USF Magazine Spring 2025

USF

From Tampa Bay to CYBER BAY

Alums’ vision propels region to forefront of AI, cybersecurity

USF

FEATURES

26 Stepping up to lead the charge

Arnie and Lauren Bellini’s historic $40 million gift establishes the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing, the nation’s first named college dedicated to the convergence of AI and cybersecurity.

30 ‘We are better together’

More than 30,000 USF-community partnerships link faculty expertise with businesses, nonprofits, schools and other organizations to benefit the public, the university and the partners.

38 Together, they navigated a brave new world

As USF’s first club marks its 65th anniversary, members recount decades of friendship and the challenges that led inaugural first lady Grace Allen to bring them all together in 1960.

42 After 30 years, she found her cure

For decades, Cookie Huddleston struggled to breathe. She sought help from one physician after another but got no relief — until she visited the USF Health Voice Center.

46 Transforming Music City, one story at a time

Since the early 1990s, Tony Giarratana, ’80, has been building a stunning new Nashville skyline while helping create a vibrant downtown residential community.

50 Paying it forward

Our five 2024 USF Alumni Award recipients share their stories, the role USF played in their success and the ways in which they give back.

4 From the president

5 Points of pride

6-7 From the Alumni Association

8-11 First look

12-17 University community

18-23 Athletics

24-25 USF rising

AS WE ONWARD GO

56-59 Honor Roll 60-61 Where’s Rocky

Class Notes 72-73 In Memoriam 74-75 Chapters and Societies guide

About the cover

Joining to announce alumni Arnie and Lauren Bellini’s gift are, from left, cybersecurity student Brianna Deaubler, Provost Prasant Mohapatra, Foundation CEO Jay Stroman, Arnie and Lauren Bellini, President Rhea Law and Board of Trustees Chair Will Weatherford. Photo: ETHAN PEEBLES, ’23, Life Member // Advancement

From the President

President Rhea Law roars into The Motor Enclave for the Alumni Association’s Green & Gold Gala in March. The USF community has had plenty to celebrate in recent months.

Dear alumni, friends and supporters of USF

FROM HISTORIC GIFTS TO WELL-DESERVED recognition for the top-ranked medical school in Florida, this has been a memorable spring for the University of South Florida.

At the same time, this has been a season marked by changes across the higher education landscape. As we navigate these complexities, USF’s mission remains unchanged. We are focused on supporting student success and our world-class faculty, whose research and community service improve the quality of life across Tampa Bay, our state and the nation. As you will read in this issue of USF magazine, we have many reasons to be excited about the future of our great university—beginning with the establishment of USF’s 14th college.

We are incredibly grateful to alumni Arnie and Lauren Bellini, whose record-setting $40 million gift established the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing. Arnie and Lauren also announced that they will match every dollar donated to the college up to $5 million, with the goal of raising an additional $10 million and bringing the total in philanthropic support for the new college to $50 million. As you will read in our cover story, which begins on page 26, this transformational investment — the largest in USF’s history — marks the first named college in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to the convergence of AI and cybersecurity. When classes begin next fall, USF will dramatically expand access to state-of-the-art AI and cybersecurity training, producing thousands of highly skilled professionals prepared to defend businesses, institutions and government agencies from cyber threats.

We also were thrilled to celebrate the naming of the Peter and Cynthia Zinober Concert Hall at the School of

Music. Pete and Cynthia are longtime supporters of the arts at USF and throughout the Tampa Bay region, and their gift to the USF College of Design, Art and Performance — recently renamed to highlight the wide variety of programs it offers — was the largest single donation ever to the college. You can learn more about the Zinobers and their passion for the arts on page 24.

There is another “first” I want to share with you: As you can see on the opposite page, the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine is the top-ranked medical school in Florida, and it is one of 16 nationally — and the only one in Florida — to receive a Tier 1 ranking, the highest designation by U.S. News & World Report. We are incredibly proud of our physicians, faculty, staff and students, who are creating a healthier future for the Tampa Bay region and the state of Florida by delivering innovative patient care and leading impactful research.

I have heard from many members of the USF community since my announcement that I plan to step down as president following a national search and the selection of a successor. With all that we have accomplished over the past several years, USF is in a very strong position and the foundation is in place for the next leader to be successful.

Serving as USF’s eighth president has been the honor of my lifetime, and I am excited about what the future holds for our great university. Thank you for all that you do for our students and for USF.

Rhea F. Law, ’77 President, University of soUth florida life MeMber #976

Green and Gold Points of PRIDE

• NEW RECORDS •

$738 million in research funding—an increase of 35% since 2022

4 Goldwater Scholars the maximum allowed per institution—a first for USF

• NEW RANKINGS •

No.1 medical school in Florida and the only medical school in the state to receive a Tier 1 ranking — U.S. News & World Report

31 graduate programs in the top 100 for public and private institutions •15 in top 50 • 5 in top 25

— U.S. News & World Report

14 graduate programs ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the state

— U.S. News & World Report

No.1 best large employer among all public and private universities in Florida; No. 4 among all large employers in the state

— Forbes

• NEW HONORS •

9 faculty named National Academy of Inventors (NAI) senior members:

• Supraja Anand, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences

• Stephanie Carey, PhD ’08, College of Engineering

• Marcus Cooke, College of Arts and Sciences

• Lingling Fan, College of Engineering

• Srinivas Katkoori, College of Engineering

• Ashwin Parthasarathy, College of Engineering

• Xingmin Sun, Morsani College of Medicine

• Ismail Uysal, College of Engineering

• Yu “April” Zhang, College of Engineering

2 faculty named NAI fellows:

• Jianfeng Cai, College of Arts and Sciences

• Ashok Kumar, College of Engineering

11 faculty named American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows:

• John Arthur, College of Arts and Sciences

• Kathryn Weedman Arthur, College of Arts and Sciences

• Theresa Beckie, College of Nursing

• Patrice Buzzanell, College of Arts and Sciences

• Jianfeng Cai, College of Arts and Sciences

• David Diamond, College of Arts and Sciences

• Srinivas Katkoori, Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing

• Cecile Lengacher, College of Nursing

• Brad Seibel, College of Marine Science

• Sylvia Wilson Thomas, College of Engineering

• Vladimir Uversky, Morsani College of Medicine

2025

Alexander Graham Bell Medal

Richard D. Gitlin, Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, Institute for Advanced Discovery and Innovation

— Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

2024-2025 Connie Van Fleet Award

Amelia Anderson, Assistant Professor, College of Arts and Sciences

— Association for Library and Information Science Education

2025 Faculty Mentor of the Year

Nancy Diaz-Elsayed, Assistant Professor, College of Engineering

— Florida Undergraduate Research Association

USF magazine is published by USF Advancement and USF Communications & Marketing for alumni, friends and members of the USF community.

Senior Vice President of Advancement and Alumni Affairs, and CEO of USF Foundation Jay Stroman

University Communications & Marketing Vice President

Dan Caterinicchia

USF Alumni Association Vice President and Executive Director

Bill McCausland, MBA ’96

Editor Penny Carnathan ’82

Associate Editor Kiley Mallard

Design Editor Anne Scott

Designer Ethan Peebles ’23

University Leadership

Rhea Law, ’77, President

Dan Caterinicchia, Vice President, University Communications & Marketing, and Chief Marketing Officer

Jennifer Condon, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Cynthia DeLuca, Vice President, Student Success

Eric Eisenberg, Senior Vice President, University Community Partnerships

Sidney Fernandes, MS ’00, Vice President, Digital Experiences, and Chief Information Officer

Paige Beles Geers, Vice President and Chief of Staff

Christian Hardigree, Regional Chancellor of USF St. Petersburg

Brett Kemker, Interim Regional Chancellor of USF Sarasota-Manatee

Michael Kelly, Vice President, Intercollegiate Athletics

Charles Lockwood, MD, Executive Vice President of USF Health

Frank McKenzie, Executive Director, Global and National Security Institute, Florida Center for Cybersecurity Prasant Mohapatra, Provost and Executive Vice President, Academic Affairs

Angie Sklenka, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources and Administrative Officer

Gerard D. Solis, Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs, and General Counsel

Jay Stroman, Senior Vice President of Advancement and Alumni Affairs

Sylvia Wilson Thomas, Vice President, Research & Innovation

Mark Walsh, Assistant Vice President, Government Relations

USF Board of Trustees

William Weatherford, Chair

Michael E. Griffin ’03, Vice Chair

Sandra Callahan

Michael Carrere

N. Rogan Donelly, MBA ’18

Suryakanth Gottipati

Oscar Horton

Lauran Monbarren

Shilen Patel

Fredrick Piccolo

Melissa Seixas, MA ’96

David Simmons

Contact USF

University Communications & Marketing

4202 E. Fowler Ave., CGS 301, Tampa, FL 33620-4301 813-974-4014 or ucm@usf.edu

Contact the USF Alumni Association

Gibbons Alumni Center

4202 E. Fowler Ave., ALC100, Tampa, Florida 33620-5455 813-974-2100 • 800-299-BULL (2855) alumni@usf.edu

Update your contact information: www.myusfbio.org

Reprint policy: USF encourages reprinting articles in their entirety. Permission may be obtained by contacting FoundationComm@usf.edu.

Disclaimer: The information in USF magazine was correct at the time of publication. USF’s fast-paced environment changes daily. Every effort is made to ensure accuracy at the time of publication.

From the Association

My fellow Bulls,

IS SPRING THE NEW FALL? The extended run of crisp weather this year accompanied a March and April packed with events that drew thousands of students and alumni. Our busy calendar had all the buzz and excitement of a new school year.

We roared into March with about 600 alumni and friends at the sold-out seventh annual USF Alumni Association Green & Gold Gala, held for the first time at The Motor Enclave in Tampa. I heard from many of you that you loved this nontraditional and more intimate venue, which made it easy to connect with old friends. Duly noted for future reference!

Also in March, we cheered ourselves hoarse at the annual Life Member Appreciation Baseball Game, and less than two weeks later, celebrated our six 2025 USF Outstanding Young Alumni. We’ll be sharing more about these amazing Bulls in the fall issue of USF magazine but in the meantime, if you missed the April 10 awards event, please give the recipients a big Horns Up. They deserve it! Pictured above, left to right: me; Veronica “Ronnie” Gajownik, ’15; Stefania Alastre Arcusa, ’17 and MSPH ’21; Ashley Washington Julmis, ’11, Life Member; Shelly Marc, ’13, Life Member; Hiram J. Ríos Hernández, ’15; and Bailee W. Olliff, ’12 and MD ’16.

A few days later, we hit the links for our sold-out Birdies for Bulls Golf Tournament. Check the highlights reel at usf.to/BirdiesForBulls2025.

Alumni Association student group members also stayed busy, traveling to Tallahassee for USF Day at the Capitol, honoring their mentors at the Apple Polishing Awards, attending our Class Ring Ceremony and learning leadership skills at Ambassador Academy, to name a few of our many student engagement activities.

And that was just March and April! In January and February, a record 325 alumni and USF friends rolled up their sleeves and gave 997 volunteer hours to 36 charitable projects in 19 cities across the country for Stampede of Service. Our ever-growing network of alumni chapters and societies makes it easy to make a difference, and I’m proud of how enthusiastically Bulls respond to this annual observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

All that activity led to our most important USF event — commencement. This month, we welcomed approximately 5,000 new graduates to our alumni family, bringing our powerful, global Bulls network to 394,000 strong. As we grow, your Alumni Association continues to seek new opportunities to help you stay connected to USF, to enjoy the company of people with whom you share a bond, and to support our alma mater, fellow alumni and the students following in your footsteps.

This magazine is one of the ways we help you stay in touch, and your opinions guide its content. You will soon receive an email survey asking what you’d like to see more or less of, what you’d add, remove or change. I hope you’ll respond! Your opinions over the past 20-plus years have significantly improved the publication you hold (or are reading online) today.

Thank you for being a bold, proud Bull. Your love for USF continues to elevate our great university.

I look forward to spring redux in the fall — mark your calendar for Homecoming, Oct. 12-18!

BiLL MccausLand, MBa ’96 vice President and execUtive director, Usf

alUMni association life MeMber #2331

From

#10

to

#10,000:

Football alum scores again

AS JONATHAN ROSS WATCHED from the field, the clock counted down on his final days as a Bulls football player in 2023. But he knew his time with USF was far from over.

What the former Bulls defensive end didn’t know was that he would soon be the face of a milestone for the university: the USF Alumni Association’s 10,000th Life Member.

“I was very blessed for the opportunity to represent USF in this aspect, outside of playing football,” Ross says. “I was very honored and felt so much support and love from the university.”

Ross came to USF to earn a master’s degree in entrepreneurship and continue his athletic career. After graduating in May 2024, he set out to build a new team.

Trading his #10 jersey for Life Member #10,000, he joined a group that mirrors the excitement he felt about USF on the field and multiplied it tenfold. Some of USF’s most engaged fans, Life Members are alumni and friends dedicated to supporting the university by growing scholarships, fostering student success and developing community relationships.

“Our Life Member program represents some of USF’s most committed supporters, and Jonathan is a wonderful example of that pride and passion,” says Bill McCausland, vice president and executive director of the USF Alumni Association.

Life Members enjoy access to exclusive discounts and offers, but Ross values the intangible benefits even more. He treasures the connections he has made at Life Member events, such as the spring Life Member Appreciation Baseball Game and the fall Life Member Welcome Home Party during Homecoming. These high-energy gatherings have an easy, welcoming camaraderie that fosters relationships among members.

With 10,000 members and counting, the group’s impact has a powerful ripple effect. Life Members have supported almost $8 million in scholarships, leadership programs for USF students and recognition for alumni achievements.

Those opportunities to give back, while plugging into a network built on strong bonds, were central to Ross’s decision to invest in a Life Membership.

“As a member, I always have people who want to see me succeed,” he says. “I always have a group of people who have been through some of the same things that I’ve been through.’’

He was encouraged to join by a fellow Bull, Suzanne Ward, ’86, Life Member #1516. She has been to every football game in the 27-year history of the Bulls program and became fast friends with Ross’ mother while waiting for the gates to open at the 2023 spring game.

“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if a #10 football player became our #10,000 Life Member?’” Ward says.

Being a Life Member led to Ross meeting his current financial advisor, and the connections he’s made have helped catapult his business ventures, one of which is owning and operating vending machines in his Maryland hometown.

As he continues his professional football journey as a defensive end for the Indoor Football League’s Bay Area Panthers, Ross knows he will always have a green and gold fan — or 10,000 — cheering him on.

- MOLLY URNEK , ’20 // Advancement

Find Life Membership information at usf.to/lifemember

First Look

First game, first score, first WIN

MEMBERS OF USF WOMEN’S LACROSSE TEAM celebrate Feb. 7 after beating Kennesaw State 19-6 in their first official Division 1 game.

Pictured, left to right, are Lexi Larsen, Lucy Hankins, Paige Pagano, Alison Harbaugh, Lily Mosser, Bailey Morris, Maggie Newton, Ansley Knor, Jordan Salisbury and Catherine Taylor.

The team played in front of a crowd of 2,386 fans, including American Athletic

as second seed, where they took on James Madison University (13-4). On May 3, they lost to JMU with a score of 18-9.

That game foreshadowed a remarkable first season that saw the Bulls finish 12-4 and qualify for the AAC Championship Tournament Semifinal, where they defeated Eastern Carolina University 14-12 on May 1. They advanced to the AAC Championship

Led by Head Coach Mindy McCord, lacrosse is USF’s 20th varsity team and the first new team since 1997, when USF Football debuted.

Conference (AAC) Commissioner Tim Pernetti, university President Rhea Law, Baltimore Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh and Loyola Marymount legend Bo Kimble.

CHRIS HENRY

First Look

RICK BRANDT, ECONOMICS ’91, Life Member, poses at right with Muma College of Business Dean David Blackwell in front of the NASCAR Xfinity Series car sponsored by BRANDT, a global agricultural company.

Brandt and his chief marketing officer, Karl Barnhart, visited the college in February for a Conversation with a CEO event.

The CEO and president of BRANDT, based in Springfield, Illinois, Brandt

shared the challenges he faced after taking over the family’s agricultural fertilizer business in 1995. In his 30 years of leadership, the company has acquired 16 businesses, vastly expanded its products and services, and grown to 500 associates.

Brandt also shared how the company came to be a major NASCAR sponsor, partnering with JR Motorsports and 2024 Xfinity Series champion driver Justin

Allgaier about 15 years ago. “I knew nothing about NASCAR,” Brandt said. “(But) the demographics looked good to me. We didn’t have a marketing person.”

His conversation included plenty of lessons learned from experience. On hiring, he said, “I knew I wasn’t the smartest guy in the room, but I turned that into an asset. I could attract the smartest guy in the room and get them to work for me.”

- LIZ BROWN // Muma College of Business

University Community

Giving week sets records

USF GIVING WEEK IN APRIL saw a 45% increase in alumni donors over 2024 and raised $6.6 million toward 566 causes, the most ever supported.

