CEO Howard Lipman on the FIU Foundation’s pivotal role advancing the university progress

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–By Todd Ellenberg MS ’91 In this issue of SOAR, we spoke with FIU Foundation CEO Howard Lipman on the growth of the FIU Foundation and its pivotal role in advancing the university’s progress. How has the FIU Foundation evolved since Next Horizon was launched, and how has it been instrumental to the campaign’s success? […]

Alumnus Abe Ovadia assists law students’ job hunt through generous gift to FIU Law’s Career Planning & Placement Office

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Abe Ovadia JD '09
–By Clara-Meretan Kiah ’15 After FIU Law alumnus Abraham “Abe” Ovadia graduated in 2009, he found himself in a bit of a rut. The nation was experiencing the worst economic recession since the Great Depression and the legal profession was retrenching. At the time, FIU’s College of Law had only graduated four classes and was […]

Participation matters: Alumni challenge gift made by two Panthers

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FIU alumni and students at a basketball game
–By Todd Ellenberg MS ’91 Panthers challenging Panthers. It’s helped encourage and inspire the pursuit of excellence at FIU over the decades. And now, a Panther couple has made a bold challenge to fellow graduates to step up and do their part for FIU. The alumni, who have chosen to remain anonymous, made a historic […]

Jaquan Starling approaches engineering with a humanist edge

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–By Jessica Borsi MFA ’19 “Engineering gives me the space to be logically creative,” is how Jaquan Starling, Honors College student and Interdisciplinary Engineering senior due to graduate this June, describes how he likes to work.   For Starling, engineering isn’t just about building better technology; it’s also about questioning the ethical and societal implications of […]

Endowments build excellence while providing financial stability

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–By Todd Ellenberg MS ’91 The nation’s most prestigious universities are consistently assessed by the size of their endowments, which are the financial bedrock of a university’s drive to develop and sustain excellence. They provide the vital margin to fund transformational scholarships, recruit and retain distinguished faculty, and support important programs, thereby elevating the excellence […]

Ignite co-founder Stephen Fain reflects on a decade of impact

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In this issue of SOAR, we speak with Stephen Fain, Ed.D., the founding director of Ignite, founding member of the FIU faculty, and professor emeritus in the former College of Education (now the School of Education and Human Development). Since its creation in 2011, Ignite has become the most successful faculty and staff fundraising campaign […]

Inspired by their daughter, Panther parents’ scholarship supports dietetics students completing unpaid internship requirement

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A proud Panther family is helping ease dietetics and nutrition master’s students’ financial burden as they complete their unpaid internship requirement for graduation. The path to a dietetics and nutrition master’s in the state of Florida is a formidable undertaking. Not only is the program itself highly competitive, but a state requirement for licensure can […]

Alumna pays it forward with scholarships to students pursuing globally focused research, practicing sustainable development

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Three-time alumna Jill Farrell reflects on her notable ties to FIU and why she chose to give back to the university. –By Charlie Crespo MA ’13 There’s an idea you’ve probably heard of called six degrees of separation. If you haven’t, it posits that two people are likely separated by six social connections – if […]

Inspired by support received as a student, medicine graduate becomes first Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine alum to establish endowed scholarship

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–By Clara-Meretan Kiah and Ileana Varela Dr. Michele Benjamin believes in paying it forward. As a student at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Dr. Benjamin benefitted from the financial support of several scholarships. Now she wants to give back. And so, the beneficiary has become a benefactor. Currently a family medicine resident at Miami’s […]