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USF Alumni Association announces 2025 award recipients

| Jo-Lynn Brown
USF Foundation Board of Directors 06 20 2024

The University of South Florida Alumni Association has announced six distinguished honorees for its 2025 USF Alumni Awards, recognizing excellence in professional achievement, service and impact on the university community.

This year’s Distinguished Alumni Awards will be presented to:

Rick Brandt (’91, Economics), chief executive officer of BRANDT

How Rick Brandt took his small-town, family business, and turned it into a global Powerhouse

Gigi Fernández (’03, Psychology), Olympic gold medalist and tennis champion

Gayle Sheppard (’00, Business Administration), global tech executive

Service awards include:

Dr. H. Ronald Kennedy (’79, Medicine), receiving the Donald A. Gifford Service Award

David Goldstein and Joanne Nelson, recipients of the Class of ’56 Award for decades of support and volunteerism

The awards will be presented during the USF Alumni Awards Gala on October 16, in Tampa. For event details and more on each recipient, visit usfalumni.org.

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