Since 1977, Florida State University’s Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (Anne’s College) has recognized the excellence of graduates during the Distinguished Alumni Awards. This year, Anne’s College honored five alumni on Feb. 20 in historic Dodd Hall: Shiyi Chen (Ph.D. ’19), Jeffrey Fairbrother (Ph.D. ’00), Mark Ferguson (B.S. ’80), Cecile Reynaud (M.S. ’78, Ph.D. ’98) and Sandra Schultz (Ph.D. ’85).
“I am so proud to call all of these individuals alumni of Anne’s College,” said Damon Andrew, dean of Anne’s College. “Each one of them represents excellence, whether in a classroom, in a sport, in business, or in our communities. The Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony is not only our way of honoring these individuals but also to elevate them as role models to our current students, who are inspired to see the incredible heights achievable by our graduates.”
Sandra Schultz was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award, which is the highest accolade presented by Anne’s College to a graduate and recognizes individuals who have devoted their careers to making a difference in their field. Schultz is a renowned coach and professor, having spent 34 years at Miami Dade College in the classroom and on the volleyball court and softball field. In 2009, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching named her the Florida Professor of the Year. On top of her professional accomplishments, Schultz is also a lifelong equestrian and has served as a United States Equestrian Federation judge.
Cecile Reynaud is one of three recipients this year who received a Distinguished Alumni Award. Over 26 years, Reynaud defined greatness for FSU Athletics as the head volleyball coach, earning 635 wins, seven conference championships and three Conference Coach of the Year awards. She received USA Volleyball’s highest honor, the Friar Award, in 2016 and has previously served as president of the American Volleyball Coaches Association. She has also served as chair of Refuge House and was a founding board member and president of We Coach, an organization supporting women in coaching careers.
Jeffrey Fairbrother was also recognized with a Distinguished Alumni Award this year. Fairbrother is currently the dean of the College of Education and the Wayne T. Smith Distinguished Professor of Kinesiology at Auburn University. Before his time at Auburn, Fairbrother held positions at Towson University for three years and 17 years at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is past president of both the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity and the American Kinesiology Association. He was also inducted into the National Academy of Kinesiology in 2025.
The final Distinguished Alumni Award recipient is Mark Ferguson. Ferguson is beloved in St. Petersburg, Florida, for his business, Ferg’s Sports Bar, which is now the largest of its kind in Florida and spans two city blocks. The business just celebrated its 33rd anniversary. Last year, USA Today named Ferg’s Sports Bar the best local sports bar in America. Ferguson is married to his wife of 32 years, Sherry, and the couple has two children, Jake and Erin.
Anne’s College also has awarded Shiyi Chen the Trailblazer Award, which was established in 2015 to recognize alumni who have made significant impact within their profession and have graduated within the last 10 years. Chen is currently a tenured associate professor of Child Development in the Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Idaho. She received an NSF-CAREER Award for her work investigating how metacognitive language supports children’s science learning. Additionally, she is a co-organizer and presenter at the University of Idaho Child Development Conference, as well as a co-organizer of the first North Idaho Tribal Early Childhood Education Conference. She has also reached thousands of children across rural Idaho through her Farm to Early Care and Education program.