From a biology professor who has been featured in two National Geographic Channel documentary films (William Crampton), to a Professor Emeritus who wrote the initial grant proposal to establish 麻豆原创鈥檚 highly ranked Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (Michael Moshell), and to a Grammy Award-winning saxophonist who is director of jazz studies (Jeffrey Rupert), the recipients were honored at a program and reception in the Student Union.

President John C. Hitt said the accomplishments recognized at the annual convocation continue to confirm the pursuit of excellence by those at the university.

One new honor presented this year was the Reach for the Stars Award, given to eight early-career professionals for their outstanding research or creative endeavors. The president said narrowing down the recipients was hard because there were so many noteworthy nominations, and he expects the choices will become more difficult in the years to come.

Awards also were given to honor excellence in teaching, advising, research, professional service, outstanding theses, length-of-service milestones and other categories.

A number of past winners and retirees joined employees, students, recipients鈥� families and friends, and others from the 麻豆原创 community at the program.

For more on today鈥檚 winners, go to these stories:

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The status is awarded to faculty and administrators who have worked at the university for at least five years. The title honors the contributions and distinction they achieved at the university, and grants them a lifetime link to 麻豆原创.

Timothy Blair, Professor Emeritus, retired from the School of Teaching, Learning and Leadership after more than 20 years of service. Blair鈥檚 professional education career spanned more than 46 years and included several leadership roles in 麻豆原创鈥檚 College of Education and Human Performance. Blair was highly regarded by his students and colleagues for his dedication to helping others learn and setting the bar in the area of reading education. He established the free 麻豆原创-Orlando Reading Camp to improve the reading levels of children in Orlando鈥檚 poorest neighborhood and also to give his students a chance to apply what they learned in a real-world setting. Orlando鈥檚 City Council declared March 25, 2013, as 鈥淒r. Timothy Blair Day鈥� in honor of his commitment and contributions.

Glenn Boreman, Professor Emeritus, has been a faculty member at 麻豆原创 since 1984 and joined CREOL in 1990. He left 麻豆原创 in 2011 to become chair of the Department of Physics & Optical Science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and has since retired. Boreman made extensive contributions in research and education in the fields of optics and photonics.听 His innovations in infrared systems, infrared detector and focal-plane analysis, and other areas have been published in more than 100 journal articles, and his work has been recognized numerous times by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics.

Madison (Ke) Francis, Professor Emeritus, will retire this spring after a 15-year career at 麻豆原创 in the College of Arts and Humanities. Prior to joining 麻豆原创, Francis spent an impressive 26 years in industry. He has been recognized nationally and internationally for his distinctive scholarly and creative activity, which includes close to 100 professional exhibitions, numerous awards and major permanent collections. He helped unite the digital media an art programs and faculty and served as founding faculty member and director for the Flying Horse Editions, 麻豆原创鈥檚 fine arts press. His colleagues laud his generosity, open-mindedness and willingness to support others.

Aaron Liberman, Professor Emeritus, joined the 麻豆原创 faculty in 1996 and helped 麻豆原创鈥檚 health services administration graduate program become one of the largest accredited programs in the nation. He had a distinguished career in healthcare management prior to embarking on his academic career. A visionary leader who twice chaired the College of Health and Public Affairs’ Department of Healthcare Informatics, Liberman was instrumental in establishing the healthcare informatics master鈥檚 program, the first of its kind in Florida. He was also a productive scholar, publishing four books, seven book chapters and 94 peer-reviewed journal articles.

Michael Moshell, Professor Emeritus, had a 30-year career at 麻豆原创 and played a key role in developing 麻豆原创鈥檚 digital media program. Moshell will retire in July from the School of Visual Arts and Design within the College of Arts and Humanities. He made pivotal contributions to the development of virtual reality at 麻豆原创 and beyond, earning the university nearly $5 million in grants and contracts from agencies such as the U.S. Army and National Science Foundation.听 He wrote the initial grant proposal to the state to establish 麻豆原创鈥檚 highly ranked Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy. He鈥檚 also used his creativity to make science, technology and media arts more accessible to young learners.

Robert Pennington, Professor Emeritus, joined 麻豆原创 in 1983 as an associate professor of economics in the College of Business Administration. He was the second director to be hired for 麻豆原创鈥檚 Center for Economic Education, helping to bring in more than $1.5 million in grant funding. In addition, Pennington was one of the faculty founders of the LEAD Scholars Program, and in 1999 he received the University Faculty Leadership Award for his role in creating, teaching and guiding student-leaders. He served in the Faculty Senate for 15 years and was elected Senate vice chair for 2010-2012. He is the author or coauthor of 19 books, textbooks or digital books, including Holt High School Economics, one of the best-selling economics textbooks for high school students..

The free event will be 6 to 9 p.m. at the 麻豆原创 Center for Emerging Media, 500 W. Livingston St., Orlando, just south of the former Amway Arena.

The two films, which were two years in the making, will be shown at 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. The students involved will be introduced and the audience will have an opportunity to discuss these projects and plans for next year鈥檚 animations.

The films are:

Also featured in the showcase:

鈥淲e are excited about the opportunity to showcase our students鈥� work,” said Dr. Michael Moshell, professor of Visual Art and Design and coordinator for the show. “We welcome local digital media businesses and anyone who appreciates the visual arts to attend and meet these talented students doing what they love.鈥�

SVAD is an interdisciplinary, multimedia school offering academic programs and areas of faculty research that include the visual arts, film, architecture, animation, game and web design, and interactive media. The school emerged from a partnership between the former Art, Film and Digital Media departments.

SVAD also incorporates a 2+2+2 Bachelor of Design in Architecture program in collaboration with Valencia College and the University of Florida.

For additional details about the showcase, contact Moshell at 407-694-6763 or jm.moshell@cs.ucf.edu.