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The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant, sea-grant, space-grant major research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida, in the United States. The university is one of 62 elected members of the Association of American Universities. The University of Florida was founded in 1853, and has been recognized as a "Public Ivy" UF is currently ranked 49th overall among national universities in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
The University of Florida is a flagship university of the State University System of Florida and one of the largest universities in the United States, with 51,413 students as of fall 2008.
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Encyclopedia
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant, sea-grant, space-grant major research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida, in the United States. The university is one of 62 elected members of the Association of American Universities. The University of Florida was founded in 1853, and has been recognized as a "Public Ivy" UF is currently ranked 49th overall among national universities in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
The University of Florida is a flagship university of the State University System of Florida and one of the largest universities in the United States, with 51,413 students as of fall 2008. It is the largest comprehensive university in the state of Florida and has one of the largest budgets in the United States at nearly $4.377 billion per year. UF is home to 17 colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes. As of the 2007-2008 academic year, UF ranked twelfth among all institutions in the number of new National Merit Scholar students enrolled. Researchers at the University of Florida developed the famous sports drink Gatorade.
The University of Florida offers many graduate programs—including engineering, business, law and medicine—on one contiguous site, and coordinates 123 master's degree programs and 76 doctoral degree programs in 87 schools and departments.
The University of Florida NCAA Division I athletic teams, referred to as the Florida Gators, compete in Southeastern Conference. Alligators named Albert and Alberta are the official mascots. Throughout the school's history, the University of Florida's athletic program has earned 22 total National Championships.
History
The institutional history dates back to 1851, when the Florida Legislature created two seminaries, one west of the Suwanee River, and the other to the east.
In 1853, UF's official date of founding, Gilbert Kingsbury was the first man to take advantage of the legislation passed in 1851 and established the East Florida Seminary (EFS) in Ocala, Florida. The East Florida Seminary was the first state-supported institution of higher learning in Florida. James Henry Roper, an educator from North Carolina and a state senator from Alachua County, built a school, the Gainesville Academy, around the same time. In 1866, after EFS had closed due to the American Civil War, Roper offered his land and school to the state of Florida in exchange for the relocation of East Florida Seminary to Gainesville. His offer was accepted and the current site of the University of Florida was built in its place. Epworth Hall, the main building of East Florida Seminary, still stands in downtown Gainesville, but is not on UF's campus today.
The primary precursor to the University of Florida was the Florida Agricultural College (FAC) established at Lake City in 1884 by Jordan Probst. Florida Agricultural College became the first land-grant college in the state. In 1902, FAC briefly changed its name to the "University of Florida".
The 1905 the Buckman Act consolidated the colleges of the state. The member of the Florida Legislature who wrote the act, Henry Holland Buckman, is the namesake of Buckman Hall, one of UF's earliest buildings. The Buckman Act reorganized the State University System of Florida and empowered the Florida Board of Control to govern the system. It also called for the merger of several institutions into the new University of the State of Florida. The institutions apart of this were the University of Florida at Lake City (formerly Florida Agricultural College) in Lake City, the East Florida Seminary in Gainesville, the St. Petersburg Normal and Industrial School at St. Petersburg, and the South Florida Military College at Bartow.
The Buckman Act also consolidated the colleges and schools into three institutions segregated by race and sex - the University of the State of Florida for white males, the Florida Female College for white women and the State Normal School for Colored Students for black men and women.
On July 6, 1905, the state legislature selected Gainesville for a new university campus. Andrew Sledd from the Florida Agricultural College at Lake City became the first president, while architect William A. Edwards designed the first official campus buildings in the Collegiate Gothic style. Classes began on September 26, 1906 with 102 students. In 1909, the name of the school was shortened to the University of Florida.
The alligator was incidentally chosen as the school mascot in 1911 after a local vendor places a gator on a school banner. The school colors, orange and blue, 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.
In 1909, Albert Murphree was appointed president of UF and attempted to organize the colleges of the university and increased the enrollment of the school substantially. He is the only man with a statue on the campus.
