A Day of Gratitude

Take a journey with us as we reflect on two years of exceptional work, guided by UF’s core values of excellence, discovery and innovation, inclusion, community and stewardship.

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Core Values

Core Values

Excellence

Excellence is not based on a singular act or moment. It’s about an unrelenting drive to expand and enhance what we as Gators are called to do.

Image: This image represents the excellence of care that our clinical care teams provide to patients at UF Health. The patient, Toño Mauri received a double lung transplant at UF Health after COVID-19 damaged his lungs. After spending months in multiple hospitals, the lung transplant team here at UF was able to perform his double lung transplant, and our post-transplant multidisciplinary care team was able to facilitate his recovery to allow him to go home and be reunited with his family. - © University of Florida, Photo by Jesse S. Jones

Core Values

Discovery and Innovation

As the pandemic evolved, UF scientists pivoted, proposing responses big and small — many from makeshift home labs.

Image: Masked, distanced, and taking all safety precautions, students took to the classrooms and laboratories as soon as they were allowed back into them. The University of Florida is a world leader in scientific discovery and innovation, and due to the leadership by resilient and adaptable faculty, staff, and students, UF

Core Values

Inclusion

The pandemic highlighted new areas of opportunity, and we’re thankful for the compassionate and empathetic care providers who stepped up and stepped into that role. We’re better for it.

Image: During the summer of 2020, while everyone was still attempting to adjust to the realities of the pandemic, there was an explosion of protests after the killing of George Floyd. In a demonstration of solidarity with the social justice movement, faculty, staff, and students held a White Coats for Black Lives demonstration in the Academic Health Center. Participants from all six colleges and UF Health took a knee and observed a moment of silence for 10 minutes - © University of Florida, Photo by Jesse S. Jones - © University of Florida, Photo by Jesse S. Jones

Core Values

Community

When life changed so drastically, our daily routines were upended, giving us all an opportunity to reach beyond our normal boundaries.

Image: As mobile Covid testing became a necessity, UF Health stepped up to deliver numerous remote site drive through testing operations. At the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred, Florida, students, staff, and faculty were given the opportunity to receive Covid tests where they wouldn

Core Values

Stewardship

While the virus has been — and continues to be — the most serious test UF Health has faced, we’ve led the way in helping the community, and our great university, adapt to the ongoing challenge.

Image: Despite a global pandemic, Florida Sea Grant persisted in applying science to provide solutions for some of Florida

A Year in Review

2020-2021 Reflections

Thinking about the impact of COVID-19 can stir a variety of emotions. Whether we want to admit it or not, we’re fundamentally different than we were at the start of the pandemic ago. But we’ve learned we are resilient.

A Year of Change: two people bump elbows in greeting on campus