Before the lectures, the office hours and the research, UF professors were in your exact position: pledging fraternities, living on campus, looking for opportunities. It was all done while wearing the latest clothing, glasses and hairstyles, of course. You've seen hundreds of before-and-after celebrity pictures. Now, here's the opportunity to see some of UF's professors then and now.
Joslyn Ahlgren, applied physiology and kinesiology
Joslyn Ahlgren joined the College of Health and Human Performance in 2009 and has since garnered a reputation as a passionate, intelligent professor. She always knew that she wanted to teach, but Ahlgren didn't expect science. Her sophomore year at Kansas State University — after avoiding dissections all throughout middle and high school — Ahlgren experienced her first dissection. It wasn't an insect or amphibian, though; it was a human.
Paul Basler, music
His music students label him as funny, enthusiastic and dedicated. Internationally, Paul Basler is recognized for his books on horn pedagogy and involvement in arts organizations. But before graduating from Florida State University, Basler performed in the opening ceremonies for Epcot in 1982 as a member of the Epcot New World Brass Band.
Maria Coady, education
Even during her undergraduate years, Maria Coady delved into bilingualism. In 1988, while an undergraduate at the University of New Hampshire, Coady was studying with the Organization of American States in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after the country's return to a democratically elected government. She lived with an Argentinean family, and to earn money (because militias were around the city), she sold leather clothing in a store outside of Buenos Aires.
Richard Lutz, marketing
To thousands of students, marketing professor Richard Lutz is known for his distance-learning courses (and drilling a hole in a textbook to literally show a marketing concept). To his college friends, though, Lutz was known as Hulk. He weighed a slim 160 pounds during his sophomore year at the University of Illinois. A fan of the Incredible Hulk, he wore a T-shirt donning one of his favorite superheroes to a fraternity pledge event. Lutz said brothers later nicknamed him Hulk, and his best friend from those fraternity days still calls him Hulk.
Steven Noll, history
This year, Steven Noll was one of three UF professors named "The Best 300 Professors" by the Princeton Review. Say his name, and students will pick out their favorite jokes from class. At the College of William and Mary, Noll and friends pulled one of the slickest hoaxes in college basketball. They made their own All-American basketball team after being sick of the hype, created a fictitious organization, made up an old-time writer and named the award after him. They picked 15 players for their team and mailed them certificates, appearing in papers all over the country. When Noll visited Notre Dame, he saw the certificate they sent to a player right next to Heisman trophies.
Sergei Shabanov, mathematics
Like Noll, Sergei Shabanov made “The Best 300 Professors” list by the Princeton Review this year. His courses blend math and physics, subjects he learned from leading physicists and mathematicians at his high school in Soviet Russia, Kolmogorov High School at the Moscow State University. It selected gifted students in both subjects from all over the Soviet Union.
Nicole Stedman, agricultural leadership
Nicole Stedman spearheads the leadership minor, becoming a familiar face among UF's involved students. It's not too far from her college years. Stedman graduated from UF with a degree in Human Resource development, the original Family, Youth and Community Sciences major, and lived on campus in the Tolbert Area.
Front row, far right.
Nicole Stedman. 2010 CALS Awards Candidate.