In 1924, the Florida Legislature ruled that women of a "mature age" (at least 21 years old) who had completed 60 semester hours from a "reputable educational institution" would be allowed to enroll during regular semesters at UF in programs that were unavailable at Florida State College for Women. Before this, only the summer semester was coeducational,
to accommodate teachers. Lassie Goodbread-Black from Lake City became the first woman to enroll at the University of Florida, at the College of Agriculture in 1925.
John J. Tigert became president in 1928. Disgusted by the under-the-table payments being made by universities to athletes, he established the grant-in-aid athletic scholarship program in the early 1930s, which was the genesis of the modern athletic scholarship plan currently used by the NCAA.
In 1946, there was a rapid increase in male students wanting to attend the University of Florida due to the return of World War II veterans who could go to college under the G.I. Bill (Servicemen's Readjustment Act). Unable to accommodate the increased demand the state opened the Tallahassee Branch of the University of Florida (TBUF) on the campus of Florida State College for Women in Tallahassee. By the end of the 1946-1947 school year, 954 men were enrolled at TBUF. The following semester, the state returned the Florida State College for Women to coeducational status and renamed it Florida State University. This sequence of events also opened up UF to female undergraduate students for the first time making the University of Florida co-educational. African-American students were allowed to enroll starting in 1958. Shands Hospital first opened in 1958 along with the medical school. Rapid campus expansion began in the 1950s and continues to the present day.
In 1985, Florida became a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), a higher-education organization composed of 62 public and private institutions in North America. UF is one of only 17 public, land-grant universities that belongs to the association. In 2009, President Bernie Machen and the Board of Trustees stipulated that they are going to have the University of Florida go thru a major transition. The Board of Trustees supported the reduction of the number of undergraduates and shifting resources to graduate education and research in the future.
The University of Florida has continued to rise in the U.S. News & World Report college and university rankings. In 2001, UF was labeled a Public Ivy and was 2nd in Kiplinger's 2009 "Best Buys of Education" (behind the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). U.S. News currently ranks UF as the 49th overall best university; the state of Florida and UF alumni are actively making a concerted effort to become a Top-10 overall public.
Academics
Demographics
University of Florida students, numbering 51,725 in Fall 2007, come from more than 100 countries, and all 50 states. The ratio of women to men is 53:47. Of the 51,725 students, 32 percent are graduate and professional students, and professional degree programs including architecture, dentistry, law, medicine, pharmacy and veterinary medicine. 27.2 percent of the student body represents minority populations with 8.4 percent African Americans, 11.6 percent Hispanics, and 7.3 percent Asian-Americans or Pacific Islanders.
In a 2007 survey conducted by the Institute of International Education the University of Florida ranked 17th overall in the United States for the largest total number of international students. The statistics showed that UF hosted a total of 3,921 students from overseas in the 2006-07 academic year. This was more than any other university in Florida.
The University of Florida is ranked second overall in the United States for the total number of bachelor's degrees awarded to African Americans, and third overall for Hispanics. UF ranks fifth overall in total number of doctoral degrees awarded to African Americans, and second overall for Hispanics, and third overall in total number of professional degrees awarded to African Americans, and first overall for Hispanics..
The University of Florida offers many graduate programs—including engineering, business, law and medicine—on one contiguous site, and coordinates 123 master's degree programs and 76 doctoral degree programs in 87 schools and departments.[13]
Rankings
The University of Florida was ranked in 2008 by U.S. News & World Report as 49th overall among "National universities" in the United States. In addition U.S. News in 2009 ranked UF as one of the Top 10 most popular colleges in the United States, this ranking is determined by institutions with the highest yield rates. The 2007 Academic Ranking of World Universities list assessed the University of Florida as 51st among world universities and 38th in the United States based on overall research output and faculty awards. In the "2007 National College Ranking", Washington Monthly ranked the University of Florida 26th overall. For 2007, Newsweek ranked UF one of the "Top 25 Hottest Schools". According to the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities in 2009, the University of Florida ranks 22nd best all around.
