UF Heisman trophy winners Tim Tebow, Steve Spurrier and Danny Wuerffel are no strangers to students. Their names are mentioned in conversation, used in articles and even carved on plaques outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
But UF professor Emilio Bruna wants to add more names to that dialogue.
Bruna started a Change.org petition about a week ago in hopes of adding statues of UF Nobel Prize winners.
“It’s just about trying to get the same kind of high profile for our academic students as well as our athletic students,” Bruna said.
The petition titled, “How About Statues To Honor UF’s Nobel Laureates?” seeks to honor UF science alumni Robert Grubbs and Marshall Warren Nirenberg.
Nirenberg received a Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1968 for his work in genetics.
In 2005, Grubbs won a Nobel Prize in chemistry for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis.
Both alumni received their bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UF.
UF accounting junior Luis Montoya, 20, is one of more than 60 supporters who have signed the petition so far.
“Being a Gator is about seeing those from before you,” Montoya said.
In addition to seeing these statues, Montoya said he would like to see more famous alumni attend speaking engagements at UF and network with current students.
There are no plans currently in place to add the statues.
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 4/14/2015 under the headline “Petition proposes statues for UF’s Nobel Prize winners”]
