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Coronavirus Awareness and Guidance

UCF is joining the Florida Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in monitoring the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, for which cases have been confirmed in the U.S. following an outbreak in China. While no cases have been reported at UCF or in Florida, we have initiated communication, coordination and planning using updated…

Presidential Historian Balances Past and Present in Politics

Presidential historian Jon Meacham provided perspective on today’s White House using the lens of the past at a presentation Thursday called “The Art of Leadership: Lessons from the American Presidency.” Meacham started broadly, noting the presidency is a reflection of the American population. “The presidency is in many ways a manifestation of all of us,”…

Alumna Builds Career Around Studying Bones

Fingerprints get a lot of credit in the forensics world, but Brittany Walter, ’12MA, knows bones tell a story, too. Inspired from a young age by a forensic anthropology series written by Kathy Reichs, Walter traces her passion for forensics all the way back to middle school. Today she uses that passion as a full-time…

Dr. Tosha Dupras Appointed Interim Dean of College of Sciences

From Interim Provost Michael D. Johnson I am pleased to announce that Associate Dean Tosha Dupras, Ph.D., has agreed to serve as interim dean of the College of Sciences while I fulfill my role as interim provost. I am confident Dr. Dupras will do an outstanding job during my temporary absence. She is a professor…

Exhibits Celebrate Black Community, Friendship During Black History Month

Two concurrent exhibits—one at UCF and one at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts in Tampa—use photographs to explore themes of black community, friendship and resilience in the face of systemic violence and discrimination. The first exhibit, “Zora Neale Hurston’s ‘Native Village’:  Historic Eatonville Remembered,”  hosted on the first-floor gallery wall in UCF’s John C.…

2020 Global Health Conference Focuses On Arts And Healing

Art, whether it’s a painting, music, performance or simply enjoying another’s creativity, has a place in medicine and healing. That was the message of the 9th  Annual Global Health Conference at the UCF College of Medicine, January 18. The conference, organized by MedPACt (Medical Students Providing Across Continents), attracted more than 230 attendees from across…

Behind Research Funding: How CHPS Staff Help Researchers Fulfill Their Dreams

A research administrator must be passionate, curious, detail-oriented and patient, says,  Eduardo Ortiz  of CHPS. Ortiz, along with Monique Gregory, formerly of CHPS, now working in the research office of the College of Science, recently co-presented at the Florida Research Administration Conference at UCF. Their presentation, “Mastering the Life-Cycle: Pre- and Post-Award Steps for Success,”…

Submissions Invited for ACM Hypertext 2020

The 31st  ACM Hypertext conference  is coming to UCF in July 2020. Co-chaired by UCF faculty member  Anastasia Salter  and John Barber of University of Washington, Vancouver, the conference invites research on all aspects of the modern web. Topics include hypertext theory, social media, interactive narrative, hypermedia systems and applications. Last year’s conference, hosted in…

Chemistry Professor Recognized For Outstanding Lab Safety

UCF Environmental Health and Safety recently awarded Vasileios Anagnostopoulos, Ph.D, and his team of dedicated researchers the 2019 Safety Champion Award. This award recognizes faculty members that provide support to EHS and adhere to UCF policy and procedure within a research setting. “It is great to know that the effort made to promote safety culture…

UCF Health Earns ECG Re-accreditation

UCF Health’s cardiovascular lab has been granted a three-year echocardiographic reaccreditation in the areas of Adult Transthoracic and Adult Stress from the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC). Echocardiography is used to assess different areas of the heart and can detect heart disease or signs of serious conditions. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in…

Interim Provost Named

Iam extremely grateful for Jana Jasinski stepping in as acting provost during the past week and a half, while also continuing as vice provost for Faculty Excellence. I appreciate her leadership and the stability she provided the Academic Affairs team. Jana was  named acting provost  after I asked Provost Elizabeth Dooley to temporarily step away…

Student Coaching Project Earns Marchioli Award

An ongoing project to boost classroom student engagement through high-impact practices (HIP) recently earned one of UCF’s highest internal awards. Called HIP Coaches, the project uses student coaches to mentor and guide fellow students through high-impact learning experiences, such as collaborative assignments and projects, undergraduate research, cultural competency, community-based learning and internships. The idea is…

Keeping Up with Cyrus Zargar: UCF’s Endowed Al-Ghazali Distinguished Professor in Islamic Studies

Cyrus Zargar  is the Endowed Al-Ghazali Distinguished Professor in  Islamic Studies, who is currently teaching Medieval Philosophy. The  Al-Ghazali Distinguished Professorship  was created from the donations of hundreds of members from Central Florida’s Islamic community, with the intent of promoting the understanding and appreciation of Islam and Muslim communities. These funds enabled Zargar to advance…

UCFPD Swears in 6 New Officers

Family, friends and UCF Police officers and staff welcomed six new officers to the department at a swearing-in ceremony Thursday. All of the newest UCFPD recruits have experience in either law enforcement or the military, which is what Chief Carl Metzger says he was looking for in patrol officers. “At UCFPD, we have a diverse…

UCF Professors’ Space Podcast Leads to Radio Show Invitation

About 5,000 people a month around the world tune into a space-related podcast launched by three University of Central Florida professors. What started out as conversations while walking to get coffee on campus to perk up the afternoon, turned into the  Walkabout the Galaxy  podcast in 2014, which this month led to the professors becoming…

Class Project: A Gender Change Petition

UCF associate lecturer  Irene Pons ’98  and her legal studies class are striving to help a Central Florida woman revise her birth certificate. Why does Juleigh Mayfield need legal intervention in order to complete such an ordinary task? Because her story isn’t so typical. Neither Male or Female Although Mayfield lived four decades of her…

Zoo Internship Prepares Student for Anthropology Career

Senior Savannah Compton left her fall internship at ZooTampa with a newfound love for the study of animal behavior. Working in both the primate and commissary department of the Zoo, Compton spent her time designing enrichment projects and learning about animal nutrition, stoking her passion for animal behavior and science. Compton pursued her goal of…

Students Receive Africana Studies Scholarships

Three students recently received scholarships from the  Africana Studies program  for the Fall 2019 and/or Spring 2020 semesters. Rachel Mungovan (pictured), received the UCF Africana Studies and Business Services Dining Stipend for Fall 2019-Spring 2020. The stipend is an all-access/seven-day dining meal plan stipend for the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters, valued at $3,960.…

Retiring Choral Director, David Brunner, Named College Music Educator of the Year

From conducting the University Chorus and Madrigal Singers to coaching private composition students, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities, Dr. David Brunner, has impacted countless students throughout his 31 years at UCF. Recently, he was distinguished as the College Music Educator of the Year by the Florida Music Educators Association. Previously, Brunner was…