University of Florida
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- "UF" redirects here. For the airline whose IATA code is UF, see UM Airlines.
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| Motto | Civium in moribus rei publicae salus (Latin: "The welfare of the state depends upon the morals of its citizens") |
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| Established | 1853 |
| Endowment | $996 million |
| President | J. Bernard Machen |
| Faculty | 5,000 |
| Undergraduates | 34,612 |
| Postgraduates | 15,081 |
| Location | Gainesville, Florida, United States |
| Campus | 2,000 acres (8.09 km²) |
| Colors | Orange and Blue (Royal Blue) |
| Nickname | Gators |
| Mascot | Albert E. Gator |
| Website | http://www.ufl.edu |
It is the third-largest university in the United States, with 49,693 students (34,612 undergraduates and 15,081 postgraduates), and has the eighth-largest budget (nearly $1.9 billion per year). UF is among the nation's most academically diverse public universities. UF is home to 16 colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes. Florida ranked second among all institutions in the number of National Merit Scholar students enrolled, behind Harvard.<ref>"UF Ranks Number One in Public Universities' Enrollment of National Merit and National Achievement Scholars." University of Florida.</ref> Researchers at the University of Florida are responsible for numerous discoveries. The most commercially popular invention has been the sports drink Gatorade. <ref>"The history of Gatorade." Gatorade.</ref>
Its undergraduate progam is currently ranked by U.S. News & World Report as first in the state of Florida, 13th among U.S. public universities, and 47th overall. Listed as a Public Ivy,<ref>Greene, Howard R. & Greene, Matthew W. (2001). The Public Ivies : America’s Flagship Public Universities (1st ed.). New York: Cliff Street Books. ISBN 0-06-093459-X</ref> The University of Florida is a member of the Association of American Universities and is the only university in the state of Florida to achieve this distinction. The 2006 Academic Ranking of World Universities list assessed Florida as 53rd among world universities based on research output and faculty awards.<ref>"Academic Ranking of World Universities." Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 2006.</ref> It has a faculty of about 5,000.
Florida is also noted for its strong NCAA programs.<ref>"University of Florida Athletics." University of Florida.</ref> Its mascot is the alligator, and its intercollegiate sports teams are referred to as the Florida Gators.<ref>Ibid. Ten Gator athletic teams turned in top-10 finishes in 2005-2006, including a NCAA title by the men's basketball team. Those finishes propelled Florida to fifth in the 2005-06 NACDA Directors' Cup. Only Florida and UCLA appear in the top 10 in each of the last 23 national all-sports rankings.
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[edit] History
The 1905 Buckman Act created the current University of Florida in its reorganization of the state public state higher education system through consolidating all of the existing white men's educational institutions. "<ref>"History of the State University System (SUS)." California Higher Education Policy Center.</ref> (The member of the Florida Legislature who wrote the act, Henry H. Buckman, is the namesake of Buckman Hall, one of UF's earliest buildings.<ref>"Buckman Hall Quick Facts." Department of Housing, University of Florida.</ref>
The Buckman Act provided for the merger of several institutions into the new University of the State of Florida: the University of Florida at Lake City (formerly Florida Agricultural College), the East Florida Seminary in Gainesville, the St. Petersburg Normal and Industrial School at St. Petersburg and the South Florida Military College at Bartow.<ref>"History of the State University System (SUS)."</ref> (The act also designated Florida State University as a women's university and the State Normal School For Colored Students–now Florida A&M University and a historically-black university–as a postsecondary institution).<ref>Ibid.</ref>
On July 6, 1905, the state legislature selected Gainesville for a new university campus. Andrew Sledd from the University of Florida at Lake City became the first president, while architect William A. Edwards designed the first campus buildings in the collegiate gothic style. Classes began on September 26, 1906. In 1909 the name was shortened to the University of Florida.
The year 1905 was considered the university's official founding date until 1935, when the date was changed to 1853 by Attorney General Cary D. Landis at the request of UF's third president John J. Tigert. 1853 is the founding date of the East Florida Seminary in Ocala, the earliest founded institution of the colleges which became the University of Florida. The East Florida Seminary had an unusual history in its short existence. It was founded in Ocala by Gilbert Kingsbury to take advantage of legislation passed in 1851 to establish the creation of two seminaries. It briefly closed during the Civil War and reopened in Gainesville having been moved by an act of the Legislature in 1866, and finally ended up being assimilated into the modern University of Florida created by the Buckman Act.
