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January 17, 2024

I hope you all had a restful extended winter break and are ready to continue the incredible momentum we have maintained throughout the past year at USF.

While reflecting on all that our university has achieved, I was asked by the Business Observer to share one word to live by in 2024. I chose a word that has defined our institution since its founding — bold. USF is reaching milestones quicker than many thought possible, and we enter the new year poised to provide even greater benefits to our students, communities and society through our teaching, research and innovative programs. I am challenging myself to think boldly in 2024, and I hope you’ll do the same in your many contributions to the success of our university.

Updates

• Yesterday we announced the formalization of a partnership between USF and Tampa International Airport, a relationship that will provide a pathway for our students to gain hands-on experience working with one of our nation’s best airports and for our researchers to apply their expertise to address important issues. By further uniting two of the largest and most significant entities in Tampa Bay, we will continue to explore opportunities to work together to create a better future for our region.

• To honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., USF is proud to host MLK Commemorative Week, a series of activities that allows our students, faculty and staff to learn more about Dr. King and the history of the civil rights movement in America. I thank everyone who has taken the time to participate in these events or reflect on Dr. King’s impact. For those who are interested, on Friday our Office of Multicultural Affairs will host its annual MLK Commemorative Brunch on the Tampa campus. You can learn more and register to attend here.

• We were delighted to have several representatives from the AAU visit our Tampa campus last week. They met with our University Leadership Council, and I enjoyed welcoming the AAU Council on Federal Relations during their Strategic Planning Meeting in Clearwater. This was a wonderful opportunity for us to engage with our fellow AAU members and to thank those who are advocating for higher education as we work to build bridges between our institutions and our elected officials.

• I was honored to serve as the keynote speaker for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute's Winter Open House and to talk about the many initiatives USF has developed to promote lifelong learning. A community for those who are 50 years of age or older, OLLI-USF encourages its members to never stop learning, and I sincerely appreciate their team's efforts to provide high-quality educational opportunities to adult learners in our communities. You can learn more about OLLI-USF's impactful programming here.

• A big congratulations to USF's all-girls cheer team for a first-place victory in last weekend's UCA Division I-A College National Championship. With this latest win, the team has brought home the national championship title two years in a row, and they are the first-ever team to win both the game day and traditional divisions in the same year! We're incredibly proud of the team for this outstanding accomplishment.

Additional University News Sources

• USF Newsroom

• St. Petersburg campus

• Sarasota-Manatee campus

• USF Health

• USF Athletics

Retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, executive director of the USF Global and National Security Institute, wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on U.S.–Iranian military relations.

Electronic Engineering Times featured USF Professor and Vice President of Research & Innovation Sylvia Wilson Thomas in a story about her career and research interests.

National Geographic featured USF Associate Professor Jason Gulley in a story about ice caves that are forming in high-altitude Himalayan glaciers as a result of rising temperatures.

The USF Contemporary Art Museum will soon open a new exhibit titled "OFFSET: Robert Rauschenberg at USF Graphicstudio," which tells the story of Rauschenberg’s work and his longstanding collaboration with USF Distinguished University Professor Donald J. Saff, founding dean of USF's College of the Arts and the USF Graphicstudio. Together, Rauschenberg and Saff worked on several impactful projects across mediums. The exhibit is free and open to the public from Jan. 19 through March 2.

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