Florida State University’s distinguished faculty are central to the mission of the university. Faculty excellence in scholarship, research and creative activity is critical to the quality of student learning and makes a difference in the lives of others.

Throughout the year, honors and recognitions are awarded to individual faculty and staff members across campus. Faculty and Staff Briefs are produced monthly to recognize accomplishments and provide a space where honors, awards, bylines, presentations, grants, service and any other notable items can be showcased.

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HONORS AND AWARDS

Erica Harbatkin, Ph.D. (Anne’s College) has received the 2026 Early Career Award from The Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness. The award recognizes emerging scholars who have demonstrated exceptional promise and impactful contributions early in their professional journey within the field of educational research.

Unnikrishnan Sasidharan-Nair, Ph.D. (FAMU-FSU College of Engineering) has been selected as a 2027 AIAA Associate Fellow by The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the world’s largest aerospace professional society.

Qianwen (Vivian) Guo, Ph.D. (FAMU-FSU College of Engineering) has been named a 2026 ASEMFL Rising Star in Engineering.

Rachel (Ward) Boatwright, MA (Advising First, College of Music) was awarded Best in Region for her presentation “Stop ‘Shoulding’ on Yourself and Others; Rethinking Expectations in the Advising Office and Beyond” at the NACADA Region 4 Conference and selected to present at the NACADA National Conference.

Chongyu Wang, Ph.D., Jingfang Wang, Ph.D., and Tingyu Zhou, Ph.D. (Wertheim College of Business) won the Corporate Real Estate Award from the 2026 American Real Estate Society (ARES) for their manuscript “2026 – Disrupted Spaces: How Automation and Artificial Intelligence Reshape Corporate Real Estate Demand.”

Evan M. Eastman, Ph.D., Chongyu Wang, Ph.D., and Tingyu Zhou, Ph.D. (Wertheim College of Business) won the Real Estate Finance Award and the Sustainable Real Estate Award from the 2026 American Real Estate Society (ARES) for their manuscript “2026 – Climate Risk and Commercial Property Insurance.”

Chongyu Wang, Ph.D., and Tingyu Zhou, Ph.D. (Wertheim College of Business) won the Real Estate Investment Award from the 2026 American Real Estate Society (ARES) for their manuscript “2026 – Are Mass Shootings a Risk Factor? Evidence from Commercial Property Markets.”

Daniel Broxterman, Ph.D., Mariya Letdin, Ph.D., Chongyu Wang, Ph.D., and Tingyu Zhou, Ph.D. (Wertheim College of Business) won the Real Estate Portfolio Management Award from the 2026 American Real Estate Society (ARES) for their manuscript “Commercial Mortgage Debt Overhang and Intent to Default.”

Stacy Sirmans, Ph.D. (Wertheim College of Business) won the Innovative Thinking Award from the 2026 American Real Estate Society (ARES) for his manuscript “2026 – Eye in the Sky, Value on the Ground: AI-Derived Visual Cues and CRE Cap Rates.”

Bobby Sprinkle, MS (Information Technology Services) received the 2026 Info-Tech Award, in the IT Transformation category. The IT Transformation Award recognizes IT leaders who have successfully implemented strategic IT initiatives aligned with organizational goals and have achieved measurable results. This award celebrates IT advancements based on Info-Tech’s CIO Playbook, a structured, 12-step framework designed to help CIOs systematically improve and transform IT performance.

Rima Nathan, J.D. (College of Law) recently received the Association of American Law Schools Aging and Law Section’s Emerging Scholar Award. She will be recognized at the AALS Annual Meeting in New York City.

Tom Flanigan (WFSU Public Media) and Alan Hanstein (Challenger Learning Center) have been honored by The Holocaust Education Resource Council. Flanigan received the Community Leadership Award and Hanstein was recognized with the Steve Uhlfelder Humanitarian Award.

Lisa Hightow-Weidman, MD, MPH (College of Nursing) has been elected to the board of the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida (ASEMFL). The academy brings together leading researchers and experts to address critical challenges facing Florida through scientific collaboration, research and policy guidance.

Lucinda Graven, Ph.D., APRN, FHFSA, FAHA, FAAN (College of Nursing) has been elected as a Fellow of the Heart Failure Society of America (FHFSA), a multidisciplinary organization of physicians, scientists, nurses, pharmacists and patients dedicated to improving heart failure care through collaboration, education, research, innovation and advocacy.

Steven J. Palazzo, Ph.D., MN, RN, CNE, ANEF (College of Nursing) has been elected to the National League for Nursing (NLN) Board of Governors.

Kaylee Webb (Career Center) was nominated by FSU’s Student-Athlete Academic Services and participated as an honorary football guest coach at the FSU vs. University of Virginia game. She gained insight into the student-athlete experience and FSU Football program.

Sonia Hazard, Ph.D. (Department of Religion) had her book, “Empire of Print: Evangelical Power in an Age of Mass Media,” receive an honorable mention from the American Academy of Religion for the Best Work in Textual or Historical Studies award.

Kathleen Powers Conti, Ph.D. (Department of History) received the 2026 Best Essay in an Edited Volume award from the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians for her chapter, “Beyond the Absence: Recovering the Architectural Imprints of Slavery at Virginia’s Berkeley Plantation,” published in “Architectures of Slavery: Ruins and Reconstructions.”

Annie Wofford, Ph.D. (Anne’s College) is a recipient of the 2026 Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Early Career Award.

Shengli Dong, Ph.D. (Anne’s College) received the 2026 Bobbie Atkins Research Award from the National Association of Multicultural Rehabilitation Concerns.

Allison Justice, Ed.D., PA-C (College of Medicine) was accepted as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Associates, formerly known as physician assistants. Historically, fewer than 2% of PAs achieve the rank.

Alexandra Nowakowski, Ph.D. (College of Medicine) recently was named a co-editor-in-chief for The Qualitative Report, after serving on the Editorial Board in progressively more senior roles over the past decade.

Charles Hinnant, Ph.D. (School of Information) has been selected as co-chair for the ALISE Council of Deans, Directors, and Program Chairs.

Laura Ballard Bell, Ed.S. (Anne’s College) led FSU’s English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Community Tutoring Program where Anne’s College received the Sunshine State TESOL Institutional Effectiveness Award. The program provides more than 230 multilingual learners with free tutoring while offering future educators valuable, hands-on teaching experience.

Nica Cota, Steven High and Meg Hausberg (The Ringling) were recognized at the Florida Association of Museums’ annual conference. Cota was named the 2026 Emerging Museum Professional of the Year. High won the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award, and Hausberg was named the 2026 Outstanding Trustee.

GRANTS

Henry Zhuhao Wang, S.J.D., J.D., LL.M. (College of Law) has been selected by the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) to lead a research project titled, “Discovery in Agency Adjudication.” Wang will also undertake a comparative study of discovery and related procedural practices in other common-law jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom, Canada and Singapore, which examines discovery practices in federal agency adjudication. Wang will be awarded $25,000 to conduct the research.

Ibrahim Yigit, Ph.D. (College of Nursing) received a $154,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the project “Combined Effects of PrEP and HIV Stigma on PrEP Adherence: Psychosocial Pathways among Youth at Risk for HIV.” Yigit serves as principal investigator alongside co-investigator Henna Budhwani, Ph.D., MPH (College of Nursing). The project examines how stigma surrounding pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) affects medication adherence among youth, with the goal of informing strategies to improve HIV prevention and reduce transmission.

Ana Marty, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) will serve as PI on a $1.6M grant to strengthen secondary education in Belize. LSI is partnering with School-to-School International on the Equipping Secondary Educators Program Partnership, a five-year $21.7M project. Melba Marin-Velasquez, Ph.D. (LSI) will serve as the project’s co-PI with support from Stephanie Simmons Zuilkowski, Ph.D. (LSI).

Chris Martin, Ph.D. (Department of Psychology) earned a $301,998 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health for his research project, “Effects of Memory Reactivation on Episodic Recall and Brain Function.”

Adam Dewan, Ph.D. (Department of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience) and Roberto Vincis, Ph.D. (Department of Biological Science and Program in Neuroscience) earned a $423,500 grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders for their research project, “A Novel Approach to Study the Neural Mechanisms of Flavor.”

Joseph Watso, Ph.D., and Andrew Koutnik, Ph.D. (Anne’s College) received a $218,937 NIH grant to investigate whether a time-efficient breathing exercise approach can improve cardiovascular function in adults with type 1 diabetes. Their project will examine inspiratory muscle strength training, which targets the muscles used to inhale.

BYLINES

Changhyun (Lyon) Nam, Ph.D. (Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship) had his article, “Single-crystalline Ge/GaAs p-i-n heterojunction Photodiodes on Recycled Polypropylene Substrates,” published in the Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics.

Henry Zhuhao Wang, S.J.D., J.D., LL.M. (College of Law) has a forthcoming publication in Volume 32 of Harvard Negotiation Law Review titled “Mediation’s Missing Privilege,” co-authored with 3L Gino Cerrone.