Another ranking by Research Center for Chinese Science Evaluation of Wuhan University ranks UF 37th in the world. The ranking is based on Essential Science Indicators (ESI), which provides data of journal article publication counts and citation frequencies in over 11,000 journals around the world in 22 research fields.
UF ranked 2nd among all universities in Kiplinger's "100 Best Values in Public Colleges" (2006, 2007 & 2008) and 4th in The Scientist magazine's "Best Places to Work in Academia" (2005); UF was also ranked the best overall in top values amongst all the public flagship universities by USA Today (2006). UF admitted 1,049 International Baccalaureate students for the 2004-2005 academic year - more than any other university in the world. The freshmen retention rate of 94 percent is among the highest in the U.S.
UF's Career/Job Placement Services was ranked 13th best by "The Princeton Review" in its "2009 Best 368 Colleges Rankings".
Admissions
As the acceptance rate at the University of Florida has trended downward, the application process has become increasingly competitive. The university has a freshmen retention rate of 93%. For the first-year students that enrolled at UF in 2008, the median SAT score is 1240 - 1410, and the Median GPA was 4.1 - 4.4. UF's class of 2007 yield rate was at 57%, and looks to be very selective for coming years.
In the words of Sarasota Herald-Tribune reporter Anna Scott, "Three years after university officials capped the size of the freshman class at about 6,600, competition at UF is at an all-time high, forcing admissions officers to choose among the brightest and leaving behind an unprecedented number of disappointed families. Of those who applied to be part of this fall's incoming freshman class, an estimated 36.92 percent were accepted -- the lowest acceptance rate in the history of the state's public schools." Selectivity at the state's top university is expected to heighten as UF continues to work toward becoming one of the nation's Top 10 public universities. In 2008, the acceptances reached a new low when out of 28,000 applicants, only 10,000 were accepted (An acceptance rate of around 37 percent).
Ending Early Admissions
In 2007, the University of Florida joined the University of Virginia, Harvard University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Princeton University when they announced that they were discontinuing their early decision admissions in an effort to help foster economic diversity in their student bodies. These universities assert that early decision admissions forces students to accept an offer of admission before evaluating the financial aid offers from multiple universities. The University of Florida's single application deadline will be set for early November.
Honors Program
The University of Florida has a nationally-recognized honors program. After gaining acceptance to the University of Florida, students must apply separately to the Honors Program and demonstrate significant academic achievement to be accepted. There are over 100 courses offered exclusively to students in this program.
Entering freshman in the program must have a weighted GPA of at least 4.0 and an SAT score of 2070 out of 2400 or an ACT score of 33. The Honors Program also offers housing for freshman in the Honors Residential College at Hume Hall. The Honors Program also offers special scholarships, internships, research, study abroad opportunities.
Colleges and academic divisions
The University of Florida is divided into 16 colleges and more than 100 research, service and education centers, bureaus and institutes, offering over 100 undergraduate majors and 200 graduate degrees.
These colleges include:
Research
The University of Florida, the state's largest university and one of the biggest research universities in the nation, contributes nearly $6 billion annually to Florida's economy and is responsible for nearly 75,000 jobs. The 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. The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is part of the Flagship University and the current Vice President is Dr. Larry Arrington. It should also be noted that the UF is currently ranked seventh among all private & public universities for the total number of patents awarded for 2005.
The University of Florida was awarded $583 million in total research expenditures (which is more than all the other Florida universities combined - in sponsored research in 2006-2007). 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 has a partnership with Spain that helped to create the world's largest telescope in the Canary Islands (the total cost was $93 million). Plans are also under way for the University of Florida to construct a new research facility in collaboration with the Burnham Institute for Medical Research that will ultimately be located in the center of UCF's Health Sciences Campus in Orlando, Florida. Research will include the areas of diabetes, aging, genetics and cancer.
