News & Recipients
Students, Faculty and Campus Partners Recognized in Annual Commemoration Event
On April 23, the Marshall Student Center teemed with high-achieving men and women.
In one room, chatter and the sound of munching on hors d’oeuvres saturated the space,
as crystal stars resting on a long table sparkled in the sunlight.
The Office of National Scholars (ONS) hosted its annual commemoration event to recognize
applicants, faculty mentors and campus partners for all of their hard work in the
year. It also aims to thank specific campus partners for their efforts to collaborate
with the office and foster student success.
The office recognized the following campus and community partners:
Lindy Davidson
2019 Faculty Partner of the Year
Steve Tauber
2019 Faculty Partner of the Year
Snow White
2019 Campus Partner of the Year
Chris Haynes
2019 Campus Partner of the Year
Leigh-Ann Goode
2019 Campus Partner of the Year
Tom Woolf
2019 Campus Partner of the Year
Brian Fender
2019 Community Partner of the Year
Ron Sanders
Truman Scholarship Selection Committee
Dan Ruth
Truman Scholarship Selection Committee
Sarah Parrow
Truman Scholarship Selection Committee
Sandy Westerheide
Goldwater Scholarship Selection Committee
Michael Cross
Goldwater Scholarship Selection Committee
Sameer Varma
Goldwater Scholarship Selection Committee
Fiona Kearns
Goldwater Scholarship Selection Committee
ONS staff (front row, from left: Assistant Director Ms. Lauren Bartshe-Hanlen, Associate
Director Ms. Lauren Chambers, National Scholarship Advisor Ms. Lauren Roberts, and
Director Dr. Sayandeb Basu) celebrate the achievements of national scholarship applicants.
Lindy Davidson is a faculty member in the USF Honors College, and Steve Tauber is
the Director of USF School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies (SIGS).
Three of the Campus Partner of the Year recipients represent USF Education Abroad Office. Snow White is the Student Programs Coordinator for the USF Education Abroad Gateway Office, Chris Haynes is USF Education Abroad’s Assistant Director of Student Services, and Leigh-Ann Goode is the USF Education Abroad Fiscal and Business Specialist. The fourth recipient, Tom Woolf, is the Associate Director of Executive Communications at USF Communications and Marketing.
Brian Fender, who received recognition as the 2019 Community Partner of the Year, is the Chair of Public Finance at GrayRobinson Law.
The members of the scholarship selection committees represent a diverse group of individuals.
Ron Sanders is the Director of the USF School of Public Affairs, Dan Ruth is a Pulitzer
prize winning journalist and visiting professor of professional practice at USF’s
Honors College, and Sarah Parrow is an associate of GrayRobinson Law.
Gates Cambridge scholarship recipient Shawn Zamani and Truman Scholarship Selection Committee awardee Dr. Dan Ruth connect at the reception.
Office of National Scholars Director, Dr. Sayandeb Basu, presents Brian Fender, Chair of Public Finance at GrayRobinson Tampa, with the award for 2019 Community Partner of the Year.
Sandy Westerheide and Sameer Varma are faculty members of USF’s Department of Cell
Biology, Microbiology and Molecular Biology. Michael Cross is a faculty member of
the USF Honors College and the Director of USF Office of Undergraduate Research, and
Fiona Kearns is a PhD candidate in USF’s Chemistry Department, and recipient of the
Goldwater Scholarship.
For the 2018-2019 year, 273 students applied for national awards. At the time of this event, there were 79 national scholarship recipients. A few students received more than one award during the year.