Engineering Grad Honors Her Father
Leila Jammal Nodarse, P.E., a UCF civil engineering graduate and daughter of a renowned Florida sinkhole expert, has established an endowed lecture series to honor her father’s life and legacy in the field of engineering. Nodarse’s father, Jim Jammal, who died in late 2012, was a geotechnical engineer. On May 8, 1981, Jammal witnessed one of the most destructive sinkholes to hit Central Florida in recent decades: the Winter Park sinkhole that swallowed a three-bedroom house, a recreation center’s swimming pool and a portion of a car dealership. His engineering firm’s office was located a block away from the site. The City of Winter Park hired Jammal to study the 1981 sinkhole, one of 2,000 sinkholes he studied in his lifetime. “His research changed the understanding of sinkholes,” Nodarse says. Jammal’s studies showed that sinkholes were caused by the ground weakening
below the surface, not from heavy objects above the surface, which was the thinking at that time. He served as a mentor to young engineers, urging them to always strive to become better. “He always said, ‘Don’t do it the way you did it before or the way other people do it. Add something more; make it even better than before,’ ” says Nodarse.
GIFT FOR
College of Nursing
Nicholson School Don Bergquist, ’84, honors his UCF mentor and supports future students with a planned gift.
Wise advice from a professor has served Don Bergquist well in a career that has taken him around the world as a business analyst in the broadcasting industry. Now, Bergquist has honored that professor, Dr. Tom Morgan, by making provisions in his will that will one day benefit student scholarships in UCF’s Nicholson School of Communication. Bergquist had just changed his major from computer science to radio and television in 1982, when he stopped to speak with Morgan after an Introduction to Broadcasting class. He asked Morgan if he would serve as his adviser. When Morgan found out Bergquist was also studying computer science, he said, “Don’t quit with your computer studies. One day, the entire world will run on computers.” Bergquist graduated in 1984 with a B.A. in radio and television, while also completing extensive coursework in computer science. Today he is a business analyst for Pilat Media, which develops, markets and supports business management software solutions for media industry content and service providers. “His advice helped me to reach my goals in life and prepared me to get where I am today,” Bergquist says. “Dr. Morgan encouraged me. I spent hours playing with the equipment in the TV studios. That time helped me to discover what my bankable skills were. I discovered an aptitude for analytical and creative thinking. What better way to repay UCF and Dr. Morgan than to give future students the same opportunity? I may not be there in the studios with the students of the future, but I know that my gift may allow a student to play a bit longer, and I will have done at least some of the good that UCF and Dr. Morgan did for me.”
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From left to right: Nicole Prada Jammal, Leila Jammal Nodarse, ’82, Sylvia Jammal, Samira Lubinsky Jammal, and Gabriella Jammal Lubinsky, who will begin attending UCF in Fall 2013.
Honors Donors and Students I n the 2012-2013 academic year, the UCF College of Nursing awarded more than $115,000 through 25 student scholarships. “Scholarship donors have committed themselves to the ideal that ordinary people can do extraordinary things, and we do. It is because of you that people like me can walk across the stage a changed person, and become the change I wish to see in this world,” says senior nursing student Samuel Foarde. Bob Lowke is one example of extraordinary generosity. He established the Jeanne Lowke Endowed Memorial Scholarship for Oncology Nursing Students after his wife, Jeanne, passed away from ovarian cancer in late 2011. Jeanne, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2000, was determined to help educate women about the often silent symptoms of the disease.
“During her fight, she helped establish the Ovarian Cancer Alliance of Florida and worked tirelessly as a member of their board to raise awareness in the community. She also participated in special programs at UCF to educate nursing students about the disease,” Lowke says. “After her death, it seemed like a natural fit to continue her advocacy by establishing an endowed scholarship in her memory at the College of Nursing.” “Scholarship support is a critical component of providing high-quality education for this community’s future nurse leaders,” says Jean D’Meza Leuner, founding dean and a professor at the College of Nursing. “Scholarships not only help alleviate the financial costs associated with higher education, but more importantly, they enable our nursing students to focus on their academic successes.”
Faculty member and donor Dr. Linda Hennig with her scholarship recipient, Sigrid Ladores