UCF’s alumni association and colleges honored 11 Knights with Professional Achievement Awards at the Black & Gold Gala on Oct. 22. This year’s celebration was the 35th year the alumni association has recognized alumni who “Reach for the Stars.”

Professional Achievement Award winners are selected by each individual college and are given to alumni who are standouts in their respective fields.

The 2015 awardees included:
The Burnett Honors College
Susan D. Rozelle, ’94| Associate Dean for Faculty and Professor of Law, Stetson University College of Law
College of Arts and Humanities
Juliann Nicole Hickey, ’95 | Senior Vice President and Eastern Regional Manager, Title Resources
College of Business Administration
Terry D. McNew, ’86 | President/CEO, MasterCraft Boat Company LLC
College of Education and Human Performance
Gonzalo S. La Cava, ’97, ’01, ’09 | Area Superintendent, Central Learning Community, Fulton County Schools
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Benjamin J. Patz, ’85 | Managing Director, The FAN Fund
College of Health and Public Affairs
Bernard Rousseau, ’98, ’00, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, ASHA Fellow | Associate Vice Chair for Research/Chancellor Faculty Fellow/Associate Professor of Otolaryngology, Hearing and Speech Sciences, and Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
College of Medicine
Dr. Michael Makowski, ’80 | Eye Physician/Surgeon, Tomoka Eye Associates
College of Nursing
Thomas Weichart, ’04, ’14 | Clinical Nursing Director, ONI Medical Associates
College of Optics and Photonics
Frank J. Effenberger, ’95 | VP, Access Lab, Futurewei Technologies
College of Sciences
James Rosengren, ’81 | Founder/Chairman/CEO, Heritage Health Solutions Inc.
Rosen College of Hospitality Management
Christopher Iaciofoli, ’03 | Director of Operations, Red Lobster Seafood Co.

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The evening’s other recipients included:
Distinguished Student Award
Yudeysis Cores
Service to UCF Award
The Honorable Olga M. Calvet, ’71 | Senior Vice President/CFO, Palmas Services LLC
Distinguished Alumnus Award
Alex Martins, ’01 | CEO, Orlando Magic
Michelle Akers Award
Limbitless Solutions
Champions Award
J. Charles Gray

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners!

Read more stories about alumni at ucfalumni.com.