College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

The Anderson Scholars award was established by the University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding academic achievements by undergraduates in their first two years of enrollment. The award reflects the historical role of the College in educating students during their first two years at UF, and is open to all UF students, regardless of college. The award is named for James N. Anderson, who served as the first Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (1910-1930), after whom Anderson Hall is named. This award is the highest recognition bestowed on students for their first two years of course work, and is a true mark of academic distinction for UF students.

ONLY for students who matriculated prior to Summer B 2018

Anderson Scholars Faculty Honorees

Along selection of students, faculty members are selected for their outstanding work. These honorees are selected by the Anderson Scholar award winners

Anderson Scholar Criteria:

• Must have completed at least 60 hours toward an undergraduate degree at UF. We do include hours brought in from Dual Enrollment, IB, AP, etc.
• Must have at least a 3.90 UF GPA as calculated on or after August 15th of the year of the Convocation ceremony. We do not round up numbers.
  

  Award categories:

  • Highest Distinction: 4.0
  • High Distinction: 3.95-3.99
  • Distinction: 3.90-3.94
• Student must have been full-time for four consecutive semesters at UF with no drops or withdrawals. Full time is no less than 12 hours per semester. Please note that transient work is not included.

Students do not apply to become Anderson Scholars; the list is pulled automatically. This recognition is not limited to students in our College; students from every college may become Anderson Scholars.

About James Nesbitt Anderson

Dean, College of Arts & Sciences, 1910-1930;
Dean of the Graduate School, 1930-1938

James Nesbitt Anderson was born on October 21, 1864 in Lauren, South Carolina. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Virginia and his Ph.D. in Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit at Johns Hopkins University in 1894. He also studied at the Universities of Berlin, Heidelberg, and Paris, after which he held teaching positions at the University of Oklahoma and Vanderbilt University.

Anderson joined the newly reorganized University of Florida in 1905, and, in 1909, when UF was divided into four separate colleges, Anderson was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. In addition to his responsibilities as dean, he taught four classes in Latin and three in Greek. In 1930 he became the first dean of the Graduate School and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1938. The former Language Hall, which housed Anderson and the College of Arts and Sciences, was later renamed Anderson Hall in his honor.

Professor Anderson was a strong advocate for a rigorous program of undergraduate education. Not long after becoming Dean, he wrote: “Let us not cheapen our courses. Let us not imagine that we shall win out in the long run by making our courses so superficial and easy…. A mere smattering is usually, taken all in all, worse than nothing.”*

* “The Status of Classical Studies in Florida Colleges,” a paper by James N. Anderson, read before the Florida Classical Association, Jacksonville, December 28, 1911.