Justin Sevier, A.B., J.D., M.S., M.Phil. (College of Law) published “The Underexplored Psychology of the Excited Utterance and Present Sense Impression,” in Volume 53 of the Fordham Urban Law Journal as part of a symposium contribution.

Brian Slocum, B.B.A., J.D., M.A., Ph.D. (College of Law) recently published “The Normative Canons of Criminal Law” in Volume 79, Issue 5 of the Vanderbilt Law Review.

Henry Zhuhao Wang, S.J.D., J.D., LL.M., and Justin Sevier, A.B., J.D., M.S., M.Phil. (College of Law) have a forthcoming publication in the 42nd issue of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal titled, “The Authentication Illusion: Synthetic Evidence and the Limits of Human Judgment,” co-authored with 3L Gino Cerrone.

Amanda Gabster, Ph.D., Ibrahim Yigit, Ph.D., MA, Artur Queiroz, Ph.D., BSN, MS, Umed Ibragimov, MD, Ph.D., MPH, Lisa Hightow-Weidman, MD, MPH, Casey Xavier Hall, Ph.D., MPH, Frank “Frankie” Wong, Ph.D., Eugenia Millender, Ph.D., RN, PMH-APRN, FAAN, FAANP, Isaac Payton, Ph.D., MBA, MSN, PMHNP-BC, Crim Sabuncu, Ph.D.(c), Eduardo De La Vega, MS, Ph.D., Shermeeka Hogans-Mathews, MD, FAAFP; Liying Wang, Ph.D., Adam Tratner, Ph.D. (College of Nursing) co-authored “Exploratory Multidimensional Cardiovascular Health-related Profiles Among People Living with HIV Who Attend Two Urban Antiretroviral Clinics in Panama,” published in Discover Public Health.

Rahim Miller, MSMS, EMT-B, Zoë Njemanze, MPH, Miles Perry, MPH, Adrian Williams, MS, Judah Dean, MSW, Anderson Schlupp, MS, Kathryn Muessig, Ph.D., Lisa Hightow-Weidman, MD, MPH (College of Nursing) co-authored “From Youth Advisory Boards to Subject Matter Research Consultants: Transforming Youth Participation in Research Advising And Practice,” published in Springer Nature.

Kristy Anderson, Ph.D., Michael Killian, Ph.D., and Melissa Radey, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) co-authored the article, “Preventable Hospitalizations During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Patients with Autism and Without Autism,” published in the journal Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

David Newheiser, Ph.D. (Department of Religion) had his co-authored paper, “Indigenous Eco-Ethical Knowledge and the Reimagining of Nature,” published in Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science, an open-access, peer reviewed academic journal published by the Open Library of Humanities.

Barbara Hamby, M.A. (Department of English) had her poem, “Ode to Being Born with Teeth and Sharpening Them Every Day,” published in The New Yorker.

Charles Upchurch, Ph.D. (Department of History) had his article, “‘Called It Macaroni’: A British Queer History of the American Revolution,” published in the Journal of British Studies as part of its forum, “1776. Views from the British World,” a series of articles placing the American revolution within the context of the larger British world.

Andrew Frank, Ph.D. (Department of History) had his article, “In the Present Tense: A Historian reflects on why Americans struggle to see Native people as contemporaries,” published in FORUM Magazine, a statewide magazine published by Florida Humanities.

Nicole Bentze, D.O. (College of Medicine) was part of a team focused on supporting students through the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP) for finding residency matches, and they published “Faculty Development through SOAP Advising” in the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine’s journal, PriMER.

Jack Rizzo, MFA (College of Medicine) authored the article, “More Than Medicine: How FSU’s HEAL Journal Connects Students, Faculty, and the Communities They Serve,” published in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s CASE Currents magazine.

Angelina Sutin, Ph.D., Martina Luchetti, Ph.D., Jarrod Mousa, Ph.D., Antonio Terracciano, Ph.D. (all College of Medicine) and a research colleague from University of Montpelier in France published “Purpose in life and shingles vaccination and infection” in the journal Vaccine.

Enrique Urrea Mendoza, M.D. (College of Medicine) and then-medical student Manasicha Wongpaiboon (M.D. Class of 2026) were two of the authors of “Challenges in the diagnosis of functional movement disorders in old adults in Latin America,” published in Acta Neurologica Colombiana, the journal of the Colombian Association of Neurology. The study was also accepted as a poster presentation at the International Congress of the Movement Disorder Society in Korea.

Annie Li Zhang, Ph.D. (School of Communication) co-authored “Modern Science Outreach: A Guide for Scientists” in Cell Journal, outlining practical strategies for scientists to engage audiences through new media channels.

Patrick Merle, Ph.D. (School of Communication) co-authored “The Impact of Infographics and Numerical Framing on Health Risk Perceptions and Behaviors: A Study of Ticks and Lyme Disease,” published in the Journal of Health Communication.

Eundeok Kim, Ph.D. (College of Entrepreneurship) published her collaborative paper “Bridging Skills Gaps: How Micro-credentials Reshape Sustainable Development Learning in higher education,” in Smart Learning Environments.

Eundeok Kim, Ph.D. (College of Entrepreneurship) coauthored a book titled “Teaching Sustainability Competencies Across the Disciplines: A Guide for Instructors (3rd ed.),” published by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

PRESENTATIONS

Brooke Keller, Ph.D., MA (The Ringling) presented “Soaring Beyond the Fieldtrip: Elevating K-12 Teacher Support,” at The Florida Association of Museums Conference in West Palm Beach, FL in September.

Isabelle Austin, M.S. (Student Athlete Academic Services) co-presented “Empowering Transfer Student-Athletes Through Student-Centered Academic Advising” at the 2026 NACADA Annual Conference in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Erin Verity, Ed.D. (Office of Admissions) presented “Reading Between the Lines: The Changing Role of School Context in Admissions” at the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) annual conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Bret Keating, M.S. and Emily Fiore, Ed.S. (Advising First) co-presented “Why Learners Choose and Earners Settle: A Need-Supportive Advising Approach” at the National Academic Advising Association: The Global Community for Academic Advising Annual Conference in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Their session was also honored as one of only two sessions sponsored by the Undecided and Exploratory Students Advising Community.

Kim Barber, Ph.D. (Office of the University Registrar) and Robin Queen, MS (Office of the University Registrar) attended the first ACC Registrar workshop in Syracuse, New York, where Barber presented “Landscape of Higher Education.”

Jessica Childress, M.Ed., Hannah Recinella, M.S.W. and Alayna Williams (Center for College Life Coaching) presented “Oy with the Analogies Already! A Gilmore Girls’ Guide to Meaningful Student Conversations” at the 2026 NACADA Annual Conference.

Mirine Richey, DrPH, MPH, IBCLC (Center for Prevention & Early Intervention Policy) participated on the AHCA’s “From the Start Initiative – Simply Healthcare Plans Roundtable” in Collier County. Led by Simply Healthcare, the discussion included leaders from area health and hospital systems, University of Miami, and March of Dimes, and was attended by health and policy leaders from around the state. Richey spoke on the importance of community engagement, enhancing perinatal training and services for doula care, lactation, and mental health support to improve outcomes for women.

Elyse Budkie, MST (Undergraduate Studies/Academic Center for Excellence) presented: A Pre-conference Intensive Workshop – “From Awkward to Awesome: Innovative Activities that Elevate Tutor Training”; “Climb Your Mountain of Stress to Success”; “Data to Dialogue: Using ALEKS to Elevate Tutoring and Learning Connections”; “Persistence-Focused Teaching: Meeting Students Where They Are to Keep Them Moving Forward”; and an “Elevating Academic Success Together” poster at the ICLCA (International College Learning Center Association) conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Alexander Tsesis, J.D. (College of Law) presented a keynote address at the North Carolina Law Review Volume 105 Symposium: AI and Constitutional Values.

Alexander Tsesis, J.D. (College of Law) co-organized and participated in the Declaration of Independence Conference at Florida State University College of Law. The conference brought together leading scholars from across the country to examine the Declaration’s historical significance, its promises of equality and individual rights, and its continuing influence on American constitutional law and government.

Jake Linford, J.D. (College of Law) participated in the 17th Annual Trademark Scholars Roundtable with other legal scholars from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. The event was hosted by the New Zealand Centre for Intellectual Property at the University of Auckland Law School in Auckland, New Zealand.

Andrew Brady, Logan Poland and Gene Cilluffo (Institutional Research) and Caitlyn Jessee (Institutional Performance and Assessment) presented two workshops, “Power BI Introduction: Getting Started with Power BI Dashboards” and “Power BI Intermediate: Enhancing Power BI Dashboard Development Skills,” at the 2026 Southern Association for Institutional Research (SAIR) Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Heather Epstein-Diaz (Institutional Research) co-presented “Data Governance and Relational IR: Building Trust, Collaboration, and Shared Understanding” and joined Shalinee Chikara and Asna Nayani to present “Data Governance as a Service: Strategic Governance Through Embedded Data Partnerships” at the 2026 SAIR Conference.

