Alumni Profiles

Cynthia Barnett, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications and Bob Graham Center for Public Service Environmental Journalist-in-Residence, has been named to the 2019 Water Institute Graduate Fellows (WIGF) faculty team. The WIGF program supports interdisciplinary teams of six doctoral student Fellows and their faculty advisors as they conduct…

Andrew Selepak, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications director of the online Master’s program in social media, was quoted in “Political News is Bad for People, Specifically Parents” published on Fatherly.com on Oct. 25. The article looks at the possible impact of watching too much news and the effect that it…

A new class taught by Benny Torres, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Advertising lecturer, was featured in “What Should I Take in the Spring? Upcoming New Courses” published in The Independent Florida Alligator on Oct. 28. In the article, six professors offer details on new classes available…

By Max Chesnes, Journalism senior Celeste Martinez was running a pizza restaurant in San Juan, Puerto Rico – serving artisanal pizzas, local ingredients and craft beer – when she realized her job skills needed a boost. In 2013, at the age of 40, Martinez and her partners closed the restaurant,…

By Denise Trunk Krigbaum, MAMC 1997 What some call a side hustle, Martin Matak, B.S. Advertising 1993, thinks of as a bonus. It all started for Matak, founder of wearable tech company VERT, when he came to the University of Florida for his junior and senior years. While he earned…

By Lenore Devore, B.S. Journalism 1984 Clad in stylishly torn white jeans, a yellow T-shirt and blue flip flops, Dara Torres, B.S. Telecommunication 1990, runs onto the football field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and promptly does eight pushups, then quiets the crowd. Putting down the orange-and-blue 2-Bits sign, the…

Cynthia Barnett, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications and Bob Graham Center for Public Service Environmental Journalist-in-Residence is the author of the opinion piece, “Can the Caring Middle Save the Environment,” published in the Los Angeles Times on Aug. 17. Barnett focuses on the rising voice of America’s…

By Tracy Wright, B.S. Public Relations 1999 Any Gator basketball fan’s heart will skip a few beats at the mention of Corey Brewer, Taurean Green, Al Horford and Joakim Noah, the stars of UF’s back-to-back national championship team in 2006 and 2007 (not to mention three consecutive SEC championships between…

By William Clewis, B.S. Public Relations 2020 Most UF College of Journalism and Communications majors measure their success by achievements in communication fields.  But for some, like NBA All-star and CJC Telecommunication major Al Horford, success is measured in championship seasons. And by that measure, Horford has had a remarkable…

Solomon is the former sports editor of The Washington Post and the first ombudsman for ESPN. He currently serves as director of the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism at the University of Maryland and continues to write a weekly Sunday column for the Post. Solomon has received many honors…

Joe Carew gazed south out of his office window. On the horizon, 30,000 feet below him, the sun was setting over the Dardanelles. He saw the thin body of water that divided Turkey across two continents—on the one side, Europe, the other Asia—and thought about the events of the Trojan…

Three recent University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) graduates have continued their studies by going to law school. Here are their stories, plus a few tips for anyone considering a legal career.   By Melissa Lutz Blouin Lindsey Zionts, B.S. Telecommunication 2013 Partway through Lindsey Zionts Telecommunication degree,…