This afternoon some 40 faculty, staff members and spouses attended a reception at the Chair’s house honoring Albert Matheny and Michael Martinez for their tremendous record of service to the department and the university. Albert retired recently after more than 30 years at UF, during which he made numerous major contributions to the life of the department and the university, including a 14 year stint as Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Director of the Academic Advising Center. Michael, our outgoing Chair, has been at UF since 1985 and he, too, has served the department and university in myriad major ways over the years. Michael deserves special recognition for providing the department with calm, steady leadership during the past three years, steering our ship through gales of budget cuts, attrition etc. Michael will surely continue to greatly contribute to departmental life in the future.