Gene Cilluffo (Institutional Research) presented “Applying WCAG: Accessibility in Power BI,” exploring strategies for making Power BI dashboards accessible to all users, at the 2026 SAIR Conference.

Claire Hickey (School of Teacher Education) presented “From Hidden Variables to Actionable Data: Measuring Trauma and Neurodiversity in Institutional Research” at the 2026 SAIR Conference.

Linh Hoang (Institutional Research) presented “Who Gets Hired? A Data-Driven Look at Master’s Graduate Employment Outcomes” at the 2026 SAIR Conference.

Abigail Jonckheere-Paul (Institutional Research) presented “When You Give a Mouse a Cookie – Bringing Practitioner Experience to Data Analytics,” highlighting a dashboard developed to support academic advisors during New Student Orientation, at the 2026 SAIR Conference.

Katherine Gipalo (Institutional Research) presented “Debugging the Department: CS Resource Allocation with ‘Start, Stop, Grow,’” examining resource allocation and opportunities to expand course offerings in FSU’s Department of Computer Science, at the 2026 SAIR Conference.

Logan Poland, James Hunt, Ph.D., and Andrew Brady (Institutional Research) presented “Giving 40 Whacks to ACTS – An American Horror Story,” a Florida Association for Institutional Research highlight session, at the 2026 SAIR Conference.

Caitlyn Jessee (Institutional Performance and Assessment) presented “Scaling Quality: A Comprehensive Framework for General Education Assessment” at the 2026 SAIR Conference.

Katherine Gipalo and Samantha Nix, Ph.D. (Institutional Research) joined a colleague from Georgia Tech to present “How Do I Say No? Discussing Strategies for Saying No to Stakeholders” at the 2026 SAIR Conference.

Casey Xavier Hall, Ph.D., MPH (College of Nursing) presented “Feasibility of a digital decision aid for safety planning with LGBTQIAPN+ people exposed to gender-based violence in Brazil” at the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) Forum in Bangkok, Thailand.

Melissa Ace, DNP, RN, Amber Lattimore Ed.D., M.Ed. and Laura Redfern DNP, APRN, CHSE (College of Nursing) co-presented “Virtual Patients, Real Priorities: Learning Prioritization Through Virtual Reality” at the Florida Nursing Students Association Annual Convention in Palmetto, FL.

Lucinda Graven, Ph.D., APRN, FHFSA, FAHA, FAAN (College of Nursing) presented “Under Pressure: Relieving Anxiety and Depression” at the Annual Scientific Conference of the Heart Failure Society of America in Phoenix.

Lucinda Graven, Ph.D., APRN, FHFSA, FAHA, FAAN, Laurie Abbott, Ph.D., RN, DipACLM, CNE, PHNA-BC, FAAN (College of Nursing) and Tom Ledermann, Ph.D. (Anne’s College) co-presented “Supporting Health in Rural Veterans with Heart Failure” at the Annual Scientific Conference, Heart Failure Society of America in Phoenix.

Jennifer Schnippert, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC (College of Nursing) presented “Turning Inquiry Into Impact: Advancing Nurse Scholarship with EBP, QI, or Research” at the Florida Organization for Nursing Leadership and Panhandle Nursing Leadership as the keynote presenter.

Delaney W. La Rosa, Ed.D., MSN Ed, RN (College of Nursing) presented “Workshop on advanced AI use in research, data visualization, and administrative support” at the Villanova University Office of Nursing Research and Innovation Faculty Workshop: AI For Research Productivity in Villanova, PA.

Delaney W. La Rosa, Ed.D., MSN Ed, RN (College of Nursing) presented “Leading Academic Nursing in the AI Era” at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Academic Nursing Leadership Conference (ANLC) in Washington, D.C.

Delaney W. La Rosa, Ed.D., MSN Ed, RN (College of Nursing) presented “The Nurse’s Guide to AI: From Foundations to Fluency,” an interactive workshop exploring the responsible and effective use of artificial intelligence in nursing education, practice and research, at the New England League for Nurse Educators (NELNE) Annual Fall Conference and Meeting in Newport, Rhode Island.

Delaney W. La Rosa, Ed.D., MSN Ed, RN (College of Nursing) presented “Centering Nursing in the AI Era” at the American Nursing Informatics Association (ANIA), Central Florida Chapter Faculty Development Session virtually.

Jake Czaplicki (New Student & Family Programs) participated in a panel discussion “Publishing as a Practitioner: Insights on Why, How, and Where” at the Southern Association for College Student Affairs annual conference.

Shamra Boel-Studt, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) delivered, “A Decade of Quality Therapeutic Residential Care: Innovations, Evolving Standards, and Future Considerations,” the keynote presentation at What Constitutes Quality in Children’s Residential Care: Measuring What Matters to Children and Their Families, International Workgroup for Therapeutic Residential Care and The Association for Children’s Residential and Community Services, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom.

Marcia Hently, MSW, Katerina Manias, MS, PMP, and Kristina Finch, MS (Florida Institute for Child Welfare) represented the Florida Institute for Child Welfare and Florida State University’s partnership with Accenture’s AVENUES team at their APHSA IT Solutions Management for Human Services (ISM) Conference in Spokane, Washington. The recognition highlighted FICW’s leadership and investment in innovative, immersive learning that prepares professionals for complex practice situations, and FSU/FICW will receive an award and a commemorative banner in acknowledgment of this contribution.

Jessica Pryce, Ph.D., Lauren Stanley, Ph.D., and Chelsea Brass, Ph.D. (College of Social Work/Florida Institute for Child Welfare) presented, “Beyond Self-Care: Leadership, Power, and Organizational Responsibility for Workforce Resilience,” at the 2027 Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

Zach Cooper, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) presented, “A Scoping Review of Solution-Focused Measures: Mobilizing Strengths and Resilience in Social Work,” at the 2027 Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

Lauren Stanley, Ph.D., and Chelsea Brass, Ph.D. (College of Social Work/Florida Institute for Child Welfare) presented, “When the System Is Personal: A Comparison of Child-Welfare Workers’ Experiences by Maltreatment History,” at the 2027 Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

Shalay Jackson, D.P.H., and Lauren Herod, M.S.W. (College of Social Work) presented “Partnership Session: Organizing for Resilient Communities: Celebrating the Past, Present, and Future” at the 2027 Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

Michaé Cain, Ph.D. and Malika Samples, Ph.D. (College of Social Work/Florida Institute for Child Welfare) presented, “Student Perspectives on the Child Welfare Immersive Collaborative Simulations (CWICS): Key Insights,” at the 2027 Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

Bruce Thyer, Ph.D., and Jeffrey Lacasse, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) presented, “Heterodoxy as Resilience: Honoring Diverse Perspectives in Social Work Education,” at the 2027 Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

Lauren Stanley, Ph.D. and Trechaun Anderson, MSW (College of Social Work) presented, “Building Trauma-Informed Evidence Behind Bars: Flexible, Multi-Year Implementation of STAIR in a County Jail,” at the 2027 Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

Lisa Schelbe, Ph.D., Shalay Jackson, M.P.H., and Rosalyn Deckerhoff, M.S.W. (College of Social Work) presented, “The Power of Paid Internships: Funding Promotes BSW and MSW Student Well-Being,” at the 2027 Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

Oluwaseun Jegede, M.S.W. and Pooja Ichplani, Ph.D. (College of Social Work/Florida Institute for Child Welfare) presented “Survivor-Centered Safety Engagement: A Child Welfare Framework for Domestic Violence-Affected Families,” at the 2027 Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

Robert Hanna (Learning Systems Institute) presented “Using AI to Be Transformative in a Science Classroom” at the Florida Association of Science Teachers (FAST) 2026 Conference in Orlando, FL.

Rabieh Razzouk, MBA (Learning Systems Institute) delivered the keynote address, “Lessons from leading complex projects and multidisciplinary teams across the United States and around the world,” at the October Project Management Institute Tallahassee Chapter meeting.

Rabieh Razzouk, MBA (Learning Systems Institute) and Dina Vyortkina, Ph.D. (Anne’s College) presented virtually at the “AI and Cybersecurity GCC Forum” hosted by the American International University, Kuwait.

Vilma Fuentes, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) was a featured speaker at the Local Colleges Visioning Summit hosted by the University of Philippines Open University and sponsored by the Commission on Higher Education.

Stephane Simmons Zuilkowski, Ph.D. and Kate Schell, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) presented “Measure What Matters: Choosing the Best-Fit Evaluation Approach” at the 2026 Florida After School Conference in Kissimmee, FL.

Carrie Meyers and Jim Reynolds (Learning Systems Institute) presented at “Teaching and Learning with AI in Europe” at Breda University for Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. The pair also served as keynote speakers at the Southwest Florida AI in Education Symposium.

Rafe Blaufarb, Ph.D. (Department of History) presented his paper, “The Career of the Officer and Military Regeneration, 1750-1789,” at the Ecole de Guerre in Paris, France in September. The event was organized by the Association des Anciennes Ecoles Royales et Militaires de France and was attended by the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Catherine Vautrin.

