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March 19, 2024

I'm pleased to welcome everyone back as our students and faculty return from what hopefully was a relaxing and restful break. There is such great momentum across our campuses and I’m excited about what lies ahead as we enter the home stretch of the spring semester.

As you settle in, I'm happy to share some great news about our university's research enterprise. USF received $692 million in research funding awards in fiscal year 2023 — a nearly 27% increase from the previous year and an all-time high for our institution. The amount represents USF’s total research enterprise, which encompasses our direct support organizations and affiliates, including work conducted by researchers who hold dual appointments with Moffitt Cancer Center. You can read more about the factors fueling this remarkable growth and the largest sources of funding here. 

This record-breaking success in research funding is made possible by you, our world-class faculty and staff, whose dedication and contributions ensure that our university continues to advance new knowledge, foster innovation and make a positive impact on society.

Updates

• This morning we announced a $2.7 million gift from the late Tom Tiedemann, a Tampa Bay resident and former NASA engineer, whose generosity will support scholarships for students in the College of Engineering, the College of Nursing and the School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences. We’re honored that Mr. Tiedemann entrusted USF with carrying on his legacy in a way that will benefit generations of students. You can read more here.

• We’re extremely proud of our men's basketball team for their historic season, and we look forward to cheering them on as they compete against UCF in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament on Tuesday night. The team’s remarkable turnaround is a credit to the leadership of first-year Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, who was unanimously selected by his peers as AAC Coach of the Year and is also a semifinalist for a national coach of the year award. Congratulations also to track and field student-athlete Abdul-Rasheed Saminu for being named First Team All-American. He is the first male sprinter from USF to earn this distinction in over a decade, and we are incredibly proud of him for this outstanding achievement.

• It was wonderful to see thousands of people from across the Tampa Bay community join us for the first-ever Bulls Family Fest, a celebration showcasing the wide array of programs, partnerships and initiatives that make USF a significant resource for our communities. Hosted by the Office of Youth Experiences, Bulls Family Fest was an opportunity to encourage local students and their families to explore the boundless possibilities available through higher education, especially those hosted right here at USF. It was great to see many of you join us for this fantastic event, and I thank you for helping us make it a great success.

• The research activities of our students are helping solve global problems, and I was delighted to spend some time exploring their work at USF Health Research Day. This annual showcase included a record number of poster presentations featuring the research activities of students from several colleges across the university. Events like this are a reflection of our university's significant contributions to health sciences.

Additional University News Sources

• USF Newsroom

• St. Petersburg campus

• Sarasota-Manatee campus

• USF Health

• USF Athletics

ESPN2 featured the USF Police Department's K-9 Unit in a video segment about their work to maintain campus safety while engaging in outreach activities across the university community.

The Wall Street Journal quoted USF Associate Professor Tom Smith in a story about how suppliers are impacted when a customer experiences a cyber attack.

The Washington Post quoted USF Professor Jon Rottenberg in a story about "high-functioning" depression and how the phrase is growing popular in discussions about the wide range of symptoms caused by depression. 

USF is one of the first universities to be designated as a Florida Collegiate Purple Star Campus, a recognition reserved for institutions in the State University System of Florida that make a significant commitment to supporting military-connected students. USF hosts one of the largest populations of student veterans among state universities in Florida, with nearly 1,400 student veterans and thousands more who are dependents of a veteran or someone in the military. You can read more about USF's commitment to supporting our military-connected students here.

Inside USF: The Newsletter is published every other week.

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For reasonable disability accommodations requests pertaining to this announcement, please contact one of our offices.