The Buckman Act established the University of Florida as the only public school in Florida for males. In 1947, UF began allowing women to enroll. Admission of African-American students began in 1958.
Shands Hospital at UF first opened in 1958 along with the medical school. Rapid campus expansion began in the 1950s and continues to the present. In 1985, Florida became a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), the prestigious higher-education organization comprised of the top 62 public and private institutions in North America. UF is one of only 17 public, land-grant universities that belongs to the association.
The alligator was chosen as the school mascot in 1911. The school colors, blue and orange, are thought to have come from both the Blue and White of the University of Florida at Lake City and the Orange and Black of East Florida Seminary at Gainesville. <ref>"University of Florida History 1906-1927." University of Florida. August 18, 2005. August 9, 2006.</ref>
[edit] Historic Sites
The University of Florida Campus Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The district includes 19 buildings, eleven of which had been added to the register previously. Two buildings outside the historic district, the old WRUF radio station (now the university police station) and the old P. K. Yonge Laboratory School (now Norman Hall), are also listed on the register.
Additionally, the former East Florida Seminary Academic Building, now known as Epworth Hall, was listed on the register in 1972. Epworth Hall was deeded to the First United Methodist Church of Gainesville in 1911.<ref>"Epworth Hall." Alachua County Library District Heritage Collection. 2002. August 9, 2006.</ref>
[edit] Alumni
More than 300,000 alumni are located throughout the world.
[edit] Educational Excellence
Faculty
Awards include a Fields Medal, two Pulitzer Prizes, NASA's top award for research, and Smithsonian Institution's conservation award.
There are currently more than 60 Eminent Scholar chairs, and nearly 60 faculty elections to the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, or Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Medicine or a counterpart in a foreign nation.
UF ranked 13th in the U.S. News and World Report "Top Public Universities" (2006); fourth in The Scientist magazine's "Best Places to Work in Academia" (2005); fifth among all universities in Kiplinger's magazine "Top 100 Public Colleges" (2003). UF was also ranked the top value amongst all the public flagship universities by USA Today (2006).
Student
UF's 2005 class had an average 4.06 GPA and 1306 SAT score.
The freshmen retention rate of 94 percent is among the highest in the U.S.
UF admitted 1,049 International Baccalaureate students for the 2004-2005 academic year - more than any other university in the world.
[edit] Research and Discoveries
Milken Institute named UF one of the top-five U.S. institutions in the transfer of biotechnology research to the marketplace (2006).
Some 50 biotechnology companies have resulted from faculty research programs.
UF consistently ranks among the top-10 universities in licensing. Royalty and licensing income includes the glaucoma drug Trusopt, the sports drink Gatorade, and the Sentricon termite elimination system.
UF was awarded $518.8 million - more than all other Florida universities combined - in sponsored research in 2005-2006. Research includes diverse areas such as health care and citrus production (the world's largest citrus research center).
In 2002, UF began leading six other universities under a $15 million NASA grant to work on a variety of space-related research during a five-year period.
UF began a partnership with Spain in 2000, to create the world's largest telescope in the Canary Islands. Completion is expected in 2007.
Plans are under way to construct a new 50,000-square-foot research facility in collaboration with the Burnham Institute in Orlando. Research will include the areas of diabetes, aging, genetics and cancer.
[edit] Economic Impact
For every dollar appropriated to the University of Florida, a total economic impact of eight dollars is spent within the state.
Student spending supports local and statewide businesses and tourism.
UF is a major employer, with more than 35,000 employees.
[edit] Academics
UF is divided into sixteen colleges, which offer over 100 undergraduate majors and 200 graduate degrees, including the only public dentistry and veterinary medicine programs in the state.<ref>University of Florida Academics University of Florida. April 10, 2006. August 9, 2006.</ref> The centerpiece of the journalism programs at UF is WUFT, which consists of both a PBS television station and an NPR radio station. The commercial radio station, WRUF AM850, is also one of the oldest stations in the state.