Nilay Özok-Gündoğan, Ph.D. (Department of History) presented her paper, “Extracting Kurdistan: Mining Silenced Histories across Ottoman Archives,” at the Digital Archive of the Middle East conference, “Beyond Boundaries: Border-Crossings in Archives and Research on the Middle East,” at the University of Exeter in Exeter, U.K.

Suzanne Sinke, Ph.D. (Department of History) presented her paper, “Seeking Sanity through Connections: The Hasterlik Descendants in Flight,” at Georgetown University in October as part of, “Flight, Exile, and Emigration in Germany’s Age of Extremes: Biographical Perspectives,” aworkshop sponsored by the German Historical Institute and the German Academic Exchange Service.

Dean Falk, Ph.D. (Department of Anthropology) delivered the virtual keynote address, “Reading Ancient Brains from Skulls: What Paleoneurology Can—and—Cannot—Tell Us” as part of “The World of Attila: Brain, Skull, Behaviour and Society,” a public event at the Semmelweis Museum, Library and Archive of the History of Medicine in Budapest, Hungary.

Andrew Frank, Ph.D. (Department of History) presented, “Relations Between Spain and Native Peoples,” at the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute’s America&Spain250 Symposium in New Orleans, which was attended by Queen Sofía of Spain.

Elizabeth Doud, Ph.D. (The Ringling) presented “From France’s Performing Arts Ecosystem to Sarasota,” at Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education, a division of the French Embassy in the United States.\

Katie Nickel, Ed.D. (The Ringling) presented “The WOW Factor: How Wonder Shapes Visitor Experiences and Communities” at the Florida Association of Museums Conference.

Caitlyn Shanely, Bianca Selket Clyburn, Fabi Carillo (The Ringling) presented “Inspiring Wonder: Insights from Ringling Teaching Artists” at The Ringling’s third annual Wonder Symposium on The Wonder of Arts Work.

Skyler Dunbar, MA, the 2026—2027 Eleanor Merritt Fellow (The Ringling) presented the poster “Looking Back to Move Forward: The Wonder of Arts Work in the Eleanor Merritt Fellowship” at The Ringling’s third annual Wonder Symposium on The Wonder of Arts Work.

Bethany Ritz, MFA, presented “The Stakes of Wonder for Culture Workers” at The Ringling’s third annual Wonder Symposium on The Wonder of Arts Work.

Jane Harris, MA (The Ringling) presented “Wonder in Action: Experiencing Active Gallery Engagement” at The Ringling’s third annual Wonder Symposium on The Wonder of Arts Work.

Courtney Hicks, MLIS, MFA (The Ringling) presented “Wonder in the Stacks: Inventory at The Ringling’s Art Library” at The Ringling’s third annual Wonder Symposium on The Wonder of Arts Work.

Ivan Balan, Ph.D., and Onna Brewer, Ph.D. (College of Medicine) presented “iMI4HIV Interactive motivational training for HIV counselors” at the Motivational Network of Trainers (MINT) Annual Forum in Lisbon, Portugal.

Enrique Urrea Mendoza, M.D. (College of Medicine) was invited to deliver two lectures at the 7th Annual All-Community Virtual Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) Conference.

Hugh Catts, Ph.D. (School of Communication Science and Disorders) gave an invited talk, titled “Perspectives on the new IDA definition of dyslexia in English,” as the opening session for the 2nd International Conference on Evidence-Based Teaching, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Sladjana Lukic, Ph.D. (School of Communication Science and Disorders) gave a poster presentation at the Society for Neurobiology of Language titled Theory-Driven AI: Exploratory Speech Metrics Detecting Agrammatism in Aphasia using NLP/LLMs.

Sladjana Lukic, Ph.D. (School of Communication Science and Disorders) gave an invited psycholinguistic talk at the University of Geneva, titled “Toward Theory-Driven, Objective Dimensional Measurement of Aphasia.”

Dawn Sowers, Ph.D. (School of Communication Science and Disorders) presented her research, “When Movement has a Voice: Exploring Communication Possibilities with a New AI-Driven Communication Tool,” at the 58th Annual Gatlinburg Conference on Research and Theory in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Felicia Williams, Ph.D. (Student Engagement) and Andy Johnson, MPA, MSP (Student Engagement) presented “Keep Them Honest: An Innovative Gamified Approach to Build Trust and Emotional Intelligence in Public Leadership” at the 28th International Leadership Association Global Conference in Toronto, Canada.

Felicia Williams, Ph.D. (Student Engagement) co-facilitated “Leading Human Systems: A Signature Leadership Experience” at the 28th International Leadership Association Global Conference in Toronto, Canada.

SERVICE

Todd Adams, Ph.D. (Department of Physics) was elected to serve a 2-year term as the Deputy Chair of the USCMS Collaboration Board. The Collaboration Board represents all of the US researchers who work on the CMS experiment at CERN, the European particle physics laboratory. The USCMS Collaboration includes more than 1400 researchers from over 50 institutions.

Michael Elwardany, Ph.D. (FAMU-FSU College of Engineering) has been selected as an Associate Editor for the Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, IJPE and AM3P.

Rachel (Neale) Neuhart, MA, CCEP (Office of Compliance and Ethics) was selected to serve as an applicant reviewer in the areas of public policy and international affairs for the Fulbright Ukraine national selection process.

James Hunt, Ph.D. (Institutional Research) completed seven years of service on the Southern Association for Institutional Research (SAIR) Board of Directors, including serving as vice president and conference chair in 2024, president in 2025, and immediate past president in 2026.

Lucinda Graven, Ph.D., APRN, FHFSA, FAHA, FAAN (College of Nursing) has been appointed to the American Heart Association Clinical Cardiology in Older Populations committee as the Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing (CVSN) Liaison to provide a nursing perspective and voice in support of older adults with cardiovascular disease.

Jake Czaplicki (New Student & Family Programs) has been asked to serve as a faculty member for the NODA: Association for Orientation, Transition, and Retention in Higher Education Graduate Student Symposium (GSS).

Nell Robinson (University Health Services) was reappointed as a Commissioner on the Tallahassee-Leon County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls for a two-year term. This appointment marks her fourth term.

Jake Czaplicki (New Student & Family Programs) served as a presentation reviewer and awards review committee member for the NODA: Association for Orientation, Transition, and Retention in Higher Education 2026 Annual Conference.

Rob Schoen, Ph.D. and Shelby McCrakin (Learning Systems Institute) traveled to Minnesota to lead professional development workshops as part of the STEPPS project funded by the American Statistical Association.

Lyndsay Jenkins, Ph.D. (Anne’s College) was appointed managing editor of the Journal of School Psychology.

Becky Greenhill, Ph.D. (School of Communication Science and Disorders), Catherine Johnson, Ph.D. (School of Communication Science and Disorders) and Selena Snowden, Ph.D. (School of Communication Science and Disorders) led the FSU Speech & Hearing Mobile Clinic on its first community outreach event at the FSU Health Expo in Gadsden County, where they coordinated student volunteers to provide speech and hearing screenings for community members.

Sladjana Lukic, Ph.D. (School of Communication Science and Disorders) and Kaitlin Lansford, Ph.D. (College of Communication and Information) hosted research tables at the FSU Health Expo in Gadsden County, showcasing their active grant-funded projects and inviting visitors to learn about opportunities to participate.

Karen Geletko, MPH (College of Medicine) was appointed to the Florida Tobacco Education and Use Prevention Advisory Council, which provides guidance to Tobacco Free Florida and the state surgeon general on statewide prevention and control efforts.

George Bernardo, M.D., Danielle Carter, M.D., and Christy Cavanagh, M.D. (all College of Medicine) were among the Florida Academy of Family Physicians representatives attending the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Congress of Delegates in Nashville, Tennessee.

Faye Jones, Ph.D. (College of Communication and Information) led a team of student presenters, which included Tanya Raphael, Courtney Stokes, and Ellie Webb, to the STARS Equinox Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

EXHIBITIONS AND PERFORMANCES

Geoffrey Deibel, DMA (College of Music) recently completed a four-concert tour of the East Coast with Trio Nebbia, featuring world-renowned percussionist Ji Hye Jung and lauded pianist Winston Choi. The group performed on the Bowerbird Concert Series in Philadelphia, premiering a newly commissioned work from Pulitzer Prize winner and MacAuthur Genius Tyshawn Sorey. The trio also gave concerts and masterclasses at Manhattan School of Music in NYC, Hartt School of Music, and Boston Conservatory.

NOTABLE

Shannon Hall-Mills, Ph.D. (College of Communication and Information) and Danielle Brimo, Ph.D. (‘11) were invited by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association to present “Syntax: A Pathway to Comprehension and Composition” for the Annual Convention of the Speech-Language-Hearing Association in Indianapolis in November.

