Career Influencer Awards

The University of Florida Career Influencer Awards celebrate the collaboration and innovation of our partners who have had an exceptional impact on career development and career engagements during the preceding academic year. All awards are presented at the Career Connections Center’s annual Faculty and Staff Career Symposium.

NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN

The University of Florida Career Influencer Awards celebrate the collaboration and innovation of our partners who have had an exceptional impact on career development and engagement from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025.

All awards will be presented at the Career Connections Center’s annual Faculty & Staff Career Symposium on Friday, April 24, 2026.

To submit a nomination, you will need contact information for the nominee and are asked to submit a statement of impact. Self-nominations are accepted. If nominating someone else, you will be notified if your nominee is selected to receive the award.

Nominations will be accepted through March 15, 2026

Career Influencer Award Categories

The seven categories for the Career Influencer Awards are listed below.

2025 Career Influencer Award Recipients

Professional headshot of Anita Rao

Anita Rao

Professional headshot of Dr. Fredrick Kates

Dr. Federick Kates

Professional headshot of Roberta Knickerbocker

Roberta Knickerbocker

Professional headshot of Sierra McVeigh

Sierra McVeigh

ABB Logo

ABB

American Meteorological Society Branded Mark

American Meteorological Society

Data Science & Informatics Branded Mark

Data Science & Informatics

RecSports Student Development Work Team Branded Mark

RecSports Student Development Work Team

UF Teach Branded Mark

UF Teach

IPPD Branded Mark

IPPD

Warrington Welcome, Heavener School of Business Branded Mark

Warrington Welcome

2025 Career Influencer Award Nominees

Professional Headshot of Dr. Anthony Casapao

Dr. Anthony Casapao

Professional Headshot of Cathy Carr

Cathy Carr

Professional Headshot of Douglas Jackson

Douglas Jackson

Professional Headshot of Dr. Emrah Sahin

Dr. Emrah Sahin

Professional Headshot of G. Chip Johnson

G. Chip Johnson

Professional Headshot of Glen Billesbach

Glen Billesbach

Professional Headshot of Gregory David

Gregory David

Professional Headshot of James Alfonso

James Alfonso - UF Alumni

Professional Headshot of Dr. Matthew Traum

Dr. Matthew Traum

Professional Headshot of Michael Fitzgerald

Michael Fitzgerald

Dr. Paola Uparela

Dr. Paola Uparela

Dr. Rolfe Renne

Dr. Rolf Renne

Professional Headshot of Dr. Stephen Elardo

Dr. Stephen Elardo

Professional Headshot of Joel Parker

Joel Parker

Professional Headshot of Talline Martins

Talline Martins

Professional Headshot of Dr. Taylor Rawlinson

Dr. Taylor Rawlinson

Active Learning Program Branded Mark

Active Learning Program 

Career Perspectives in Applied Physiology & Kinesiology Branded Mark

Career Perspectives in Applied Physiology & Kinesiology

Beyond 120 Branded Mark

Beyond 120

Uf College of Education branded Mark

UF College of Education

Berkowitz Pollack Brant Advisors + CPAs Branded Mark

Berkowitz Pollack Brant Advisors

Burson Branded Mark

Burson

UF IFAS (MCS) Microbiology and Cell Science Branded Mark

UF IFAS Culturing Careers Consultant Chatbot

Gartner Branded Mark

Gartner

Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society Education Branded Mark

