On June 30, Dave Richardson steps down from his position as dean after a decade of service, returning to the Department of Chemistry to continue his research and teaching. As dean, he re-righted the college’s budget after years of recession, hired more than 350 faculty members, and developed the Beyond120 program to push the boundaries […]
World Sea Turtle Day is established in honor of the legendary researcher Archie Carr, and aims to raise awareness about sea turtles and the challenges they face.
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Collaboration, which has involved UF physicists since its early days, discovered that it had detected a “chirp” from colliding black holes in late 2015. The LIGO Collaboration continues to detect gravitational waves from long ago, faraway black hole mergers.
Dave Richardson was named Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in June, 2014. In March 2015, he was appointed Dean of the college, providing leadership for the college’s 21 academic departments and more than 20 centers and programs. He manages more than $100 million in annual expenditures and approximately $40 million […]
Paul D’Anieri was hired as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. D’Anieri received a bachelor’s degree in international relations at Michigan State, followed by a doctorate in government at Cornell University. In 1991, he was hired as an associate professor of political science at the University of Kansas. After the Soviet Union […]
Associate Provost Joe Glover became interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Science in January following the resignation of Dean Neil Sullivan. Glover’s relationship to the college dated back to 1982, when he was hired as an assistant professor of mathematics. He served as chair of the Department of Mathematics from 1993 to […]
Following two years of restoration, the college opened the restored Kathryn Chicone Ustler Hall, the new home for the Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research. Built in 1919, the structure fell into disuse in 1979 but was saved from demolition in 1988 when it was granted protection under the National Register of Historic Places. […]
The college established two new centers: the Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions, directed by Religion Professor Vasudha Narayanan, and the Center for Medieval and Modern Studies, directed by Language, Literatures, and Cultures Professors Mary Watt and Will Hasty. Robert H. Grubbs, who earned degrees in chemistry from UF, received the 2005 Nobel Prize […]
Renovations began on the Women’s Gym, which was renamed Kathryn Chicone Ustler Hall upon completion. Ustler’s donation transformed the building into a 14,700 square-foot, three-level facility that houses classrooms, seminar rooms, and faculty and administrative offices for the Center for Gender, Sexualities, and Women’s Studies Research. It is the first UF academic building named solely […]
As the University of Florida celebrated its 150th anniversary, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences had many new initiatives on the horizon, including the construction of the world’s largest optical telescope on the Canary Islands off the coast of Spain and the continued development of the Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere. […]
After serving as interim dean for the 2000-2001 academic year, Neil Sullivan was named dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Sullivan came to UF in 1982 from the Centre d’Etudes Nuclearies in Saclay, France, where he worked as a physicist. He earned a BS in 1964 and an MS in 1965, both […]
Newman Nahas (English, ’00) was named a Rhodes Scholar. Nahas earned his JD from Harvard Law School and practices litigation in New York. Newman Nahas
Kenneth (’47 Mathematics) and Janet Keene donated a generous gift that allowed the college to start restoration of Anderson and Flint Halls. Under the direction of Rowe Architects, the buildings underwent renovations from 1999-2001 and are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The William and Grace Dial Center for Written and Oral Communication was created to prepare UF students to effectively use the conventions governing speaking and writing in their chosen disciplines. Kellie Roberts served as its director for over 17 years.