The $60 million McKnight Brain Institute, part of the J. Hillis Miller Health Science Center, is the most comprehensive program of its kind in the world. The Institute comprises 300 faculty members from 10 colleges, and 51 departments campus-wide. In addition, UF is also doing some innovative Diabetes Research In a statwide screening program, that has been sponsored by a $10 million grant from the American Diabetes Association. The University of Florida also houses one of the world's leading lightning research teams. Also UF scientists have started up a biofuels pilot plant that has been specifically designed to test ethanol-producing technology. UF is also host to a nuclear research reactor which is known for its Neutron Activation Analysis Laboratory. In addition, the University of Florida is the first American university to receive a European Union grant to house a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence. In 2009 the University of Florida Cancer Hospital is nearly completed, and this complex will focus on producing basic laboratory findings that will ultimately be used for preventive therapies for cancers.
| Graduate and Professional Student Enrollment |
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| Fall 2007 | 15,885 | | Fall 2006 | 15,357 | | Fall 2005 | 14,594 | | Fall 2004 | 13,882 | | Fall 2003 | 13,482 | | Fall 2002 | 12,902 | | Fall 2001 | 12,348 | | Fall 2000 | 11,953 | |
In January 2008 the University of Florida, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, and Shands at the University of Florida formed a partnership to develop world-class programs in cancer care, research and prevention. The partnership, will extend Moffitt's innovative model of comprehensive patient care to UF and Shands cancer programs.
The University of Florida has made great strides in the space sciences over the last decade. The Astronomy Department's focus on the development of image-detection devices has led to increases in funding, telescope time, and significant scholarly achievements. Faculty members in organic chemistry have made notable discoveries in astrobiology, while faculty members in physics have participated actively in the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory project, the largest and most ambitious project ever funded by the NSF. Through the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, the University of Florida is the lead institution on the NASA University Research, Engineering, and Technology Institute (URETI) for Future Space Transport project to develop the next generation space shuttle. The University of Florida is therefore well positioned to become a major center of space science research.
Participation in the Large Hadron Collider
A team of UF physicists has a leading role in one of the two major experiments planned for the Large Hadron Collider, a 17-mile-long, $5 billion, super-cooled underground tunnel that has been under construction outside Geneva, Switzerland, for 14 years. More than 30 UF physicists, postdoctoral associates, graduate students and now undergraduates are involved in the collider's Compact Muon Solenoid experiment, one of its two major experiments. About 10 are stationed in Geneva. The group is the largest from any university in the U.S. to participate in the CMS experiment. The UF team designed and oversaw development of a major detector within the CMS. The detector, the Muon system, is intended to capture subatomic particles called muons, which are heavier cousins of electrons. Among other efforts, UF scientists analyzed about 100 of the 400 detector chambers placed within the Muon system to be sure they were functioning properly. The bulk of the UF research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Partnership with Zhejiang University
In July 2008, the University of Florida teamed up with the Zhejiang University to research sustainable solutions to the Earth's energy issues. Overall a Joint Research Center of Clean Sustainable Energy among the Florida Institute for Sustainable Energy, at UF, and the State Key Lab of Clean Energy Utilization and the Institute for Thermal Power Engineering, at Zhejiang University will collaborate to work on this pressing issue.
Libraries
The University of Florida's libraries is the largest most extensive information resource system in the state. In total, the University of Florida has ten libraries, and over 4 million volumes of books and journals (pre-renovations) and 7 million microfilms. Collections cover virtually all disciplines and include a wide array of formats – from books and journals to manuscripts, maps, and recorded music. Increasingly collections are digital and are accessible on the Internet via the library web page or the library catalog.
The numerous libraries provide primary support to all academic programs except those served by the Health Science Center Library and the Lawton Chiles Legal Information Center. In 2006, Library West went through a $30 million dollar renovation that doubled capacity. This facility is now better equipped to handle the information technology necessities that students need to complete their studies. Such progress is represented by its state of the art Information Commons , which offers production studios, digital media computing areas, and a presentation area. In addition, Library West now has a Starbucks situated in the lobby that sells food, coffee, and beverages.
