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Best of the Bulls: USF celebrates 2022 Alumni Award recipients

By PENNY CARNATHAN ’82 | USF Advancement

WHEN HE ENROLLED AT USF in 1984, Michael Rao thought he might become a physician. But his chemistry professors lavished him with attention — which sent him in an entirely different direction. 

“If you showed interest, they would spend any amount of time trying to help. They just embraced me. Hours after classes, late at night, we’d be in the lab,” recalls Rao, ’87. “They inspired me about higher education.”

Five years later, Rao was president of Mission College in California, the youngest college president in the nation. Today, he leads top-ranked Virginia Commonwealth University and VCU Health System.

Recognized for a lifetime of spectacular professional achievements, he and two fellow graduates, Ernest Boger, ’65, and Ken Eriksen, ’84, were named USF Distinguished Alumni in October. It’s the highest honor bestowed on alumni by the university.

The 46th annual USF Alumni Awards also celebrated former student Pam Muma, 1964-67, and one non-USF grad, Jerry Bell, who received Donald A. Gifford Service and Class of ’56 awards, respectively, for their transformative dedication to the university and the community. The awards represent USF’s most prestigious recognition for service.

“This is such an important event,” said President Rhea Law, ’77, a 2018 Distinguished Alumna, in addressing the audience. “It’s our opportunity to really look at our alumni and see the great things they’re doing and to honor them.” 

• Boger has been blazing trails since 1961, when he became USF’s first Black student. A cascade of firsts would follow — as a student, an educator and a renowned professional in hospitality and tourism management.

• As head softball coach for the U.S. National Team and USF, former Bulls ballplayer Eriksen has led his teams to numerous elite titles and medals. His record includes a 100% USF student-athlete graduation rate.

• Muma’s giving and volunteerism spans decades and diverse interests, often focused on children’s health care and education. She and her husband, Les, are among the largest individual donors to USF. She spearheads much of their philanthropy through the Pamela and Les Muma Family Foundation Inc

• Bell’s groundbreaking leadership and philanthropy have been pivotal for Black student success at USF. He and his wife, Ruth, established USF’s first Black endowed scholarship, and he’s a co-founder of USF’s Black Leadership Network.

In his remarks, Boger expressed his pride in helping establish USF’s first traditions, including his role in the composition of our Alma Mater by late music professor Wayne Hugoboom.

The lyrics included the phrase “where all men are free” — now “where we all are free,” he noted.

“It was specifically told to me by Dr. Hugoboom to be purposefully written to serve notice to the world that the doors of USF are open to all, clearly evidenced by my singular presence,” he said.

“When you sing the school song, it’s something to keep in mind. 

Distinguished Alumni Awards

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

Ernest P. Boger II 
Psychology ’65, Life Member

A man of many ‘firsts’

TAMPA NATIVE ERNEST BOGER has always considered himself an “all-American boy.” He grew up in Progress Village, a Black suburb, and although he was set to graduate as valedictorian at Howard W. Blake High School, the thought of attending college hadn’t yet crossed his mind.

Forty years later, he is nationally known as a renowned expert, educator and pioneer in the hospitality and tourism industry. Widely published and a popular speaker, he has touched countless lives in a very personal way. He was also USF’s first Black student and graduate.

Boger earned a degree in psychology in 1965. He served in the military during the Vietnam War, then finished his MBA at the University of North Texas – the program’s first Black graduate. He earned a doctorate in management from Revans University.

As an educator, he helped lay the groundwork for the emerging hospitality discipline, founding programs at universities across the U.S., Jamaica and the Bahamas. He led the departments of hospitality management at what is now Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, among other high-level posts. 

Boger retired — or as he calls it, “rewired” — in 2020. He continues to share his knowledge and expertise by publishing scholarly journal articles and giving lectures, and has stayed connected to his alma mater as a Life Member of the USF Alumni Association. 

Pat Moreo, former dean of the USF School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, has known Boger since 1975. He describes him as someone who is “transparent, energetic and gets things done.” 

“To watch him progress over all these years has been absolutely wonderful,” Moreo says. “He is a genuine leader and a genuine teacher. We are very lucky to have the commitment he’s made to hospitality education over the years.”

Boger is married to Carmel Brown and the father of two sons. 

USF Distinguished Alumnus

Ken Eriksen 
Political Science ’84, Life Member

Hitting it out of the park

KEN ERIKSEN was born to play ball.

At 3 years old, he swung his first bat playing wiffle ball with his father in Queens, New York. While other children were watching cartoons, Ken was studying the game — glued to the TV when the Yankees and the Mets took the field.

Baseball is in his blood, a passion passed down from his father, who played semi-pro ball. In the stands at Yankee Stadium, he’d remind Ken: Don’t look at the scoreboard, don’t worry about cheering, just watch how they play.

Those early lessons formed the foundation for a career that would take Eriksen to a silver medal in the Olympics as head coach for USA Softball, numerous world championships for Team USA, and one of the most successful athletic programs in USF history.

A member of the Bulls baseball team, Eriksen turned his attention to the fastpitch softball diamond after graduating in 1984. He played from 1986 to 1997, racking up a wealth of national and international honors.

As head coach at USF, Eriksen made Women’s Softball one of the university’s most successful athletic programs, leading the team to five conference titles, 17 NCAA Post-Season Regionals with four “Sweet 16” appearances, two Super Regional appearances and a College World Series berth. 

Those closest to him describe Eriksen as an incredible person with a big heart.

“He does the right thing not because someone’s watching, but because it’s the right thing to do,” says Chris Leto, ’85, CEO of Tampa Brass & Aluminum Corp., who met Eriksen when both were freshmen trying to make USF’s baseball team. “He is one of the most trusting friends that I have. You can go to him with anything, and he has great insight.”