HONORS

RESEARCH

New center focuses on high blood pressure

A NEW HYPERTENSION AND Kidney Research Center has opened at USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

Scientists and clinicians across several departments will work together to facilitate high-impact studies, attract top-tier researchers and secure competitive grants related to high blood pressure and kidney disease.

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, affects nearly 120 million adults across the country and is the most common medical condition in Florida. In addition to being a major risk factor for stroke and coronary heart disease, it is strongly associated with kidney disease and renal failure.

“The center aims to advance the understanding and prevention of hypertension and kidney disease, potentially translating scientific discoveries into the improvement of patient care,” said center director Alexander Staruschenko.

120 Million Adults 120 across the country are affected by high blood pressure

Tributes for Coach Abdur-Rahim

HONORS FOR USF’S FORMER men’s head basketball coach Amir AbdurRahim continue. The beloved 43-year-old coach, who died unexpectedly Oct. 24 following a medical procedure, was named the 2024-25 American Athletic Conference Honorary Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year in February. The conference also established the Amir Abdur-Rahim Sportsmanship Award, to be presented annually to the men’s basketball student-athlete who best exemplifies sportsmanship, fair play and leadership.

On April 23, the Florida Senate adopted Resolution 1878 honoring Coach Abdur-Rahim’s life and legacy, and expressing gratitude for his contributions to the Bay area and Florida. Sen. Darryl Rouson, who introduced the resolution, was joined by Sens. Danny Burgess, ’08, and Jay Collins for the formal reading.

Medical engineering expands labs

THE DEPARTMENT OF MEDICAL ENGINEERING is expanding its state-of-the-art lab space to support a growing community of students and researchers, and meet the demand for biomedical engineers.

Construction is underway on three new research laboratories in the Interdisciplinary Sciences Building on the Tampa campus. Existing labs will be enhanced with cutting-edge technology, including an advanced 3D bioprinter capable of creating biocompatible tissues and organs for regenerative medicine. Other additions include high-resolution microscopes, improved real-time imaging systems and expanded cell culture facilities.

Since its launch in 2019, the department has more than doubled enrollment and grown from two full-time faculty members to 14. It has produced 25 patents and published nearly 650 academic journal articles.

and doubled enrollment since program launch

King’s reign continues

GOING INTO THE 2025 Academy Awards, Richard King, ’80, already had more wins for Best Sound Editing than anyone in history. And then he broke his own record. On March 2, King picked up his fifth Oscar — this one for his work on “Dune: Part Two.”

A 2020 USF Distinguished Alumnus, King graduated from the College of Design, Art and Performance with a degree in art.

Britain honors shipwreck hunter

AFTER LOCATING 29 MAJOR SHIPWRECKS, including some key to British history, David Mearns, MS ’86, was appointed to the Order of the British Empire on Dec. 30. Prince William presented the award, one of Britain’s highest honors, in February to recognize the marine scientist’s work.

A 2011 USF Distinguished Alumnus, Mearns is a longtime resident of England who played a key role in discovering British explorer Sir Ed Shackleton’s ship, Quest, in 2024.

Has your email changed? Your address? It’s easier than ever for alumni to update their info and stay connected to USF. Visit usf.to/update to make changes.

Intramural athletic complex opens

STUDENTS TOOK THE FIELD at Research Park Field Complex for the first time in February. Located on the southwest portion of the Tampa campus along Fowler Avenue, the new complex has four

multipurpose fields, two recreational softball fields, new restrooms and a storage facility. There is also a half-mile walking trail with parking accessible on Spectrum Boulevard near the USF Research Park. The complex replaces Sycamore Fields, the site of the new on-campus stadium.

ALUMNI

University Community

‘A philanthropist at heart’

Bradenton man turns personal health crisis into lifesaving mission

Right: Ernie Withers, left, poses with Palmetto High School staff members after donating two automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to the Bradenton school.

Below: Withers provides AED and CPR training to staff and board members of The Twig, a nonprofit serving foster children and their families. Defibrillate Manatee Foundation donated three AEDs to the organization.

WHILE SHAGGING FLYBALLS during an event at Bradenton’s Pirate City, the spring training home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Ernie Withers suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field.

The team’s doctor performed CPR as Pirates players and others knelt in prayer. A trainer grabbed a nearby automated external defibrillator, or AED, and administered a jolt of electricity to Withers’ chest. Resuscitated, the retired auto industry executive was loaded into an ambulance where he suffered a second heart attack and paramedics again revived him.

A week later, Withers, ’76, Life Member and USF Sarasota-Manatee Campus Board member, was healthy enough to throw out the first pitch at a Pirates spring training game. He had four newly installed stents and a defibrillatorpacemaker in his chest, and a new purpose in life.

Every day since those events of February 2023, Withers has channeled his second chance into a mission to provide Manatee County organizations with equipment and training that might help save a life.

His Defibrillate Manatee Foundation has raised almost $200,000 from individuals, businesses and

“It’s so heartwarming that the local community saw what happened to me and how they responded. ... It’s incumbent for me to spread my message.”

– Ernie Withers

a crisis,” says Chief Scott Tyler.

Withers also donated three AEDs to the Pirates’ training staff for distribution to nonprofits in the Pittsburgh area.

other charitable foundations, enough to provide 170 portable AEDs to public safety agencies and nonprofit organizations, including the Boys and Girls Clubs and Special Olympics.

“It’s so heartwarming that the local community saw what happened to me and how they responded,” Withers says. “You can’t really appreciate it unless you have a personal connection with someone who goes through what I went through. It’s incumbent for me to spread my message.”

The Palmetto Police Department received 40 AEDs to place in its patrol cars. “These lifesaving AEDs will always be just a few blocks away from someone who needs one in

In addition to the AEDs, which cost about $1,700 apiece, the Defibrillate Manatee Foundation has provided training AEDs, CPR mannequins and AED/CPR training sessions.

Withers is “a philanthropist at heart,” says Veronica Thames, CEO of the Manatee Community Foundation, which provides administrative support to Defibrillate Manatee Foundation.

“It’s said that philanthropy is not a matter of wealth, it’s a matter of character,” she says. “Ernie is a great example of that; making a life-threatening personal experience into a worthy cause to make our community a better place and gifting of his time, talent and treasure alike.”

- MARC MASFERRER // University Communications

Photos provided by ERNIE WITHERS

“

So many of them keep in contact and let me know when they get married, have children or make a great career move.”

– Paula Faloon

She’s catered to a generation of students – with love

PAULA FALOON’S CAREER READS like a highlights reel of USF history. As an employee of USF’s former and current dining services contractors, she has served four USF presidents and countless guests, faculty and staff. She has witnessed campus life in all its moments: celebrations and farewells, weddings and funerals, orientation day jitters and graduation dances.

She has worked on gala dinners and banquets for a visiting Saudi prince, served reporters and politicians, and helped feed the Pittsburgh Steelers when they trained on campus before Super Bowl XLIII.

But her proudest memories aren’t of high-profile guests; they’re of students. She has worked with hundreds in her 29 years feeding USF.

“So many of them keep in contact and let me know when they get married, have children or make a great career move,” says Faloon, who will retire in September as director of catering for USF Aramark. She has watched student workers she mentored go on to become police officers, flight attendants, engineers, lawyers, HR professionals and physicians.

Her dedication goes beyond the kitchens, conference rooms and banquet halls. At the height of COVID-19, when 180 stricken students were quarantined on campus and supply chains fell apart, Faloon suited up in hazmat gear and got to work. She packed her

car with supplies from Sam’s Club and, alongside her Aramark colleagues, prepared and delivered meals to the sick.

She laughs as she recalls some of the behind-the-scenes mishaps over the decades: hot boxes falling off delivery trucks, asking tour leaders to stall groups while her team frantically replaced missing items before guests noticed, and student workers learning (sometimes the hard way) how to maneuver catering vehicles. “There’s never a dull moment,” she says.

Now, she’s preparing to hang up her familiar black pants and polo. She plans to travel with her husband and lead Pilates courses for women over 55.

“Paula may not have taught in a classroom, but she has been an educator in her own way, showing a generation of Bulls what it means to serve with heart and humor,” says Shari Martinez, senior director of executive and presidential events in the USF President’s Office.

And that is what it comes down to.

“While few of them go on to hospitality careers, their time on our team was important — a job that helped them support themselves while they earned a degree, a training ground where they learned about communication, multi-tasking, problem-solving and building relationships,” says Faloon.

“It really warms my heart when, at graduation ceremonies, students ask me to help them put on their cap and pose for pictures.”

- LORIE BRIGGS , ’88 and MA ’13 // Innovative Education

University Community

Student Health Buddies help fight loneliness among the chronically ill

JULIE CRAMER, HOUSEBOUND due to a chronic health condition, remembers looking forward to weekly calls from her Health Buddy, a retired nurse. The volunteer offered Cramer compassion, guidance and, most importantly, an understanding ear. Cramer felt she’d found a caring friend. In fact, she and her Health Buddy still talk regularly.

“The ability to feel heard — that someone actually cares about and believes what you’re saying — can be transformational,” Cramer says.

Thanks to a partnership with USF, many students, faculty and alumni now serve as volunteers. Part of the nonprofit Seniors in Service of Tampa Bay, Health Buddies aims to improve the well-being of people isolated by health issues.

“We match individuals who are primarily older adults who feel isolated, lonely and have chronic conditions with a Health Buddy,” explains program manager Aria Garling, ’24, Life Member. “A Health Buddy is a trained, background-checked volunteer who provides companionship [via phone calls] to these individuals across 12 weeks’ time.”

Since Garling became the manager in 2021, the program has grown from 20 recipients annually to an anticipated 400-plus this year. The number of student

Aside from her work as the Health Buddies program manager, Garling, far left, also coordinates supplying fresh, sustainably sourced local produce to participants of Seniors in Service sister programs.

volunteers has also grown. Their majors span a range of USF disciplines.

“Health Buddies has been a tremendous influence on my professional development, as well as a driver in my personal goals as I aspire to be a leader in health care,” says Sana Lulu, a 2023 biomedical sciences alumna now in USF’s medical school. “This program taught me that every action, no matter how small, can make a big difference in someone else’s life.”

Health Buddies serves clients in Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties at no charge. Making a connection after feeling isolated for so long often reinvigorates clients, with some even becoming volunteers themselves. USF students also provide research through the USF Center for the Advancement of Food Security and Healthy Communities to identify how the program can improve.

The students gain invaluable experience in community-based research, says David Himmelgreen, anthropology professor and director of the food security center.

“The students learn how to interview, analyze and interpret data and the participants develop a social connection with our students,” he says.

“The Health Buddies program creates a link between generations, and that benefits everyone.”

- KELLIE BRITCH , ’18 // College of Arts and Sciences

To participate, visit seniorsinservice.org/health-buddies

COREY

LEPAK

Meet the DEAN

6 things to know about Dr. Sten Vermund, our

new College of Public Health dean

IN JANUARY, DR. STEN VERMUND JOINED the university as dean of the College of Public Health, as well as Distinguished University Health Professor and senior associate vice president of USF Health. Also the chief medical officer of the Global Virus Network, he brings four decades of infectious disease epidemiology and prevention experience to his new role.

Here are six facts to help you get to know Dean Vermund.

He welcomes Florida’s warmer weather.

Vermund, whose parents immigrated from Norway, was born in Minnesota, and grew up in Wisconsin and California. He most recently moved from New Haven, Connecticut, where he served as dean and professor of the Yale School of Public Health and professor in pediatrics in the Yale School of Medicine.

Now that he can play golf year-round, he spends his free time teeing up, swinging a tennis racket and jogging when his running app reminds him to. “I’m kind of a pathetic jogger,” he says. “If you saw my pace, you might say, ‘That’s an interesting old man running down the street.’”

Most likely in his ear buds? “New York Tendaberry’’ by Laura Nyro, “Rubber Soul’’ by the Beatles, “Elis & Tom” by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Elis Regina, or “Breakin’ Away’’ by Al Jarreau.

He suggests the answer to a greener future is right above our heads.

Vermund strives to live an eco-friendly life and used to bike to work. In Connecticut, his family switched to all solar housing and bought an electric car. Their monthly electric bill dropped to zero.

“In Florida, the amount of solar energy that can be economically harvested by homeowners is vast, a high return on investment.”

He’s keen on collaboration and AI-integration. The fields of epidemiology, health economics, biostatistics, health policy, laboratory science and others have undergone a radical expansion thanks to machine learning and data science, Vermund says. He looks forward to a curriculum that prepares students by integrating new technology like geosensing and includes collaboration

with other colleges, such as the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing, and community partners like Tampa General Hospital.

He says you must be both aggressive and patient to achieve.

Reflecting on his successful intervention to reduce HIV transmission from mothers to children in Zambia, he credits two qualities: aggressiveness and patience.

“You have to be aggressive because you have to find out, if you launch an initiative in a clinic, why is it not working optimally, and you have to be patient because you need to do the implementation science to figure out exactly how to fix it.”

He loves history and once contemplated being an archaeologist.

A secret weapon on trivia nights, Vermund is obsessed with history, the Spanish Civil War and the U.S. Civil Rights Movement since the 1950s. A bucket list item? “Someday I would like to visit Egypt with my family to see the Sphinx, the Pyramids, Luxor and the great museums,” he says.

His favorite food? His wife’s cooking.

Vermund’s wife, Dr. Pilar Vargas, is a native of Puerto Rico whose mother is from Spain. She serves up some of Vermund’s favorite dishes, which include Caribbean and Spanish cuisine, comida criolla

“If she’s in the mood to whip up some of her local cuisine,” he says, “I’m there.”

As a retired pediatric psychiatrist, Dr. Vargas is helping ground the couple in Tampa and support her husband.

“The Tampa community has been most welcoming, and Pilar and I are most proud and pleased to be here in the vibrant USF ecosystem,” Vermund says.

- MOLLY URNEK , ’20 // Advancement

As a kid growing up in Ghana, he raced rabbits–and

WON

Now the record-breaking sprinter is chasing his dream

TRACK AND FIELD JUNIOR SPRINTER Abdul-Rasheed

Saminu has raced to a top finish in USF athletics history, setting a program record in the high-profile 100 meters, competing in last summer’s Olympic Games for his native Ghana and helping the Bulls to three conference championships (so far) while achieving AllAmerican status.

It’s a great story.

But get a load of the 24-year-old’s backstory.

He grew up in the tiny West African village of Wulensi, Ghana, in a dwelling without electricity, running barefoot to chase down rabbits for food. “It wasn’t just straight-out fast running,’’ he says. “You need mobility to run with a rabbit. They are tricky.’’

He ran his first formal competition on a grass track, attended the University of Ghana, Legon, for a year, then came to America to study and pursue new opportunities.

Now, he’s one of the world’s fastest men.

“When I tell people the story, they think it’s amazing,’’ Saminu says. “It is just my story. I have come a long, long way. But I just go out there, do my best and run my race. It’s really as simple as that.’’

“ To come here to USF and get an education ... I am very grateful.”

– Abdul-Rasheed Saminu

His uncomplicated approach may be a key reason for his success. He doesn’t overthink any performance. He simply runs — very, very quickly.

“I did not grow up with a lot’’ of resources, Saminu says. “But I have always run for the fun. I still do it for the fun. I’m very happy that it has taken me places, like America, and given me the chance for a successful life.’’

A mass communications major, he hopes to remain involved in track and field, or sports in general, maybe as a commentator or advisor to other athletes.

Inset: Saminu helps his mother, Hawa Alhasaan, at her food business in Ashaiman, Ghana, during a trip to his homeland. They’re selling koko, a popular street food.

“To come here to USF and get an education, to have these opportunities with a scholarship, I am very grateful,’’ he says. “I have the ability to run and that is giving me a good chance at life.’’

At last season’s USF Invitational, Saminu says he had a great week of preparation. When the 100-meter dash was complete — when he noticed all of his coaches and teammates clapping, jumping or exchanging high-fives — the time read 9.95 seconds. That finish led the nation for a month until being supplanted by a 9.93.

And then he beat his own record. At the Pepsi Florida Relays in April, he clocked 9.87 in the 100-meter, shattering the USF program record and setting the fastest pace at the time for that collegiate event.

“He’s very focused and he comes to work every day,” says Erik Jenkins, USF’s track and field head coach. “He listens, understands and puts it into practice. He’s precisely the guy I thought he would be when we first heard about him.’’

Jenkins says he has successfully recruited African athletes throughout his career, dating back to his stint at

Western Kentucky. He had his eye on Saminu for a few years before he was able to recruit him to USF.

“Tampa was a nice city and USF had a great program,’’ Saminu says. “I thought I would fit in well. But nobody ever thought I would come from that tiny village and make it to this level.’’

Let alone a trip to last summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, where Saminu reached the 100-meter semifinals, earning him the status of the world’s top 16 athletes in that event.

“In a way, I couldn’t believe I was actually there,’’ he says. “But in the end, I felt I belonged. Now my goal is to get up on that podium’’ as a top-three finisher in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

In Ghana, about 80 languages are spoken. Saminu speaks five — English, Dagbani, Twi, Hausa and Arabic.

“It might seem like he is from a very different place, but people are people,’’ Jenkins says.

His teammates beg to differ. They say they know few, if anyone, like the friend they call Rasheed.

