http://www.wst.ufl.edu/spivack.html  

     Tybel Burman Spivack (1908-1991) was what today might be called a 'non-traditional' student.  She completed her MA in anthropology at UF when she was 71, and finished her doctoral exams five years later at age 76.  

     Raised in Orlando the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants, Spivack was an accomplished pianist who raised orchids and worked actively for the Florida Symphony and local hospitals.  In the 50's she developed an interest in Pre-Columbian art, which became a consuming passion that led her to travel through South America.  The University of Florida and the Harn Museum became beneficiaries of her interest, and many of her donated pieces can be seen at the entrance to the Harn's Latin American collection.  

  
     Tybel and her husband, physician Abraham Henry Spivack, retired to Gainesville in 1964 and both returned to school.  After her husband's death in 1973, Tybel focused all of her energies on her academic pursuits, and upon completing her MA she was elected to Phi Kappa Phi.  Eventually, Tybel's increasing physical disability, which meant constant pain, limited the speed with which she could work. Time ran out before she could complete the last chapter of her PhD dissertation, which was to have been titled "The Generative Metaphors of Old Age."  

    Tybel's generosity to UF led to the 1995 formation of the Tybel Spivack Scholarship fund, designed to support older students in women's studies and language.  On September 10, at the Opening Reception for the Center for Women's Studies and Gender Research, the sixth annual Tybel Spivack Scholarship award was presented to 45 year-old Lynne Barolet-Fogarty, whose doctoral work in counselor education centers around gender and class issues.  Barolet-Fogarty is pictured above with anthropology professor and scholarship fund administrator M.J. Hardman, who was Spivak's doctoral supervisor.  
 

     In memory of the late H. Douglas Price, Markham Professor of Government at Harvard University, UF has established a new endowment in Political Science.  The H. Douglas Price Scholarship in American Government will be given annually to a UF political science graduate student to support study in American government.  Scholarship recipients will be chosen primarily on the basis of academic ability and secondarily on need.  
   
      Born in Bradenton, Florida, Price earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in political science at UF ('52 and '53).  After earning his doctorate at Harvard University, he taught briefly at UF, Columbia and Syracuse universities before joining the faculty at Harvard in 1966.  An expert on congressional elections and the effects of party change on the evolution of the House and Senate, he was author of The Negro and Southern Politics and The Rise and Decline in Anglo American Experience and co-author of Readings in Political Parties and Pressure Groups.  Price’s brother, John R. Price (CLAS '58), started the scholarship fund--currently a $20,000 endowment--to commemorate his older sibling, who passed away in 1996.  For information on contributing to the H. Douglas Price Scholarship in American Government, call Carter Boydstun at the University of Florida Foundation (352) 392-5472.  
 

     Undergraduate education remains the cornerstone of CLAS.  That's why one of our campaign goals is to find funding for seven new undergraduate scholarship awards.  Presently, 10 types of undergraduate awards are available, benefiting over 70 students annually.  The Hazen E. Nutter Scholarship, for example, provides $1,000 each year to four CLAS students who have demonstrated "strong academic ability and active involvement in extracurricular activities."  Nutter was principal of the P.K. Yonge Lab School and served as head of UF's Education Library from 1937 until his retirement in 1975.  During his lifetime he aided hundreds of financially strapped students with money to pay for books, tuition, and living expenses, and he even took many young students, like Ken Keene ('47), into his own home.  Keene started the Nutter Scholarship endowment in 1996 to commemorate the man who "had a profound influence" on him, and the fund continues to grow with additional gifts from Keene and other Nutter friends and beneficiaries.  

   
     DaJuan Norvell Johnson (pictured at right), a junior pursuing a dual degree in English and theater, is one of the four current Nutter recipients.  "The Nutter Scholarship came at a great time for me," Johnson explains.  "When my minority scholarships ran out at the end of my sophomore year, I was concerned that money worries might get in the way of my studies.  This award has alleviated that financial pressure, allowing me to focus more seriously on my work and to think ahead about future projects."  Johnson, presently starring in the Constans Theater production of Blues for Mr. Charlie, feels acting can open doors--especially for kids.  As a volunteer for the Gainesville Association for Creative Arts (GACA), he uses acting and improvisational skills to work with at-risk youths.  Johnson hopes to earn a Masters and eventually to integrate his stage experience into a teaching career.  "I'm passionate about both theater and literature," he says, "and I'd like to spark that same interest in my students."  

  
     After a four-year tour in the Air Force, Tom McGinty (pictured at left with his wife, Donna) graduated from UF in 1960 with a triple major in biology, psychology and chemistry and went on to earn a MD from the University of Miami.  In 1968, he began his radiology career in Ft. Lauderdale, where he still makes his home today.  

     Although he retired in 1996, McGinty remains extremely active.  "It's hard to find enough time to do all the things I'm interested in, " he says.   In addition to gardening, participating in a bowling league, and supervising the construction of his new home, McGinty has returned to the classroom to study the Bible and the history of theology.  The four-year program, offered through his Episcopal Church, is something the South Florida physician says he's "always wanted to do."  

     In spite of his busy schedule, McGinty still finds time to volunteer his services to UF as a member of the CLAS Major Gifts Committee, and he adamantly encourages alumni giving.  "Alumni should contribute money to UF," he stresses, "because their education was a big gift from the taxpayers of Florida.  Every graduate should give something back."  

     "If UF hadn't been there for me when I got out of the service," he continues, "and had it not been as cheap as it was--really cheap--I don't know if I would have ever achieved all that I have.   I've had a wonderful life.  Maybe I would have had a wonderful life anyway, but it certainly was enhanced by my UF education."  

     Best of all, though, McGinty practices what he preaches.  He and his wife, Donna, a retired radiological technician, endowed a CLAS scholarship fund (which they add to each year), and recently gave the College a large estate gift. "I started giving back to UF in '74," explains McGinty.   Of course, it didn't take much arm-twisting to convince Doctor McGinty of the benefits of supporting the liberal arts and sciences.  "I believe that one of the biggest gifts one can give is to help support people in making choices in their lives and careers," he says.  "I  hope our contributions can provide scholarships and as much improvement to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences as is possible."  
  

 

     Archie Carr, a zoology professor at UF for 50 years, was a beloved figure on campus and a respected international authority on sea turtles.  To ensure the continuation of Carr's important work, the University created the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research in 1986.  When Carr passed away in 1987, Karen Bjorndal , a young professor who had been Carr's graduate student, was chosen to succeed him as Director of the Center.  "Our goal," explains Bjorndal, "is to provide research results that aid in the conservation of sea turtles around the world.  We conduct research in the United States, the Bahamas and the Azores, and have trained many students and future biologists in sea turtle conservation."  

  

  
     CLAS is also proud to announce that, in addition to being named the first Archie Carr Commemorative Term Professor (a privately-funded College award for excellence in teaching and research),  Bjorndal recently received a $50,000 gift from Ocean Fund, a division of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.  The Ocean Fund award will help Bjorndal and the Center study the origin of sea turtle mortalities on the lower Atlantic coast and in the Bahamas through the use of DNA sequencing.