Alumni Profiles
Every story is best told by those who lived it.
We invite you to meet some of our extraordinary alumni who embody the optimism, excellence and drive that is synonymous with UWF.
You may recognize these names and faces. Many of those featured were nominated by their fellow Argos. Each person represents a dynamic life path or a life-changing career. From Broadway to robotics, classrooms to laboratories, they all have one thing in common: UWF as their foundation for success.
The alumni you will meet here are trailblazers—the first to attend classes at UWF. Students who took a chance with a new institution during a time of great turmoil for our country. North Vietnam launched the Tet Offensive and support for the Vietnam War was waning. The assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy happened within months of 58 students walking across the commencement stage to become the University’s first graduating class in June 1968.
Alumni Profiles: ’67-’76UWF students in this decade saw the creation of the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business and the College of Education. Freshmen enrolled for the first time in Fall 1983. It was a time of incredible change and economic prosperity, with the invention of the first personal computer and the first video game, while MTV was changing television and music forever.
Alumni Profiles: ’77-’86This decade in UWF’s history is marked by the opening of the Center for Fine and Performing Arts in 1991 and the expansion and renovation of the John C. Pace Library. The Argonauts competed in NCAA Division II sports for the first time. Operation Desert Storm, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Hurricane Andrew were some of the major news stories at this time—and a little thing known as the Internet got its start.
Alumni Profiles: ’87-’96UWF students during this time saw the opening of the Health, Leisure and Sports Facility. They also braved Hurricane Ivan as it ravaged the Gulf Coast and descended on campus. This decade in history was marked by the turn of the century and the Y2K bug that threatened to upend the World Wide Web as we knew it—and a Harvard dropout launched Facebook.
Alumni Profiles: ’97-’06Facility growth marks this time period in the University’s history with the opening of the Science and Engineering Building, Heritage Hall, the Student Wellness Center, the College of Business Education Center and Presidents Hall. Academic reorganization led the transition to five academic colleges.
The graduates in this decade are part of a global workplace. Information and news are available 24/7, and the only constant is change during this time of great division and unprecedented interconnection.
Alumni Profiles: ’07-’16Students in this decade welcomed the University’s sixth president, Dr. Martha D. Saunders. The University experiences historic growth, alongside notable successes – like ranking Top 3 in the Florida Board of Governors performance-based metrics for two consecutive years, a national championship win in the UWF football team’s fourth season, the opening of the UWF Center for Cybersecurity and more. Students, faculty and staff navigate the COVID-19 global pandemic, adapting to fully online courses across campus and proving how unshakeable the Argo Spirit truly is. Our recent UWF alumni are rising to the challenges of today’s world and making it their own.
Alumni Profiles: ’17-’26