“Rasheed is a very interesting person,’’ says AllAmerican jumper Goodness Iredia, who’s also a roommate. “Fantastic personality. He’s calm, cool and peaceful. And he’s a loyal friend.’’

Zayquan Lincoln, who runs the 4x100 relay with Saminu, says he has a distinctive style.

“The way he goes about things, the way he moves … it’s all just very different. There’s no telling what he might do. Sky’s the limit, really.’’

Saminu is a legitimate triple-threat in the 100 meters; the 200 meters, where he has a 20.34 wind-aided time; and the 4x100 relay, where he anchored a team that captured the event at the storied Penn Relays and edged Houston by a hundredth-of-a-second at 39.34.

“He has a chance to be very, very scary,’’ Jenkins says. “We are happy that he chose the University of South Florida. He can be the person who everybody talks about, the standard-bearer.’’

For Saminu, the finish is never the end of the story.

- JOEY JOHNSTON, ’81 // Athletics

Above: Abdul-Rasheed Saminu shows off a trophy from the 2025 American Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in March. He won two events, broke a program record in the 60-meter finals, and earned his third First Team All-American honor since joining the Bulls.

Athletics

What’s in a name? For four Bulls, a legacy

DANIA BROOKS ALREADY HAS MADE A NAME for herself by becoming a rising star with the USF softball program.

“I’m always going to be my own person,” she says.

“But I am definitely influenced by the way my dad lives his life. He has given me the greatest example.’’

Former NFL linebacker Derrick Brooks, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and perhaps the greatest player of all time for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, remains highly regarded because of his athletic prowess and civic contributions. But around the USF softball diamond, he’s just a proud dad.

“I honestly try to stay in parent mode and enjoy all of the moments,’’ Brooks says. “I want DaNia to have this stage to herself. I’m always there for support. If she wants my opinion on something, I’m here. Other than that, I’m the dad.’’

Brooks joins three other Athletics fathers renowned

for their own sports. Like Brooks, they’re content to remain in the background and watch their children thrive with the Bulls.

DaNia can relate to her softball teammate, Jamia Nelson, whose father, Jameer, was an NBA luminary and the 2004 college basketball National Player of the Year at Saint Joseph’s University in Pennsylvania. “My dad has always been there for me,’’ Jamia says.

USF’s first-year lacrosse program features Alison Harbaugh, a Notre Dame transfer whose father, John, has completed his 17th season as head coach of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. The coach guided Baltimore to the Super Bowl XLVII championship in 2014.

Meanwhile, Bulls football place-kicker Nico Gramatica, who set a program record with successful field goals of 58 and 51 yards in one game last season, has followed in the legendary cleat marks of his father. Martin Gramatica was a Pro Bowl kicker and Super Bowl champion with the Bucs. Additionally, Nico Gramatica’s uncles Bill and Santiago Gramatica were two of the top kickers in USF football history.

It’s a remarkable confluence of athletic bloodlines and a coincidence that they all arrived at USF together. They have become kindred spirits,

Left to right, Martin Gramatica, pictured above in a trading card, is a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker and the father of Bulls placekicker Nico Gramatica. Bulls softball player Jamia Nelson is the daughter of former NBA star Jameer Nelson.

“I’m always going to be my own person. But I am definitely influenced by the way my dad lives his life. He has given me the greatest example.”

– DaNia Brooks

mostly because of their similar upbringings. They agree on one point: Their fathers really do know best.

“When people hear my last name ‘Gramatica,’ most of them have heard of my father,’’ Nico says. “Being the son of Martin Gramatica, maybe it will open a door or two, but you have to keep making kicks when you’re a kicker. My father wants me to have my own life and my own path. I appreciate that.’’

Alison Harbaugh says she grew up knowing that her father, a high-profile coach, was under constant scrutiny from the public.

“Our dads have been involved in the business of sports, where things can be so fickle, where the media and fans say things about you that maybe aren’t exactly right,’’ Alison says. “But you know what? You stay true to that family name. You grow closer and tighter.

“Your dad might be well-known, but he’s still your dad. And that’s what really matters.’’

- JOEY JOHNSTON

Above, Derrick and DaNia Brooks, also pictured at left, hang out at the USF athletic fields. DaNia is a Bulls softball player. Alison Harbaugh, far left, plays on USF’s women’s lacrosse team. Her dad is John Harbaugh, head coach of the Baltimore Ravens.

Athletics

A rendering released April 29 shows a new view of the stadium’s east side, with premium suites and club seating, the press box, rooftop patio and about 40 “living room” style loge seats.

‘Make

some noise’

—

on-campus stadium construction to ramp up soon

WITH AN UPDATED PROJECT COST approved by the USF Board of Trustees on April 29 and site preparation being completed this month, construction of USF’s on-campus stadium will soon ramp up.

The new $348.5 million price tag includes upgrades to allow for future expansion, expanding the Tampa General Hospital Center for Athletic Excellence and enhanced locker room amenities.

The stadium remains on target to open in fall 2027. It’s anticipated to transform students’ college experience and help forge lifelong connections to the university by attracting

USF alumni and friends to the Tampa campus.

Additional money for construction will come from interest on $200 million in financing previously issued by the USF Financing Corp. Meanwhile, generous donors continue to invest in the fruition of a longtime dream. Recent examples include:

The Horton Family Foundation: Oscar Horton, Life Member, and Miriam Horton, Life Member, through their foundation, made a gift of $1 million last fall. The founders of Horton Holdings, LLC, they have been longtime USF supporters. Oscar Horton serves on the USF Board of Trustees and is a former USF Foundation board member.

The Gonzmart Family Foundation: Also last fall, Richard Gonzmart, Life Member, and his family donated $1 mil-

lion toward the stadium. Gonzmart foundation officers are brothers Richard and Casey Gonzmart Sr.; Richard’s daughter Andrea Gonzmart Williams, ’01, Life Member and USF Foundation board member; and Casey’s son Casey Gonzmart Jr. They represent the fourth- and fifth-generation owners of the 1905 Family Of Restaurants, which includes the historic Columbia Restaurant.

Joey and Jennifer Redner: Earlier this year, the USF Foundation announced a $2.2 million gift, half of which is dedicated to the stadium and half to USF’s beer brewing arts program. In 2007, Joey Redner founded Cigar City Brewing, a popular microbrewery that he eventually sold. Jennifer Redner had a successful career in the telecom sales and now manages their family business office.

Welcome Coach Hodgson

BRYAN HODGSON JOINED USF as men’s basketball head coach in March. He comes to Tampa from Arkansas State, where his two seasons as head coach were among the program’s most successful.

In his second season at Arkansas, Hodgson led the Red Wolves to a program-record 25 victories and an offense that produced 79.4 points per game — top 50 in the nation. They secured the Sun Belt Conference regular-season title and marked their first National Invitation Tournament appearance in more than 30 years.

His exceptional recruiting ability earned him recognition as one of The Athletic’s top 25 up-and-coming coaches and one of the 50 most impactful high-major assistant coaches.

“USF basketball is going to become a household name in the college hoops world,’’ he said during his formal introduction March 28.

The university has great facilities and an enlightened approach to changes in collegiate athletics, Hodgson said. That includes specific plans to address Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), the transfer portal, and the impending debut of direct compensation to athletes.

“We’re ahead of the game,’’ Hodgson said.

Hodgson succeeds Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, who died unexpectedly Oct. 24 after leading the program to its first national ranking in 2023-24, and interim Coach Ben Fletcher, who led the team during the 2024-25 season.

“This isn’t a rebuild,’’ Hodgson said. “Coach Amir did a phenomenal job, and the foundation is here. We’re going to do our best to continue what he started and build on that momentum.”

Read more at usf.to/CoachHodgson

There’s in concert hall’s new name PERFECT HARMONY “

STEP INTO THE SOUTH TAMPA HOME of Pete and Cynthia Zinober and the musical soundtrack of their life becomes instantly evident.

A well-worn piano that belonged to Pete’s mother anchors a cozy room to the right; vintage brass instruments cast a soft glow from various corners. Pete proudly displays the 1892 valve trombone he bought for a steal on eBay for $300, as well as a 1920 Conn Wonder cornet and a 1926 double-bell euphonium. Prominently displayed is the Miraphone euphonium he plays as first chair in the Eastern Hillsborough Community Band and the Tampa Community Band.

His day job is labor and development law with the international firm of Ogletree Deakins, handling cases at every level, including 11 before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Below: Pete Zinober’s collection of vintage brass instruments includes his beloved Miraphone Ambassador 5050 euphonium, foreground, and the 1920 Conn Wonder cornet behind it.

Cynthia shares her husband’s passion for both history and the arts. Before retiring, she served 34 years as executive director of the Henry B. Plant Museum, which she grew significantly in funding and stature. Before that, she worked for The Florida Orchestra as administrator and fundraiser.

So it seemed only natural that the couple would themselves make history while elevating the arts at USF. Their recent $2.5 million gift to the College of Design, Art and Performance — the largest single donation ever to the college — has also named the state-of-the-art concert

... This gift is structured in a way that will allow us to support all of the arts when and where they need it the most.”

– Chris Garvin

venue at the Tampa campus’s School of Music. It is now the Peter and Cynthia Zinober Concert Hall.

“We didn’t just parachute into this project last month with a sack of money, saying ‘We want our names on a building — what have you got?’” Pete says. “It was either going to be music or nothing, because of our connection to music and the college, which we’ve been involved with since the 1970s.”

• • •

The hall is an intimate space with seating for 450. Gifted students and faculty showcase their skills here, as do visiting performers. Since opening in 2011, it has become a musical gem for both USF and the entire Tampa Bay region. The only thing missing was an identity. The right identity. Now, thanks to the Zinobers, it has one.

“I can’t think of a more ideal name to grace our world-class music hall — given the Zinobers’ love of music, their involvement with the arts and culture in the community, and their sincere desire to support a beautiful venue and our many talented students,” says USF President Rhea Law. “We are so grateful to them.”

College Dean Chris Garvin echoes those sentiments and points out that the Zinobers’ gift does more than provide student musicians with a top-tier performance space.

“While their gift names the concert hall, its fruits will be seen across all of our arts disciplines,” he says. “Our new name, the College of Design, Art and Performance, highlights the breadth of our programs, and this gift is structured in a way that will allow us to support all of the arts when and where they need it the most.”

• • •

Pete’s story began in St. Petersburg, where he attended Boca Ciega High (Class of ’60). At UF, he played principal euphonium for nine years, French horn in the university’s orchestra, and trumpet, brass, choir work and

USF Rising

recorder in Renaissance and Baroque ensembles.

He met Cynthia in 1967, when he lived in a log cabin with eight classmates while attending UF Levin College of Law.

“We called it the Santa Fe River Valley Hunt Club, and one of the things we did was host parties for the law school tied to various events,” he says.

Cynthia, who had transferred to UF from then-Queens College in Charlotte, North Carolina, turned up for one of those parties. It was a fleeting encounter, and the two would go their separate ways, marrying and building successful careers. But later in life, their paths would cross again — and again and again.

In Tampa, Pete chaired The Florida Orchestra board, served on Tampa’s Mayor’s Public Arts Committee and as president of the Tampa Bay Business Committee for Arts and Culture.

Cynthia, meanwhile, joined The Florida Orchestra staff in 1983 and five years later, Henry B. Plant Museum. At USF, she became president of both Town & Gown and CADRE, a support group of the USF Institute for Research in Art. Along the way, she and Pete kept running into one another. They both served on and chaired the Arts Council of Hillsborough County. They

belonged to the Tampa Yacht Club, where they even played mixed doubles tennis as partners on occasion.

“There were just so many things we found ourselves doing at the same time, and we gradually became best friends,” Pete says. “It was only after that when we started to date.”

They married 12 years ago.

“Pete and Cynthia are very special people who have already made their mark on this university and community, and now they are doing so in such a lasting way with the College of Design, Art and Performance,” says USF Foundation CEO Jay Stroman. “Their generous support reflects their deep love of music and the arts, and their commitment to fostering talent and creativity. We are profoundly grateful for the legacy they are leaving, which will inspire and benefit our students and programs for generations to come.”

On a shelf in their home, family photos abound, including shots of Pete’s three sons and seven grandchildren. But now there’s a new addition to the family — the Peter and Cynthia Zinober Concert Hall, mirroring their lifelong commitment to the community and unending passion for music.

- DAVE SCHEIBER // A dvancement

Above: Cynthia and Pete Zinober, surrounded by music in their Tampa home, gave the College of Design, Art and Performance $2.5 million, which named the Peter and Cynthia Zinober Concert Hall within the School of Music.

Photos: CHARLIZE MCDANIEL Class of ’25

Stepping up to LEAD THE CHARGE

Alums’ historic gift puts Tampa Bay at the forefront of US cybersecurity

By DAVE SCHEIBER

SUSPENSE FILLED THE PACKED ATRIUM in USF’s Research Park. A tangle of media cameras focused on towers of green and gold balloons flanking the podium and the mysterious curtain behind it. A surprise was coming, and the presence of USF’s top leaders left no doubt: It would be big.

Then came the dramatic words delivered by USF Board of Trustees Chair Will Weatherford: “It is my honor to announce the historic, $40 million gift to a new college, which will be named the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing!”

The curtain dropped on cue, revealing a new USF logo bearing the names of the couple seated in the front row — Arnie and Lauren Bellini, two proud USF graduates. They rose from their seats amidst cheers and applause.

Arnie Bellini, MBA ’82, and Lauren Bellini, Marketing ’91, had just made the largest gift in USF’s history, distinguishing the university as the first in the nation to have a named college dedicated to the convergence of AI and cybersecurity.

Even more consequential, the Bellini College will take an unprecedented approach to preparing students to lead in protecting the nation while also leveraging AI potential. Unlike traditional cybersecurity programs, the college will intertwine the two fields of study, eventually housing faculty and students in one building. They will research and learn together — an integrated approach that recognizes AI as both the greatest enabler and greatest threat in the cyber landscape.

It also positions Tampa Bay — uniquely situated at the intersection of technology, military defense and global commerce — as the nation’s cybersecurity capital, “Cyber Bay.”

“The future of warfare, economic power and national security is digital,” Arnie Bellini told the crowd at the March press conference. “Cyberattacks are the new missiles, and AI is the arms race of our time. America is under siege in cyberspace every nanosecond of every day.

“We are failing to produce the talent and technology needed to defend ourselves. That changes today. Tampa and USF are stepping up to lead the charge in securing our nation’s future.”

The Bellinis’ gift comes during an unprecedented wave of cyberattacks, AI-driven threats and global competition in digital security, which cost the nation more than $12 billion in 2023 alone. The new college, set to open in the fall, will address the

Arnie Bellini, MBA ’82, and Lauren Bellini, ’91, attend the press conference announcing their $40 million gift to name the new Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing.

“ ... everything I need is right here in the fertile soils of Tampa Bay, so that’s why I planted and grew ConnectWise here.”

– Arnie Bellini

Opposite page: Bellini explains the urgent need to protect the U.S. with a welltrained AI and cyber

Left, Arnie Bellini discusses the importance of taking an integrated approach to AI and cybersecurity research and education.

shortage in cybersecurity experts while fortifying the country’s digital defenses by producing graduates ready and able to make a big impact.

“We are at a pivotal moment in history where AI and cybersecurity must evolve together,” said USF President Rhea Law. “This college will produce the talent and innovation needed to meet the escalating challenges of the digital era. We are proud to stand alongside the Bellinis in shaping the future of AI and cybersecurity.”

USF is already home to the Florida Center for Cybersecurity, “Cyber Florida,” established by the state legislature in 2014 to position Florida as a national cybersecurity leader through education, research and outreach. The university also has strong ties to Tampa’s MacDill Air Force Base, U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command.

Those relationships, coupled with the growth of AI, set the wheels in motion for USF’s 14th college. Law recognized the need for USF to be on the leading edge of AI and cybersecurity and began laying the groundwork. In 2023, USF Provost Prasant Mohapatra, who has expertise in mobile communications, cybersecurity and internet protocols, created a task force, developed a structure and recruited staff.

But a new college needs funding.

Enter Arnie Bellini, who in 2022 sold ConnectWise, the computer business he founded with brother David, for $1.3 billion. That year, Arnie and Lauren made an $11 million gift to USF to establish the Bellini Center for Talent

Development through the Muma College of Business. The center equips students with the professional and technical skills they need to launch successful business careers.

The couple saw the impact — and the potential for more.

“It has been an incredible honor working with Arnie and Lauren as they made this historic investment, which is a powerful demonstration of their belief in USF’s mission,” said USF Foundation CEO Jay Stroman. “I am inspired by their generosity and desire to encourage other business leaders and philanthropists to join them in supporting this vital college.”

For Arnie Bellini, it was a a matter of utmost national interest and important enough to announce that he and his wife will match additional donations to the college dollarfor-dollar to raise another $10 million.

“This new college makes Tampa Bay the center of excellence for cybersecurity,” he said. “We’re investing in the next generation of innovators and America’s security, and in our competitive edge for artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. This is how we keep America strong — not by waiting but by leading.”

