Explore updates from USF's President, university news and upcoming events.
March 11, 2025
From the President
Today marks a historic milestone for USF as we celebrate a transformational $40 million gift to establish the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing. The gift from tech entrepreneur and USF alumnus Arnie Bellini and his wife Lauren is the largest in our university’s history.
With this morning’s announcement, we are proud to hold the distinction of being the first university in the country to have a named college devoted to AI and cybersecurity together.
To help raise an additional $10 million and bring the total in philanthropic support for the new college to $50 million, the Bellinis have agreed to match every dollar donated to the college up to $5 million.
We are incredibly grateful to Arnie and Lauren for believing in our vision for this new college that officially opens in the fall and for helping to further establish the Tampa Bay region as a global powerhouse in the cybersecurity, technology and defense industries. Through their generous gift, we can support our university's mission to fill the talent pipeline in high-demand fields and conduct impactful research that leads to solutions for complex challenges.
Updates
• This morning, we learned that USF remains one of the nation's top universities in producing new U.S. utility patents, an achievement based on 82 new patents secured in 2024. USF ranks No. 16 among public universities, a reflection of the innovative spirit that is evident across our entire university.
• We are training the next generation of patent producers and innovators who recently displayed their wide array of projects at USF Health Research Day, the largest event of its kind at our university. With a record number of presentations, this event showcased the dedication and collective impact of our students and faculty researchers who are creating a healthier future.
• A big congratulations to our track and field team for winning their second consecutive American Athletic Conference Indoor Championship! This victory also earned our men's coaching staff their second straight Men's Coaching Staff of the Year honor. We look forward to cheering on those who qualified for the NCAA Indoor National Championships later this month.
• It was wonderful to see many of you as we welcomed thousands of Tampa Bay students and their families to campus for Bulls Family Fest, an event that allows them to engage with USF early in life and explore the many opportunities available through higher education. This was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate USF's strong connection to our communities, and I thank everyone who joined us and made the festivities a success.
• We continue to make progress on redeveloping the Fletcher Avenue property into a mixed-use destination that will benefit USF and the surrounding community. After a two-stage Invitation to Negotiate process, we have issued an intent to award to a team consisting of Capstone Development Partners, Capstone Communities, Aureate Development and Ellison Development. We will now work with these partners to finalize the project plans, hopefully sometime this fall, and will provide updates as the process moves forward.
The Wall Street Journal published a story about a historic gift to USF that establishes the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing.
The Tampa Bay Business Journal published a story on the opening of a new behavioral health hospital, a collaboration between Tampa General Hospital, LifePoint Health and USF.
ABC News quoted USF Associate Professor Ryan Carney in a story about a surge expected this spring in disease-spreading pests in U.S. cities that is attributed to unusual weather patterns.
The swift response and training of student veteran Teresa Booker, along with university police and first responders, saved a man's life during a recent cardiac emergency on USF's St. Petersburg campus. Their coordinated efforts ensured the man regained consciousness before being taken to the hospital. You can read the full story here.
