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Faculty

University of Central Florida faculty members are the foundation of the university. They energize students, academic programs, research and service through academic excellence and innovation.

Strategic Investments in SpaceU

Space has been part of UCF’s DNA since our university’s founding to support the ambitious goal of landing humans on the moon. This legacy, along with our focus on developing the research and workforce to support our state’s economy, has made us the nation’s leading talent supplier for the aerospace and defense industry. Thanks to…

New Opportunities in AI Leadership and Development

Colleagues, I encourage everyone to learn about artificial intelligence and incorporate it into your teaching and research. This is vital work. As educators, we have a responsibility to equip our students with the tools they need to adapt and thrive in the workplace. That means we must convey the benefits, limitations, and ethical implications of…

Key  Events, Resources, and Dates for Fall Planning

Welcome to fall! The Faculty Excellence team looks forward to serving as a resource for you as we work together to elevate academic excellence and student success. As we kick off the new academic year, we invite you to join UCF leaders and colleagues from 3 to 5 p.m. on Thursday (Aug. 15) at the…

Using Interfolio for Fall Faculty Internal Awards and Other Requests

This is a reminder that faculty will use Interfolio academic software this fall to submit materials for some internal awards and requests for sabbaticals, emeritus status, and the Professional Development Program. Award application materials will be uploaded into the new digital system for the following: If you plan to pursue any of these awards or…

Introducing New Faculty Resources for Pursuing Distinguished External Awards

Dear Faculty Colleagues: Faculty Excellence offers new resources to help you identify and seek external honorific awards that can energize your career. Our new external honorific awards website includes a database for identifying awards, past UCF external award winners, and tips for pursuing prestigious and highly prestigious honors. I am also pleased to introduce another valuable resource to support your professional development. Charlenne…

Prepare Now for Annual Faculty Internal Awards Deadlines Coming This Fall

Dear Faculty Colleagues: It is time to prepare for seeking UCF’s internal faculty awards. Excellence Awards, Research Incentive Awards, Pegasus Professor, and Reach for the Stars awards all have deadlines this fall. Please see the Faculty Internal Awards page for eligibility, criteria, and applicable dates. Note that Excellence Awards and Research Incentive Awards materials will…

UCF Endowed Chair Among Nurse Researchers Inducted into International Hall of Fame

Carmen Giurgescu, the Chatlos Foundation endowed chair, associate dean of research and professor in UCF’s College of Nursing, is among 22 distinguished nurse researchers who will be inducted in the 2023 Sigma International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame. The honorees will be inducted during Sigma’s International Nursing Research Congress in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on July…

UCF Awards 143 Faculty with Promotion and Tenure

One-hundred-forty-three UCF faculty members recently achieved significant career milestones in earning promotions and tenure for the 2022-23 cycle. The approved faculty ­ — 93 for promotion, 49 for promotion and tenure and one for tenure — underwent a rigorous evaluation of their work and performance by peers, college and university leaders that took nearly an…

UCF Professor Honored as Fellow of Gerontological Society of America

UCF Professor Su-I Hou, who has dedicated her career to healthy aging, has been selected as a fellow of The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), the world’s oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, patient care and education in the field. Fellow is the highest level of membership the society gives, and acknowledges continued…

ESPN to Honor Richard Lapchick with ESPY Award

Richard Lapchick, a champion for human rights, pioneer for racial equality and eminent scholar at the UCF, will be honored by ESPN with one of its signature ESPY Awards. Lapchick will receive the Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award named in honor of the late ESPN commentator Stuart Scott. The award celebrates “individuals that have taken risks…

3 Faculty Named UCF Trustee Chairs for 2023-28

new professor has been named and two others reappointed to prestigious UCF trustee chair professorships that recognize faculty with national and international reputations for excellence and with extraordinary accomplishments in teaching, research and service. New trustee chair Ayman Abouraddy and reappointees Aristide Dogariu and Jayanta Kapat are among a handful of faculty members to have…

UCF to Advance Space Exploration Careers Through U.S. Department of Education Partnership

As growing interest in space exploration creates new interdisciplinary opportunities for workers of all trades, UCF is the site lead for a program intended to help inspire young minds to consider the career possibilities that industry developments could offer. Lisa Martino ’09 ’12MA and Sara Shaw, both lecturers of career and workforce education in the Department of Educational…

Alex Martins and Harold Mills Re-elected to Lead UCF’s Board of Trustees

UCF Board of Trustees Chair Alex Martins ’01MBA and Vice Chair Harold Mills will lead UCF’s governing board for two more years after a vote by their colleagues at the June 29, 2023, board meeting. UCF alumnus Martins, who serves as CEO of the Orlando Magic, and Mills, a distinguished Orlando entrepreneur, have navigated UCF through many…

UCF Aging Expert Named 2023 American Academy of Nursing Fellow

Ladda Thiamwong, associate professor in UCF’s College of Nursing, is one of 253 distinguished nurse leaders — and among four in Florida — who have been named to the 2023 class of fellows by the American Academy of Nursing. The prestigious honor recognizes substantial, sustained and outstanding impact on health and healthcare. This year’s inductees,…

Fall Faculty Agreements Available Soon for Completion in Workday

This is a reminder that the distribution and signing of fall faculty agreements will be available starting July 7 and will be completed within Workday. As their agreements are ready for signature, faculty will receive an email to their UCF Outlook account notifying them their agreement can be reviewed and signed. To access and review…

The Historical Significance of Juneteenth

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…

UCF is Trustee Chair Professor, Inventor Shin-Tson Wu’s Mountaintop

Shin-Tson Wu remains quiet whenever someone pulls out a smartphone or turns on a tablet. He’s too humble to mention that he helped invent the screens they’re viewing. The technology used for the LCD screen is among an astonishing number of patents issued for Wu’s inventions — 96 at last count. In 2014, he was one…

Rich Wallace Returns to UCF as Head Baseball Coach

Rich Wallace ‘04, an Orlando native and former UCF baseball player and Knight assistant coach, brings two decades of experience as a Division I baseball coach with him in his return to Orlando as UCF’s seventh head baseball coach. Wallace spent the 2023 season as assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator at Florida State. He…

UCF’s John C. Hitt Leaves Legacy of Partnerships and Transforming Lives

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…