Jessica Schilling, Editor in Residence (College of Motion Picture Arts) worked on the project “Surviving Alaska: Women of the Wild,” which is out this month on NatGeo, Hulu, and Disney+. She worked on the docu-follow series earlier this year and was one of the editors for episodes 5, 6, and 7.

EmilyFaye Cobb, Head of Set Operations (College of Motion Picture Arts) worked as a gaffer on the short film “Inheritor,” which won the Night Mare Award for Best Cinematography in a Short at Nightmares Film Festival.

Michael Morley, J.D. (College of Law) submitted two amicus briefs for the U.S. Supreme Court, one with Dean F. Andrew Hessick for Apple Inc. v. Epic Games, Inc., No. 25-1311, and another brief with the FSU Election Law Center for the Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota, et al. Both briefs were submitted in support of neither party.

Andrew Frank, Ph.D. (Department of History) led the University College London’s Commonwealth Fund Committee sponsored roundtable, “The United States at 250: Reflections on Empire, Conflict, and Diplomacy,” on the legacy of the American Revolution at the 2026 annual conference of the British American Nineteenth Century Historians at the University of Warwick in Warwick, U.K. He is also the lead scholar for the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibit, “Americans,” that opened in September and will travel across Florida over the next year in partnership with Florida Humanities and the Seminole and Miccosukee Tribes.

Gary Taylor, Ph.D. (Department of English) had his reconstruction of “The History of Cardenio” — the partially-lost play based on the first translation of Cervantes’s Don Quixote in 1612 which was co-written by Shakespeare and his younger contemporary John Fletcher —receive its first all-professional production in North America by Resurgens Theatre Company in Atlanta in September, as part of its “Shakespeare’s Apocrypha Now” biennial conference. He also had a Spanish translation of his reconstruction premiere at the Teatro Calderon in Valladolid, Spain, and had the first translation of his text published in Portuguese and launched at the XII Jornada de Estudos Shakespeareanos conference, both in September. Taylor presented about the technical and creative processes that produced his restoration of this play at the premieres in Atlanta and Valladolid.

Johnna Wallace, M.A. (College of Medicine) earned certification in Adult Mental Health First Aid from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing.

Please send items for Faculty and Staff Briefs to tfordyce@fsu.edu. We publish monthly.

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Four Florida State University College of Law students will continue the tradition of getting to argue before the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday, Nov. 4, as the college celebrates the 40th anniversary of its Moot Court Final Four Competition. 

Beginning at 3:30 p.m., second-year law students Nathaniel Birdsong, Warren Robison, Serena Saul and Madison Smith will present oral arguments before the Justices of Florida’s highest court. A reception will follow in the College of Law’s D’Alemberte Rotunda. The competition will also be livestreamed for those who cannot attend in person.  

Established in 1986 through the vision of Professor William VanDercreek, Final Four has given generations of FSU Law students an opportunity to test their advocacy skills before the state Supreme Court while still in law school. The annual event is a distinctive FSU Law tradition and reflects the opportunities available to students attending law school in Florida’s capital, directly across the street from the Florida Supreme Court. 

“For 40 years, Final Four has given our students an extraordinary opportunity to put their preparation into practice,” said Erin O’Hara O’Connor, dean of the FSU College of Law. “We are grateful to the Justices for investing their time in our students and to the faculty, alumni and coaches who help them reach this moment.”

“For 40 years, Final Four has given our students an extraordinary opportunity to put their preparation into practice. We are grateful to the Justices for investing their time in our students and to the faculty, alumni and coaches who help them reach this moment.”  

– Erin O’Hara O’Connor, dean of the FSU College of Law

The finalists qualified through the college’s spring intramural moot court competition, which also serves as the selection process for new Moot Court Team members. Participants submit written briefs and complete three rounds of oral arguments. The four highest-scoring oral advocates in the final round advance to the Final Four the following fall, where they compete for the Best Oralist Award. 

That preparation requires students to develop a thorough understanding of the legal issues, anticipate opposing arguments and respond directly to questions from the bench. 

“A strong oral advocate must do more than know a prepared argument,” said Nat Stern, professor emeritus and former faculty advisor and coach to the Moot Court Team. “Students must listen carefully, recognize the concern behind a judge’s question and respond with clarity and candor. Final Four challenges them to bring those skills together in a setting they will remember throughout their careers.” 

Stern began serving as the team’s faculty advisor in 1993 and guided student advocates for more than three decades. Legal Writing Professor Courtney Brewer, who became faculty advisor in May 2025, now leads the team’s preparation for competitions and coordinates coaching and other support for its members. Assistant Dean for Academic Success Laura Dennis serves as associate faculty advisor. 

“We are grateful to Courtney and Laura for their leadership and dedication to our students,” O’Connor said. “We also celebrate Nat’s extraordinary legacy of mentorship. His work over more than three decades helped generations of students develop as advocates and contributed enormously to the Moot Court Team’s success.” 

Final Four’s 40th anniversary marks a milestone within a broader advocacy tradition. Founded in 1968, the FSU Law Moot Court Team competes against other law schools in regional, national and international appellate advocacy competitions. Final Four is the college’s annual showcase featuring the top four oral advocates from its spring intramural competition. 

The broader Moot Court experience combines legal research, appellate brief writing and oral advocacy across subjects ranging from constitutional and criminal law to intellectual property and environmental law. Faculty members, former Final Four competitors and attorneys from the legal community serve as coaches, helping students refine their arguments through practice and feedback. 

The Nov. 4 event offers the FSU Law community an opportunity to support this year’s finalists and recognize the Court, Justices, faculty and coaches who have made this tradition possible. Oral arguments will take place at the Florida Supreme Court, 500 S. Duval St.  

Visit the FSU Law moot court website to learn more or watch the livestream. 

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A Florida State University neuroscientist has received a new grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate how a food or drink’s temperature affects the way our brains process the taste of salt, a neural mechanism that plays a significant role in shaping eating behaviors and nutrition habits.

Associate Professor of Biological Science and Neuroscience Roberto Vincis will use the $2.5 million in funding from the NIH’s National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders to research temperature’s impact on salt taste processing through his project, “Thermal Influences on Salt Taste Sensitivity and Neural Processing.”

“Temperature strongly shapes what we choose to eat, yet we know surprisingly little about how it affects the way the brain processes taste,” Vincis said. “When we eat or drink, three senses work together: taste, smell and touch, which includes texture and temperature. Combined, they create what we experience as flavor.”

Flavor guides what we choose to eat and drink, and those choices have lasting effects on health. Salt plays a bigger role. Beyond tasting salty, it changes how a food tastes, most notably by masking bitterness. Reducing excess salt in the American diet is a major public health priority. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, about 90 percent of Americans consume more sodium than recommended.

“Most previous studies looked at one component of flavor at a time, but in order to fully understand how the brain processes taste, we need to see components like temperature and salt interact,” Vincis said. “I believe few labs in the U.S. study oral sensory components simultaneously. The NIH is supporting nutrition-related research from many angles, and this grant tells us we are on the right track to better understanding what drives nutrition habits and shapes eating behaviors.”

Table salt is necessary in small amounts, but too much can lead to high blood pressure and a higher risk for heart disease and stroke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Together, heart disease and stroke kill more Americans each year than any other cause.

“By uncovering how multiple sensory systems interact to drive unhealthy dietary preferences, this research could also help to identify novel biological targets for treating obesity and eating disorders,” said Lisa Eckel, director of FSU’s Program in Neuroscience.

When we eat, chemicals in foods and drinks activate taste cells in the mouth, and these cells pass the signal to nerves that carry it to the brain. This information eventually reaches the primary gustatory cortex, a region deep in the brain’s insular region where the brain makes sense of what we are tasting.

By studying how the temperature of a food or drink affects the way the brain processes the taste of table salt and salt substitutes, Vincis and his team hope to uncover overlooked factors that shape what we eat and ultimately our health.

“We’ll combine hypothesis-driven behavioral experiments, recordings of brain activity, and targeted manipulation of specific brain circuits to examine how stimulus temperature changes the way the brain responds to salt,” Vincis said. “What we learn could help develop strategies to reduce excess salt consumption in the diet.”

Since joining FSU’s faculty in 2018, Vincis and the Vincis Lab have been continually supported by national funding in the investigation of processes underlying neural processing of sensory experiences. In 2022, he was awarded a five-year, $1.8M NIH grant to understand how interactions among various brain regions contribute to the sense of taste, and he received the 2026 Ajinomoto Award for Young Investigators in Gustation from the Association for Chemoreception Sciences.

Vincis’ research also contributes to FSU’s Institute for Connecting Nutrition and Health, which aims to create and catalyze high-impact multidisciplinary collaborative nutrition research and training to improve human health. Additionally, his work supports FSU Health, an academic health system combining the expertise of hospitals, physicians, clinics, research, education and innovation to improve the health of our community.

“The study of chemical senses has long been a hallmark of excellence within the FSU Program in Neuroscience, and this new grant award further elevates the stature of this distinguished community of scientists,” Eckel said. “It also highlights the broad impact of Dr. Vincis’ research and his growing national and international reputation as a leading scholar in the field.”