Academic Honesty
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In 1995 the University of Florida Student Body revamped the previous Honor Code and voluntarily committed itself to the highest standards of honesty and integrity. When students enroll at the University of Florida, they commit themselves to the standard drafted and enacted by students.
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Campus
Historic sites
A number of the University of Florida's buildings are historically significant. The University of Florida Campus Historic District comprises 19 buildings and encompasses approximately . 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 historic register. The buildings listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places for their architectural or historic significance are:
Student life
Career development and internships
The Career Resource Center at the Reitz Student Union helps by providing a comprehensive, state-of-the-art facility. The Center provides services for students and alumni to assist them to achieve career development, career experiences, and employment opportunities.
Greek life
Sorority and Fraternity Affairs (formerly known as Greek Life) at the University of Florida is separated into four divisions: Interfraternity Council (IFC), National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), Multicultural Greek Council (MGC), and the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC). The Order of Omega has a chapter at the university.
The Interfraternity Council (IFC) comprises 26 fraternities. The Panhellenic Council is made up of 16 sororities. The Multicultural Greek Council consists of 11 cultural organizations (Latino, Asian, South Asian, etc.), five fraternities and six sororities. The National Pan-Hellenic Council comprises nine historically-black organizations, five fraternities and four sororities). There are now also two recognized fraternal organizations for Christian students.
Housing
UF provides over 9,200 students with housing in residence halls and complexes on the eastern and western sides of campus. Facilities vary in the cost of rent and privacy. Housing plans also offer students access to dining facilities. The university also provides housing to a number of graduate students.
Recreation
Many recreational activities available for students include indoor and outdoor sports, outdoor courts and playing fields on campus, in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, University Golf Course, Plaza of the Americas, the Student Recreation and Fitness Center, the Southwest Recreation Center, and the Florida Gymnasium for indoor sports. Florida offers intramural and club sports ranging from archery to weightlifting. Near the campus are many recreational lakes and rivers, including university-owned Lake Alice. In addition, student have access to the J. Wayne Reitz Union which is equipped with a bowling alley, pool tables, an arcade, and numerous other activities.
The campus also contains open spaces, small ponds, picnic areas, shady nooks and an 81-acre wildlife sanctuary that provide opportunities to enjoy Florida's year-round sunshine activity life.
Lastly, the University of Florida has more than eight hundred organizations and clubs for students to join. They range from cultural and athletic to subjects pertaining to philanthropy. Some of the most popular organizations are Florida Blue Key, Theatre Strike Force, the Marching Band, Florida Competitive Cheerleading, Dazzlers, Hillel, the student newspaper, Gator Growl, Miss University of Florida, and the Speakers Bureau. If students wish they can create their own registered student organization if the current interest or concern is not addressed by the previously established entities.
Rankings
The University of Florida received the following rankings by "The Princeton Review" in its "2009 Best 368 Colleges Rankings:"
- Party Schools: #1
- Students Pack the Stadiums: #1
- Jock Schools: #2
- Best Athletic Facilities: #4
- Everyone Plays Intramural Sports: #6
- Best College Newspaper: #7
- Major Frat & Sorority Scene:#10
- Best Career/Job Placement Services: #13
Student government
The University of Florida Student Government is the governing body for the students who attend the University of Florida, representing the university's 50,000+ undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. It is one of the largest Student Governments within the United States. The student government currently operates on a yearly $13.29 million dollar budget. The motto is "Building the Pride in Every Gator."
It was officially established in 1909 and consists of an executive, judicial, and unicameral legislative branch. The executive branch consists of a Student Body President (Jordan Johnson), Student Body Vice President (Larnell Vickers), Student Body Treasurer (Maryam Laguna), 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 100 senators, who serve one-year terms. 50 senate seats are elected each spring semester and the remaining 50 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 UF Supreme Court consists of 5 upperclass law students who are selected by the Student Body President and are confirmed by the Student Senate. Each Justice serves a "life-time" term, which extends through their graduation and insulates the Court from the politics of student government. The current members of the UF Supreme Court are: Chief Justice William Spicola (3L), Associate Justice Ilan Kaufer (3L), Associate Justice Michael Lazinsk (3L), Associate Justice Keily Evans (3L), and Associate Justice David Kerner (2L). While the Chief Justice is statutorily permitted to appoint a Marshal and a Clerk, the identity of those members are not available at this time. Also falling under the Judicial Branch is the Election Commission, which listens and adjudicates all Student Body election complaints. The Commission consists of 6 members and one is appointed to serve as the Chairman.
