See how UCF academics and leaders intersect and collaborate with the community and others in making the world a better place.
Mon Mar 6
The Multicultural Student Center held its Breaking Barriers event to promote neurodiversity awareness and accessibility on Monday. Pelin Ozoglu is a member of the Multicultural Leadership Council who led the workshop on neurodiversity. She said UCF is a campus of about 70,000 and thinks there’s a lot of people that can relate to some type…
Wed Mar 1
UCF Public Safety celebrated the achievements of officers, staff members and community partners at their annual awards ceremony hosted by News 6’s “Trooper” Steve Montiero. Each year, the department recognizes winners of their Chief’s Award and Of the Year award — who are featured more in depth below. Winners of commendations, community partnership awards, physical…
Wed Mar 1
Theatre alum Terrance Jackson ’13 is helping Barter Theatre in Virginia strengthen its relationship with communities of color as Barter’s Outreach and Black Stories Black Voices leader. Like most theaters in America, Barter Theatre began as a predominantly white institution. In recent years, Barter has made efforts to employ more people of color and give…
Wed Mar 1
An up-and-coming journalist and graduate from the Nicholson School of Communication and Media (NSCM) was killed Wednesday while reporting on the scene of a fatal shooting. Dylan Lyons ’19 was 24. Lyons’ journalism professors remember him as a “confident and talented go-getter who was always up for a challenge and never turned down a story,” says NSCM…
Tue Feb 28
U.S. Rep. Darren Soto told students on Wednesday that even if they can’t afford a clean energy purchase now, they most likely will be making those choices in the future. Soto was one of three members of the U.S. House of Representatives part of the Future Forum Caucus to visit UCF to explain the benefits…
Tue Feb 28
For Can Aydin, the news that his home country of Turkey had been hit by two earthquakes was shocking. “I was checking the news and saw that a 7.8 earthquake hit Turkey, and I really couldn’t believe it at first,” Aydin said. “I didn’t think it was real because that’s such a large number.” Aydin,…
Tue Feb 28
UCF Alumni is pleased to announce its 30 Under 30 Alumni Award Recipients for the Class of 2023. The stellar group of alumni comprises scientists, attorneys, teachers, financial analysts, entrepreneurs, nurses, UCF employees, graduate students and others who have launched from UCF and landed in successful careers of their dreams. Yet, despite their distance from…
Wed Feb 22
President Emeritus John C. Hitt believed education transformed lives. The first in his family to attend college, he greatly expanded opportunities for students to earn UCF degrees while also leading the university through exceptional growth in academic quality and forming partnerships that remain critical to the region’s economic vitality. Hitt, who became UCF’s fourth president…
Fri Feb 17
Each spring, UCF showcases its creative side in a large-scale event at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. This year, UCF Celebrates the Arts will offer 39 events plus exhibits featuring students, faculty and alumni in dance, concerts, cabaret, lectures and discussions, film, chamber music, family-friendly events, visual arts, and more. UCF is committed…
Fri Feb 17
Three billion. That’s about how many pizzas are sold in the United States every year. This year, UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management alumnus Dylan Pittman ’22 plans to serve hundreds of pies through Pizza Pitt Stop, a food truck he recently launched. Pizza Pitt Stop currently serves customers across Jacksonville and St. Augustine, Florida. Among its signature…
Thu Feb 2
Two project teams comprising of UCF researchers and community partners were named winners of the 2022 Pabst Steinmetz Foundation Arts and Wellness Innovation award. Each team was granted $25,000 to help fund their respective initiatives. This year’s winning projects respond to the theme of “No Place Like Home,” focusing on collaboration with organizations and diverse communities to…
Thu Feb 2
With a generous $500,000 gift, the Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation has become one of the founding donors for the new UCF College of Nursing building at Lake Nona’s Medical City. This investment in UCF will help unleash the potential of more Knight nurses while bolstering the nursing workforce in Central Florida, which is in critical need…
Tue Jan 24
Most people realize the climate impacts of carbon dioxide. Not many people, however, know that methane, the main component of natural gas, is much more potent than carbon dioxide. While methane doesn’t remain in the atmosphere as long as CO2 (which can linger for thousands of years), it is 84 times more potent at trapping heat…
Thu Jan 12
Students and faculty in the School of Performing Arts and the College of Nursing discussed their collaborative efforts to bring theatre to hospitalized children with News Channel 6. Bruce and Jeffrey Gould created the Jeanette M. Gould Traveling Theatre Fund at UCF as a way to honor their mother’s love of theatre and respect for the…
Thu Jan 12
At 47-years-old, Franklin Perez does not mind being in a classroom setting. University of Central Florida instructors are helping this hard-working father and warehouse manager brush up on English. Despite his lack of proficiency, for the last 15 years, he’s worked at the Rosen Centre Hotel along International Drive. Originally from Dominican Republic, Perez’s limited…
Fri Jan 6
On an October day in 2022, Mindy Mozena, director for Enrollment Services at UCF Downtown, came to work dressed as Pete the Cat. It’s an unusual outfit choice for the professional who is usually wearing a blazer and high heels. But today is the campus’s second Book Character Parade and Mozena is laser focused on…
Tue Dec 20
Here’s a look at some of the most memorable photos of the year. Forward CJ Walker prepares to score in the Addition Financial Arena. UCF defeated Memphis 74-64. Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences Assistant Professor Salvador Almagro-Moreno studies the emergence and evolution of bacterial pathogens. English alum and applied sociology graduate student Shawn Welcome ’17, who is Orlando’s second poet laureate,…
Wed Dec 14
Ten UCF-affiliated physicians are honored this month in Orlando Magazine’s top physicians edition. The publication contains two lists — Top Doctors, compiled by Consumers’ CHECKBOOK, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., and Premier Doctors, a peer-review study conducted exclusively for the magazine by an independent research company. Seven awardees are faculty physicians at UCF Health, the College…
Tue Dec 13
Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (MVW) has made a $250,000 donation to establish an endowed scholarship for students who attend the UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management. The scholarship will be known as the Stephen P. Weisz Endowed Scholarship in Hospitality Management Fund, in honor of the retiring chief executive officer of Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation. Inspired…
Thu Dec 8
Giving Black women a stronger voice in the field of physics is the focus of a new American Physical Society (APS) award to the University of Central Florida. The two-year $198,100 APS grant funds a project titled “Journey to a PhD through the Lens of Black Women in Physics.” Its intention is identifying then removing…