'We showed them the way'

The old USF specialty license plate hanging on Barbara Holley Johnson’s wall reads “BHJ 1.” It’s not a declaration of fandom — it’s a fact.

Johnson, ’63, Life Member, was USF’s first-ever student, first to apply and first accepted. “It’s still surreal,” she says. “I guess I’ll always be a part of USF history.”

USF turns 70 this year. State officials approved the university on Dec. 18, 1956, the start of what would become one of the nation’s top public institutions and a cornerstone of Tampa Bay’s higher education, research, health care and economy.

Johnson has had a front-row seat to watch it grow.

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It all adds up

Students who attended USF added $341.2 million to Tampa Bay’s regional economy in 2023-24.

That year, the nearly 300,000 alumni who remained in Florida after graduating generated $7.3 billion for the state, including $3.9 billion for Tampa Bay. Those numbers reflect the higher wages they earned due to their degrees and the many ways employers profited from their skills.

USF itself spent more than $2.42 billion on daily operations alone, from pay and benefits for more than 25,000 employees to goods and services like toilet paper and pest control.

All told, the university contributed $9.8 billion to Florida’s economy that year, including $6.6 billion to Tampa Bay. 

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A Humble and High-Velocity CEO

Elbow deep in suds, 14-year-old John Fieldly polished the local restaurateur’s car until it threw back the Pasco County sun in a blinding flare. Working at a car wash after his lawn-care venture folded, he scrubbed harder, buffed longer and made the chrome gleam so bright, it would pose a potential traffic hazard.

And it worked. Impressed by the teenager relentless with a washrag, the owner of Steve’s Place offered him a job as a dishwasher — the first of many opportunities Fieldly would seize through sheer drive and instinct.

“You have to make your own career path,” says Fieldly, now 46, an ’04 accounting alum. “Opportunities come by every day, but it’s on you to make a difference and capitalize on that moment.”

That mentality — equal parts grit, grind and resilience — would carry Fieldly into the C-suite of one of the fastest-growing beverage companies. Today, as chairman and CEO of Celsius Holdings, Fieldly oversees a global energy drink portfolio, a team of 1,300 employees worldwide and a company that generated $2.5 billion in 2025.​​​​​​​

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Internship grant opens doors for humanities students

Arielle Kessler grew up hearing stories about her great-grandmother’s experiences in Nazi-occupied Europe. When the history major came across an opportunity to intern at the Florida Holocaust Museum, she saw it as a chance to honor the many millions of people who did not survive the genocide.

“My family’s stories are what made me interested in history,” says Kessler, who is minoring in education and aspires to become a history teacher. “Preserving artifacts so others can learn about them makes me feel like I’m really making a difference.”

At the museum, Kessler helped catalogue and archive documents related to the life and legacy of Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, strengthening her research and organization skills through hands-on work.

The opportunity was made possible by a $4.8 million grant from the Mellon Foundation

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