A Knight of Honor
The UCF Alumni Association will present its annual awards during Homecoming week
For the past 34 years, the UCF Alumni Association has been honoring Knights who “Reach for the Stars.” Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing the stories of this year’s recipients, who will be presented with their Knighty statues (as seen above) at the 2014 Black & Gold Gala on Thursday, Oct. 23.
The Distinguished Alumnus/a award is the association’s top award, given to someone who has risen in his/her profession to a national level. The Distinguished Student award is given to a current undergraduate student who is active on campus and in the community, and has displayed leadership and academic success. The Service to UCF award is given to an alumnus/a who has served UCF over a number of years either as a volunteer or lifetime employee. The Professional Achievement award winners are selected by each individual college and are given to alumni who are standouts in their respective fields.
Check out this year’s awardees:
Top Awards
Distinguished Alumna
Lesa Roe, ’91 | Deputy Associate Administrator, NASA
Distinguished Student
Cynthia Florentino, ’14 | Google Policy Fellow, U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Service to UCF
Melanie Fernandez, ’86, ’91 | Partner, Cross, Fernandez & Riley LLP
Professional Achievement Awards
The Burnett Honors College
David Huffaker, ’97 | Senior Researcher, Google Inc.
College of Arts and Humanities
Rob Schaer, Ph.D., ’02 | Musician, self-employed
College of Business Administration
Mary Merrell Bailey, J.D., ’85, ’89, ’01, ’07 | Managing Partner, Your Caring Law Firm
College of Education and Human Performance
Pam Stewart, ’85 | Commissioner of Education, Florida Department of Education
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Vinod Philip, ’00 | CEO (Generators Business Segment), Siemens Energy Inc.
College of Health and Public Affairs
Lt. Jean-Marc Chanoine, J.D., ’07 | Navy Judge Advocate Corps, U.S. Navy
College of Medicine
James Norman, M.D., ’82 | Senior Surgeon, Norman Parathyroid Center
College of Nursing
Patricia Celano, ’10 | CNO/Vice President, Florida Hospital Orlando
College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL)
Michael Mielke, Ph.D., ’00, ’03 | Chief Scientist, Raydiance
College of Sciences
Gwen Griffin, ’85 | CEO, Griffin Communications Group
Rosen College of Hospitality Management
Stuart Newmark, ’08 | Executive Vice President/COO, Yedla Management Company
Stay tuned for more about these ambitious Knights:
- Week of Oct. 27 — Lesa, Cynthia and Melanie
- Week of Nov. 3 — David, Rob, Mary, Pam, Vinod and Jean-Marc
- Week of Nov. 10 — James, Patricia, Michael, Gwen and Stuart