Kappa Delta Pi

L3Harris Branded Mark

L3Harris Technologies 

UF Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering MAE Branded Mark

UF MAE Capstone

Pepsico Branded Mark

PepsiCo

Stiles Invest, Build, Manage Branded Mark

Stiles Corporation

Career Connections Center Photo Coming Soon

UF Health
Norman Fixel Institute for
Neurological Diseases

UF Dept. of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Branded Mark

UF Dept. of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies 

Semiconductor Career Readiness Organization Branded Mark

Semiconductor Career Readiness Organization

Warrington Welcome Heavner School of Business Branded Mark

Warrington Welcome
Peer Leader Retreat

Warrington Welcome Heavner School of Business Branded Mark

Warrington Welcome
Professional Development Summit

2024 Career Influencer Award Recipients

P&G Branded Mark

P&G

Career Connections Center Photo Coming Soon

UF Health
Norman Fixel Institute for
Neurological Diseases

Career Connections Center Photo Coming Soon

International Scholars Program

Career Connections Center Photo Coming Soon

Medi-Gators

Professional headshot of Amanpreet Kapoor

Amanpreet Kapoor

Professional headshot of Bernadine Thomas

Bernadine Thomas

Lucy Searcy

Lucy Searcy

The Women's Network Branded Mark

The Women's Network

2024 Career Influencer Award Nominees

P&G Branded Mark

P&G

Kimley Horn Branded Mark

Kimley Horn

Career Connections Center Photo Coming Soon

UF Health
Norman Fixel Institute for
Neurological Diseases

International Scholars Branded Mark

International Scholars Program

Professional Headshot of Dustin Karp

Dustin Karp

UF BME Undergraduate Team

UF BME Undergraduate Team

Career Connections Center Photo Coming Soon

Medi-Gators

Professional Headshot of Pingchien Neo

Pingchien Neo

Professional Headshot of Dr. Pouya Ameli

Dr. Pouya Ameli

Professional Headshot of Robin Moorman

Dr. Robin Moorman Li

Professional Headshot of Dr. May Mansy

Dr. May Mansy

Professional Headshot of Dr. Sharon DiFino

Dr. Sharon DiFino

Professional Headshot of Dr. Elizabeth Gadsby

Dr. Elizabeth Gadsby

Professional Headshot of Amanpreet Kapoor

Amanpreet Kapoor

Professional Headshot of Dr. Margarita Vargas-Betancourt

Dr. Margarita Vargas-Betancourt

Professional Headshot of  Dr. Fredrick Kates

Dr. Frederick Kates

Professional Headshot of Dr. Stacey Curtis

Dr. Stacey Curtis

Professional Headshot of Caleb Chambliss

Caleb Chambliss

Professional Headshot of Catherine Coe

Catherine Coe

Chip Johnson

Chip Johnson

Professional Headshot of Douglas Jackson

Douglas Jackson

Professional Headshot of Bernadine Thomas

Bernadine Thomas

Lucy Searcy

Lucy Searcy

Professional Headshot of Eric Segal

Eric Segal

Professional Headshot of Brittany Honeycutt

Brittany Honeycutt

The Womens Network Branded Mark

The Women's Network

American Marketing Association University of Florida Branded Mark

American Marketing Association

2023 Career Influencer Award Recipients

Professional Headshot of Eric Esterline

Eric Esterline

Department of Media Production, Management, and Technology

Professional Headshot of Danielle Shu

Danielle Shu

Food & Resource Economics

Professional Headshot of Marc Diaz

Marc Diaz

Microsoft, UF Alumni (Computer Science)

UF Department of Psychology Branded Mark

UF Department of Psychology

Citigroup Branded Mark

Citigroup

2023 Career Influencer Award Nominees

ABB Branded Mark

ABB

Tegna Branded Mark

TEGNA

The Selling Factory, Gainesville, FL

The Selling Factory

Invisors LLC Branded Mark

Invisors LLC

Professional Headshot of Elizabeth Calienes

Elizabeth Calienes 

CJC Advertising

Dr. Zachary Gohsman

Dr. Zachary Gohsman

Department of Pediatrics

Professional Headshot of Dr. Rebecca Piazza

Dr. Rebecca Piazza

PHHP Dept. of Occupational Therapy

Professional Headshot of Dr. Misti Sharp

Dr. Misti Sharp

UF Food and Resource Economics

Professional Headshot of Dr. Ashley Allen-Durrance

Dr. Ashley Allen-Durrance

UF College of Veterinary Medicine

Dana McPherson

Dana McPherson

Strategic Communications and Marketing

Professional Headshot of Stephen Ghulamani

Steven Ghulamani

International Office

Professional Headshot of Sarah Eberhart

Sarah Eberhart

College of Health and Human Performance

Professional Headshot of Jarron Papale

Jarron Papale

CLAS Academic Resources

Professional Headshot of Martin Noguera

Martin Noguera

Anesthesiology

Professional Headshot of Tony Celluci

Tony Celluci 

Housing and Residence Life

Professional Headshot of Jody Green

Jody Green

Harn Museum of Art

Career Connections Center Photo Coming Soon

Heavener School of Business Experiential Learning Department

Career Connections Center Photo Coming Soon

Path to Purpose

Brown Center for Leadership and Service

Career Connections Center Photo Coming Soon

Changemakers' Dialogue

2022 Career Influencer Award Recipients

Texas Instruments Branded Mark
Texas Industry

Professional Headshot of Brittany Grubbs-Hodges

Brittany Grubbs-Hodges

Lecturer and Experiential Learning Coordinator
Beyond120, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Professional Headshot of Sarag Furtney

Sarah Furtney

Instructional Assistant Professor & Undergraduate Coordinator
Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering

Professional Headshot of Lisa D'Souza

Lisa D'Souza

Director, Career & Leadership Programs
Heavener School of Business,Warrington College of Business

Professional Headshot of Talline Martins

Talline Martins

Director, Graduate Professional Development
Office of Graduate Professional Development, The Graduate School

Career Connections Center Photo Coming Soon

The Agency

College of Journalism and Communications

Career Connections Center Photo Coming Soon

Department of Animal Sciences Livestock Units

College of Agricultural and Life Sciences

Keystone Florida, Florida Blue Key Branded Mark

Cece Shulz

Director of Student Engagement University of Florida David F. Miller Retail Center

2021 Career Influencer Award Nominees

2021 Career Influencer Award Recipients



OGAP Branded Mark

UF Organization for Graduate Student Advancement

School District of Lee County Branded Mark

The School District of Lee County

Professional Headshot of Dr. Mary Risner

Dr. Mary Risner

Associate Director, Outreach and Business Programs

Center for Latin American Studies

Professional Headshot of Cece Shulz

Cece Shulz

Director of Student Engagement University of Florida David F. Miller Retail Center

 
 

Career influencer award nominees

2019/2020 Career Influencers

2018/2019 Career Influencer Award Recipients

Staff Category
cynthia sain

Cynthia Sain
Academic Advisor
Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering

Faculty Category
oliver grundmann

Dr. Oliver Grundmann
Clinical Associate Professor and Director
Graduate Programs Pharmaceutical Chemistry & Clinical Toxicology College of Pharmacy

Faculty Category
holly moses

Dr. Holly Moses
Lecturer & Internship Program Coordinator
College of Health & Human Performance

 
 
 

2018 - 2019 Career Influencer Award Nominees

Career influencer award nominees
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