Raimundi-Ortiz Honored as One of UCF’s Luminary Leaders
Quoted from the full article:
UCF recognized 45 faculty members Wednesday during the university’s inaugural Luminary Award presentations for making an impact on the world.
The event, themed like Oscar night, honored those who are academic leaders in their field and are making contributions to the world that are having a significant impact.
“Merriam-Webster defines a luminary as a person of prominence or brilliant achievement,” said President John C. Hitt during the ceremony. “At UCF, we dare to dream big. As expressed in our Collective Impact Strategic Plan, we use the power of scale and the pursuit of excellence to solve tomorrow’s great challenges and make a better future for our students and society. Key to our mission is a vibrant and dynamic faculty. In various ways, the honorees help fulfill our vision of enhancing ever more lives and livelihoods through the power of higher education.”
Individuals and teams are changing people’s lives in a variety of ways such as:
developing a more effective method of helping veterans with PTSD, giving them and their families hope for a normal life once again
creating more effective methods to teach English as a Second Language, which are being modeled around the world
helping shape the World Health Organization’s guidelines for communicating risk during public health emergencies
The new awards are meant to not only recognize funded research, but also the many kinds of creative works and scholarships that are just as important to the well-being of our society, said Elizabeth Klonoff, vice president of the Office of Research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies. She and Cynthia Young, a former vice provost, created the Luminary Awards.
Deans, chairs and directors from across the university nominated candidates based on the nominees’ past three years of performance. A panel from the Office of Research selected the winners.
Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz, College of Arts & Humanities
Raimundi-Ortiz is a gifted artist who is best known for her performance pieces. In her Queens series, she develops regal characters who speak to broken relationships, racial intolerance, anxiety and other issues often affected and defined by race and ethnicity. Her work was showcased this past summer at the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.