Willard W. Harrison was hired as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He came to UF from the University of Virginia, where he served as chair of the chemistry department and associate provost. Harrison earned a BA in 1958 and MA in 1960, both in chemistry, from Southern Illinois University. In 1964, […]
Political science student Charlotte Mather became the first woman elected student body president at UF. Joan Warren, also a political science student, was the first woman to run for the job, back in 1969. Charlotte Mather
Donald Justice joins the English Department and teaches until his retirement in 1992. Justice won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1980 for Selected Poems. He passed away in 2004 in Iowa. The African and Asian Languages and Literatures department was founded. Although Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Japanese and Swahili had been taught on campus since […]
University College was abolished after a long and acrimonious struggle, and its faculty were absorbed into the College of Arts and Sciences, which was renamed the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences became responsible for the supervision of general education and for awarding the associate of arts certificate. […]
The Women’s Studies Program was established, offering classes dedicated to exploring the perspectives of women. English Professor Irene Thompson served as its first director. In 1990, an interdisciplinary BA in women’s studies was approved and in 1992 a minor was passed. The program was changed into a Type II center in 1994 and was renamed […]
Having served as an assistant dean since 1971, Ruth McQuown became the first female associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. McQuown, a political science professor and local political activist, died in August 1984. Room 219 in Dauer Hall — one of the nicest conference facilities on campus — was named in her […]
The Center for Jewish Studies was established and in 1987 was approved by the Board of Regents to offer degrees. The center provides an undergraduate, interdepartmental curriculum, which serves as a basis for understandingthe broad spectrum of Jewish culture, religion, and civilization. The Center for Studies in Criminology and Law was established as a joint […]
The College of Arts and Sciences opened as part of a reorganization of the University of Florida. Prior to 1910, classes in the arts and sciences were taught in the School of Language and Literature and the General Scientific School. According to the University Record of May 1910, the University had been “reorganized with a […]
Calvin Anthony VanderWerf was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Born in 1917 in Wisconsin, he earned a BA from Hope College in 1937 and a PhD from Ohio State University in 1941. He served as professor and chair of the chemistry department at the University of Kansas before returning to his alma […]
UF hired its first black faculty and staff. The small group of eight included English professors Ronald C. Foreman and Betty Ingram. Mathematics Professor John Thompson won the Fields Medal, the highest prize for mathematics, equivalent to the prestigious Nobel Prize. In 2001, Thompson was awarded the highest honor bestowed upon a scientist by […]
Harry Hall Sisler was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He was born in 1917 in Ohio and earned a BS from Ohio State University in 1936. He earned his MS and PhD from the University of Illinois in 1937 and 1939. He taught chemistry at the University of Kansas and Ohio […]
Alumnus Marshall Nirenberg (Zoology: ’48; MS’52) won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work on deciphering the genetic code. Marshall Nirenberg
Ralph Emerson Page was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He was born in Middlebury, Indiana in 1903. He earned his AB from Bluffton College in Ohio in 1926 and attended Syracuse University 1927-1930, where he earned an MA and PhD. He taught at Syracuse University and served as professor and chair […]
Dorothy Rethlingshafer became the first woman to join the faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences when she was hired by the Department of Psychology. At the time of her arrival, she had published many more articles than any other professor in the department. She was a key player in the development of the […]
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings taught a creative writing course at UF for the Department of English. Her book, The Yearling, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1939 .
Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest and most respected undergraduate honors organization in the U.S., founded a chapter at UF with the mission of fostering and recognizing excellence in the liberal arts and sciences.
UF President John J. Tigert created General College out of concern that UF students were not getting a strong liberal arts education. Many universities across the nation formed general colleges in the 1930s to strengthen students’ core education and to provide better counseling services to undergraduates. The attrition rate was very high at the time—1/3 […]
Chemistry students John Morrow and Larry Amundsen earned the first PhDs awarded at the University of Florida. Morrow’s dissertation was entitled “The Dielectric Constant of Benzene.”
Townes R. Leigh was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He earned a BS from Iuka Normal School in 1901, an AB from Lebanon University in 1902 and a PhD from the University of Chicago in 1915. A pharmacist as well as a chemist, Leigh became head of the University of Florida […]
Language Hall was constructed to house history, mathematics and the languages. It was later renamed Anderson Hall, in honor of Dean James Nesbitt Anderson. Today, Anderson Hall is home to the religion and political science departments. The College of Arts and Sciences graduated its first group of students. Five were granted bachelor’s degrees. Language Hall […]
The Buckman Act creates a new University of Florida. A chemistry student was awarded the University’s first master’s degree.
East Florida Seminary opened its doors in Ocala. The University of Florida marks this as its founding date. Many of the courses offered today can be traced to the original courses offered then, including English, history, zoology and Latin.