Bellini has a strong record of technology leadership and vision. He and his brother founded ConnectWise, a pioneer management service provider, a year after IBM brought personal computers into the mainstream with the introduction of its IBM 5150. He resisted suggestions to move his business to Silicon Valley. “My feeling was, ‘No, everything I need is right here in the fertile soils of Tampa

Above right: Student Government President Suryakanth Prasad Gottipati grabs a photo opp with Arnie Bellini after the press conference.

workforce.

Bay,’ so that’s why I planted and grew ConnectWise here.”

USF also holds a special place in his heart. His Bulls family includes a son who earned an MBA in 2022.

“USF is the only preeminent university in Florida that’s in a major metropolitan area, so it fits the characteristics of Stanford, right?” he said. “And (since) the first investment we made here with the Bellini Talent Development Center, my goal has been — and still is — to turn the University of South Florida into the Stanford of the Southeast. I think we’ve made a great step toward that today.”

The college will put its graduates on both an essential and lucrative career path, Bellini said, noting that entrylevel jobs in cybersecurity start at $60,000 and “go up to $120,000 very quickly and then $150,000. So you cannot think of a better career path and it will be here forever,” he said. “There will always be a need for digital warriors.”

A major reason is the lightning-fast pace at which AI is growing, currently with an IQ equivalent of 150, he said. It’s predicted to achieve artificial super intelligence levels soon.

“This is a national security problem,” he said. “We have this new wave of technology, artificial intelligence,

“This new college makes Tampa Bay the center of excellence for cybersecurity. We’re investing in the next generation of innovators ... This is how we keep America strong — not by waiting but by leading.”

– Arnie Bellini

that has the ability to take us far into the future of prosperity, but it can also be destructive. So, the thing that we need to do in the United States is to be leading in artificial intelligence and then, very simply, protect that innovation by having strong cybersecurity.”

Bellini’s desire to give, protect and invest in education dates back to his 1980 graduation from the University of Florida with an accounting degree. At the time, Wall Street brokers were infamous for cutthroat tactics and a Wild West mentality.

“I made a covenant with God that if He gave me power, I would never be corrupted,” he said. “And if He gave me wealth, I would share it with the community … Learn, earn and return has always been my philosophy. And Lauren and I are very excited to have the opportunity to return all the good fortune we’ve had to the community we love.”

Seventh graders from Booker Middle School participate in Camp at College, where they use Legos, virtual reality and other tools to learn about and craft solutions for pressing community issues.

‘ We are BETTER TOGETHER’

Stories by TOM WOOLF // University Communications

FACULTY MEMBERS AT USF have developed more than 30,000 partnerships with community organizations, including schools, industries, nonprofits, governments, the military and neighborhood groups. The projects they undertake address everything from health care to education to environmental concerns and benefit not only USF and its partners, but the general public as well.

Enhancing and expanding these collaborative initiatives has been a priority throughout President Rhea Law’s tenure. “We are a major social and economic engine, and it’s critical that we continue building and nourishing our community partnerships, because we are better together,” she said during her inaugural address.

Here’s a closer look at a few of the programs offered by USF and its community partners.

College for EVERY STUDENT

Middle-school students tackle community issues at ‘camp’

TEN SARASOTA SEVENTH GRADERS are using real-world research, Legos and virtual reality to craft solutions to community issues they care about, from homelessness to food insecurity.

As members of Booker Middle School’s College for Every Student Brilliant Pathways Program, they participate in an after-school enrichment program that meets every other Friday at USF SarasotaManatee. The students attend Sarasota County’s only Title 1 middle school, a designation for schools with a high number of students from low-income families.

Faculty from the College of Education’s Literacy Studies Program and education doctoral students guide the middle-schoolers through an inquiry-based initiative called Camp at College. USF’s Advanced Visualization Center

and the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame, founded and housed at USF, add their expertise.

“The ultimate objective is for our youth participants to consider how they can enact change to shape their community in ways that are meaningful to them,” explains Lindsay Persohn, MA ’10 and PhD ’18, Literacy Studies assistant professor. “We want every participant to know that they have a voice and that their ideas and actions matter.”

At USF, the youngsters rotate between two stations. In one, they use tablets to research challenges they hope to solve. They might use Legos or Magna-Tiles to build, question and modify representations of their ideas for solutions.

“After just a few weeks of research, thinking, experience and conversation, they are better able to articulate their thinking around the community challenge and their ideas for a possible solution,” Persohn says.

The other station uses virtual-reality apps that foster empathy, innovation and problem-solving.

“Adolescents want to be heard, they want to problem-solve. ”

– Cheryl Ellerbrook

“We talk about how the virtual-reality experiences impact participants’ emotions and ideas,” Persohn says. “These experiences help them to further consider how they may refine their ideas about solutions for the community challenges.”

Booker Middle School Principal LaShawn Frost is so invested in the partnership, she drives her students to the USF campus on Fridays. Camp at College, she says, “fosters their spirit of discovery.”

Cheryl Ellerbrock, who has been teaching since 2001, says she has never seen a group of students more engaged than the Camp at College participants.

“Adolescents want to be heard, they want to problem-solve,” says Ellerbrock, campus dean of education at USF Sarasota-Manatee and professor of middle grades and general secondary education.

The 10 students will return to USF SarasotaManatee for a weeklong Camp at College this summer, but this time as mentors to sixth- and possibly fifth-grade students. Persohn refers to the experience as “near-peer mentoring.”

“How do we support this idea of community building, of young people supporting young people?” she says. “We want to create that sense of community within the school walls.”

Both Ellerbrock and Persohn anticipate offering a version of Camp at College next academic year.

“We feel it’s very important to respond in real time to community needs, to school needs, to student needs, to teacher needs,” Ellerbrock says. n

LaShawn Frost, principal of Booker Middle School, says Camp at College “fosters their spirit of discovery.”

Rebecca Darmoc / Tyler Ennis, USF Sarasota-Manatee

Innovation SCHOLARS

100-plus

organizations offer job-

shadowing for USF St. Pete students

DANA ZOLLA WAS A HUGE FAN of the TV show “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and its spin-offs. So, when the USF St. Petersburg student got the opportunity to shadow a real-life crime scene investigator, she jumped.

It helped her land a job with the Lake County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office after she graduates this month with a bachelor’s degree in forensic studies and justice.

Zolla participated in USF St. Petersburg’s Innovation Scholars Career Exploration Program, which offers job-shadowing opportunities for incoming first-year and transfer students. The program provides an introduction to career possibilities, which can help students determine their academic major early in their university experience.

It has grown in popularity since it began in 2019. Each cohort has 50 to 70 students, and mentors come from more than 100 organizations throughout the Tampa Bay region, says Rita Zwiefel, MEd ’22, career experience and internship coordinator at USF St. Petersburg’s Center for Career and Professional Development.

“It really shows how much the community is willing to

help students carve out pathways for themselves,” she says.

Job shadowing inspires students’ career ambitions — and helps them cross some off their list.

“Both outcomes are a win-win,” Zwiefel says. “If a student is matched with their mentor and they really love their experience and they’re able to get plugged into that community, that’s great. But the other side of it is the benefit of a student realizing early on that they aren’t interested in that field and they’re able to put their time and energy into something else.”

Zolla was paired with a St. Petersburg Police Department forensic technician during the 2022-23 academic year. She worked the night shift, going to crime scenes with her mentor about once a month. Her mentor introduced her to other forensic technicians, arranged for Zolla to tour the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Tampa Bay Regional Operations Center and connected her with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office — which led to an internship.

“I was able to see so much,” Zolla says. “That’s what lit the fire underneath me to pursue this career.”

She’s encouraged many high school students to participate in Innovation Scholars.

“It offers something for everyone,” Zolla says. “The program shows you what you need to learn about a field, which classes you need to take, how to map out the rest of your college experience in order to make your career the best that it can be.” n

Right: Past participants in the Innovation Scholars Career Exploration Program gather with mentors during an event at USF St. Petersburg. The program for incoming students helps them determine — or rule out — their academic major.

Mo-Bull NURSE

Clinic provides essential health care — and hands-on experience

DANIELA WOERNER HAS EXTENSIVE nursing credentials, including bachelor’s and master’s degrees and seven years’ experience working as a registered nurse.

But the time she spent working in the USF Health College of Nursing’s Mo-Bull Nurse Medical Clinic last fall proved to be a different kind of educational experience. It was, she says, “eye-opening.”

The college partners with 13 sites on a rotating basis in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, bringing the mobile clinic to locations that include Tampa Bay Downs, Tampa Hope, the Salvation Army, St. Matthew’s Anglican Church in Riverview and the Enoch Davis Center in St. Petersburg.

“We partner with sites where there are patients living in the area who don’t have the resources to get medical care,” explains Duellyn

Pandis, MS and DNP ’17, Life Member, the college’s director of clinical practice. “They may not have the funds, or transportation. They may be unhoused. Our mobile unit is not like a health fair. Our purpose is primary care.”

The converted recreational vehicle is staffed with two nurse practitioners, a patient care coordinator and two patient healthcare navigators, and it serves as a clinical training site for nursing students. The project is funded through a Health Resources and Services Administration grant titled “Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention.”

The clinic also serves as a training ground for students in USF’s College of Public Health and the Taneja College of Pharmacy.

A frequent challenge for the mobile clinic nurses is trying to get previously undiagnosed conditions, such as diabetes, elevated

Assistant professor Melissa Bogle (left) and graduate student Ashley Tran Scott, ’20, work in the Mo-Bull clinic during a visit earlier this spring to Lealman Exchange Community Center in St. Petersburg.

“

Our mobile unit is not like a health fair. Our purpose is primary care.”

– Duellyn Pandis

cholesterol, COPD and heart disease, under control.

“For those who are unhoused, they probably don’t have money for medicine either, and if they’re diabetic, you can imagine what is going on with their blood sugar level,” Pandis says. “The more elevated that is, the more likely they will have other issues, such as with their vision or losing the sensation in their feet.”

Returning to the partner sites on a rotating basis means the nurses can provide continuing care and students can gain more experience.

“There are people living in some very poor conditions, who are going without health care simply because they’re down on their luck,” Pandis says.

Woerner, MSN ’23, served her rotation in the mobile clinic during the fall 2024 semester as she pursued her doctor of nursing practice degree, which she’ll receive this month. Many of the patients she saw were homeless, which was a new experience.

“It just opens your eyes to the social determinants of health,” she says. “It’s one thing to learn about it in the classroom versus actually seeing it with your own eyes.”

Woerner believes her time in the mobile clinic deepened her understanding of the everyday struggles that others may be facing.

“An experience like that makes you more empathetic, less judgmental,” she says. “Sometimes, providers are quick to say a patient isn’t complying with what they’re being told to do. But when you see the conditions they are living in, you realize the reason they aren’t adhering to their treatment plan may not be because they don’t want to. They may not have the resources.” n

Youth Experiences’ SUMMER CAMPS

Programs make kids feel at home on a college campus

WITH TWO PARENTS WORKING at USF, Donovan Maurer grew up on campus, from preschool to summer camps to USF freshman.

“USF was all around me,’’ he says. “Visiting my parents’ work, attending all the camps, going to the games … I fell in love with it.”

Now a biology major at USF, Maurer plans to spend this summer helping more kids fall in love with learning at USF’s Tampa Theatre Film Camp for third through 12th graders.

“It’s safe to say USF is my second home,” he says.

About 2,500 children are expected to attend USF summer camps this year. The Office of Youth Experiences, part of University Community Partnerships, oversees the programs, which cover a range of interests, from sports to arts to computing.

“If the students eventually choose to enroll at USF, it’s just sort of the icing on the cake,” says youth experiences assistant director Caryn Preston, ’15, Life Member. “We’re letting them know that higher education is accessible, and we want all children and families in the Tampa Bay region to feel USF is a place they’ve been to and can go to in the future, if they want to.”

Some camps explore STEM subjects, such as mathematics and coding. Instructors are often faculty members, and Preston’s office helps them adapt material for younger audiences. What might have been a college lecture in robotics becomes a team activity for K-12 students.

“They’re still gaining the knowledge that you want them to have, while also remembering that it’s summer camp and not school,” Preston says.

Other camps explore careers, such as nursing and hospitality. New this year, Rocky’s Residents gives high school campers the chance to live the college life, staying overnight at dorms with roommates and attending programs during the day. A few other camps have a more definite focus on fun.

Middle school student Colton Brennan is looking forward to his third summer at USF, where he’ll be repeating the Esports camp and trying Music Tech Lab for the first time. For Esports, he suggests bringing along some gaming friends.

“Last year we played Rocket League, Fortnite and I think a little bit of Roblox, and it was pretty fun,” Brennan says, explaining campers participated in an Olympics-style competition.

At left, Colton Brennan, right, and a friend attend a past Everyone Can Code camp at USF. He’s looking forward to his third year attending summer camps.

Opposite page, top, boys bedecked with beads play basketball during this year’s Bulls Family Fest, a new program designed to introduce families to USF’s Tampa campus. At bottom, Donovan Maurer, right, with his parents, Amanda Maurer and Nate Wolkenhauer. Donovan started his USF experience as a preschooler.

He’s also signed up for Music Tech Lab for seventh through 12th graders, who’ll explore music production and sound design as they create their own masterpieces.

“I think it’ll help me learn more about music,” he says.

In addition to camps, the youth experiences office works with colleges that create their own outreach to Bay area children. The College of Engineering held its 53rd annual Engineering Expo this spring, attracting thousands of kids and families.

It also creates events designed to welcome families to USF’s campuses. This spring’s second Bulls Family Fest, an outdoor event with activities, music and giveaways, drew about 10,000 visitors.

USF alumni can find lots of opportunities to lead and teach through the youth experiences office, Preston says. Alumni also get discounts on camp fees.

Find youth programming across all USF campuses at www.usf.edu/yxp

- DAPHNE KOTSCHESSA ALMODOVAR // University Communications

BEN ADLER Class of ’26

TOGETHER, THEY NAVIGATED A BRAVE NEW WORLD

Members of USF’s first club celebrate 65 years of friendship

By MOLLY URNEK, ’20 // Advancement

There was the elephant carcass that turned up behind the Life Science building. The sandspurs that stuck to the inaugural first lady’s nylons. The blazing Florida sun that made wearing “Sunday best” hats and gloves unbearable.

Walking USF’s grounds in those early years, Grace Allen was horrified, says Jean Anderson, a fellow Tampa newcomer and USF wife.

“I pointed out the dead elephant in the background of a photo,” she says. The campus was so barren, when neighboring Busch Gardens donated elephant remains for research, zoology students just hauled them to the grounds to dry.

From day one, the wife of USF’s first president, John Allen, knew what she needed to thrive here: friends. On Aug. 8, 1960, more than a month before the university welcomed students, she opened her home to professors’ wives for a meeting of the USF Women’s Club — USF’s first club.

Sixty-five years later, Allen’s legacy lives on in the enduring friendships of women who’ve navigated so many chapters of life together, from raising children to burying loved ones, all while supporting their fledgling university. Today, their monthly meetings involve less dancing than the dinner parties of yesteryear, but their love for USF and each other remains evergreen.

“Most of all, Grace taught us to be cheerful,” says Anita Carr, an original club member who recently celebrated her 100th birthday. “She gave us community, and to this day, all of my friends are women in the club.”

Like Carr, who promptly ditched the hat and gloves to save herself from heat exhaustion, many of the first members were new to Tampa and agreed with Allen that a sandspur-infested airfield was a peculiar location for a university. Undeterred, even by the campus’s “No Hunting” signs, they leaned on each other for advice: where to find the scarce four-bedroom home, which USF musicals to see and what daycares to trust.

They attended lessons on making hanging baskets, cookbook presentations and fashion shows presented by

At left, members of the Women’s Club’s Explorers group consult a map as they plan another road trip in 1963. They are, left to right, Nora Helvey, Carolyn Heier, Eva Prather and Anita Carr. Above right, Carr is pictured with friend and fellow club member Jean Anderson.

Photo: THE TAMPA TIMES

Club members bonded over dinner parties in their homes, among other activities. In this 1964 photo,

a

Kathryn Christian, left, has

laugh as Jean Jurgensen, right, serves Dorothy Boulware.

Hostess Grace Allen, left, chats with Frances Millican during a 1961 Women’s Club tea at Allen’s home.

Photos: The Tampa Tribune

local clothing stores. They created the Explorers, a group of club members who took road trips to discover the Tampa Bay area. Those forays opened their eyes to needs in the community — and at USF.

With $2 monthly dues, the club’s bank account totaled $46 in its first month. That number would skyrocket as the club quickly invited female faculty and staff, pushing membership over 300. They held fundraisers galore — selling everything from pecans to Christmas ornaments.

“We did so many fundraising events that pulled us together and taught us skills we wouldn’t have learned otherwise, since many of us didn’t work outside of the home,” says Rose Killinger, a member since 1987 and three-time past president.

The club has made a tremendous philanthropic impact, fully endowing two funds in Allen’s honor. The Grace Allen USF Women’s Club Endowed Scholarship, which started in 1970 with a $100 donation, now awards $10,000 in scholarships annually and has awarded at least $440,000 in scholarships to more than 250 students.

