The UCF College of Business will host a Kentucky Derby-themed 23rd annual Hall of Fame gala Tuesday, April 4, 6-9 p.m. at Rosen Shingle Creek. More than 600 College of Business alumni, faculty, students, corporate partners and friends of UCF are expected to attend this signature event that honors the college’s most distinguished alumni and partners.

Guests will be transported to Churchill Downs for the Running of the Roses as the College of Business celebrates successful alumni who bet on themselves and won big. The networking event of the year will feature inspiration from the historic race complete with fancy hats and mint juleps. It will begin with a cocktail party, followed by the interactive and entertaining Business Hall of Fame awards ceremony.

2023 UCF Business Hall of Fame Inductees

The UCF College of Business Hall of Fame recognizes alumni who have demonstrated exceptional professional success in their field. This is the highest honor given to business graduates. It is typically awarded to those who have been in the industry for 15-20 years and have brought recognition to the university through their professional achievements.

Jim Adamczyk ’02 ’04 MBA is senior executive vice president and chief revenue officer for FAIRWINDS, which is headquartered in Orlando and serves members around the world. He began his career at FAIRWINDS Credit Union in 2003 as an intern while working toward a degree in finance at UCF. He regularly speaks to students on campus and currently serves on the UCF College of Business Dean’s Advisory Board. He also is a director for the FAIRWINDSFoundation. In 2014, he was named one of the Orlando Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40. He has a bachelor’s in finance and an MBA from UCF.

Cary D’Ortona ’00 ’01 MSA is senior vice president of Orlando Health, a 3,200-bed, not-for-profit healthcare organization, and president of Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. Since joining Orlando Health in 2004, he has guided expansion of pediatric specialty services and primary care. He also has served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer with Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in accountancy from UCF. He is a member of the UCF College of Business Dean’s Advisory Board and regularly speaks on campus. He is a member of the board of directors of Camp Boggy Creek and Special Olympics Florida among others.

John Gill ’86 is president and CEO of Quest Inc., which supports Central Floridians with developmental and intellectual disabilities by offering choices and opportunities to live, lear, work and play. He joined Quest in 2012 as chief operating officer before taking over as president and CEO in 2013. He is currently involved in various community organizations including serving as a member of the Board of Trustees of Beacon College and the Board of Directors of CareerSource Central Florida. He has a bachelor’s in finance from UCF and an MBA from Rollins College. He remains active on campus, and in 2017, the College of Business recognized him as a Notable Knight.

Partnership Award

The Partnership Award recognizes organizations that have initiated a successful partnership with, or on behalf of, the UCF College of Business, resulting in the achievement of the college’s academic offerings or public outreach. These organizations embody the spirit of collaboration and are recognized for their initiative, leadership and involvement in the betterment of business education.

Blackstone Charitable Foundation, which powers the Blackstone LaunchPad at UCF, works with colleges across the U.S. to deliver entrepreneurial skill-building programs that help students launch successful careers. Since 2010, Blackstone LaunchPad has supported students on more than 60 college and university campuses, now with a focus on Minority Serving Institutions and community colleges. At UCF, Blackstone Charitable Foundation has invested nearly $4 million to promote entrepreneurship across campus from 2013-2026. The LaunchPad at UCF engages more than 5,000 students annually in entrepreneurship events and experiences to help them build vital career skills, no matter their path forward.

Legendary Knight Award

The Legendary Knight Award recognizes outstanding contributions that will transform teaching, research and learning through extraordinary philanthropy and commitment to the College of Business. This award is open to the entire College of Business community, including alumni, friends and corporate and foundation partners.

Glenn Hubbard ’79 is Chairman of the Board of MetLife Inc., and dean emeritus and Russell L. Carson Professor of Economics and Finance, Graduate School of Business, and Professor of Economics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University. In 2019, Hubbard and his wife, Constance Pond, gave $1 million to UCF to establish the Kenneth White and James Xander Professorship in Economics in honor of the two faculty Hubbard credits for inspiring a career that led him to be one of the most influential economists in the U.S. Hubbard, who graduated summa cum laude from UCF before earning applied mathematics and Ph.D. degrees in economics from Harvard, served as chairman of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush. He served as dean of the Graduate School of Business at Columbia from 2004-2019.

Entrepreneurial Alumni Awards

The Entrepreneurial Alumni Awards honor UCF business alumni from any discipline who exemplify commitment, vision, calculated risk-taking and growth potential. In their professional career, this person demonstrates perseverance in the face of adversity and overcomes obstacles.

Jason Hendren ’96 ’00 MBA is an award-winning entrepreneur and the bestselling author of Things I Wish I Knew Before I Sold to Private Equity. After earning his MBA, the two-time Knight founded Industrial Lighting Products, which he grew into a nationally recognized manufacturer of energy efficient lighting. After a decade of success, he sold the majority of his equity to a private equity group and stayed on as a partner and executive. He left the business in 2020 and  started Hendren Business Advisors where he helps business owners prepare their businesses for sale. He has a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and an MBA from UCF where he supports first generation scholarships, entrepreneurship programs and the Football Shareholders Society.

Ziad Khoury ’89 is the founder of Frontline Performance Group, a global technology, consulting and training firm. His USA Today best-selling book, Frontline Profit Machine, defines how business professionals can leverage his Khoury Performance Equation to increase profits with their existing sales and service teams. After 28 years as CEO of FPG, he now serves as FPG’s executive chairman of the Board. He graduated from UCF in 1989 with a degree in marketing and frequently returns to campus to speak with students.