Alma Mater
The Alma Mater for the University of Florida was composed by Milton Yeats in 1925.
Athletics
The school's sports teams are called the Florida Gators. They compete in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference of the NCAA's Division I. In football, Florida, as well as all other SEC schools, competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; still often referred to by its former designation of Division I-A). The Gators have a number of rivalries, most notably the in-state Florida State University, and the conference competitors University of Georgia and University of Tennessee. Florida dedicates about $44 million per year to its sports teams and facilities. In 2004-05, Florida won its 14th consecutive SEC All-Sports Trophy. The Florida athletic program has ranked among the nation's top ten in each of the last 23 years and in the top five for 12 of the past 17. Florida is one of only two schools that has ranked among the top 10 athletic programs for the last 23 years.
Florida has won a total of 21 team national championships, 17 of which are NCAA championships. Florida is the second Division I FBS school to win multiple national championships in each of the two most popular NCAA sports: football (in 1996, 2006, and 2008) and men's basketball (in 2006 and 2007). With a 41–14 win over #1 Ohio State University in the 2006 BCS National Championship (on January 8, 2007 in Glendale, Arizona), Florida became the only Division I school in NCAA history to hold football and basketball titles at the same time. Florida was 12–1 in the regular season, and won the SEC Championship on the road to the BCS Championship Game. The University of Florida also participates in Olympic events such as swimming and gymnastics, and they are also starting a lacrosse team.
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.
Football
The Florida Gator football team first took the field in 1906. Since then, the Gators have played in 34 bowl games, won seven Southeastern Conference titles, produced 135 All-Americans coming into the 2006 season, 35 NFL first round draft choices, three Heisman Trophy winners and three national championships.
William A. Shands, a future member of the Florida Senate, and the name-sake of Shands Hospital in Gainesville, played for the 1908 team. The Gators earned nationwide recognition in the 1920s with several fantastic finishes and wins. Florida originally competed in the Southern Conference, and won the national scoring title in 1928 with a 8–1 record. in 1933, President John J. Tigert joined with several other Southern Conference presidents to form the new Southeastern Conference (SEC), which Tigert would eventually lead as commissioner. The 1930s and 1940s were not nearly as kind to the Gators. UF did have quite a few stars, including All-American Fergie Ferguson in 1941; he eventually died from wounds suffered in World War II. In 1949 the iconic cheerleader Mr. Two Bits attended his first game and began the tradition of leading the fans in the "two bits" cheer for decades.
Florida's first post-season game was a 14-13 victory over Tulsa in the 1952 Gator Bowl. UF ended up going 6-4 against the University of Georgia in the decade, and had eight winning seasons. Coach Ray Graves brought UF unprecedented success in the 1960s; they had nine winning seasons and went to five bowl games, racking up the winningest decade in Florida history to date. The first major bowl appearance by UF was a 20–18 loss to the Missouri Tigers in the 1965 Sugar Bowl. Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Steve Spurrier led the Gators to a 9–2 record in 1966 and a 27-12 victory over Georgia Tech in that year's Orange Bowl. Sophomores John Reaves and Carlos Alvarez led UF to a 9–2 record and a Gator Bowl win in 1969.