The Grace Allen Library Fund has financed technology upgrades throughout USF’s Tampa campus library and will be

used to hire a student to digitize the Women’s Club records, preserving a unique facet of university history.

“Whenever I see the community impact, I first think of Grace,” says Anderson. “I think of how thrilled she would be to see how it took off and the eternal impact.”

These days, club meetings include games of bridge or bunko accompanied by lunch and laughter. The women don’t yearn to dust off the crystal punch bowls from their gatherings of the last century.

“A big thing that has changed is that we used to have dinner parties in the home, but as we got older, we said, ‘Nah, we’re going out!’” says Anderson.

If you run into them at a lunch outing, don’t expect a quiet bunch. With decades of stories to tell and photos of grandchildren and great-grandchildren to share, these women command rooms, happily reminiscing as, together, they confront their 21st century challenges.

“I’m so different because of the Women’s Club. I used to be shy, and now you can’t shut me up!” says Carr. “I’m grateful for the Women’s Club for giving me the ability to fill the silence with gossip and humor.”

And grace.

Contact the Women’s Club by emailing usfwc1960@gmail.com

Clockwise from top left, opposite page: The club invites new members during its 55th anniversary celebration in 2015; Dottie Stafford, Kay Orr and Louise Shively staff a 1997 club benefit; Libraries Dean Todd Chavez accepts a Women’s Club gift from then-President Janet Barber in 2017 for enhancements to the library’s Grace Allen Room; club members prepare for an event in 1995.

Photos: USF Women’s Club

After 30 years she found her CURE

USF Health Voice Center tackles the most vexing voice, airway and swallowing disorders

Story and

Fby ALLISON LONG, MA ’25 / USF Health

OR THREE DECADES, Cookie Huddleston struggled for every breath. Climbing stairs or walking a few blocks left her gasping for air. She sought relief from one physician after another only to be prescribed inhalers that never worked.

“I was being treated for asthma; I had allergy tests and all kinds of scopes,” Huddleston says. “They even told me it was allergies, but they couldn’t tell me what I was allergic to.”

The now 75-year-old Wesley Chapel resident says she lived in fear. “I thought I was going to die in my sleep because I couldn’t breathe.”

Eight years ago, a specialist finally identified the cause of Huddleston’s problem: a rare condition called bilateral vocal cord paralysis. She had a diagnosis — but no viable treatment option.

“And then a doctor told me, ‘Your vocal cords are paralyzed; both of them are paralyzed.’ And I’m thinking, OK, I don’t know what that means,” Huddleston recalls. “In eight years, no doctor ever mentioned a treatment.”

She had long since resigned herself to living with the condition for the rest of her life.

But last year, Huddleston allowed herself a spark of hope when she was referred to the USF Health Voice Center. The only multidisciplinary academic voice center

Cookie Huddleston shares her story. Watch the video at usf.to/CookiesStory.

in the Tampa Bay Area, its specialized experts provide advanced care for voice, upper airway and swallowing disorders.

Since its founding in 2021, the Voice Center has experienced a 50% increase in patients, reflecting its growing impact and reputation. It offers minimally invasive treatments for swallowing difficulties, cuttingedge surgical techniques for airway disorders and comprehensive voice therapy services, including interventions that are not widely available elsewhere.

“I was being treated for asthma; I had allergy tests and all kinds of scopes. They even told me it was allergies, but they couldn’t tell me what I was allergic to.”

– Cookie Huddleston

Laryngologist Dr. Yassmeen Abdel-Aty determined that Huddleston’s condition stemmed from a surgery she underwent 30 years earlier, when her cancerous thyroid gland was removed. During the procedure, the nerves to both vocal cords had been damaged, leaving them paralyzed in what doctors call the “midline position” — nearly closed.

“When we breathe, our vocal cords open. When we talk or swallow, our vocal cords close,” Abdel-Aty explains. “Her vocal cords couldn’t move from the midline position, which gave her a very small sliver of airway to breathe out of.”

Abdel-Aty recommended a procedure called endoscopic suture lateralization — a minimally invasive technique that pulls one vocal cord outward with a stitch to open the airway. It was a resounding success. Huddleston’s breathing

photos

CAUSES AND EFFECTS

Vocal cord paralysis occurs when one or both vocal cords, a pair of flexible muscles in the larynx, are affected by nerve damage due to injury or illness. The vocal cords are key to speech, breathing and protecting the airways by impeding inhalation of food and other substances into the lungs.

Some signs of vocal cord paralysis are noisy, heavy breathing; frequent throat clearing; gruff or hoarse voice; difficulty speaking loudly; and loss of gag reflex

Treatments range from voice therapy to surgery, depending on the severity of damage.

50% 50% Increase in patients since the Voice Center’s founding in 2021

improved immediately, and her voice sounded much as it always had. She can now enjoy activities that once were impossible.

For Abdel-Aty, Huddleston’s story shows how academic medical centers like USF Health provide access to the greatest range of specialists and experts.

“The benefit of going to an academic center like USF Health is that you have all these experts and specialists in one place,” she says. “If you have a problem where maybe a general ENT physician does not feel comfortable treating it, you have options to discuss it with someone more specialized.”

Beyond clinical care, the Voice Center is at the forefront of groundbreaking health research. It leads a trailblazing project that aims to use human voices to help doctors diagnose illnesses, from cancer to depression.

Called Bridge2AI Voice as a Biomarker of Health, it starts with building an ethically sourced, AI-enabled database of 10,000 voices from patients with different illnesses.

The project is funded by the National Institutes of

“The benefit of going to an academic center like USF Health is that you have all these experts and specialists in one place.”

– Dr. Yassmeen Abdel-Aty

Health and spearheaded by Voice Center director Dr. Yael Bensoussan in collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine and other institutions across North America. Researchers anticipate Bridge2AI will pave the way for innovations that revolutionize health care.

For Huddleston, the Voice Center has already been life-changing.

“I wish someone had told me this 20 years ago,” she says. “Even being able to cut the yard now — it is a small thing, but to me it is a miracle.”

Dr. Bensoussan shares her story: usf.to/VoiceDoctor

The voice as a diagnostic tool

Center’s director co-leads groundbreaking research

BEFORE SHE BECAME A PHYSICIAN, Dr. Yael Bensoussan was a professional pop singer and songwriter, performing in her native French and recording an album. But then came a bump in her plans — a nodule on her vocal cords that made it impossible to belt out tunes as she once did.

She visited a physician specializing in disorders of the larynx, or voice box, who referred her to a speech pathologist. In time, she rehabilitated her voice enough to continue singing but, influenced by the medical care she received, she’d developed a new dream: becoming an otolaryngologist, an ear, nose and throat specialist. Today, she is founder and director of the inaugural USF Health Voice Center.

“My dream was to have a multi-disciplinary voice center, and here I am. ... it’s been an incredible journey to build a team here that’s very passionate.”

– Dr. Yael Bensoussan

Bensoussan and her colleagues are currently working on creating a multi-institutional, ethically sourced database featuring the voices of people with a variety of disorders. The database will fuel voice research for the $14 million National Institutes of Health-funded Bridge2AI Voice as a Biomarker of Health project. It studies biomarkers in voices for insight into whether an individual may have a disease. All of that work is aided by artificial intelligence.

“I was extremely grateful, and I also understand how these people working together helped me,” she says. “My dream was to have a multi-disciplinary voice center, and here I am. When I started here, there was no voice center, and it’s been an incredible journey to build a team here that’s very passionate.”

“AI is really revolutionizing the field because of the way we can analyze things faster,” says Bensoussan, who’s co-leading the project. “We are becoming a hub for these kinds of innovations and that’s the beauty of academia. It’s striving for better and looking for new innovations, asking ourselves, ‘How can we help our patients get better?’ The support I get from this university, the support my team and my lab get, is incredible.”

- DAVE SCHEIBER

Transforming MUSIC CITY one story at a time

By KILEY MALLARD

EVEN ON A GRAY, DRIZZLY DAY, the view from the penthouse of 505 is spectacular, overlooking a bend in the Cumberland River, Nashville icons including the “Batman Building” at 333 Commerce St. and, in the distance, the famous honky-tonks on Broadway.

It’s a fitting setting to meet with Tony Giarratana, Finance ’80, the man who has breathed new life into downtown Nashville while transforming the cityscape with 505 and other residential skyscrapers. And he accomplished all of this while learning on-the-job.

The 45-story 505 building is Nashville’s tallest residential tower — for now. He has already broken ground on his next ambitious project, the 60-story Paramount, which will be the tallest building in the entire state.

From a time when, according to Giarratana, “you could shoot a cannon down the sidewalk and not hit anybody,” downtown Nashville has become a vibrant, 24/7 community with nearly 20,000 residents.

“You can see much of his work dotting our skyline. But at street level, he’s helped make our city more walkable, fostered community and helped implement a vision for a downtown that is the envy of many other cities.”

– Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell

Since establishing Giarratana, LLC in 1986, Giarratana has played a significant role in making Music City what it is today.

“You can see much of his work dotting our skyline,” says Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell. “But at street level, he’s helped make our city more walkable, fostered

community and helped implement a vision for a downtown that is the envy of many other cities. I’m grateful for the thoughtful ways he continues to invest in Nashville, the city we both love.”

Giarratana settles into an upholstered barrel chair, downtown Nashville sprawling out behind him. His day often begins at 5 a.m. with barn chores at the 26-acre farm in Franklin where he lives with his wife, Lisa. On this day, at 7 a.m., he headed downtown, where he hosted a meeting in the 505 penthouse with local real estate agents promoting Paramount.

“My wife loves the farm, and so do I, but I could live here full time and be very happy,” he says.

Ironic, since he never intended to stay in Nashville when he arrived in 1984. In fact, just a few years later he landed his dream job — in California. But when he told his then-girlfriend they’d be moving to the West Coast, she let him know she had no desire to leave the South.

“I was not able to change her mind,” says Giarratana, who promptly let the company president know why he couldn’t take the job. “He said, ‘Well, she must be one special woman.’ I said, ‘I believe she is.’ And we’ve been married 34 years.”

Giarratana’s path to Nashville started in Clearwater, Florida. The son of first-generation Italian immigrants, he was born on St. Patrick’s Day in 1957, the year after his eventual alma mater. He enrolled at USF because, frankly, it was affordable.

“I was on the five-year plan,” he jokes. Admittedly not the best student, at least in subjects that felt irrelevant to him, Giarratana says USF taught him how to learn, a skill he has called upon again and again throughout his career.

Though he majored in finance, he had no interest in banking. One day, while walking on the beach, admiring the hotels where he had worked in his teens sweeping floors and picking up construction debris, he had an epiphany.

Tony Giarratana settles in for a chat in the penthouse of 505, his tallest Nashville, Tennessee, residential tower to date.

At 34 stories tall and with a staggered box design, the award-winning Alcove, center, is a striking addition to the Nashville skyline. To the left are three other Giarratana skyscrapers: Cumberland, 505 and Viridian.

Right: Giarratana’s daughter, Kate, has joined the family business as a real estate agent. She brokered the sale of his 505 penthouse and is involved with marketing his new project, Paramount.

“I thought, ‘Those guys who developed these hotels, they seemed to be really enjoying themselves. I can see how it’d be fulfilling to do something like that. That’s what I’m going to do,’” he says.

He earned his real estate license and attempted to sell houses for six months, but didn’t sell a single one. The opportunity to list an office building came along, and he finally found success.

“I said, ‘That’s it. Office buildings for me!’” he says with a laugh.

A couple of years later, a fellow USF alum let him know about an opportunity to lease out commercial real estate in Denver.

“Two weeks later, I’m living in the Fairmont Hotel. I’m the leasing director for 2.8 million square feet of office space. And I’m entirely out of my league,” he says.

For his first lease, he recalls, he would meet with prospects all day, taking copious notes and nodding his head knowingly. Then at night, he would cross the street to his company’s lawyers to learn what they’d spent the day talking about.

“It was a very difficult negotiation, because I had to pretend like I was competent and I was not,” he says.

After Denver, and a brief stop in New Orleans (it wasn’t the right fit), Giarratana came to Nashville for an opportunity to lease out space in MetroCenter before founding his eponymous development company.

Today, Giarratana headquarters is just a couple of blocks down Church Street from 505 and a short walk from two more of his properties, Prime and Alcove. Alcove won the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s Award of Excellence, an international honor, for Best Tall Building in the 100- to 200-meter category.

Walking through the building, Giarratana points out the state-of-the-art Mitsubishi elevators, the wall and floor finishings. He notices the door to the gym sticking and immediately telephones someone to address the issue.

It’s a far cry from his first condo tower project, the Cumberland, which opened in 1996.

At the time, there were only a handful of residents in downtown Nashville, but then-Mayor Phil Bredesen planned to change that.

“The mayor wanted to do apartments, and I had never done apartments,” says Giarratana. “I asked if we could please do something else — but, at that time, I would work for food and so I did the Cumberland project.”

He has since completed 24 projects, including 2,700 apartments and 1,000 condos. His work includes luxury units as well as more affordable options in the business core and SoBro (South of Broadway) neighborhoods. He has consistently been named to the Nashville Business Journal’s Power 100 and was one of The Tennessean’s 2023 Persons of the Year.

He has also welcomed the next generation of Giarratanas into the business. His daughter, Kate, is a Nashville real estate agent who brokered the sale of his 505 penthouse in February. His son, Sam, a developer at Imerza in Sarasota, Florida, creates the visualizations for Giarratana.

For Giarratana, building the community includes serving on a number of boards in Nashville, including Lipscomb University, Vanderbilt’s Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital and the Nashville Symphony, Zoo and Downtown Partnership.

Last summer, he expanded his circle to Tampa, becoming a founding member of USF’s President’s Global Leadership Council. It was the first time he’d reconnected with his alma mater in years and he was blown away by its physical evolution.

“When I was a student, I don’t know if there were any paved parking lots. It was sand and scrubby trees. There

Photo: CoStar

was nothing there,” he says. “Now it is enormous. The campus is just breathtaking.”

His developer eye was especially awed by the beauty of the Morsani College of Medicine building downtown.

“The structure of that building is visible, and that’s hard to do. All those irregular shapes and those multiple levels of atriums,” he says. “What is accomplished there in that building, it was really magnificent.”

Back in the 505 lobby, Giarratana says a warm farewell, then heads up the street to headquarters.

“I can see things complete. That’s my blessing and my curse,” he says. “Early on it was risky, because I didn’t know what I was doing. Now I actually do know

what I’m doing. It’s kind of the unfairness of life, that I’ve finally figured out what to do, and it’s time for me to turn it over to the next generation.”

But not before he adds Paramount to the Nashville skyline.

Meet Tony Giarratana and visit Alcove at usf.to/Giarratana or scan the QR code.

Giarratana chats with USF Foundation CEO Jay Stroman and Principal Gift Officer Steve Blair after a tour of Giarratana Development headquarters and Alcove, visible across the street.

Photos: JOHN TIPTON // USF Advancement

Paying it FORWARD T

2024 USF Alumni Award honorees share commitment to give back

HEY RECALLED THEIR LIFE-CHANGING USF experiences; caring mentors among faculty and staff; excellent — and sometimes surprising — preparation for future success.

“If not for the others who helped us along the way, we would not be here today,” said Anthony R. James, Engineering ’73, Life Member, upon receiving a 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award. The USF Foundation board chair noted that those who owe at least some of their success to the kindness of others have a duty to give back.

“Specifically, by mentoring. … We must provide the shoulders for the next generation” to stand upon, he said.

The five Alumni Award recipients honored in November included three Distinguished Alumni recognized for exceptional professional accomplishments, and one alum and a non-alum for dedicated service to USF and the Tampa Bay community. All of the recipients came from modest families and faced challenges on their journeys to a college degree. Like James, they expressed gratitude for USF and a commitment to repaying that by uplifting others.

“When I arrived at USF as an incoming freshman in the fall of 1979, I really didn’t know who I was or what I wanted to be,” said Distinguished Alumnus James “Jay” Nault, Finance ’83 and MBA

From left: Foundation

CEO Jay Stroman, Jay Nault, Anthony James, Byron Shinn, Monica Wooden, Alumni Association

Board Chair Sally Dee, ’94, and MBA ’11, Life Member, and Association

Executive Director Bill McCausland.

’84, Life Member. “By the time I graduated with my master’s degree … I knew exactly what I was and exactly what I wanted to do.”

Monica Wooden, who received the Class of ’56 service award for non-alumni, explained why she donated $5 million to establish the USF Monica Wooden Center for Supply Chain Management and Sustainability.

“I was a first-generation college student,” she said. “Understanding what education means for opportunity, and the fact that USF was about 50% first-generation, and understanding where I came from — that was No. 1.”

Distinguished Alumna Tamsen Fadal, Mass Communications ’92, noted that she and her family were Florida newcomers, and she a USF student for just one semester, when her mother died from breast cancer.

“The University of South Florida became a lifeline for me,” she said. “It was there when I needed it.”

Byron E. Shinn, Accounting ’79, Life Member, recipient of the Donald A. Gifford Service Award, acknowledged the bond he shares with fellow recipients and many in the audience.

“I, like you, want to help make the future better for the next generation,” he said. “We’re paying it forward, with our time and our treasure.”

