Professional Development
Faculty Honors and Awards 2025-2026
The University of South Florida is proud to be the home to an immensely talented and dedicated group of distinguished scholars and faculty. Congratulations to our 2025-2026 awardees.
advising leadership award
Justine Leigh, College of Behavioral & Community Sciences
Distinguished Service Award
Susan Bennett, College of Education
Distinguished University Professor
Valerie J. Harwood, College of Arts & Sciences
Chuanmin Hu, College of Marine Science
Charles Lockwood, Morsani College of Medicine
Emeritus
Gary Arendash, College of Arts & Sciences
Iraida Carrion, College of Behavioral & Community Sciences
Nathan Visweshwar, Morsani College of Medicine
Excellence in Global Advocacy Award
Luke Bencie, Corporate Training and Professional Education
Mark Koulianos, University-Community Partnerships
Jay Riley, University Community Partnerships
Lauren Roberts, Judy Genshaft Honors College
Excellence in Global Research Award
Mauricio Arias, College of Engineering
Brian Barnes, College of Marine Science
Ryan Carney, College of Arts and Sciences
Jerome Galea, College of Behavioral & Community Sciences
Richard Heller, Morsani College of Medicine
Gillian Stresman, College of Public Health
Jolan Walter, Morsani College of Medicine
Kaiqi Xiong, College of Arts and Sciences
Excellence in Global Teaching and Learning Award
Russell Clayton, College of Public Health
Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan, College of Arts & Sciences
Ruthmae Sears, College of Education
Excellence in Innovation Award
Shannon Bailey, Morsani College of Medicine
Arash Takshi, College of Engineering
Zafer Unal, College of Education
Excellence in Research, Pre-Tenure Award
Diana Leon-Boys, College of Arts & Sciences
Excellence in Research, Tenured Award
Marcus Cooke, College of Arts & Sciences
EXCELLENCE IN SAFETY AWARD
Robert Byrne, College of Marine Science
Antonio Luna, College of Arts & Sciences
Victoria Ramirez, College of Arts & Sciences
Shivalingappa Swamynathan, Morsani College of Medicine
Wanling Xuan, Taneja College of Pharmacy
EXCELLENCE IN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH MENTORSHIP AWARD
Matthew Foster, College of Behavioral & Community Sciences
Jay Michaels, College of Arts & Sciences
Heather O'Leary, College of Arts & Sciences
Heather Agazzi, Morsani College of Medicine
Donna Gambino, Judy Genshaft Honors College
Alison Willing, Morsani College of Medicine
Innovation in Online Design and Teaching award
T.H. Culhane, Patel College of Global Sustainability
Jerome Krivanek Distinguished Teacher Award
Milton Wendland, College of Arts & Sciences
Kosove Distinguished Graduate Teaching & Service Award
Edelyn Verona, College of Arts & Sciences
Kosove Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching & Service Award
Ajit Mujumdar, College of Engineering
national academy of engineering
Fred Mannering, College of Engineering
New Advisor Award
D'Amour Edwards, College of Arts & Sciences
Alana Perry, Undergraduate Studies - Transfer Student Success
Renee Poteet, College of Behavioral & Community Sciences
Outstanding Community-Engaged Teaching Award
William Schanbacher, College of Arts & Sciences
Sarah van Ingen-Lauer, College of Education
OUTSTANDING DISSERTATION
Sierra George Cardinale, Morsani College of Medicine
Ratik Mittal, College of Engineering
Outstanding Graduate Faculty Mentor Award
Bárbara Cruz, College of Education
Honorable Mention:
John N. Kuhn, College of Engineering
Jing Wang, College of Engineering
Janice Zgibor, College of Public Health
Outstanding Library Faculty Award
Theresa Burress, USF Libraries
Outstanding Research Achievement Award
Brian Barnes, College of Marine Science
Jean-Francois Biasse, College of Arts & Sciences
Kwang-Cheng Chen, College of Engineering
Noelle Mason, College of Design, Art & Performance
Arman Sargolzaei, College of Engineering
Shelly Wagers, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences
Yong Xu, Morsani College of Medicine
Yu Zhang, College of Engineering
OUTSTANDING UNDERGRADUATE ACADEMIC ADVISOR AWARD
Shawna Thomas, Muma College of Business
