College of Business Honors Dr. Hitt, Alumni, Partners, Executives at Hall of Fame

Erika Hodges — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 14:14:06 +0000

From an opening torch lighting to a final call of “Do you believe in miracles?,” the �鶹ԭ�� College of Business 2018 Hall of Fame: Knights on Ice paid homage to the Winter Olympics while feting its own gold-medal-caliber alumni, partners and leaders at Rosen Shingle Creek.

More than 800 students, alumni, faculty, corporate partners and community members gathered Feb. 20 to honor �鶹ԭ�� President John C. Hitt with a Lifetime Achievement Award, celebrate the induction of three Hall of Famers and recognize several of the college’s distinguished alumni.

Before presenting the special award to Dr. Hitt, who will retire as president later this year, business Dean Paul Jarley thanked him for making �鶹ԭ�� the partnership university, and then asked everyone in the audience who had graduated or worked for �鶹ԭ�� during Dr. Hitt’s presidency to stand, spurring a majority of the audience to its feet.

“On behalf of everyone standing here tonight,” Jarley said, “it is my great pleasure to present you with our Lifetime Achievement Award. We are and forever will be part of the ‘Hitt Squad.’ ”

On the stage set to look like an Olympic news studio and with vice president of �鶹ԭ�� Communications & Marketing Grant Heston serving as host, the college interviewed and inducted Sheila Jordan ’86, senior vice president and chief information officer of Symantec; Terry McNew ’86, president and CEO of MasterCraft Boat Company; and Dawn Olivardia ’89, ’90, tax partner, Grant Thornton LLP, into its Hall of Fame.

Ravago Holdings America and Verizon received Partnership Awards. In addition, the college presented Entrepreneurial Alumni Awards to Jorge Amaro ’13, founder and CEO of A3i Inc.; Ken Herndon ’87, founder and CEO of KC Curb Inc.; and Carey Sobel ’09, partner and chief strategy officer of Three21 Creative. Peter Laurinaitis ’93, ’95, partner of PJT Partners; Jason M. Reilly ’95, ’98, CFA, managing director and market investment executive of U.S. Trust; and Woody Walker ’92, ’94, senior vice president of alliances and client engagement of Convergence Consulting Group, received the Honorable Knights Award. Daniel Conn ’09, ’10, CPA, director of finance of Demetree Global; and Blaire Martin ’11, ’13, co-founder and executive director of Florida Angel Nexus, took home the Notable Knights Awards.

This was the 19th year for the Hall of Fame, which was presented by perennial platinum sponsor and partner BB&T. This year BB&T increased its sponsorship to allow for more students to attend and participate in the student-engagement session at which students network with alumni and the college’s corporate partners before the awards. Scott Keith, BB&T regional president of North and Central Florida, joined Knightro onstage to light the ceremonial torch to start the event.

The night’s closing ceremony saw Heston, a 2013 alumnus of the college’s executive MBA program, congratulate and thank all of the honorees before setting up the final video with sportscaster Al Michaels’ iconic line, ”Do you believe in miracles?” Onscreen, Jarley delivered a Herb Brooks-inspired speech to fire up the crowd. As the video ended, Knightro and the �鶹ԭ�� men’s ice hockey team appeared in full uniform, to the delight of the audience, and marched through the ballroom prompting chants of “U-C-F! U-C-F!”

�鶹ԭ�� Alumni Association and Colleges Present 2015 Professional Achievement Awards

Angie Lewis, ’03 — Tue, 03 Nov 2015 17:48:50 +0000

�鶹ԭ��’s alumni association and colleges honored 11 Knights with Professional Achievement Awards at the Black & Gold Gala on Oct. 22. This year’s celebration was the 35th year the alumni association has recognized alumni who “Reach for the Stars.”

Professional Achievement Award winners are selected by each individual college and are given to alumni who are standouts in their respective fields.

The 2015 awardees included:
The Burnett Honors College
Susan D. Rozelle, ’94| Associate Dean for Faculty and Professor of Law, Stetson University College of Law
College of Arts and Humanities
Juliann Nicole Hickey, ’95 | Senior Vice President and Eastern Regional Manager, Title Resources
College of Business Administration
Terry D. McNew, ’86 | President/CEO, MasterCraft Boat Company LLC
College of Education and Human Performance
Gonzalo S. La Cava, ’97, ’01, ’09 | Area Superintendent, Central Learning Community, Fulton County Schools
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Benjamin J. Patz, ’85 | Managing Director, The FAN Fund
College of Health and Public Affairs
Bernard Rousseau, ’98, ’00, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, ASHA Fellow | Associate Vice Chair for Research/Chancellor Faculty Fellow/Associate Professor of Otolaryngology, Hearing and Speech Sciences, and Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
College of Medicine
Dr. Michael Makowski, ’80 | Eye Physician/Surgeon, Tomoka Eye Associates
College of Nursing
Thomas Weichart, ’04, ’14 | Clinical Nursing Director, ONI Medical Associates
College of Optics and Photonics
Frank J. Effenberger, ’95 | VP, Access Lab, Futurewei Technologies
College of Sciences
James Rosengren, ’81 | Founder/Chairman/CEO, Heritage Health Solutions Inc.
Rosen College of Hospitality Management
Christopher Iaciofoli, ’03 | Director of Operations, Red Lobster Seafood Co.

—�Ĕ�Ĕ

The evening’s other recipients included:
Distinguished Student Award
Yudeysis Cores
Service to �鶹ԭ�� Award
The Honorable Olga M. Calvet, ’71 | Senior Vice President/CFO, Palmas Services LLC
Distinguished Alumnus Award
Alex Martins, ’01 | CEO, Orlando Magic
Michelle Akers Award
Limbitless Solutions
Champions Award
J. Charles Gray

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners!

Read more stories about alumni at ucfalumni.com.

Terry McNew Archives | �鶹ԭ�� News

College of Business Honors Dr. Hitt, Alumni, Partners, Executives at Hall of Fame

�鶹ԭ�� Alumni Association and Colleges Present 2015 Professional Achievement Awards