USF Magazine
Spring 2025
The official magazine of the USF Alumni Association
Dear alumni, friends and supporters of USF,
From historic gifts to well-deserved recognition for the top-ranked medical school in Florida, this has been a memorable spring for the University of South Florida. At the same time, this has been a season marked by changes across the higher education landscape. As we navigate these complexities, USF’s mission remains unchanged. We are focused on supporting student success and our world-class faculty, whose research and community service improve the quality of life across Tampa Bay, our state and the nation.
My fellow Bulls,
IS SPRING THE NEW FALL? The extended run of crisp weather this year accompanied a March and April packed with events that drew thousands of students and alumni. Our busy calendar had all the buzz and excitement of a new school year.
First game, first score, first WIN
MEMBERS OF USF WOMEN’S LACROSSE TEAM celebrate Feb. 7 after beating Kennesaw State 19-6 in their first official Division 1 game. show more
Stepping up to LEAD THE CHARGE
Alums’ historic gift puts Tampa Bay at the forefront of US cybersecurity.
Suspense filled the packed atrium in USF’s Research Park. A tangle of media cameras focused on towers of green and gold balloons flanking the podium and the mysterious curtain behind it. A surprise was coming, and the presence of USF’s top leaders left no doubt: It would be big.
Then came the dramatic words delivered by USF Board of Trustees Chair Will Weatherford: “It is my honor to announce the historic, $40 million gift to a new college, which will be named the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing!”
We are Better Together
Faculty members at USF have developed more than 30,000 partnerships with community organizations, including schools, industries, nonprofits, governments, the military and neighborhood groups. The projects they undertake address everything from health care to education to environmental concerns and benefit not only USF and its partners, but the general public as well.
Enhancing and expanding these collaborative initiatives has been a priority throughout President Rhea Law’s tenure. “We are a major social and economic engine, and it’s critical that we continue building and nourishing our community partnerships, because we are better together,” she said during her inaugural address.
Here’s a closer look at a few of the programs offered by USF and its community partners.
After 30 years she found her cure
USF Health Voice Center tackles the most vexing voice, airway and swallowing disorders
For three decades, Cookie Huddleston struggled for every breath. Climbing stairs or walking a few blocks left her gasping for air. She sought relief from one physician after another only to be prescribed inhalers that never worked.
“I was being treated for asthma; I had allergy tests and all kinds of scopes,” Huddleston says. “They even told me it was allergies, but they couldn’t tell me what I was allergic to.” The now 75-year-old Wesley Chapel resident says she lived in fear. “I thought I was going to die in my sleep because I couldn’t breathe.”
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Transforming Music City one story at a time
Even on a gray, drizzly day, the view from the penthouse of 505 is spectacular, overlooking a bend in the Cumberland River, Nashville icons including the “Batman Building” at 333 Commerce St. and, in the distance, the famous honky-tonks on Broadway.
It’s a fitting setting to meet with Tony Giarratana, Finance ’80, the man who has breathed new life into downtown Nashville while transforming the cityscape with 505 and other residential skyscrapers. And he accomplished all of this while learning on-the-job.
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Together, they navigated a brave new world
Members of USF’s first club celebrate 65 years of friendship
There was the elephant carcass that turned up behind the Life Science building. The sandspurs that stuck to the inaugural first lady’s nylons. The blazing Florida sun that made wearing “Sunday best” hats and gloves unbearable.
Walking USF’s grounds in those early years, Grace Allen was horrified, says Jean Anderson, a fellow Tampa newcomer and USF wife.
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