The 1970s were a time of promise and disappointment for UF. The Gators attended four bowl games under new coach and former QB Doug Dickey, who left the head coaching job at the University of Tennessee for his alma mater, but could never quite get Florida their first SEC title. In 1979, Coach Charley Pell took over at UF and created a feared program in the conference; the Gators finished #6 in the nation in 1983 and had one of the best defenses in the nation, led by Wilber Marshall, the Defensive Player of the Year. UF then had consecutive top-ten finishes and claimed first place in the SEC standings in 1984 and 1985. The 1984 title was stripped by the SEC for NCAA sanctions. Emmitt Smith highlighted the Gators in the late 1980s, setting the all-time UF rushing mark in 1989.
In 1990, Steve Spurrier returned to UF, this time as head coach, and led UF to another first place finish in the SEC, but again UF was denied a league title due to probation stemming from activities in the 1980s. Florida's first official SEC football championship came in 1991 during a 10–2 campaign. Spurrier quickly built the Gators into the dominant team in the SEC, winning a string of conference championships in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 2000. The Gators, led by Spurrier and quarterback Danny Wuerffel, won their first national championship in 1996 with a 52–20 victory over arch-rival FSU in the Sugar Bowl, after losing the regular season finale to those same Seminoles. (This is rumored to be the first time a national championship in American college football was won by beating a primary rival in a bowl game.) Wuerffel would also claim UF's second Heisman Trophy.
The Florida Gators are one of only three schools ever to win ten games for six straight seasons (1993-98) and one of only three ever to win at least nine games for twelve straight years (1990-2001). It is one of only six major college schools ever to win 100 games during a decade; they went 102-22-1 in the 1990s. UF also claimed the most SEC wins by any school in a decade (73) and the NCAA considered them a dynasty from 1990 to 2001 -- Spurrier's entire tenure in Gainesville.
In January 2002, Spurrier left the Gators to coach the NFL's Washington Redskins, after having won six SEC titles in his eleven-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 Hurricanes of the University of Miami, the Bulldogs of the University of Georgia in the annual The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville, Florida, and since the early 1990s, the Volunteers of the University of Tennessee. The University of South Carolina has also become a "rival" since the hiring of former head coach Steve Spurrier as their head coach. The University of Florida and the Florida State University play for the Governor's Cup and began their series in 1958. The Gators currently lead the matchup 30-19-2, including three consecutive wins over the past three seasons.
The Gators' home stadium is Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field, one of the largest and loudest football stadiums in the country. Florida Field was opened in 1930 and has been expanded several times to now hold over 90,000. The stadium is popularly known as "The Swamp", and was given the nickname by Steve Spurrier in the early 1990s, who quipped that "only the Gators get out alive." The Sporting News named Florida as the top college crowd in the nation and gave Florida Field the honor of the nation's loudest stadium. In 2007, Sports Illustrated ranked Ben Hill Griffin Stadium as the third best college venue in the nation, and was the first overall for college football.
Celebrating 100 years of Florida football, the Gators finished the 2006 regular season with a record of 13-1, capturing the SEC Championship with a 38-28 victory over Arkansas at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. Florida moved to second place in the Bowl Championship Series rankings and convincingly defeated the #1 ranked Ohio State University Buckeyes 41-14 for the BCS National Championship on January 8, 2007, in Glendale, Arizona. Starting quarterback Chris Leak was named the game's Most Valuable Player. It was the Gators' second consensus national championship, and made UF the first school ever to hold the Division I men's basketball title and the BCS football title at the same time. On January 8, 2009 coach Urban Meyer once more led men's football team to the national championship, where they defeated the Oklahoma Sooners by a score of 24 to 14 to win the Division I title of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's college football league for the third time in school history.
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 73–57 on April 3, 2006, at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. Joakim Noah was named MVP of the tournament.
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 its reputation as one of the most intimidating venues in the country for opposing teams. This 12,000-seat multi-purpose arena is located directly adjacent to the "The Swamp", Florida's football stadium, and has served in its capacity since opening in 1980. The student section of the O-Dome has been dubbed the "Rowdy Reptiles."
The Florida Gators routed the Arkansas Razorbacks 77-56 on March 11, 2007 to win the SEC tournament title for the third consecutive year. Florida joined Kentucky and Alabama as the only schools to have won three consecutive SEC Tournaments.