JAY

NOLAN

USF Distinguished Alumna

Recognizing USF alumni who have achieved the pinnacle of success in their careers

Tamsen Fadal

Mass Communications ’92

Stories with a purpose

AS A CHILD IN HOUSTON, Tamsen Fadal loved performing. But, enrolling at the University of Houston, she chose psychology as her major.

She was 20 years old when she moved with her family to the Tampa Bay area. Soon after, her mother died of breast cancer at 51, a tragedy that would have a profound impact on Fadal’s life and career. She enrolled at USF and switched majors to broadcast journalism.

She credits USF with kick-starting her career with an internship at the local CBS affiliate in Tampa. In the mid-1990s, she moved to a TV station in West Virginia, where she carried her own equipment and shot her own stories. She went on to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Orlando, among other cities, hopscotching toward her goal of a job in New York City. She finally landed that in 2004.

At the CBS affiliate there, she embedded with American forces in Afghanistan before moving on to WPIX-TV, where she remained for 15

years. She covered major events, from Hurricane Sandy to the Columbia space shuttle disaster, and eventually anchored five shows a night.

In 2019, while anchoring the news, Fadal suffered a panic attack. She could not finish the broadcast. It was a frightening episode for someone with decades in front of cameras. She later learned the incident marked the onset of menopause — and that many women were as unprepared as she for its symptoms.

And so, the start of another journey. Fadal retired from WPIX-TV in 2023 after collecting 13 local Emmy Awards and began focusing on women’s health issues. Her PBS documentary, “The M Factor, Shredding the Silence on Menopause,” aired in October, and this spring, she released her second book, “How to Menopause.”

She continues to feed her lifelong love of the arts and entertainment as executive producer and host of “The Broadway Show with Tamsen Fadal,” which airs in over 120 cities.

- Advancement

USF Distinguished Alumnus

Recognizing USF alumni who have achieved the pinnacle of success in their careers

Anthony R. James

Engineering ’73, Life Member

Energized!

ANTHONY JAMES’ LIFE HAS BEEN DEFINED by energy – whether harnessing it to pick fruit in the sweltering Florida fields of his youth or mastering its complexities to rise to the heights of professional success.

And since retiring in 2008 as a leading power company executive, James has maintained his full-throttled pace. He’s worked on projects to provide sustainable energy in Africa and served on — now chairs — the USF Foundation Board of Directors, among other organizations. He and his wife, Sheila, established an endowed scholarship for USF engineering students.

“Anthony believes in giving back,” says Jay Stroman, CEO of the USF Foundation, “not only through his philanthropy but also as a mentor for students at this university.”

James’ father supervised produce crews and as a boy, James often helped in the fields. His mother, a schoolteacher, instilled the importance of education. He knew hard physical labor — and that the path to a different life would be paved by academics.

He graduated from Winter Haven High with honors, but an accident left his dad disabled, so James stayed close to home to help. He attended Polk Community College, then USF, where he worked two jobs to pay the bills. At USF, he landed a paid NASA internship, opening up a whole new world.

One of USF’s first Black electrical engineering graduates, James began his career at Proctor and Gamble and moved to increasingly larger roles at major utilities. He retired as executive vice president of Southern Company, where he presided over utilities for Georgia Power, Alabama Power, Gulf Power and Mississippi Power.

In 2004, James was named Black Engineer of the Year by U.S. Black Engineer and Information Technology Magazine, which created the Anthony R. James Legacy Award. In 2023, he received the USF College of Engineering’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

But what defines James most is helping others.

“For me,” he writes of mentorship, “it is an obligation more than anything I do.”

- Advancement

USF Distinguished Alumnus

Recognizing USF alumni who have achieved the pinnacle of success in their careers

James “Jay” Nault

Finance ’83 and MBA ’84, Life Member

Success and significance

“SUCCESS IS SOMETHING YOU ACHIEVE for yourself — significance happens when you help others achieve their dreams.”

That’s the motto of The Nault Foundation, the nonprofit founded by Jay Nault to provide affordable housing while supporting budding entrepreneurs. It’s also the philosophy that guides his life.

The president and owner of Anclote Holding Company, a real estate investment company with 17 mobile home communities, he’s also the president and owner of Storage Zone Self Storage and Business Centers, with 36 locations.

His philanthropic initiatives include donating $10 million to support the Nault Center for Entrepreneurship in the Muma College of Business, where he also volunteers as a mentor.

When Nault came to USF, he didn’t consider himself a great student and didn’t have a career plan. But he earned a 4.0 GPA and grew as a leader with Sigma Nu fraternity. While working his way through college, he settled on his goal: a job that doesn’t feel like work.

While still a student, he met his future business partners, who inspired a business idea — quality nursery schools. Not long after earning an MBA, Nault and his partners incorporated their first company, Primary Prep. They built 12 schools and eventually sold them to their individual operators. The schools all remain in business today.

Nault is most proud of his partnership division, where he helps small businesses thrive.

During the height of the COVID pandemic, he decided Storage Zone would help the hardest hit small businesses, restaurants.

For the Hometown Restaurant Gift Certificate Challenge, Storage Zone bought $50,000 in gift certificates to provide cash to the restaurants, and encouraged other businesses to do the same. When the crisis passed, the gift cards would be distributed for free to first responders and others.

Success and significance — achieved.

- Advancement

Donald A. Gifford Service Award

Recognizing USF alumni who have provided countless hours of service to USF and the Tampa Bay community

Byron E. Shinn

Accounting ’79, Life Member

Faith, family, focus

BYRON SHINN’S PARENTS RELIED ON three tenets in raising their sons: faith, family and focus. For Shinn, World War II would also provide life lessons, though the war ended long before he was born.

After Pearl Harbor, his father joined the Army. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge, was captured by the German SS and escaped. In 1945, he helped liberate Dachau concentration camp.

Shinn’s mother, an Army Air Corps volunteer, told her children their dad came home a different man. He said little about his experiences, but Shinn learned from them. Empathy and compassion. Standing up for principles. Helping others if you can.

And that is what he has done for more than 40 years, weaving philanthropy and volunteerism into every aspect of his life.

Shinn grew up in Bradenton and attended community college after high school to save money, then enrolled in pre-med classes at USF Tampa. He quickly abandoned his plan to become a doctor after shadowing a physician during surgery.

USF aptitude tests pointed toward accounting.

Shinn started his career with Arthur Andersen and Company and climbed the ranks of other firms before founding his own in 1993. Shinn and Company merged with Carr, Riggs & Ingram in 2018, and Shinn remains a managing partner.

He credits two USF faculty members with shaping that successful career and inspiring him to make a similar impact in higher education.

He served 11 years as a USF trustee and chaired USF Sarasota-Manatee’s Campus Board for 10, personally paying for teenagers to visit USF Tampa and envision futures they may not have imagined. Dedicated to helping underprivileged children, he’s devoted countless hours to the Kiwanis Club, Boys and Girls Clubs, the Manatee County Children’s Advisory Board and the Sarasota County Child Protection Center.

- Advancement

Class of ’56 Award

Recognizing a non-USF graduate who has provided countless hours of service to USF and the Tampa Bay community

Monica Wooden Hitting it out of the ballpark

GROWING UP, ALL MONICA WOODEN WANTED to do was play softball. She earned scholarships for softball and basketball at Ithaca College and majored in physical education with an eye toward becoming a coach. But personal computers had just made their debut, and she was intrigued. A self-professed “math nut,” she took math and computer science courses as undergraduate electives and went on to earn a master’s in statistics.

Her career was coming into focus — and it wasn’t on an athletic field.

Eventually, she landed at IBM, which was transitioning to a services company with an entrepreneurial bent. Working there taught her how to start a business and, after nine years, that’s what she did.

In 2000, she and co-founder Stephen Blough launched MercuryGate, one of the first cloud-based transportation management software companies. When they sold it in 2018, nearly half the workforce was female, far above the industry norm. Wooden chalks it up to having women in leadership positions.

She remains one of the industry’s biggest cheerleaders. Wooden was instrumental in getting USF’s supply chain program off the ground and, over the years, provided software licensing and in-kind support, served as a guest lecturer and offered students internship and job opportunities. In 2019, she made a $5 million gift to name USF’s Monica Wooden Center for Supply Chain Management and Sustainability.

Her philanthropy is wide-ranging. In her New York hometown, she bought a house for a domestic violence support group, and at Ithaca College, she funded improvements that turned the football field into a year-round sporting venue.

These days, Wooden serves on the advisory board for workforce solutions company Opptly and as a member of the Ithaca College board of trustees.

Sports are still a huge part of her life. She spends as much time as she can fishing, golfing and clay shooting and, of course, playing softball.

Thank you, Bulls!

A salute to USF’s most dedicated Life Members

Thank you to all who support USF as Alumni Association Life Members and donors! Listed here are U Club members, who’ve established endowed University Club funds, and Circle of Excellence donors who made gifts of $100 or more to the Alumni Association in 2024. We gratefully acknowledge all of our Circle of Excellence donors with a tribute page at usf.to/honor.

Our U Club — or University Club — donors make a significant impact, one that endures forever, through endowments of $25,000 or more, which preserves their initial gift by spending only the proceeds it generates. Those proceeds provide scholarships, awarded on a competitive basis, to students whose parent or guardian is a Life Member.

The Circle of Excellence Honor Roll recognizes Alumni Association Life Members who made a gift to the association in 2024. Those gifts allow the association to provide leadership and professional development programs for students, and a variety of activities that make it easy for alumni and friends to connect and support USF in the ways most meaningful to them.

University Club — U Club

Endowment of $25,000+

The following Life Members are part of a unique and prestigious group of alumni and friends who have made a significant impact on USF through a generous endowment of $25,000 or more.

Timmer Ahrens, #2140

Jean Amuso, #3112

Philip Amuso, #3111

Angela Brewer, #594

James Brewer, #850

Anne Craft, #3985

Wilson Craft, #608

Daniel Dennison, #1935

Nancy Dennison, #1934

April Grajales, #1422

Braulio Grajales, #4440

Daniel Harper, #1954

Mary Harper, #1953

Ben Heugel, #1421

Rick Jacobs, #1901

Anila Jain, #132

Roy Jewell, #755

Glen Nickerson, #1795

Betty Otter-Nickerson, #1796

Michael Peppers, #1774

Michael Perry, #2718

Michele Perry, #2717

Lisa Provenzano Heugel, #1420

Jeffrey Reynolds, #810

Patricia Reynolds, #809

Robert Switzer, #3836

Monty Weigel, #1495

MaryAnn Weigel, #2881

Diamond Level

Donors of $1,000+

Emily S. Adams, #730

Jean Amuso, #3112

Philip Amuso, #3111

Ronald Ash, #791

Douglas Bell, #1086

Beda Bjorn, #4398

Jeb Bjorn, #4397

Stephen Blume, #1832

Wesley Brewer II, #5322

Betty Castor, #161

Andrew Cohen, #2320

Victor Connell, #1356

Ellen Cotton, #4071

Sally Dee, #3705

Russell Fascenda Jr., #2636

Brandy Fishman, #3081

Jeffrey Fishman, #3080

Margaret Fowler, #1207

Joanne Freeman, #6981

Michael Fry, #9493

Mark Giddarie, #5813

Jennifer Gonzalez, #1348

Shannon Gonzalez, #1349

April Grajales, #1422

Braulio Grajales, #4440

Dean Hanson, #2370

Debra Harvey, #9268

James P. Harvey, #2027

Sonya Harvey, #2028

David Hilfman, #263

Mai Huynh-Le, #4451

Dan Johnson, #869

Tina Johnson, #868

Richard Lane, #68

Anne McCausland, #2332

William McCausland, #2331

Spencer Montgomery, #3807

Kristin O’Donnell, #5647

Marc Ostroff, #1595

Timothy Pariso, #2593

Michael Peppers, #1774

Beth Polozker, #6916

Balaji Ramadoss, #8410

David Reader, #5702

Valerie Riddle, #2388

Nancy Schneid, #1374

Frederick Sikorski, #1371

Joy Sikorski, #1370

Jeffrey Spalding, #925

Sara Spalding, #926

Paula Stuart, #1970

Dan Thomas, #9204

Denise Thomas, #2008

Christopher Thompson, #303

Christine Turner, #4335

Kate Tiedemann, #4070

Patricia Wolfe, #5982

Bryan Zapf, #4422

Christina Zapf, #4421

Emerald Level

Donors of $500 - $999

James Arias, #6514

Cavelle Benjamin-Arias, #6513

Matthew Blankenship, #5262

Lorraine Cho-Chung-Hing, #3990

Lawrence Collins, #318

Roberta Collins, #4608

Mack Cooley Jr., #993

Myra Cooley, #992

Margaret Drizd, #2000

Joseph Ganshaw, #7595

Susan Ganshaw, #7594

Suzie Gramby, #8418

Jeffrey Greenberg, #264

Roland Guidry Jr., #4957

Calvin Hagins, #4015

Harry Jamieson, #7622

Ram Kancharla, #5234

Maja Lacevic, #5767

Lenora Lake-Guidry, #4956

Lisa Lewis, #397

Michael Lewis, #398

Carol Long, #2457

John Long, #2456

Raymond Murray, #144

Jay Oklu, #2036

Tommy Oneal, #4915

Mary Ann Paris, #5789

John Ramil, #605

Naida Ramil, #606

Nicole Randazzo, #5428

Richard Reichle Jr., #105

Phillip Saladino, #2016

Melissa Schaeffer, #3203

Ina Sinclair, #9218

Mike Sinclair, #4275

Juan Soltero, #3688

Marimar Soltero, #3689

Lisa Spagnuolo-Oklu, #2037

Stephen St. John-Fulton, #4597

Todd St. John-Fulton, #4596

Andrew C. Taylor, #3796

Gold Level

Donors of $250 - $499

Christian Anderson, #619

Gregory Ashley, #1089

James Ayers, #150

Thomas Bracke, #6886

Arthur Bullard Jr., #2103

M. Katherine Bullard, #2104

Robert Cabot, #3267

Robert Crews II, #1337

John Drapp, #2202

Dorothy Drapp, #2203

Evan Earle Jr., #4500

Meagan Eastman, #4386

Aleta Fisher, #3602

Jerry Gamel, #3751

Gita George, #6372

David Gordon, #2724

David Hollis, #3869

Alan Johnson, #7694

Deborah Lazzara, #4879

Sam Lazzara, #4878

James Magill, #691

Sally Maylor, #3181

Kathryn McGee, #707

James McMullen, #9035

Jenny Meirose, #2271

Alexandra Mendoza, #5478

Barbara Messina, #9055

John Messina Jr., #9056

Kym Mullins, #1520

Alexander Myers Jr., #3893

Gary Myers, #6964

Jacquelyn Williams Myers, #4236

David Norton, #6937

Charlotte Oneal, #4916

Thomas Pease, #6482

Verlon Salley, #4299

Dawn Schocken, #2496

George Self, #7138

Barbara Sparks-McGlinchy, #345

Carlton Terrell, #4437

Kemel Thompson, #3771

Tracie Thompson, #4479

Bettina Tucker, #128

Meredith Tupper, #3647

Suzanne Ward, #1516

Ashlie Wheat, #5897

Ronald Wheat, #5896

Diane White, #2465

Timothy Wiley, #2742

Ann Wolfe, #2406

Benjamin Wolfe, #9355

Amelia Wood, #2973

Marion Yongue, #270

Silver Level

Donors of $100 - $249

Anthony Adams, #2629

Cynthia Alessi, #6661

Walter Amaden, #2623

Maurene Arbisi, #3854

Donald Arscott Jr., #1977

James Babb Jr., #6279

Michael Barclay, #6430

Richard Baskas, #6238

Betty Beaty, #3247

Mark Best, #7030

Richard Binau, #7638

Robert Blain, #5988

Jesse Bonds Jr., #127

Jeanne Botz, #7317

Pamela Brangaccio, #5815

David Breitwieser, #2806

Glenda Bridges, #9219

Gary Briggs, #1969

Cheryl Brock, #6516

Lewis Brock Jr., #6515

Nancy Bryant, #2941

Richard Bull, #6300

Amy Bumgardner, #7747

Dahal Bumgardner Jr., #7746

Aleasha Burnell, #3577

David Burton, #8758

Melissa Burton, #8759

Joseph Busta Jr., #162

Larry Cabrera, #8107

Millyan Cabrera, #8108

John Cahill, #5945

Jay Calhoun, #6161

Sara Calhoun, #6160

Nancy Cali, #6833

Peter Caroline, #7792

Jerry Carreno, #6744

Milburne Cassady Jr., #6831

Joanna Cheshire, #8605

Catherine China, #2577

Carla Codd, #1528

Andrew Coe, #2293

Barry Cohen, #6633

Braulio Colon, #3958

Karen Colteryahn, #2591

Jennifer Condon, #5645

Charles Cook, #7115

Santiago Correa, #5397

Ruthann Cross, #1751

Malorie Cziraky, #5694

the honor roll reflects each life MeMber’s circle of e xcellence donor designation, as well as their individUal ordinal life MeMber nUMber. this nUMber serves as a soUrce of Pride in coMMeMorating a life MeMber’s UniqUe Place in this PrestigioUs groUP.