To learn more about neuroscience and biological science research at FSU, visit neuro.fsu.edu and bio.fsu.edu.

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Florida State University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Business on Thursday inducted two new members into its Alumni Hall of Fame.

Enshrined during a black-tie gala were William C. Lloyd, a proven and prolific real estate developer whose projects feature some of the most recognizable food, pharmacy and retail chains in North America; and Brian K. Williams, a distinguished leader and entrepreneur who has spent more than two decades driving transformative growth and change in the receivables management industry.

The event marked the first Alumni Hall of Fame gala to take place in the world-class Herbert Wertheim Center for Business Excellence, which opened in January.

In their acceptance speeches, Lloyd and Williams thanked their friends, families, colleagues and communities, among others, all of whom Lloyd referred to as families.

“All of my families, I can’t thank you enough,” Lloyd said. “I can’t imagine what today would look like without all you in my life. I’m so blessed and so honored in all the ways from the impact that you have and to be in the (Alumni) Hall of Fame.”

Williams told attendees: “What a tremendous honor and privilege it is to stand before you this evening. To be included among an extraordinarily accomplished group of (Alumni) Hall of Fame members, several of whom have become close friends over the years, it’s still difficult for me to comprehend.”

The two spoke to a crowd that included Dr. Herbert Wertheim, the college’s namesake and largest benefactor. Dr. Wertheim spoke briefly and pledged, to a standing ovation, additional future support for the college.

Also present were FSU President Richard McCullough, FSU Board of Trustees Chair Peter Collins, Wertheim College Dean Michael Hartline and other university officials and alumni. Collins (BS Finance ’92; MBA ’97) was inducted into the of the Alumni Hall of Fame in 2021.

The college bestows Alumni Hall of Fame recognition on graduates who have excelled in their careers and made a significant impact on FSU and the Wertheim College. The new inductees increased the Alumni Hall of Fame membership to 74 since its creation in 2003.

Hartline, the ceremony emcee, hailed Lloyd and Williams for embodying “vision, innovation, integrity, excellence and the FSU grit we seek to inspire in our students and in one another.”

Hartline also noted that the gala took place as FSU observes its 175^th anniversary and boasts an eighth straight year as a Top 25 public university.

He added: “Our college is entering an unprecedented era of preeminence, propelled by the world’s most loyal alumni and the visionary generosity of Dr. Herbert Wertheim.”

“Our college is entering an unprecedented era of preeminence, propelled by the world’s most loyal alumni and the visionary generosity of Dr. Herbert Wertheim.”

– Michael Hartline, dean of the FSU Herbert Wertheim College of Business

Also Thursday, the college recognized Cody Lewis as the recipient of its 2026 Recent Alumni Achievement Award. Lewis, who earned FSU bachelor’s degrees in real estate and management in 2008 and an MBA in 2011, is CEO of T&C Holding Group and TopCat Markets, which owns and operates niche convenience stores in western North Carolina.

Here is a look at the two new Wertheim College inductees:

William C. Lloyd (B.S. Real Estate ’86)

William C. Lloyd remains a proven and prolific real estate developer whose projects feature some of the most recognizable food, pharmacy and retail chains in North America.

Lloyd is the owner and president of RKM Development, a full-service retail real estate development company specializing in single-tenant projects and development of neighborhood-based and regional shopping centers. Based in St. Petersburg, Fla., RKM operates throughout the Southeast.

Under Lloyd’s leadership, RKM Development has completed more than 100 Walgreens locations, nearly three dozen 7-Eleven stores and multiple Publix-anchored shopping centers. He has also overseen projects involving nationally recognized brands such as CVS, Circle K, Aldi, Hobby Lobby, TJ Maxx, Petco, Dollar General, Family Dollar and Goodwill. In all, he has led the development of more than 3 million square feet of retail space, representing an estimated total project value of more than $2 billion.

“I’ve had a fun and fulfilling career,” Lloyd said. “There’s always satisfaction in the jobs you create and the difficulty in getting these projects done.” Construction of a retail chain or shopping center requires enormous steps, including, just for starters, feasibility studies, land acquisition, entitlement and permit applications, municipality approvals and public hearings.

“So, delivering everything at the right moment for your tenants is a challenge,” Lloyd said. “And then to see it open and to see it generating sales is very satisfying.”

Lloyd earned a bachelor’s degree in real estate from FSU in 1986. After graduating, he landed jobs in appraisal, leasing/property management and real estate investments.

In 1989, he joined fellow Wertheim College alumnus Richard Maloof (BS Real Estate ’85) at RKM Development and became president and a partner in 1999.

Lloyd and Maloof later made an investment that helped establish the college’s student-run Real Estate Investment Fund. Also, with his wife, Stephanie, Lloyd established the William and Stephanie Lloyd Endowment for Excellence in Real Estate.

In 2021, he received the FSU Real Estate Center’s Network Award in recognition of contributions to the real estate program. And in 2026, he and Stephanie became inaugural members of the Wertheim College’s IMPACT Society, which celebrates its top donors.

Lloyd serves on the executive board of the FSU Real Estate Center, on the executive committee of the college’s Board of Governors and on the board of directors of Seminole Boosters. He previously served as a trustee of the FSU Foundation and as a board member of the FSU Real Estate Foundation.

Lloyd also contributes extensively to his community in Manatee County, Florida.

Brian K. Williams (B.S. Finance ’97)

Brian K. Williams has distinguished himself as a specialty-finance entrepreneur and executive who launched his own company at age 28.

Williams is the founder and CEO of Crown Asset Management, which purchases distressed consumer receivables mostly from large national creditors and outsources the purchased accounts to CAM’s proprietary network of collection agencies and law firms for recovery. These agencies and firms are selected after they complete a rigorous audit and compliance onboarding process, followed by consistent oversight.

Since 2002, Williams has been involved in the purchase and sale of more than $15 billion in receivables.

“I joke that nobody grows up and says, ‘I want to go into the debt-buying business,’” Williams said. “But the business has allowed me to utilize what I learned at Florida State and gave me the ability to unlock the entrepreneurial spirit that I always had.”

That includes his penchant for grit. Williams worked his way through college at Bill’s Bookstore and as a valet at the Governor’s Club. He also completed an unpaid internship with Merrill Lynch throughout his junior and senior years.

He attained a bachelor’s degree in finance from FSU in 1997. After graduating, Williams worked briefly for Merrill Lynch, now Merrill, then became a banking and investment advisor with First Union National Bank, now part of Wells Fargo. That led to a role as a consultant for a small debt-buying business, where he spent about four years. He then founded Crown Asset Management, which celebrated its 22nd anniversary in 2026.

Also in 2026, Williams and his wife, Cortney, a 1998 FSU graduate who also majored in finance, became inaugural members of the college’s IMPACT Society, which celebrates its predominant donors. The recognition follows a steady stream of philanthropic support from Brian and Cortney, including a major investment in 2024 to strengthen their Williams Family Endowed Student Success Fund.

The couple’s previous investments include a bequest in 2018 to establish the Brian and Cortney Williams Family Endowment and an investment in 2020 to create the Williams Family Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship Fund, the Williams Family Endowed Graduate Fellowship Fund and the Williams Family Endowed Student Success Fund. The latter gift established the Williams Family Classroom in the Herbert Wertheim Center for Business Excellence.

Williams serves on the Herbert Wertheim College of Business Board of Governors Executive Committee and the FSU Foundation Board of Trustees. He previously served on the Seminole Boosters Board of Directors.

Through his company, Williams supports causes in his Atlanta-area community and beyond.

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Florida State University cut the ribbon Friday on its new FSU Health Research and Collaboration Building and announced that the facility will be named for Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, whose leadership helped secure the funding that made the project possible.

The 137,000-square-foot facility, located on the FSU Health Tallahassee Memorial Hospital campus, marks a major milestone in the growth of FSU’s integrated academic health system. It brings clinicians, researchers, students and community partners together under one roof to advance medical research, train healthcare professionals and improve patient care.

The FSU Board of Trustees voted Friday morning to name the facility the Wilton Simpson FSU Health Research and Collaboration Building. As Florida Senate president in 2022, Simpson championed the project, helping secure $125 million in construction funding and an additional $20 million in recurring funding for FSU and its growing health enterprise.

FSU President Richard McCullough recalled meeting with Simpson early in his presidency to discuss his vision for transforming healthcare in North Florida. When McCullough outlined the proposed research building and its $125 million price tag, Simpson’s response was immediate.

“He said, ‘Done,'” McCullough recalled.

McCullough said Simpson’s support reflected his understanding of the project’s potential impact.

“What I appreciate most about Wilton Simpson is that he saw what this could mean for the people of Florida,” McCullough said. “He understood that this was ultimately about improving health, expanding access to care, strengthening our healthcare workforce and creating opportunities that did not exist before.”

Simpson said he was surprised by the naming announcement but proud of what FSU Health will mean for the region.

