News & Recipients

Students, Faculty and Campus Partners Recognized in Annual Commemoration Event

Commemoration 2019 awards


On April 23, the Marshall Student Center teemed with high-achieving men and women. In one room, chatter and the sound of munching on hors d’oeuvres saturated the space, as crystal stars resting on a long table sparkled in the sunlight.

The Office of National Scholars (ONS) hosted its annual commemoration event to recognize applicants, faculty mentors and campus partners for all of their hard work in the year. It also aims to thank specific campus partners for their efforts to collaborate with the office and foster student success.

Commemoration 2019 Photo Collage


The office recognized the following campus and community partners:  

Lindy Davidson
2019 Faculty Partner of the Year

Steve Tauber
2019 Faculty Partner of the Year

Snow White
2019 Campus Partner of the Year

Chris Haynes
2019 Campus Partner of the Year

Leigh-Ann Goode
2019 Campus Partner of the Year

Tom Woolf
2019 Campus Partner of the Year

Brian Fender
2019 Community Partner of the Year

Ron Sanders
Truman Scholarship Selection Committee

Dan Ruth
Truman Scholarship Selection Committee

Sarah Parrow
Truman Scholarship Selection Committee

Sandy Westerheide
Goldwater Scholarship Selection Committee

Michael Cross
Goldwater Scholarship Selection Committee

Sameer Varma
Goldwater Scholarship Selection Committee

Fiona Kearns
Goldwater Scholarship Selection Committee

 

ONS Staff and Featured ApplicantsONS staff (front row, from left: Assistant Director Ms. Lauren Bartshe-Hanlen, Associate Director Ms. Lauren Chambers, National Scholarship Advisor Ms. Lauren Roberts, and Director Dr. Sayandeb Basu) celebrate the achievements of national scholarship applicants.


Lindy Davidson is a faculty member in the USF Honors College, and Steve Tauber is the Director of ßÙßÇÂþ»­ School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies (SIGS). 

Three of the Campus Partner of the Year recipients represent USF Education Abroad Office. Snow White is the Student Programs Coordinator for the USF Education Abroad Gateway Office, Chris Haynes is USF Education Abroad’s Assistant Director of Student Services, and Leigh-Ann Goode is the USF Education Abroad Fiscal and Business Specialist. The fourth recipient, Tom Woolf, is the Associate Director of Executive Communications at USF Communications and Marketing.

Brian Fender, who received recognition as the 2019 Community Partner of the Year, is the Chair of Public Finance at GrayRobinson Law.

The members of the scholarship selection committees represent a diverse group of individuals. Ron Sanders is the Director of the ßÙßÇÂþ»­ School of Public Affairs, Dan Ruth is a Pulitzer prize winning journalist and visiting professor of professional practice at USF’s Honors College, and Sarah Parrow is an associate of GrayRobinson Law.

Zamani and Ruth

Gates Cambridge scholarship recipient Shawn Zamani and Truman Scholarship Selection Committee awardee Dr. Dan Ruth connect at the reception.

Basu and Tauber

Office of National Scholars Director, Dr. Sayandeb Basu, presents Brian Fender, Chair of Public Finance at GrayRobinson Tampa, with the award for 2019 Community Partner of the Year.


Sandy Westerheide and Sameer Varma are faculty members of USF’s Department of Cell Biology, Microbiology and Molecular Biology. Michael Cross is a faculty member of the USF Honors College and the Director of USF Office of Undergraduate Research, and Fiona Kearns is a PhD candidate in USF’s Chemistry Department, and recipient of the Goldwater Scholarship.

For the 2018-2019 year, 273 students applied for national awards. At the time of this event, there were 79 national scholarship recipients. A few students received more than one award during the year.