life MeMber circle of Excellence

Frances Darrach, #1598

Carisa Davis, #5414

Denise Davis, #3894

Kathy DeBellis, #2884

Carol Dell, #7565

Ralph Dell, #7564

Earline Demps-Gilbert, #6351

Josie Diaz, #5778

James Dietz, #7600

Laura Dietz, #7601

Susan Dillinger, #4286

Debbie Doyle, #3238

Judith Draculan, #1857

Carol Duley, #6267

Richard Dutton, #3258

Brenda Edmonds, #531

Claudius Effiom, #4154

Kathryn Emby, #7778

Renzo Escalante, #5355

Emily Farkas, #9481

Jeffrey Fecko, #5936

Robin Fenley, #6860

Karina Findlay, #1860

Steven Fisher, #523

Michael Flaherty, #6825

Michael P. Flanagan, #6073

Christopher Forest, #6658

Stacy Freeman, #9489

Jeffrey Frishman, #2540

Robert Fuller, #2569

Carolyn Fulmer, #58

Kevin Gaffney, #2638

William Geddes, #4142

Michael Geiger, #8710

Carl Gingola, #838

Alison Goins, #7478

Walter Goins III, #7477

Paul Golden, #1698

Heather Gordon, #6718

Linda Gould, #8715

Andrea Graham, #4791

Alexandria Grant, #9120

Jay Hardwick, #7858

Felicity Hendrix, #8861

Stacy Hendry, #6873

Steven Hester, #820

Betty Hill, #3393

Christine Hill, #7568

Fred Hill, #8828

Jack Hill II, #269

Janice Hill, #507

Marilyn Hill, #8829

R. Patrick Hill, #148

William Hill, #7569

Winifred Holland, #6062

Robin Hollins, #852

Maria Houmis, #2440

Nicholas Houmis, #2439

Michael Hovey Jr., #7539

Arian Howard, #5469

Catherine Hugues, #746

Richard Hugues, #745

Suzanna Hwang, #4354

Wayne Jacobus, #2324

Anila Jain, #132

Karin Johnson, #7944

Robert G. Johnson, #7945

Allan Jones, #3531

Steven Karas, #3656

Michelle Kastner, #7339

Keith Keene, #6231

Elizabeth Knapp, #7376

Lauren Koblick, #9331

Cheryl Kobres, #2275

Latonia Kraus, #9190

John Kutch, #6281

Christopher Lake, #4658

Herman Lazzara, #2661

Elaine Lee, #9299

Frank Lewis Jr., #2627

Walter Lisiewski Jr., #8278

Barbara Little, #8351

William Little, #8350

Xiaoping Liu, #3810

Thomas LoCicero, #6170

Richard Lupi, #7639

Huy Ly, #8545

Frank Maggio, #395

Lora Maggio, #396

Stephen Malik, #5103

A. K. Bobby Mallik, #1344

Arleen Mariotti, #3617

George Marks, #3745

Marjorie Martini, #7024

Wilson Mathews Jr., #4308

Jeffrey Mayer, #6742

James McBride, #6732

Agnes McCarthy, #6068

Blair McCausland, #4800

Patricia McConnell, #373

Richard McConnell, #372

Marian McCulloch, #3797

Deborah McFarland, #8362

Christine McKelvey, #4271

Bruce Meiselman, #2981

Stephen Meyer, #2939

Leonard Miller, #79

Erika Milligan, #6361

Linda Mossey, #4160

Weston Myers, #7276

Dorothy Nales, #6031

Mark Nash, #1211

Donna Odem, #8684

Robert Pacenta, #447

Jeffrey Pafunda, #6387

Cynthia Palmisano, #6528

William Palmisano Jr., #6527

Peter Panos, #2736

Amy Parry, #407

Conrad Pawlina, #4384

Michael Pesta, #3249

Christopher Peterson, #6659

Edward Phinney, #2610

Theda Phinney, #2611

Frank Pidala, #2560

Nancy Popick, #2097

Scott Popick, #2096

Judith Prier, #6992

Richard Prince, #8705

Thomas Pynn, #6006

James Quasius, #9034

Mark Raynor, #5854

Dennis Reaves, #7537

Melverine Reaves, #7538

Sue Ann Reisdorph, #7357

Thomas Reisdorph, #7358

Byron Risner, #6918

Pedro Rivera, #1092

Raymond Rocha, #902

Deborah Rodriguez, #1377

Irene Rodriguez, #7412

Roger Rodriguez, #1376

Constance Rossi, #8078

Magda Saleh, #1878

Mohamad Saleh, #1879

Barbara Sanderson, #3384

Iva Savariau, #7514

Kurt Scheblein, #7152

Paula Schelling, #5983

Wolfgang Scholl, #2093

Therese Seal, #1964

Stephen Shepherd, #8593

Denise Siegrist, #2847

Geoffrey Simon, #4790

James Snyder, #6598

Shirley Snyder, #6597

Patricia Spychala, #1010

Jacqueline Steele, #762

Christine Stenger, #6026

Elliott Stern, #901

Deborah Streeter, #7915

Henry Thorpe Jr., #6994

Kathleen Thorpe, #6995

Michael Torres, #8533

Sudsy Tschiderer, #4498

Luis Urrutia, #7268

Susan Urrutia, #7267

Manuel Valdes, #9017

Clifford Van Leuven, #3542

Bryan Veith, #4867

Monica Verra-Tirado, #4723

Andrew Villa Jr., #4139

Marta Vittini, #3763

Jeffrey Walter, #1767

David Wandel Jr., #2272

Diane Wandel, #2273

Ian Ware, #476

Elizabeth Washington, #5830

James Watkins Jr., #3578

Harry West II, #7165

Pamela West, #7164

Lisa Wharton, #6140

Dennis Whelan, #2755

Linda Whelan, #2756

Cheryl Whiteman, #1845

Thomas Whiteman Jr., #1844

Curtis Wilkerson, #7865

Latonya Williams, #4152

Bernard Wilson III, #2662

Robert Zambito, #6859

Mary Zernia-Best, #7031

Timothy Zink, #7091

Circle of Excellence donations are placed in the Executive Director’s Fund for Excellence. All Circle of Excellence gifts are recognized at usf.to/honor

The Honor Roll reflects each Life Member’s Circle of Excellence donor designation, as well as their individual ordinal Life Member number. This number serves as a source of pride in commemorating a Life Member’s unique place in this prestigious group.

We have made every attempt to ensure the accuracy of our honor roll. Please accept our sincere apologies for any omissions or errors.

WHERE’S Rocky ?

a) Rocky joins Tina Johnson, ’80, Life Member #868, and Dan Johnson, Life Member #869, in the mouth of Admirals Arch at Cape Du Couedic on Kangaroo Island in Australia. Tina is a 2020 USF Distinguished Alumna.

b) Rocky and besties Stephanie Ruiz, ’18, left, and Taylor FeulnerHamada, ’19, Life Member #8652, hang with deerly beloved friends at Nara Park in Japan. The trio bonded back at Cooper Hall.

c) Rocky and Avalon Jade Theisen, ‘20, Life Member #5496, make a waddle of friends while exploring Antarctica, Argentina, the Falkland Islands and Uruguay on a cruise. Avalon aims to take Rocky to all seven continents and had just two remaining by last September.

aWith more than 394,000 alumni around the world, Rocky finds plenty of friends and willing travel companions. If he jumps in your suitcase or pops up where you least expect him, snap a pic!

d) At Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard in Waterbury, Vermont, Rocky and future Bull Josie Grovac mourn the brief earthly sojourn of Wild Maine Blueberry. Josie is the great-granddaughter, granddaughter, niece and great-niece of USF alumni Peggy Tyre, ’77 and MS ’86; Tracey Shadday, ’80 and MPH ’94; Penny Carnathan, ’82, Life Member #4600; Armand Vallone, ’82; Joe Vallone, ’88, Life Member #7879; and Lisa Kennedy, ’10 and MA ’15.

e) Steve Fessler, ’77, Life Member #7607, left, and Randy Lord, Life Member #7608, introduce Rocky to Mozart’s birthplace, Salzburg, Austria. Steve is the 2023 USF Donald A. Gifford Service Award recipient and serves on the USF Foundation Board of Directors.

f) Relishing “Wonder and Awe: A Week Celebrating Chautauqua’s Sesquicentennial” at the Chautauqua Institution in New York, Rocky joins, front row, Jan Roberts, ’74 and MA ’76, and former USF President Betty Castor, Life Member #161, and back row, Kathy Betancourt, ’67 and MA ’70, Life Member #55; Candy Olson, MBA ’76; and Patti Breckenridge.

Class Notes

1960s

DONALD MCCRIMMON, Psychology ‘64, completed his 10th year as adjunct professor at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York. He was previously vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Cazenovia College in Cazenovia, New York.

1970s

1980s

JOANNE HOWARD FREIBERGER, Accounting ’87 and MAcc ‘90, was promoted to senior vice president for investor relations and chief communications officer at Newell Brands. She was previously vice president for investor relations at the company.

H.A. “HERB” BRANHAM, History ’79, and HOLLY CAIN, Mass Communications ’89, have published “NASCAR Mavericks: The Rebels and Racers Who Revolutionized Stock Car Racing” (Motorbooks; 2024). Branham is director of communications for NASCAR in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Cain is the senior writer for NASCAR Wire Service and IMSA Wire Service in Daytona Beach.

JAMES H. “JIM” DAVIS JR., English ’72, Life Member, was awarded the Society of Hickory Golfers’ highest honor, the Mike Brown Award, for respecting hickory golf traditions, dedication to growing the game and promoting friendships through hickory golf. He is executive director and editor of the society’s bi-annual journal, “A Wee Nip for the Hickory Golfer,” and a retired editor with Grand Rapids Press in Michigan.

EDWARD J. PAGE, Criminology ’78, Life Member, celebrated his 25th anniversary at Carlton Fields law firm in Tampa. He was previously the deputy independent counsel for Kenneth W. Starr.

ROBERT “ROBY” HELM, Mass Communications ‘84, was inducted into the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Class of 2025. Helm has announced and broadcast motorsports events for 45 years. He is the voice of the Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series and the lead announcer at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, Georgia.

1990s

LARRY ANTONUCCI, MBA ’97, was appointed to the Florida Gulf Coast University Board of Trustees by Gov. Ron DeSantis. He is president and CEO of Lee Health.

CHRISTOPHER BROWN, MA Applied Anthropology ’92, received the 2024 Outstanding Leadership in Advancing Fatherhood Award from the National Partnership for Community Leadership. He is president of the National Fatherhood Initiative.

SID DOBRIN, PhD English ’95, testified before the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce regarding artificial intelligence and education. He is a professor and chair of University of Florida’s English department.

LEA HEBERLEIN, Microbiology ’95 and DPH ’18, was named laboratory director at the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Public Health Laboratories in Tampa. She was previously a virology administrator for the Department of Health.

ANDY MAYTS, Political Science ’93, Life Member, was recognized by the Leadership Tampa Alumni association with the Parke Wright III Leadership Award for leadership that has made a significant impact on the Tampa Bay area. He is a partner at Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP.

TIFFANY MOORE

RUSSELL , Political Science ’96, was installed as the 2024-25 president of the Florida Court Clerks and Comptroller’s Association. She is the Orange County (Florida) Clerk of Courts.

CHRISTY (PAUL) SWIFT, English/Technical Writing ’95, published her debut rom-com novel “Celebrity Crush” (Forever; 2025). She is a freelance writer based in Lake Placid, Florida.

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2000s

LOUIS URSINI III, Finance ’96, was elected to the executive committee of Adams and Reese LLP. He is a financial services litigation partner at the firm’s Tampa office.

SERGIO WALDECK , MBA ’99, joined Citi in Tampa as senior vice president in technology. He was previously executive director-finance senior manager at Wells Fargo.

ALEX KIM, MBA 20062007, joined SSOE Group architecture and engineering firm in Atlanta as program development lead in the battery and solar division.

CRYSTEL (DAWSON) LEWIS, English, ’06, Life Member, was selected as one of Legacy South Florida Magazine’s 40 under 40 Black Leaders of Today and Tomorrow for 2024. She is dean of student services at Miami Dade College-North Campus.

LATOYA MCCORMICKHUTCHINSON, MA Music Education ’06, joined USF as an assistant instructor of theater and voice. She previously taught musical theater and choir in Pinellas County elementary schools.

CEDRIC MCCRAY, Emotional and Behavioral Disorders ’00, was promoted to director of the Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency. He previously served as interim director of the agency, and before that, as manager of the East Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency.

STEVONIA ALLEN, Communication ’06, was selected for Women Leading Ed’s inaugural emerging state executives cohort. She also received the Florida Excellence in Education Award from Alpha Delta Kappa International Honorary Organization for Women Educators. She is executive director of the Transformation Network with Hillsborough County Public Schools.

RICHARD TANNER ARSUAGA, MPH ’07, joined Arine Inc. in Redlands, California, as a pharmacist. He was previously a pharmacist at Aspen RXHealth.

MICHAEL BARNETT, Political Science ’04, was appointed to the Palm Beach (Florida) State College District Board of Trustees by Gov. Ron DeSantis. He is a lawyer for Shiner Law Group.

JAISON JAMES, International Studies and History ’08, has founded and is managing partner of Jaison James Legal Services, PLLC, in Tampa. He was previously a manager at Sunshine Investment Legacy Organization, LLC, and is the former national president of Sigma Beta Rho Fraternity, Inc.

MICHELLE JOSEPH, Accounting ’03, was recognized as a Chief Financial Officer of the Year by the Tampa Bay Business Journal in 2024. She is the CFO at Boley Centers, Inc. in St Petersburg.

TIFFANY LOVE , Political Science ’06, Life Member, was elected as a partner for Adams and Reese LLP. A member of the Corporate Services Practice Group, she practices in real estate law in the firm’s Tampa office.

BRIAN STEPHENS, MPA ’01, was elected to the board of directors of GMR, an engineering, security and lighting consulting firm based in Heath, Texas. He is a security risk advisor at Teneo Risk Advisory.

JYOTIKA VIRMANI, PhD Marine Science ’05, was included in Forbes magazine’s 2024 50 Over 50 list of groundbreaking women aged 50 and up. The executive director of the Schmidt Ocean Institute was also selected this year as a board member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Ocean Studies.

MICHELLE TURMAN, MA Art History ’00, was a finalist in the founders category at Tampa Bay Business & Wealth Magazine’s 2024 Apogee Awards. She is founder and CEO of Catalyst Consulting Services. A USF Foundation board member, she chairs the Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Arts and Sciences. (Pictured with Jay Stroman, USF Foundation CEO, left, and Eric Eisenberg, USF senior vice president.)

NATALIE YACOUB, Marketing ’04, was promoted to division chief for the Future Strategies and Resources Division at Defense Intelligence Agency. She was previously the agency’s contracting section chief.

2010s

MARYELI BAEZ, Psychology ’19, joined ACTS Adult Addiction Receiving Facility as a behavioral health technician.

AMBER BOOSE, Public Health ’13, and MPH ’17, was promoted to senior manager of clinical research data management at the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Wesley Chapel, Florida. She was previously a clinical research data manager at the association for oncology professionals.

FRANK CABANO, Business Economics ’12, joined Kansas State University’s College of Business Administration as an assistant professor of marketing. He was previously a faculty fellow and assistant professor of marketing at the University of Texas at El Paso.

DEB CARSON , MLA ’12, released the third print edition, and first ebook edition, of “Becoming FLO … A Mostly True Story” (Pure Art Press; 2024). She is the owner of Pure Art Press and CarsonCommunications in St. Petersburg.

DR. TERESA COLÓNASUMU, MPH ’15, joined Holy Cross Health Florida in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as a family medicine physician. She was previously a family medicine resident at Emory University School of Medicine.

SHAHNJAYLA CONNORS, MPH ’10, was named an associate professor of health and behavioral science at the University of HoustonDowntown. She was previously an assistant professor at the university.

PATRICIA DOMINGUEZ-MEJIA, Interdisciplinary Social Sciences ’13, was appointed regional ombudsman for long-term care at the Office of Ombudsman for Long-Term Care in Minnesota. She previously served as a senior research assistant with the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

TIEKEYLA “LUCY” FRANCOIS, Marketing ’15, was the speaker for the fall 2024 commencement ceremony at Tarleton State University, where she was also graduating with a master’s in education. She was previously a reading specialist at Journey School of Costa Rica.

JORDANA FROST, MPH ’11, is the deputy director of policy and programs at the Institute for Medicaid Innovation. She was previously director of strategic partnerships for the March of Dimes.

COREY GIVENS JR., Mass Communications ’14, was elected to the St. Petersburg City Council. He is an ordained minister who has served on the boards of numerous civic and nonprofit organizations.

MIKE KLINGSHIRN, MPH ’10, joined Discovery Canyon Campus High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as a mathematics teacher. He was previously a senior epidemiologist in the Air National Guard.

// Snapshots // Good times at Life Member Baseball!