Eriksen met his wife, Debra, at USF, and the couple has two daughters. 

USF Distinguished Alumnus

Michael Rao
Chemistry ’87

Finding the right chemistry

AS A CHEMISTRY STUDENT at a university not much older than he was, Michael Rao found an extended family — and a world of possibilities.

USF professors took him under wing, inviting him into their labs and research. By his sophomore year, their nurturing had given Rao a clear vision for his future: higher education.

Today, he is president of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond and the VCU Health System, an academic medical system ranked in the nation’s top 100.

Rao went on to earn a doctorate in higher education. Among his first projects was creating the master plan for California’s then-new community college system. It was there he became a dean at Santa Clara’s Mission College in 1992. By age 26, he was Mission’s president — the youngest college president in the nation. 

Under Michael’s leadership, Mission became Silicon Valley’s premier college, growing enrollment by 57 percent as it educated the future employees of tech giants. In 1998, he was named chancellor at Montana State University, and in 2000, president of Central Michigan University.

Rao was tapped to become Virginia Commonwealth University’s fifth president in 2009. Since then, the graduation rate has jumped from 48 percent to 70 percent and he’s led the VCU Health System to a 17 percent improvement in patient experience ratings. Fundraising has grown fivefold, including the largest gift in the university’s 184-year history, $104 million to VCU Health’s new Liver Institute. 

Rao grew up near Dade City in Pasco County. His father, Suresh, was a physician and immigrant from India who died when Michael was was a child. His mother, Mary, is a nurse. 

Wilton Simpson, president of the Florida Senate and Rao’s classmate at Pasco High School, says his longtime friend never changed.

“No one who went to high school with Mike is surprised by his success. Very early on, Mike wanted to be helpful, he wanted to teach, and that clearly came out in his choice to attend USF and then become among the youngest college presidents ever,” he says.

Michael and his wife, Monica, have been married for 24 years. They have two children.

Donald A. Gifford Service Award

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

Pamela Muma
Education, 1964-67, Life Member

A heart for giving

For Pam Muma, giving back is personal. It began with volunteer work as a high school student and continued with the American Cancer Society, first in Tampa and then in Milwaukee, where she and husband, Les, lived for 17 years. 

Milwaukee is also where she first became involved with children’s hospitals.

After their daughter, Jennifer, died shortly after birth, the Mumas turned their heartbreak into hope for thousands of families. Their first major gift was to renovate the neonatal intensive care unit at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. But it was Pam Muma’s dream to renovate the NICU at Tampa General Hospital, where Jennifer was born.

In 2010, TGH opened the completed Jennifer Leigh Muma NICU, expanding the existing facility from 40 isolettes in a single room to 92 beds in private rooms. Among other programs, the Mumas also established the Pamela and Leslie Muma Endowed Chair in Neonatology and named the Lisa Muma Weitz Molecular Laboratory at USF Health.

Muma credits her former golf coach, Dick Bowers, with reconnecting the couple to USF. 

He called her in Milwaukee to ask if they would do something for the College of Business. 

They started with a full-ride scholarship for students from Winter Haven High School, their alma mater. They named the auditorium in the new wing of the College of Business and then made one of the largest gifts in university history to name the Muma College of Business.

After a personal health scare, Muma spearheaded the Pamela Muma Women’s Health Center, which opened at USF in 2019. It provides one-stop concierge health services, including annual wellness visits, specialty care, lab services and other services in a comfortable environment. 

Of her many accomplishments, Muma considers her 57-year marriage to be the greatest. Her husband says the two are a team.

“It’s not her money or my money, it’s our money, and that’s the way we live and that includes all of our gifts to the Green and Gold,” says Les Muma. 

“She loves this place as much as I do.”

Class of ’56 Award

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

Gerard “Jerry” Bell

Still leading his best life

THE YEAR WAS 1982. Fans packed “The Big Sombrero” to cheer the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to victory. One starting tight end, Jerry Bell, was out there on the gridiron living his best life. 

To many, playing in the NFL would be their career highlight. For Bell, it was only the beginning.

After joining the Bucs, he spent his off-seasons volunteering with the USF Athletics department, cooking hot dogs and helping with odd jobs. 

Bell recognized early on the challenges associated with completing a college degree. He met his future spouse, Ruth, at Arizona State University, where both saw friends drop out, unable to afford books, tuition, even housing. It was clear that many African-American students could not overcome financial barriers. Thus began Bell’s mission to serve the greater community.

Now president and CEO of Bell and Associates Business Consultants, he has served on the boards of Advent Health Foundation, Hillsborough Community College, The Boys and Girls Clubs, and other organizations. 

In 1991, the Ruth and Jerry Bell Endowed Scholarship was established at USF, the first endowment serving African-American students. The same year, he joined the USF Foundation board of directors, serving until 1998. 

In 2016, Bell’s decades of work culminated in USF receiving a $2.1 million grant from Helios Education Foundation. With a core group of founding donors, millions of dollars in funding, and a clear vision in place, the USF Black Leadership Network (BLN) was born. 

The BLN/Bell Family Scholarship was established at the same time. To date, more than 100 students have benefitted from it.

Kevin Sneed is a tenured professor, founding dean of the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy, and senior associate vice president for USF Health. He has known Bell for over a decade.

“He’s so humble,” Sneed says. “People never know how much he is doing behind the scenes to help others. Part of his natural essence as a person is to help people.”

Jerry Bell is still living his best life — and helping countless others lead theirs, too.