“If you care about your community, you care about the quality of care,” Simpson said. “The research that will be done on these floors behind me will save lives and improve the quality of life of so many.”

More than 250 people attended the ribbon-cutting and dedication, including FSU trustees, university and hospital officials, government and business leaders, and community partners.

McCullough thanked Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Legislature, the Florida Board of Governors, the Leon County Board of County Commissioners and the Tallahassee City Commission for supporting the project.

FSU Board of Trustees Chair Peter Collins said the building will help shape the university’s future for the next 10 to 15 years, calling it one of the most transformational investments in FSU’s history.

“The really cool thing about being a trustee is at these moments, right? When you build something tangible,” Collins said. “This is going to be transformational.”

Mark O’Bryant, president and CEO of Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, said the building will give patients access to more advanced care closer to home while supporting research that could lead to new treatments and save lives.

“This building represents a huge strengthening of that fabric, and it really helps us to complete the fabric of healthcare in our region,” O’Bryant said.

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On football helmets, banners and across the Florida State University community, the Veterans Alliance arrowhead logo has become a visible sign of FSU’s commitment to veterans. But military service has been woven into the fabric of FSU for more than a century and a half.

From the introduction of military training at West Florida Seminary in the 1800s to returning World War II veterans who helped shape the institution, veterans and military-connected students have played an important role in FSU’s 175-year history.

“Among the things that make Florida State special is that the military service threads running throughout our history are recognized, respected and honored by the entire university community,” said William “Billy” Francis, director of FSU’s Student Veterans Center.

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Florida State University has announced its 2027 Seminole 100 list, honoring the fastest-growing businesses owned or led by FSU alumni. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Seminole 100 recognizes a decade of entrepreneurial excellence and the alumni whose leadership continues to drive success across industries. 

Since its inaugural celebration in 2018, Seminole 100 has recognized the achievements of FSU alumni entrepreneurs and business leaders, highlighting the innovation and determination that define the Seminole network.  

“For a decade, Seminole 100 has showcased the extraordinary talent, ambition and entrepreneurial spirit of Florida State University alumni,” said FSU President Richard McCullough. “This milestone is a testament to the lasting impact our graduates are making in communities and industries across the country. We are proud to celebrate this year’s honorees and the remarkable example they set for future generations of Seminoles.” 

Honorees and their companies will be celebrated on Feb. 20, 2027, at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee. During the 10th anniversary celebration, the ranked list will be revealed, culminating with the announcement of the No. 1 alumni-owned or -led business. 

Global professional services firm EY verified submitted company data and ranked businesses based on their compound annual growth rate over the past three years. 

The 2027 Seminole 100 honorees, listed in alphabetical order, are: 

• Accountilytics 

• Agostino Utilities, LLC 

• A-LIGN 

• Alluvionic, Inc. 

• Anley Cardiovascular 

• Ardent Global Logistics 

• Beck Law, PA 

• Bee and Blume LLC 

• Beusse Sanks 

• Beyond Pilates LLC 

• Big Fish Marketing 

• BNA Wealth 

• Canopy Management Consulting Group LLC 

• Catalyst Consulting Services 

• Cayside Partners 

• Champions First Credit Union 

• Chisholm Law Firm, PLLC 

• CIO Partners 

• Climate First Bank 

• CND Trucking, Inc 

• Crown Asset Management, LLC 

• CW3 Engineering, Inc. 

• Dale Carnegie Training Southeast Florida 

• David Scott Lee Automotive 

• DFCU Financial 

• Distinction Agency 

• DKW Consulting LLC 

• Don’t Tell Comedy 

• Dou-Gua Management LLC 

• DSF Promos 

• eLuminate Marketing 

• Emergency Care Help Organization, Inc 

• Excellere IT Services 

• Fire Capital Management, LLC 

• Game Changing Fuel 

• Glauser Roofing Services LLC 

• GMF Steel Group 

• goodwipes 

• Hale Law Accident Attorneys 

• Hamilton Mikes, P.A. 

• Harvey Books, LLC 

• HAWM Law PLLC 

• HōMZ Management LLC 

• Indelible Solutions 

• Independence Digital 

• Innovations Financial Credit Union 

• Izquierdo Law Firm, P.A. 

• JSM 

• Knowli Data Science 

• Lucas Bassin Insurance Agency LLC 

• LVS Advisory 

• Marmer Construction, Inc 

• MARS Company 

• MCCi 

• Miller Visions Transportation Group LLC 

• Modern Fitness Tallahassee 

• Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo, LLC 

• OnDefend 

• OneLife Health & Performance 

• PFS Signature Wealth LLC 

• Pittman Law Group LLC 

• Pomeranz Law PLLC 

• Rambana & Ricci PLLC 

• Rapid Business Plans 

• Redline Logic LLC 

• ReEmployAbility 

• RennWorks Outdoors 

• Revell Media 

• RF-SMART 

• Robert Nichols Insurance Group, Inc. 

• RSA Consulting Group, LLC 

• Sachs Media 

• Sanchez Fischer Levine, LLP 

• Select Shades 

• SLAE Beauty LLC 

• South Florida Law, PLLC 

• Southern Spear Ironworks, LLC 

• Southern Spear Properties, LLC 

• Southern Wealth 

• SRI Management 

• Sunrise Pool & Spa 

• Tal Search Group, Inc. 

• Tampa Bay Wave, Inc. 

• Tellescope 

• The Concrete Yedi, Inc. 

• The National CIO Review 

• The Nieves Law Firm, APC 

• Three Bridges Planning 

• Three Sixty Seven Advisory Solutions, LLC 

• TMH Federal Credit Union 

• Tomahawk Crane and Rigging 

• Tribe Real Estate Group, LLC. 

• TriPoint Wealth 

• Trulight LLC 

• Trydent Consulting, LLC 

• Universal Automatics 

• Who We Play For 

• Williams Private Wealth Advisory & Consulting, LLC 

• Wise Property Management 

• Zicaros Plumbing

The Florida State University Seminole 100 Celebration is presented by the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship in partnership with the FSU Alumni Association. 

To learn more about the event, visit seminole100.fsu.edu, and to learn more about sponsorship opportunities, email sponsorships@advance.fsu.edu.

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All three developmental research laboratory schools from the Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (Anne’s College) were designated as 2025-26 Schools of Excellence by the Florida Department of Education (FDOE).  

Florida State University Schools (FSUS), The Collegiate School at FSU Panama City (TCS) and FSU Pembroke Pines Charter Elementary School each earned the distinct honor. The State Board designates a school as a School of Excellence if the school’s percentage earned in its annual grade scores in the top 20% of their respective grade groupings for at least two of the past three school years. 

“Our laboratory schools continue to demonstrate exceptional academic achievement, reflecting the dedication of their faculty and staff, the achievements of their students and the support of their families,” said Damon Andrew, dean of Anne’s College. “Beyond providing an outstanding education, these schools serve as important centers for research and innovation, generating insights that strengthen teaching and learning across Florida and the nation. We are incredibly proud of their continued success and impact.” 

“Our laboratory schools continue to demonstrate exceptional academic achievement, reflecting the dedication of their faculty and staff, the achievements of their students and the support of their families.”

– Damon Andrew, dean of Anne’s College

Since 2000, FSUS has earned an ‘A’ grade every year from the FDOE. The comprehensive K-12 laboratory school blends academics with a commitment to education research and innovation, featuring a high graduation rate while consistently ranking among Florida’s top schools for mathematics, science and language arts. 

TCS is a tuition-free charter lab school with dual enrollment, career-focused training and a collegiate school culture. It has earned an ‘A’ from the FDOE for three consecutive years, with its 91% rate for passing scores being the highest in Bay County for English, algebra I, geometry and biology. 

In South Florida, FSU Pembroke Pines earned an ‘A’ grade for the 2025-26 school year, continuing a record of academic excellence spanning more than two decades. The K-5 school, established in 2003, has held the School of Excellence designation for eight consecutive years. Its programs include a STEM lab, art and music. The school also hosts the Center for Children with Autism, a specialized multi-grade level program designed to support students’ academic and social development. 

Schools that initially qualify for the designation retain being a School of Excellence for up to three years, at the end of which they may renew the designation. The 2025-26 academic year included 768 schools named as Schools of Excellence across 51 local educational agencies. 

FSU’s laboratory schools are designed to provide world-class education to students while providing researchers an opportunity to advance the science of teaching and learning. Stretching from the Panhandle to South Florida, these schools serve a wide range of students coming from military families, low-income, urban and rural households. 

As an administrative sponsor, Anne’s College provides all three lab schools with cutting-edge research, a strong pipeline of educators, professional development, teacher training, shared academic programs and university pathways. 

For more information about Anne’s College, visit the college’s website.  

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The Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship (JMC) at Florida State University welcomed approximately 500 entrepreneurship leaders, educators and innovators from around the world to Tallahassee for the 2026 Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) Conference, held Oct. 15-17.