Families give a big Horns Up for Bulls, baseball and … cornhole! The Alumni Association’s annual Life Member Appreciation Baseball Game on March 28 drew hundreds of adults and kids to watch the Bulls take on Tulane. USF took it 3-0.

Transforming Lives, One Student at a Time

For 20 years, we have supported postsecondary attainment for all students, especially from low-income and underrepresented communities, in Florida and Arizona.

See Our Impact

Moffitt Cancer Center is uprooting the old ways of thinking and advancing the science to save more lives. Ours is a bold spirit that is pioneering innovations not seen elsewhere, ensuring patients receive the best that Florida has to offer: leading-edge individualized treatment, deep compassion and survival rates up to 4 times the national averages. From our multi-disciplinary approach to our passionate culture, it’s different here. Choose Moffitt first.

Learn more at Moffitt.org/Outcomes.

ANTONYIA MCCRAY, Exceptional Child Education ’17 and MA ’20, was named the 2025 Ida S. Baker Diversity Educator of the Year by the Hillsborough Education Foundation. She is a student success coach at Freedom High School in Tampa.

AMRUTA “AM” MHASHILKAR, MPH ’11 and PhD ’15, was named an associate director at Catalent Pharma Solutions. She was previously a senior manager at the Tampa Bay area company.

MANDZISI MKHONTFO, MSPH ’16, joined USAID as a project management specialist for health program sustainability in Eswatini. He was previously a voluntary male medical circumcision specialist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

MCKENZIE NELSON, Chemical Engineering ’17, published her first book, “The Pregnancy Experience” (Fulton Books; 2024). She is a process engineer III at Integrated Project Services (IPS), LLC, in Germantown, Maryland.

ANTHONY W. NUNNALLY, Criminology ’13, launched a criminal defense and personal injury firm, Nunnally Law Firm, PLLC, serving the Tampa Bay area. He was previously a senior associate attorney at McDermott Law Firm, P.A.

OLIVIA PARK , Cell and Molecular Biology ’15, was selected for the Tennessee Bar Association’s Leadership Law’s 22nd class. Park practices general litigation at McAngus Goudelock & Courie in Nashville, Tennessee.

JUAN ESTEBAN SUAREZ SANDINO, International Business and Marketing ’16, married Jared Armenti on Jan. 3 in Tampa. Sandino is a marketing campaign manager at Incident IQ in Atlanta.

CODY WALDROP, Public Health ’11, Life Member, has joined PetSmart Veterinary Services in Tampa as principal veterinary business consultant for its Eastern region. He was previously a practice management officer at Associated Veterinary Partners.

20 2 0s

JAZLYNN HIRSCHHORN, Health Sciences ’24, was named a Muma College of Business “25 Under 25” honoree. She runs an e-commerce shop and is pursuing an MBA.

AAKIF LALANI, Business Analytics and Information Systems ’23, was named a Muma College of Business “25 Under 25” honoree. He is a business analyst on the Global Data Analytics, AI & Innovation team at Ashley Furniture and is pursuing an MBA.

WILLIAM NGO, MA Religious Studies ’23, has a role in the AppleTV+ series “Bad Monkey,” released in August 2024. Watch for him in episode 4. Ngo has worked as an actor for 16 years.

VITTORIA PATTI, Political Science ’23, was promoted to head of Orizzonti Politici’s North America expertise area in media and communications. She was previously the Italian think tank’s chair of the USA Elections Task Force.

JENNIFER SCHENK , Psychology ‘23, Life Member, has joined Centerstone health-care system as a counselor for addiction and recovery, helping people work through requirements mandated by Manatee County Drug Court.

VERONICA SOLER-TORRES, Public Health ’21, was named a senior knowledge analyst at The Bridgespan Group. She was previously a knowledge associate at the Boston-based nonprofit.

IRYNA VASKO, Statistics ’23, was named a Muma College of Business “25 Under 25” honoree. As a Florida Gubernatorial Fellow, she works in the Executive Office of the Governor’s Financial and Economic Analysis Unit. She is pursuing an MBA.

Angie Brewer is proud to support all USF students who will help complete the circle!

In Memoriam

CLYDENE ALBRIGO, Nursing ’79, March 6, 2025

GAIL LOUISE ALBRITTON MANUEL ALPERS, Marketing Education ’79, Dec. 14, 2024

CAROL BETH ANGLE, Early Childhood Education ’70, Feb. 19, 2025

JOHN “JACK” BARRETT, Accounting ’73, Dec. 19, 2024

DONNA BEAGLES, English Education ’68, Jan. 18, 2025

RICHARD BLACKWELL, MA Zoology ’68, Dec. 9, 2024

ROBERT THOMAS BOWLES, ME Engineering ’70, Nov. 20, 2024

MARY BRANSFORD, MA Guidance and Counseling Education ’72, Nov. 13, 2024

ORLAN H. BRIANT, MA Secondary Education ’67, Feb. 3, 2025

MARY “SUE” BROWN, MEd Curriculum and Instruction ’82, Feb. 16, 2025

KEITH E. BUCHBAUM, MA Library and Information Science ’09, Dec. 2, 2024

JUDITH LYNN BUNCH, English ’86, Dec. 5, 2024

LOUIS J. CONN, Marketing ’85, Nov. 13, 2024

JANE IRONS COUPE, Elementary Physical Education ’90, Feb. 6, 2025

BETTY VALENTINE CRITZ, Education-English Language Development ’88, Aug. 23, 2024

DIANE ELIZABETH CURTIS, MA Reading Education ’87, March 20, 2024

GEOFFREY DEUEL, International Studies ’87, Dec. 22, 2024

JENNIFER ELLERMAN-QUEEN, Anthropology ’07 and MA ’12, Dec. 3, 2024

KAREN LORRAINE FORBES, Mass Communications ’77, Feb. 9, 2025

MARY FRANCES FORBES-WILLIAMS, Elementary Education ’75, Feb. 13, 2025

CURTIS GEER, MEd Administration and Supervision ’75, Feb. 24, 2025

HELENA GONZALEZ, Engineering ’78, March 5, 2025

MARGARITA GONZALEZ, Mass Communications ’85, Sept. 4, 2024

JAMES TOPPER GRAVES, English ’68 and MA ’82, Aug. 20, 2024

ALISHA GSELL, MA Library and Information Sciences ’22, Dec. 1, 2024

STACIE MARGO GUY, Journalism ’89, Jan. 24, 2025

BARBARA WELLS HAWKINS, Elementary Education ’70, Feb. 12, 2025

VIVIAN TARRANT HILL, MA Elementary Education ’82, Nov. 6, 2024

MARK HOFFENBERG, Mass Communications ’74, March 15, 2025

LT. COL. FRANCIS MARK HOFFMAN, Medical Technology ’95, Oct. 16, 2024

DRAKE HOGESTYN, Biology ’77, Sep. 28, 2024

PATRICIA ANN HUBBARD, Humanities ’96, Feb. 24, 2025

LILLIE JEAN, Marketing ’08 and Management ’09, Nov. 14, 2024

MARK DALE KEELER, Elementary Education ’78, Dec. 3, 2024

THOMAS “TOM” KINGCADE, Political Science ’67, March 11, 2025

VINCENT “VINCE” J. KRAL, Art ’07, USF Contemporary Art Museum Staff, Nov. 18, 2024.

ROBERT “BEAR” LILLY, MA Mathematics Education ’95, Dec. 9, 2024

FRANK LOMBARDO, MS Engineering Management ’92, Nov. 24, 2024

CHERYL ANN LUBIN, Communication ’96, Oct. 26, 2024

ROBERT W. LUTZ, English ’79 and Civil Engineering ’85, Nov. 11, 2024

CAROLYN MANEE, Business Education ’67, March 14, 2024

DOROTHY “DOT” (WILSON) MASSEY-DUNCAN, MA Distributive/Marketing Education, Jan. 21, 2025

CAROLINE MCMAHON, Geography ’81, Feb. 21, 2025

SIAMAK MOLLANAZAR, Civil Engineering ’85, March 4, 2025

THOMAS “TOM” MOORE, Mathematics Education ’69 and MA ’73, Feb. 7, 2025

CHARLES BURKE “CHUCK” MUDD JR., Geography ’70, Life Member, Nov. 9, 2024

DEBRA GENE O’CONNOR, Special Education ’77, Dec. 25, 2024

JEANNE ATHEL O’NEIL, MA Art Education ’79, Jan. 19, 2025

ROSEMARNA PAJERSKI, Mathematics ’73, Life Member, Nov. 5, 2024

SUSAN CHARLOTTE PARCHETA, MA Business Education ’84, Nov. 19, 2024

JOEY PATTEN, Physical Education ’72, Jan. 27, 2025

K. BRIDGET CONNOLLY PIEKARSKI, Mass Communications ’74, Jan. 10, 2025

MATTHEW SCOTT REO, Management ’90, Dec. 19, 2024

PAUL STEVEN SAFKO, MS Geology ’89, Oct. 29, 2024

JOHN OWEN SCOTT, Accounting ’74, Chief Financial Officer, USF Foundation, Life Member, Oct. 13, 2024

SALLY SMITH SLOAN, Sociology ’70 and Guidance and Counseling Education ’74, Jan. 22, 2025

RANDALL SNOW, Engineering Technology ’74, Dec. 20, 2024

CHARLES A. STRYKER III, History ’99, March 1, 2025

SUSAN (SIMS) SUNDERLAND, MEd Educational Leadership ’99, Dec. 6, 2024

MARIE K. SWICK, MA Elementary Education ’88, Dec. 29, 2024

GEORGE THAYER, Interdisciplinary Social Sciences ’00, July 31, 2024

BOBETTE TURNIPSEED, Elementary Education ’75 and MA ’79, March 14, 2024

DAVID SETH WALKER, MA History ’01, Nov. 22, 2024

MELANIE WILSON, Zoology ’69, Oct. 24, 2024

MICHAEL HENRY WINN, Management ’67, Oct. 15, 2024

STEVE D. WOMBLE JR., History ’78 and MA ’95, Feb. 9, 2025

MIRIAM ZACK, Library and Information Science ’74, Jan. 20, 2025

Faculty and Staff

DR. NEIL ALAN FENSKE, Inaugural Endowed Chair, Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, Oct. 19, 2024

ARTHUR KETCHERSID, Associate Director, Technical Services, USF Libraries, Oct. 14, 2024

MARCIA MANN, Professor, College of Education, Sept. 29, 2024

VICTOR MOLINARI, Emeritus Professor, School of Aging Studies, Nov. 4, 2024

CHARLES OLANOW, Faculty, USF Morsani College of Medicine, Oct. 25, 2024

Friends

JOHN ROBERT FALKENHAM, Benefactor, Nov. 21, 2024

JAMES W. “JIM” KEATING, Benefactor, Nov. 21, 2024

USF P re S ident F ranci S t. B orkow S ki ~

M arch 16, 1936 - J an . 19, 2025 ~

USF’s fourth president served from 1988-93

Francis T. Borkowski, USF’s fourth president, passed away at age 88 in North Carolina.

"I first met Frank Borkowski early in his tenure as USF president when he visited me at my law firm to discuss Florida's landscape and his vision for the university's future,” USF President Rhea Law said. “I greatly enjoyed working with him to help strengthen USF's reputation across the state. Frank was truly a champion for our students and our university. We are deeply saddened by his passing, and he will be sorely missed."

Borkowski was the University of South Carolina’s provost when he was selected from among 146 candidates for the USF presidency.

During a 2004 oral history interview, he recalled the university’s appeal. “It just impressed me as a place that had many opportunities,” he said. “This was a growing part of the country, and here was a university that could help shape the way that growth took place.”

During his five-year tenure, USF’s enrollment increased from 30,000 to more than 34,000; research grants grew from $37 million to $60 million; and the USF Foundation’s endowment increased from $21 million to $61 million.

Borkowski oversaw USF’s first major fundraising drive, which raised nearly $120 million, and helped lay the groundwork for USF’s football program by calling for a feasibility study in 1991.

He recognized the importance of building bridges to Tampa’s Latino community and, after listening to concerns about Hispanic students’ low graduation rates, created the Latin Community Advisory Council, which still exists today.

A number of major construction projects began or were completed during his presidency, including the Communication and Information Sciences Building, Lifsey House, and renovations to what was then called the student center. The Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza was dedicated during his tenure.

Borkowski enjoyed trading places with a USF student for one day each year. In 1988, student Susan Keil became USF president, while Borkowski attended classes. By the end of the day, Keil told Borkowski, “President, you can have your headache back now.”

Borkowski left USF in 1993 to become chancellor of Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. He is survived by his wife, Kay; three children; and four grandchildren.

Francis Borkowski, who took office as the fourth USF President in 1988, with his wife, Kay Borkowski; trading places with student Susan Keil for a day, circa 1988; with Charles Reed, the chancellor for the State University System of Florida, circa 1989. [Photos: USF Digital Commons]

Chapters & Societies

No matter where you live, you’ll always be

a Bull !

The USF Alumni Association’s chapters and societies connect Bulls with one another — across the country and around the world. Through social events, professional networking, fundraising and community service, alumni groups help USF grads and friends support one another, our university and current students. They play an important part in the Alumni Association’s mission to provide meaningful ways for Bulls to make an impact; protect USF through advocacy; share pride in our great university; and stick together.

Interest-Based Groups

Black Alumni

Tina James LaShante Keys blackalumnisociety@usfalumnigroup.org

Bulls of the Last Decade William Dailey wdailey@usf.edu

Dance Alumni Society Sadie Lehmker slehmker@usf.edu

DBA Alumni Network Andy Hafer USFDBAAlumni@gmail.com

Education Alumni

Jennifer Warren usfedusociety@gmail.com

Engineering Alumni Carissa Gudenkauf usfeaschair@gmail.com

Entrepreneur Alumni Katie Davis katiedavis@usf.edu

Members of the Jacksonville-St. Augustine Alumni Chapter pause for a selfie while preparing diapers for distribution at the Diaper Bank for Northeast Florida.

Geology Alumni

Robin Speidel usfgas@gmail.com

Judy Genshaft Honors College Alumni

Samantha Cleveland sdpimentel@usf.edu

Kosove Scholarship Alumni

Justin Geisler justingeisler@hotmail.com

Latino Alumni

Delia Jourde latinoalumni@usfalumnigroup.org

LGBTQ+ Alumni

Robert Wallace

Dr. Ron Kennedy LGBTQalumni@usfalumnigroup.org

Medicine Alumni

Valerie Riddle valerie25@usf.edu

Music Alumni

Arupa Gopal

Tanya Bruce usfmusicalumni@gmail.com

Psychology Alumni

Katie Davis katiedavis@usf.edu

Public Health Alumni

Liz Bannon COPHalumni@usf.edu

Rugby Alumni

James Callihan

Sean Masse usfbullsrugbyalumni@gmail.com

Veteran Alumni

Todd Post Veteran@usfalumnigroup.org

Geographical Groups

Atlanta

Austin Kelly Austin.kelly27@gmail.com

Austin, Texas

Mike Pettengill Michael.j.pettengill@outlook.com

Broward County

Ruth Rogge ruthrogge@gmail.com

Alan Steinberg usfbrowardalumni@gmail.com

Charlotte, N.C.

Raphael Bennett rdbennet85028

Chicago Tristen Utterback tutterback@outlook.com

John Moran Johnmoran66@outlook.com

Dallas

Alexandra Oliveros alexandra.oliveros@gmail.com

D.C. Regional

Monica Turner Elizabeth Davis usfbullsdc@gmail.com

Denver Jennifer Fnkhouser funkiepur@gmail.com

Lauren Monti laurenrmonti@gmail.com

Houston Ken Lettre kjlettre@gmail.com

Jacksonville-St. Augustine

Jodi Dodge Jadodge.usf@gmail.com

Los Angeles Garin Flowers garin.flowers@gmail.com

Miami-Dade County Ashlinn Swasey aswasey@usf.edu

New York City Brian Cziraky cziraky@usf.edu

Orlando Brenda Cardenas usfbullsorlando@gmail.com

Palm Beach County

Jeamson Simeus jeamson.simeus@nm.com

Andrea Hurtado ahurtado@primetimepbc.org

Pasco County Phil Kupczyk kuptheteach@hotmail.com

Pinellas County Pam Haber pinellas@usfalumnigroup.org

Polk County

Ashley C. Troutman ashleytroutman@hotmail.com

Portland, Oregon

Suzanne Ward

John Warner usfpdxchapter@gmail.com

Raleigh, N.C.

Benjamin Wadsworth bwadswor@mail.usf.edu

Jim Johnson jim@stateofsunshine.com

Sarasota-Manatee

Josh Baker

Kristen Truong sarasotamanatee@usfalumnigroup.org

Tallahassee Katie Davis katiedavis@usf.edu

Tampa (Greater Tampa)

Lauren Pickel usftampaalumni@gmail.com

Global Networks

Brazil usf.to/USF-Brazil

Canada usf.to/USF-Canada

Caribbean usf.to/USF-Caribbean

Colombia usf.to/USF-Colombia

France usf.to/USF-France

India usf.to/USF-India

Saudi Arabia usf.to/USF-SaudiArabia

United Kingdom usf.to/USF-UnitedKingdom

Global Alumni usf.to/GlobalAlumni