TAMPA, FL – June 13, 2019 – The University of South Florida Alumni Association has announced the 2019 recipients of the university’s highest alumni honors, the USF Alumni Awards, celebrating USF graduates for outstanding professional achievements and for service to USF and its students. One award also recognizes a non-USF graduate for dedicated service to USF and the Tampa Bay community.
This year’s honorees include
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- a world leader in PET medical imaging invention, research and development
- a Pulitzer Prize recipient whose work resulted in posthumous pardons for four wrongly accused men
- a retired registered nurse practitioner who broke down barriers and opened doors for black nurses
- a physician whose leadership and philanthropy has benefited almost every corner of the USF System and the Tampa Bay area
- a non-USF alumnus who has served as a local and state leader in education, health care and economic development for decades
Awards will be presented Oct. 10 at the USF Alumni Awards Dinner in the Marshall Student Center Ballroom, USF Tampa.
The 2019 USF Alumni Award recipients are:
Joanna Sigfred Fowler, PhD, Chemistry ’64 – Distinguished Alumni Award
Recognizing USF alumni who have reached the pinnacle of success in their careers
A world leader in PET medical imaging, a diagnostic tool that uses radioactive materials to pinpoint molecular activity within the body, Joanna Fowler’s research has enabled major advances in identifying and treating illnesses. Her work resulted in the radiotracer most commonly used today in PET (positron emission tomography) scans and her brain research using PET has led to greater understanding of addictions, drug therapies and psychiatric disorders. She was the first USF graduate elected to the National Academy of Sciences and she is the 2008 recipient of the National Medal of Science. She is a Brookhaven National Laboratory scientist emeritus.
Gilbert King, Doctor of Humane Letters ’14 – Distinguished Alumni Award
Recognizing USF alumni who have reached the pinnacle of success in their careers
In 2013, Gilbert King won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for “Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America,” the story of four Florida black men wrongly accused of rape in 1949 and the civil rights crusader who came to their defense. The book led to Gov. Ron DeSantis issuing pardons for the four earlier this year. King has authored three books, most recently “Beneath a Ruthless Sun, a True Story of Violence, Race, and Justice Lost and Found” (2018). He attended USF from 1981 to 1984.
Geraldine I. Twine, Nursing ’78, MA ’81 and MS ’88 – Distinguished Alumni Award
Recognizing USF alumni who have reached the pinnacle of success in their careers
A trailblazing health-care professional, Geraldine Twine was one of the first black advanced registered nurse practitioners in Florida and one of the first black nurses to integrate Tampa General Hospital. Even as she worked full-time, pursued her education and raised three children, she mentored and tutored other nurse hopefuls and served as a civic and professional leader. She is a former president of the National Council of Negro Women, Tampa chapter, and the Minority Nurses Association of the Tampa Bay Area, and a life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and USF’s Women in Leadership & Philanthropy, through which she has an endowed USF Health scholarship.
Anila Jain M.D., MBA, Biology ’82 – Donald A. Gifford Service Award
Recognizing a USF graduate who has provided countless hours of service to USF
A physician who received USF’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1985 for her professional achievements, Dr. Anila Jain is also renowned for her volunteerism. She has been a devoted USF leader for decades, serving on the boards of the Foundation, Alumni Association (past chair), Bulls Club and USF Sarasota-Manatee Campus, and a founding member and former chair of USF Women in Leadership & Philanthropy. She’s an American Medical Women’s Association National Service Award recipient, a member of Kappa Delta Sorority and former national chair of the Kappa Delta Foundation. Her generous financial gifts include multiple legacy endowments and scholarships benefiting various areas of the USF System.
Richard “Dick” Beard III – Class of ’56 Award
Recognizing a non-USF graduate who has provided outstanding service to USF and the Tampa Bay community
Real estate developer Richard A. Beard has a long history of service to the Tampa Bay area and Florida’s public universities, including USF. He was the founding chairman of the USF Board of Trustees and served on the University of Tampa Board of Trustees. Appointed to the State University System’s Board of Governors in 2010, he also served on that body’s predecessor, the Florida Board of Regents. He is a past member of the boards of H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Tampa General Hospital, and a current member of the Georgia Institute of Technology Foundation board of trustees and The Florida Council of 100.
About the USF Alumni Association<
The USF Alumni Association is a nonprofit organization composed of former students and friends of the University of South Florida. Our mission is to provide meaningful ways for USF Bulls to support, protect and promote their university. There are more than 345,000 USF graduates worldwide. For more information, log on to www,usfalumni.org, like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/USFalumni or follow us on Twitter @USFAlumniAssn.