The acceptance rate at UF has trended downward as the applicant pool has become larger and more competitive. The university has a freshmen retention rate of over 90%. The median SAT score is 1220 - 1390 for the FTIC class of 2006.
National Merit Scholars, as of the Fall 2007 term, are no longer being offered a competitive academic scholarship upon enrolling at UF. In past years, the university heavily recruited National Merit Scholars by offering $5,500 per academic year in scholarships, as well as a single $2,000 research stipend for summer study. According to Provost Fouke, recruitment of National Merit Scholars over the past several years has been "too successful" and the financial burden of providing the best-qualified students with substantial academic scholarships has become prohibitive for the University of Florida. Accordingly, that scholarship package has now been reduced to $1,000 per year plus a single $1,000 research stipend for a total of $5,000 over four years. Fouke has also publicly stated that the academic records of "other high-achieving students" not earning National Merit recognition compare favorably to those of National Merit Finalists at UF, indicating a reduced emphasis on National Merit recruitment by the University. It is expected that the number of enrolled National Merit Scholars will decrease due to the this reduction.
The University of Florida is home to an Honors College that offers many honors courses to students who earned SAT/ACT scores of 1400/33 or above. The Honors program lasts for a student's first two years, but Honors program services and courses remain available to upperclassmen. Honors students must complete four honors courses to be awarded an A.A. degree with honors or high honors. Honors at the bachelors degree level are determined by rules set by the student's College and major.
The university is 13th among all universities - public and private - in the number of U.S. Patents awarded in 2000.
[edit] Student Government
Student government at the University of Florida consists of an executive, judicial, and unicameral legislative branch.
The executive branch consists of a Student Body President, Student Body Vice President, Student Body Treasurer, 9 agencies, and 41 cabinets. The Student Body President, Student Body Vice President, and Student Body Treasurer are elected in annual elections held in the spring. The legislative branch is composed of 94 senators, who serve one year terms. 47 senate seats are elected each spring semester and the remaining 47 are elected each fall semester. The senators elect a Senate President and Senate President Pro Tempore twice a year - once in the fall, and once in the spring - to lead the Student Senate. The judicial branch has three functional components: the Student Supreme Court (headed by a Chief Justice), the Student Honor Court (headed by the Honor Court Chancellor elected each spring), and the Student Traffic Court (headed by a Chief Justice). The student government operates on a 12.5 million dollar budget.
[edit] Recreation
Students are encouraged to participate in all forms of recreational activities. More than 90 percent take advantage of the numerous outdoor courts and playing fields on campus, and in the O'Connell Center, the Student Recreation and Fitness Center, the Southwest Rec Center and the Florida Gymnasium for indoor sports. In all, Florida offers more than 60 intramural and club sports ranging from archery to weightlifting.
Near the campus are many recreational lakes and rivers, including university-owned Lake Wauburg. The beaches of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean are just a short drive away.
One thousand people can participate simultaneously in eight different recreational activities in the O'Connell Center, which seats 12,000 for concerts and other events. Also on campus are open spaces, small ponds, picnic areas, shady nooks and an 81-acre wildlife sanctuary that provide opportunities to enjoy Florida's year-round outdoor life.
[edit] Colleges
The University of Florida is divided into 16 colleges and more than 100 research, service and education centers, bureaus and institutes--offering more than 100 undergraduate majors.
These colleges include:
- College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
- Warrington College of Business
- College of Design Construction and Planning
- College of Education
- College of Engineering
- College of Fine Arts
- College of Journalism and Communications
- College of Health and Human Performance
- J. Hillis Miller Health Science Center
- Fredric G. Levin College of Law
- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
In addition to the colleges, UF has a number of administrative divisions and centers that support the academic units, including the University of Florida Division of Continuing Education.
[edit] Athletics
In 2002-03, UF placed a record 193 student athletes on the SEC Academic Honor Roll. The 2002-03 season marked the sixth consecutive year UF placed 100 or more student athletes on the SEC Honor Roll.