The conference brought representatives from 14 countries and nearly 250 distinct institutions to Florida’s capital city, including universities, organizations, programs and centers. The event centered on the theme of “momentum,” exploring how universities transform ideas into action, turning challenges into opportunities and strengthening ecosystems driving innovation and economic growth.

The landmark gathering concluded with international honors for the host institution, as the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship was awarded the GCEC Center of Entrepreneurial Leadership Award, recognizing JMC’s leadership, excellence and dedication in hosting the global summit.

The 2026 conference celebrated a convergence of historic anniversaries for Florida State University, its entrepreneurship entities and the GCEC organization:

• Florida State University (175th Anniversary): In 2026, FSU celebrates 175 years of educating leaders, advancing discovery and serving communities across Florida and beyond.
• Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (30th Anniversary): Founded as the premier international organization supporting university-based entrepreneurship programs, the GCEC celebrated three decades of global impact at its 30th annual conference this year.
• Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship (30th Anniversary): The Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship (JMI) recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, marking three decades of serving small businesses, entrepreneurs and non-profits throughout Florida and across the nation.
• Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship (10th Anniversary): The gathering precedes a major milestone for JMC, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2027. As the nation’s first stand-alone college of entrepreneurship at a public institution, JMC has spent nearly a decade building an innovative educational ecosystem that empowers students to act boldly and turn ideas into impact.

“Hosting the GCEC Conference at Florida State University during such a momentous year represents an extraordinary opportunity to bring together the leaders shaping the future of entrepreneurship education,” said Mike Brady, interim dean of the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship. “The theme of ‘momentum’ reflects what we strive to cultivate every day at JMC, moving ideas forward, building meaningful partnerships and translating entrepreneurial thinking into lasting impact. Receiving the GCEC Center of Entrepreneurial Leadership Award is a proud recognition of our faculty, staff and partners who continue to advance entrepreneurship on a global scale as we approach our college’s 10th anniversary.”

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Florida State University artists, scientists and therapists united at the Arts-Humanities-Health Symposium during Discovery Days to explore how the arts and humanities can improve our health and well-being.

The symposium at the Claude Pepper Center featured art and music therapy, design, and for the first time, motion picture arts, showcasing the breadth of creativity at FSU.

Healing through art

Presenters at the event highlighted how their work uses art to support physical and mental health.

Michelle Pellito, a music therapist at the FSU College of Music, spoke about how collaborative goal setting with young patients helps them learn they have personal agency and that expressing themselves can change their environment.

Children communicate their wants and needs in a variety of ways, from traditional speech to noises, body language and nonverbal cues. Therapists have a duty to listen, notice and offer feedback, no matter how subtle, for the best possible care, Pellito said.

“Patient-centered care is at the heart of everything we do as music therapists. Care is most effective when it’s created with the patients and not just for them,” she said.

Brianna Vo, a second-year medical student at the FSU College of Medicine, told the story of an artist at the bedside of a patient. The patient, through the hands of the artist, draws a colorful picture of a butterfly. To educate healthcare students about the power of patient-centered visual arts, Vo ran two different “Brushes to Bedside” workshops.

In the first workshop, a “patient” directed their “practitioner,” using only spoken voice, to craft a personalized mosaic coaster for them. In the second workshop, healthcare students painted a watercolor landscape with modified tools, like a sock over their dominant hand or a lump of clay wrapped around a paintbrush, to simulate motor restrictions. Vo showed that after the workshops, students had more confidence in their ability to adapt to a patient’s abilities and incorporate visual arts into patient-provider interactions.

Doctoral candidate Xingyi Li and Assistant Professor Bani Malhotra from the FSU Department of Arts Leadership, Education & Therapy studied the impact of art therapy on hospitalized burn patients. Research shows that art therapy has significant mental, emotional and physical benefits. Li and Malhotra gifted art kits to patients and held viewing sessions of “hopeful” pieces and tactile squares.

“Art therapy gives tangible form to thoughts and emotions that may be hard to articulate otherwise,” Li said.

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FAMU-FSU College of Engineering professors Ralm Ricarte and Junliang Liu have been named recipients of the U.S. Department of Energy’s prestigious Early Career Research Program awards, an honor bestowed upon outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers.

This year, the DOE’s Office of Science selected just 67 scientists nationwide for the awards, providing $96 million to support research across science and engineering.

Ricarte is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, while Liu is an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. They are the only Florida State University researchers to receive the awards in 2026, the only two recipients from Florida and two of just eight awardees in the Southeast United States.

“Earning this award is a tremendous recognition of the innovative work happening at our college,” said Richard Liang, associate dean for research at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. “Professors Ricarte and Liu are trailblazers in their fields and their research will drive discoveries that benefit society and reinforce America’s leadership in science.”

Ricarte’s project, “Molecular mechanisms driving enhanced energy dissipation in dual cross-link elastomers,” will receive $875,000 over five years. His research aims to develop resilient, energy-absorbing materials with far-reaching applications, from next-generation transportation systems to advanced electronics.

“In this project, our team will explore how specially engineered rubber materials can stay flexible and efficiently absorb energy under heat, repeated stress and large deformations,” Ricarte explained. “These rubbers will feature permanent bonds that provide structural integrity and temporary bonds that can break and reform. We’ll investigate how the rate of this molecular exchange influences the materials’ energy absorption in various real-world scenarios.”

By integrating materials development, mechanical testing, computer simulations and advanced X-ray analysis, the team will identify how molecular-level changes affect overall material performance.

“The Early Career Award gives us the time, resources, and access to Department of Energy facilities needed to rigorously test these ideas,” Ricarte noted. “It will also foster new collaborations and enable hands-on training for students in advanced computational and experimental techniques. The insights we gain will shape the next generation of durable, adaptable materials for vehicles, protective equipment and energy-harvesting devices.”

Ricarte, who joined the college in 2020 following postdoctoral research in Paris, holds a degree from the University of Minnesota and has been recognized as a Marie Curie PRESTIGE fellow.

Liu’s project, “Effects of High Magnetic Fields on Hydrogen Retention in Vanadium Alloys,” also received $875,000 over five years. His research could help scientists develop materials capable of withstanding the extreme conditions inside nuclear fusion reactors.

“Fusion is the same process that powers the Sun,” Liu said. “Scientists are striving to replicate this phenomenon on Earth, essentially building a miniature Sun to deliver nearly limitless clean energy.”

Materials in fusion reactors must withstand extraordinary conditions, such as plasma temperatures over 100 million degrees Celsius and magnetic fields more than a million times stronger than Earth’s. These intense fields are crucial for containing the plasma but present major challenges for structural materials. Liu’s research focuses on discovering materials capable of surviving and performing in this extreme environment.

“The DOE Early Career Award will enable us to utilize the world-class facilities at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) and FSU to replicate these extreme magnetic field conditions and study their effects on the microstructure and properties of fusion materials,” Liu said. “Our findings will help the scientific community better understand and qualify materials for fusion applications, bringing fusion energy one step closer to powering the grid.”

Liu earned his doctorate and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford. He then worked as staff scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before joining the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering faculty in 2025.

The ECRP award is among the nation’s most competitive honors for early career scientists, supporting the next generation of STEM leaders as they pursue bold, innovative research. The 2026 cohort includes recipients from 39 universities, 11 DOE National Laboratories and 26 states.

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As Florida State University celebrates its 175th anniversary, FSU Libraries’ Special Collections & Archives is inviting alumni and community members to contribute their personal stories, memories and photos to the university’s historical record through the “175 Years in 175 Stories” digital exhibit project.  

University Archivist Taylor Henning and her team have spent nearly two years developing the exhibit, collecting stories of significant events, people and moments in the university’s history.  

“It should be a long-lasting digital exhibit that’s up for years, one that people can refer back to, to learn about university history,” Henning said. “My main goal is for people to be able to see themselves in it.” 

To achieve that goal, Henning and her team invite the public to contribute their own stories and memories to the exhibit.  

“It’s pretty much impossible to tell the whole complete story, and we didn’t want anyone to feel left out of the story or the project,” Henning said. “So, I think the community submissions piece of it is a good way for everyone to be involved.” 

Community members can submit stories about their experiences at FSU, the history of a campus organization or college, or memories passed down by loved ones. The goal is to capture a range of experiences that reflect the university’s rich history. 

The exhibit also celebrates the progress FSU has made in the past 175 years. 

“In a lot of ways, I think the archive is a celebration of how far we’ve come as an institution,” Henning said. “We started in one schoolhouse, and then eventually two dorms. Now that’s become a gigantic campus, an R1 institution that contributes life-changing research to the world, so it’s really been a journey.” 

FSU Libraries is also celebrating the university’s 175 birthday by hosting interactive events at Strozier Library, including a “Bring Your History” time capsule event on Nov. 20. Visitors can also attend a scrapbooking event on Dec. 2 and explore Special Collections to discover student life throughout FSU’s history. 

To share your submission for the “175 Years in 175 Stories” digital exhibit, visit the Libraries Special Collections and Archives webpage. To view upcoming FSU 175 events, visit 175.fsu.edu. 

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