Alina Thompson, College of Arts & Sciences
OUTSTANDING UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING AWARD
Stephanie Arthur, College of Education
Arianna Banack, College of Education
Sara Flory, College of Education
Brett Freidkes, College of Engineering
Janet Outlaw, College of Education
Tina Piracci, Judy Genshaft Honors College
Jeffrey Raker, College of Arts & Sciences
Stavros Vakalis, College of Engineering
Honorable Mention:
Julia Woodward, Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Computing
Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award-with distinction
Craigory Nieman, College of Education
Madison Pollino, College of Arts & Sciences
Milton Wendland, College of Arts & Sciences
PROVOST'S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN UNDERGRADUATE ADVISING
Steven Bird, College of Arts & Sciences
Honorable Mention:
Brian Williams, Undergraduate Studies
Retired and Emeritus
Gene Balis, Morsani College of Medicine
Giovanna Benadusi, College of Arts & Sciences
Brian Bundy, Morsani College of Medicine
Madeline Cámara, College of Arts & Sciences
Alfonso Campos, Morsani College of Medicine
Gurleen Grewal, College of Arts & Sciences
James Grichnik, Morsani College of Medicine
Cheryl Hall, College of Arts & Sciences
Kathleen Heide, College of Behavioral & Community Sciences
Karen Holbrook, Morsani College of Medicine
Waynne James, College of Education
Don Kincaid, College of Behavioral & Community Sciences
Jody Lynn McBrien, College of Arts & Sciences
Li-June Ming, College of Arts & Sciences
Valerie Parisi, Morsani College of Medicine
Victor Peppard, College of Arts & Sciences
Steve Permuth, College of Education
Geoffrey Potts, College of Arts & Sciences
Cheryl Rodriguez, College of Arts & Sciences
Ulla Uusitalo, Morsani College of Medicine
Vic Velanovich, Morsani College of Medicine
Steven Walczak, College of Arts & Sciences
Cheryl Zambroski, College of Nursing
Retired
David Allsopp, College of Education
Christine Andrews, Muma College of Business
Daniel Belgrad, College of Arts & Sciences
Scott Besley, Muma College of Business
Karin Braunsberger, Muma College of Business
Alexandro Brice, College of Education
Georgia Chao, College of Arts & Sciences
Robert Criss, College of Arts & Sciences
James D'Emilio, College of Arts & Sciences
Kalyani Derasari, Morsani College of Medicine
Brian Falato, USF Libraries
Svitlana Garbuzova-Davis, Morsani College of Medicine
T. Grandon Gill, Muma College of Business
Kimberly Golombisky, College of Arts & Sciences
Gregory Green, College of Design, Art & Performance
Sara Green, College of Arts & Sciences
Donna Haiduven, College of Public Health
Victor Hernandez-Gantes, College of Education
Harvey Hyman, Muma College of Business
Douglas Jesseph, College of Arts & Sciences
Heather Jones, College of Arts & Sciences
Kathi Katz, College of Nursing
Valentina Korzhova, Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity & Computing
Michele Laine, Morsani College of Medicine
Qingyou Li, Morsani College of Medicine
William Garrett Matthews, College of Arts & Sciences
Thomas Mccaffrey, Morsani College of Medicine
Magali Michael, College of Arts & Sciences
Thomas Miller, College of Education
Fraser Ottanelli, College of Arts & Sciences
John Parks, College of Design, Art & Performance
Joan Perl, College of Nursing
Robert Potter, College of Arts & Sciences
Diane Price Herndl, College of Arts & Sciences
Steven Reader, College of Arts & Sciences
Lori Rogovin, College of Behavioral & Community Sciences
Stephan Schindler, College of Arts & Sciences
Thomas Sanocki, College of Arts & Sciences
Judy Sommers, College of Public Health
Martin Tadlock, College of Education
Philip Trocchia, Muma College of Business
Kerry Walsh, Muma College of Business
Laura Weathers, Morsani College of Medicine
Wendy Weiss, Morsani College of Medicine
Paul Wetmore, College of Arts & Sciences
Stuart Wilkinson, College of Engineering
Philip Winters, College of Engineering
Heather Wynne-Phillips, Morsani College of Medicine
Hua Yang, Morsani College of Medicine
Theodore & Venette Askounes-Ashford Distinguished Scholar Award
Mauricio Arias, College of Engineering