Jacques Fu is the co-founder and executive VP for Stax, one of the Inc 500 fastest growing companies and the first startup to reach “Unicorn” status in Orlando. Stax is just the seventh startup in Florida to reach an investor valuation of $1 billion or more to earn Unicorn status. Fu hosts the Taking Your Time podcast and is the author of Time Hacks. He co-founded Orlando Devs, the largest developer meetup in Orlando, and The Assistance Fund, the second-largest charity in the city according to Guidestar. Fu and his wife, Yvonne, created the JASKY Foundation to fund programs that tackle problems like food insecurity and education. He studied accounting and computer science while at UCF and regularly returns to speak on campus.

Honorable Knight Awards

The Honorable Knight Awards recognize alumni with more than 10 years of experience who have displayed excellence in their respective career paths.

Scott Fagan ’94 ’03 MPA is the chief financial officer of the Orlando Economic Partnership, a public-private, not-for-profit economic and community development organization that represents seven counties in Central Florida, including the City of Orlando, and hundreds of the region’s top private businesses. Fagan started his journey with the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce in 2000 as senior vice president of Finance and has been a part of its evolution into the Partnership for the past 23 years. The three-time Knight has degrees in accounting and finance with a minor in computer science from UCF, as well a Master of Public Administration. He is a certified management accountant and a member of the Institute of Management Accountants. He and his wife, Tracy, met as undergrads at UCF where she earned a bachelor’s degree and her MBA. One of their two sons is a junior studying finance at UCF and their youngest intends to enroll next year.

Julia Gatewood ’86 CPA is the director of Finance supporting the Technology & Digital organization at Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. She earned a degree in accounting from UCF and spent four years in public accounting before joining The Walt Disney Company as an auditor in 1993. She has enjoyed many career paths at Disney including leadership roles in strategic planning, accounting, forecasting, business decision support and more. She has stayed connected to her alma mater and was a member of the Kenneth G. Dixon School of Accounting Advisory Board from 2008-2019. She also started an endowment fund for the Walt Disney World Leadership in Accounting Endowed Scholarship in 2008 to generate scholarships for accounting students at UCF.

Jason Greene ’00 MBA is the owner and financial representative for SmartWealth LLC. He began his financial career in the banking industry gaining experience in commercial lending and private wealth management before joining the SmartWealth team in 2008. He earned his MBA at UCF and has a sociology degree from the University of Florida. He is active with the UCF Alumni Association, volunteering regularly. He received a Jefferson Award for Public Service at a ceremony held at UCF. He also has served on the Board of Directors for the local JCC as well as the campaign cabinet for Heart of Florida United Way.

Tim Puthoff ’86 ’02 is the chief operating officer for Ascension St. Vincent’s Health, a five-hospital comprehensive health system in Birmingham, Alabama. He holds two degrees from UCF – a bachelor’s in business administration and a master’s in health services administration. He previously worked in several hospital and health system leadership roles, primarily with Tenet Healthcare and Community Health Systems and is a three-time recipient of Community Health System’s CEO Achievement Award. He also served on Tenet’s CEO Leadership Council and was a Faculty Member for Tenet’s Leadership Academy. Tim has been married to Amy for almost 25 years, and they have two daughters, Isabel (a soon-to-be graduate of the University of Georgia) and Abigail (who they hope will attend UCF in a couple years).

Kimberly Stewart ’00 is the owner and financial advisor for KRS Wealth Management. She has more than 30 years of financial services experience and is a certified financial planner, a chartered life underwriter and certified long-term care practitioner. Before founding KRS Wealth Management in 2010, she worked for Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. State Farm Insurance and Edward Jones. She has a finance degree from UCF where she recently endowed the Kimberly R. Stewart Endowed Scholarship in Support of Black Women. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., and she serves on the Downtown Development Board of the City of Orlando and the Unity of Eatonville Federal Credit Union board of directors.

Notable Knight Awards

The Notable Knight Awards recognize alumni who have displayed promise and excellence early in their career paths and have less than 10 years of experience.

Adam Rosenfield ’18 CPA is firm leader of the Attest Services Team for Emerging Technology Services at Rosenfield and Company PLLC, where he is responsible for developing procedures for data extraction and proprietary products for the analysis and presentation of data for clients. Rosenfield graduated with honors from the Kenneth G.  Dixon School of Accounting at UCF and is a licensed CPA.

Tyler Wright ’15 is founder and CEO of Defining Wealth and the author of The Financial Freedom Fastrack. He began his career in sales but sought to reach financial freedom as soon as possible. After graduating from UCF with a degree in finance, he focused on raising his income, keeping expenses low and investing in stocks and real estate. By 28, he made $1.5 million. In 2020, he started sharing his tips for achieving financial freedom and built an audience of more than 200,000 followers across Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. In 2022, he left his corporate job to focus on helping others reach financial freedom. He recently returned to campus to share his story with business students in The EXCHANGE.

Tickets and Hotel Accommodations

Individual event tickets for the gala are $150, or guests may purchase up to 10 table seats for $1,500, which includes sponsor recognition. Click to purchase tickets or a table. Guests of the UCF Business Hall of Fame are invited to stay at Rosen Shingle Creek. Call 866-996-6338 and mention you are with the UCF Business Hall of Fame. For more information regarding the UCF College of Business Hall of Fame, visit business.ucf.edu/halloffame.