Florida defeated Ohio State 84–75 on April 2, 2007 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia to win the national championship for the second consecutive year; the first team to repeat since Duke in 1991–1992. The team became the first in history to win back-to-back championships with the same returning starting lineup. The 2007 football and men's basketball championships both came at the expense of the same school, Ohio State, and also defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks for the SEC championship in both football and basketball in the same academic year; neither of these events had occurred previously. They also became the first school to hold both the football and basketball championships at the same time (defeating Ohio State in 2007 & defeating UCLA in 2006) and in the same school year.
Notable alumni
The University of Florida has more than 340,000 alumni. The alumni account for multiple Nobel Prize winners, nine U.S. Senators, almost forty U.S. Representatives, eleven state governors, and eight U.S. ambassadors, multiple state supreme court judges, and various federal courts judges. UF graduates have served at the head of such diverse and important institutions as the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Trade Commission, MTV, the United States Marine Corps, the National Organization for Women, FedEx, Burger King, NASCAR, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Boston Red Sox, Nike, and Boeing Enterprises. In addition alumni have been Presidents of Rice University, Rutgers University, Florida State University, the College of Charleston, Randolph-Macon College, the University of Central Florida, New College of Florida, the University of South Florida, and Miami University.
Major corporations run by graduates include Merrill Lynch, Northwest Airlines, Gartner, the Hudson's Bay Company, Deloitte & Touche, J. C. Penney, Reebok, Macy's, Scripps, Golin Harris International, Discover Financial, Avaya, Walt Disney, Amtrak, The Richards Group, Scripps, the Gate Petroleum Company, and the Houston Astros. Major regulatory bodies such as the Federal Communications Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the American Bar Association, and the United States Department of Transportation have had University of Florida alumni at the helm in the modern era. In addition, UF has a history of twelve Rhodes Scholars.
Among the individuals who have attended or graduated from the University of Florida are actress Faye Dunaway, Price is Right announcer Rich Fields, author Michael Connelly, Nobel Prize winners Marshall Nirenberg and Robert Grubbs, pilot Paul Tibbets, governor & senator Bob Graham, reporter Stephanie Abrams, musician Mel Tillis, poet Geri Doran, director Jonathan Demme, comedian Darrell Hammond, columnist Kiki Carter, congressman Adam Putnam, actor Stephen Root, sportscaster Jesse Palmer, producer Scott Sanders, senator & governor Lawton Chiles, TV personality Bob Vila, novelists Kate DiCamillo and Carl Hiaasen, judges William Dimitrouleas and Harold Sebring, administrators Carol Browner and Alan Stephenson Boyd, inventor John Atanasoff, astronaut & senator Bill Nelson, owner of Yankees franchise Hal Steinbrenner, guitarist & songwriter Stephen Stills, and the daughter of Dave Thomas, Wendy Thomas, the namesake of the food-chain Wendy's also attended the University of Florida.
The University of Florida has also been home to over one hundred and twenty-five Olympians throughout the years, nearly one hundred and fifty active and retired NFL football players and three Heisman Trophy winners, around thirty MLB baseball players, thirty NBA basketball players, and over forty PGA Tour & LPGA golfers. Some famous University of Florida athletes include the all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith, Hall of Fame football player Jack Youngblood, the tennis sensation Lisa Raymond, the golfer Tommy Aaron, the basketball star Joakim Noah, the baseball player David Eckstein, soccer players Abby Wambach and Heather Mitts, the swimmer Dara Torres, swimmer Ryan Lochte, and the legendary coach Steve Spurrier.
Notable faculty
Individual awards won by UF faculty include a Fields Medal, numerous Pulitzer Prizes, and 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. More than two dozen faculty are members of the National Academies of Science and Engineering and the Institute of Medicine or counterpart in a foreign nation.
Benefactors
University of Florida has had many financial supporters, but some stand out by the magnitude of their contributions.
Among those who have made large donations commemorated at the university are:
See also
External links
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