The University of Central Florida is fast becoming one of the leading metropolitan research universities in the nation. There has been tremendous progress and growth at UCF since its birth as Florida Technological University in 1963. Much of our progress would not have been possible if not for our loyal donors. Your support has allowed us enjoy countless successes including:

• Bloomberg BusinessWeek ranked UCF the number one public business school for return on investment for 2010. The research was based on annual tuition spent and the median based salary students receive upon graduation.

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• The University of Central Florida ranks third among the nation's universities for the strength and effect of its patents, according to an IEEE study. UCF moved up from seventh place last year in the rankings by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the world's largest technical professional society. The study looked at patents issued between January and December 2009 and calculated a ranking based on a variety of factors, including the number and types of citations a body of patents receives. UCF holds 56 patents issued during that period for technologies ranging from liquid-crystal lenses for use in faster and clearer flat-screen displays to a body-fluid identification kit that can be used in crime-scene analysis.

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• A team of UCF students won the steel bridge competition and placed second overall at the 2010 American Society of Civil Engineers' Southeast Student Conference. The overall performance was the best ever for the ASCE's UCF chapter. The students won the steel bridge event for the second straight year and placed third in the concrete canoe competition.

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• University of Central Florida asteroid expert Humberto Campins has been selected to help prepare a one-of-a-kind mission. The mission is unique because it aims to bring back to Earth a sample of a primitive, organic-rich asteroid that is not found in any meteorite collection. Campins, a UCF professor who has partnered with scientists around the world and is well known for his expertise in asteroids, is no stranger to space missions. Most recently, he worked with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

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• College of Business Administration alumna Lalita Booth, ‘09, was introduced to a national audience recently when she appeared in a segment titled “The American Spirit” on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. Correspondent Michelle Miller interviewed Lalita and delved into her remarkable “homeless to Harvard” story. Now at Harvard, Lalita is earning her master’s in business and public policy, and spends time on Capitol Hill, where she lobbies for single mothers.

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• "Hope for a Thorn," written and directed by UCF alum Erin Kitzinger, won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the 2010 Gasparilla International Film Festival. The film had its Florida premiere at the festival on March 20, 2010. Kitzinger accepted the award at the closing ceremonies, held at the historic Tampa Theater in an event that included appearances by Governor Charlie Crist and other notables.

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• UCF has earned the Engaged Campus Award from Florida Campus Compact, a coalition that promotes academics and civic engagement through campus-community partnership. At the College of Nursing alone, nearly 500 students and faculty members provide on average more than 30,000 hours of service in the community.

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• Conserving energy and making buildings more energy efficient helped UCF save at least $840,000 last year, and that number should more than double this year with the opening of the new Thermal Energy Storage Facility. The $840,000 in verified savings for 2009 does not include any savings generated by the new Thermal Energy Storage Facility, which opened in the late fall.