in the Addition Financial Arena. Recognitions for the about 2,880 graduates will occur Aug. 4-7. Please note,…
Fri Jun 4
June is Aphasia Awareness Month. Aphasia is a language disorder caused by damage to the language centers in the brain, usually in the left hemisphere. It can affect all aspects of language including auditory comprehension, verbal expression, reading and writing, says Amy Engelhoven, director the Aphasia House. “The important thing to know about aphasia is that it…
Fri Jun 4
CREOL, College of Optics and Photonics, often serves as a launchpad for students to decide the direction they want to take their career and studies. And, often, it’s a distinguished and notable direction. That was certainly the case with Latifah Maasarani, who moved on to Duke University for graduate studies in biomedical engineering after successfully…
Wed Jun 2
John Norton ’20MA, a former Theatre UCF graduate student, has been awarded a Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Award for his play Triggered. Centered on the CEO of a firearms company and his marketing advisors following a tragic shooting, the one-act play grapples with sensitive and relevant topics. Norton has a history of creating plays that tackle the response to tragedy, including a play about the Challenger shuttle…
Wed Jun 2
As we usher out a new class of graduates ready to take on the world, graduation brings back my own memories from decades ago – the pure elation of achieving the only goal I had meticulously laid out for myself since I was 7: to become an engineer. Yes, the journey had an unanticipated rocky…
Sat May 29
Ican remember the night when I first felt the spark of advocacy. I was wearing shalwar kameez — a traditional outfit that is a combination of a dress and suit — and was seated with my family outside of a market in Karachi, Pakistan. With a cold breeze brushing past our necks, the cups of chai we…
Fri May 28
“Relationships today are faced with multiple stressors,” says Sejal Barden, executive director of the UCF Marriage and Family Research Institute (MFRI) and associate professor of counselor education. “Couples work longer hours, leaving less time to spend with their partners. They live farther away from friends and family, which disconnects couples from community support. They are also dealing with economic…