An update from President J. Bernard Machen
Welcome to the 2009-2010 year at the University of Florida!
It's early yet, but all signs suggest you have picked a terrific year to be here.
Summer is usually fairly slow, but this one has been an exception. We learned we had received a $26 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to help transform our medical discoveries into new treatments for patients. Capping a nine-year effort, Gator astronomers formally inaugurated the world's largest telescope, in Spain's Canary Islands. UF is the only U.S. institution with an ownership stake in the Gran Telescopio Canarias. We also just received word we have received an $8.2 million federal grant to create the Florida Innovation Hub to spur commercialization of our research, a project that will include a new, 45,000-square-foot incubator near the university.
Looking ahead, UF, like most other major research universities nationwide, continues to face budgetary challenges tied to the weak economy. But all indications are, we are making significant and lasting strides despite the cutbacks of recent years:
- This spring, UF researcher Martin Cohn became one of only 50 scientists nationally to be named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Scientist. Two other scientists, David Smith and Andy Tatem, became UF's first recipients of a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
- The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in June awarded UF nearly $1 million for a new master's program that will train students to assist impoverished populations through sustainable development. The Center for Latin American Studies will administer the program in collaboration with the Center for African Studies.
- Our fourth class of Florida Opportunity Scholars arrives with this year's entering students. This program, which targets students from economically challenged families who are the first in their families to attend college, has been remarkably successful—with opportunity scholars matching traditional students in both recruitment and retention.
- Scientists will move into the new 80,000-square-foot Pathogens Research Facility this fall. Meanwhile, construction continues on the College of Business' William R. Hough Hall and the Harn Museum's Asian Art Wing, among other major projects.
- We recently broke ground on a four-story, 65,000-square foot office building at UF's expanding Eastside Campus, an important step for both UF and the Gainesville community.
Budget cuts have forced us to make some hard decisions in recent years. Improving economic conditions will hopefully put that era behind us. But our recent accomplishments show that whatever circumstances the university faces, faculty and staff remain hard working, ambitious and effective. Let's continue this tradition—and make this year another great one for all of us and for the university!
Sincerely,
Bernie Machen
President