Senate Bill sb2970

    Florida Senate - 2007        (NP)                      SR 2970

    By Senator Oelrich





    14-2064-07

  1                        Senate Resolution

  2         A resolution honoring the University of

  3         Florida.

  4  

  5         WHEREAS, the University of Florida, a member of the

  6  prestigious American Association of Universities, is the best

  7  public university in Florida and one of the top 20 public

  8  universities in the nation, as measured by U.S. News & World

  9  Report, and

10         WHEREAS, the university is the state's leading research

11  and educational institution, drawing $518 million in research

12  grants during the last fiscal year and offering more than 100

13  bachelor's degree programs and more than 200 graduate and

14  professional degree programs, and

15         WHEREAS, these programs make the university, together

16  with its Health Science Center and Institute of Food and

17  Agricultural Sciences, one of the most comprehensive in the

18  nation, and

19         WHEREAS, the University of Florida was selected last

20  year as the site for two Centers of Excellence for research on

21  energy and nanotechnology and one National Science Foundation

22  research center on high performance computing, and

23         WHEREAS, the University of Florida is home to many of

24  the state's most state-of-the-art research facilities,

25  including the recently completed Cancer & Genetics Research

26  Complex, the largest research building in the State of

27  Florida, and

28         WHEREAS, the University of Florida is the alma mater of

29  Bob Vila, host of several nationally televised

30  home-improvement programs, including "Bob Vila," "Bob Vila's

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    Florida Senate - 2007        (NP)                      SR 2970
    14-2064-07




 1  Home Again," and "This Old House" and a 1969 graduate of UF's

 2  College of Journalism and Communications, and

 3         WHEREAS,  the university is a major economic engine

 4  creating an economic ripple effect worth more than $4 billion,

 5  many times the state's investment, and

 6         WHEREAS, the university serves as a vital engine for

 7  the state's technology economy, with companies based on its

 8  technologies contributing nearly $500 million annually to

 9  Florida's economy, and

10         WHEREAS, the University of Florida is the

11  top-performing public institution at transferring its research

12  to the marketplace according to the prestigious Milken

13  Institute 2006 rankings, and

14         WHEREAS, the university is home to some of the nation's

15  top faculty members, including more than two dozen who have

16  been selected to the National Academies, the Institute of

17  Medicine, or a counterpart in a foreign nation, and the

18  university has more than 50 eminent-scholar chairs, and

19         WHEREAS, the university, as one of the five largest in

20  the country, attracts some of the best students in the nation,

21  ranking 1st among universities worldwide in the numbers of

22  International Baccalaureate students who attend its campus,

23  and producing the second-highest number of PhDs in the nation,

24  and

25         WHEREAS, the university's students are steadily

26  becoming more diverse, with 13 percent of its freshman class

27  African-Americans and 14 percent Hispanic, and the University

28  of Florida in 2006 awarded the third highest number of PhDs to

29  African-Americans among all public universities, and

30         WHEREAS, UF athletes are among the most talented in the

31  nation, and UF most recently finished sixth in national

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    Florida Senate - 2007        (NP)                      SR 2970
    14-2064-07




 1  all-sports rankings, the 22nd straight year that Gator

 2  athletics have placed in the top 10, and

 3         WHEREAS, the University of Florida is the first, and

 4  currently the only, university in history to hold football and

 5  basketball national championship titles within the same year,

 6  NOW, THEREFORE,

 7  

 8  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

 9  

10         That the Florida Senate celebrates April 11, 2007, as

11  "The University of Florida Day" in Tallahassee, in honor of

12  the University of Florida's contributions to the state, the

13  nation, and the world.

14         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution,

15  with the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to Dr. J.

16  Bernard Machen, President of the University of Florida, as a

17  token of the sentiments of the Florida Senate.

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