[edit] Football
Steve Spurrier returned to UF, this time as head coach, in 1990 and led UF to another first in the SEC finish, but again UF was denied a league title due to probation. 1991 saw Florida's first ever SEC football championship during a 10-2 campaign. Spurrier quickly built the Gators into the dominant team in the SEC, winning a string of conference championships, including four straight from 1993-6 In 1996, the Gators, led by Spurrier and quarterback Danny Wuerffel, won their first national championship. In January 2002, Spurrier left the Gators to coach the NFL's Washington Redskins, after having won 6 SEC titles in his 11 year tenure. He was replaced by Ron Zook who, in October 2004, was fired in the middle of his third season but remained coach for the rest of the regular season. In December 2004, Urban Meyer, previously the coach of the Utah Utes, replaced Zook as the head football coach. Traditional football rivals include the Seminoles of Florida State University battling for the Governor's Cup, the Hurricanes of the University of Miami, the Bulldogs of the University of Georgia resulting in the annual The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville, Florida, and since the early 1990's the Volunteers of the University of Tennessee. The Gators' home stadium is Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field or "The Swamp," as Steve Spurrier named it. Celebrating 100 years of Florida football, the Gators finished the regular 2006 season with a record of 11-1, capturing the SEC Eastern division title. On December 2, 2006, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, the Gators defeated Arkansas, 38-28, to become the overall SEC Champions and finished with a record of 12-1. Florida moved to second place in the BCS rankings and will play Ohio State for the BCS National Championship on January 8, 2007 in Glendale, AZ, 10 years after winning their first National Championship.
[edit] Basketball
The UF men's basketball squad has also come to prominence in recent years. They went to the Final Four in 1994 under coach Lon Kruger. Since 1996, they have been coached by Billy Donovan, who is credited with bringing national acclaim to the program. Donovan returned the Gators to the Final Four in 2000, and into the NCAA Championship game, where they lost to Michigan State. They won their first Southeastern Conference Tournament title in 2005, beating the University of Kentucky, their primary basketball rival. After repeating as SEC tournament champs in 2006, the Gators went on to win the first basketball National Championship in the history of the state of Florida, defeating the UCLA Bruins on April 3, 73-57, at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The men's basketball team plays home games in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, popularly nicknamed the "O-Dome". The O'Connell Center was also nicknamed the "House of Horrors" in 1999 by ESPN magazine, due to the fact that it is one of the scariest places in College Basketball for opponents to play.<ref>"Facilities @ Gatorzone" Gatorzone.com</ref> This 12,000-seat multi-purpose arena is located just west of "The Swamp", Florida's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
The student section of the O-Dome has been dubbed the "Rowdy Reptiles", where students will wait overnight for the best seats in the house.
[edit] See also
- The Independent Florida Alligator
- Gator Growl
- Florida Blue Key
- Gatorade
- Fredric G. Levin College of Law
- List of University of Florida alumni
[edit] Notes
<references/>
[edit] References
- University of Florida Alumni Association of Greater Washington DC
- University of Florida Facts. University of Florida website.
- Teague, Edward H. Historic Sites Guide. George A. Smathers Libraries website.
- University of Florida Alumni Association
[edit] External links
- University of Florida official Web site
- Gatorpedia, student-run wiki
- Gator Greek Pages, student-run telephone directory
- UF SAE Gator Motorsports, student-run racing team
- [1], 2006 FTIC Profile
- The Gator Life, student-run directory of local businesses
[edit] Athletics
- Official Athletic Dept. Site
- Gator Country - Credentialled Gator news, recruiting, & print magazine and website.
- ItsGreatToBeAFloridaGator.com - Updated Gator Sports site.
[edit] History
| Southeastern Conference |
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| Eastern Division: Florida • Georgia • Kentucky • South Carolina • Tennessee • Vanderbilt Western Division: Alabama • Arkansas • Auburn • LSU • Mississippi • Mississippi State |
| Public |
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|---|---|
| Private |
Brandeis • Brown • Caltech • Carnegie Mellon • Case Western • Chicago • Columbia • Cornell • Duke • Emory • Harvard • Johns Hopkins • MIT • Northwestern • NYU • Penn • Princeton • Rice • Rochester • USC • Stanford • Syracuse • Tulane • Vanderbilt • Wash U • Yale |
| Canadian | |
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