UF professor and research director Anne Donnelly received an email from the White House on Thursday, and she was instructed not to tell anyone but her immediate family about it.
“You don’t want to tick off the White House,” she said, laughing.
Donnelly is one of 14 mentors President Barack Obama named as recipients for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.
She was happy to share the news with students and colleagues when it was released the next day.
Donnelly and the other recipients will be honored at the White House later this year and will receive $10,000 from the National Science Foundation.
“The award is fun, but mentoring is the rewarding part,” said Donnelly, who holds a Ph.D. in science education.
Donnelly is the director of the UF Center for Undergraduate Research, and she has mentored UF students since she graduated from the university in 1996.
“Anyone who meets her absolutely loves her because she’s always willing to help in any way that she can,” said Stephanie Forgas, one of Donnelly’s former students and an office assistant at the research center.
Forgas said she first met Donnelly when she was a sophomore attending a Machen Florida Opportunity Scholars orientation.
Now a first-year health education and behavior graduate student, Forgas said Donnelly encouraged her to go to graduate school.
“She’s just very influential as far as my development as a student,” the 23-year-old said.
Donnelly said she developed and ran the South East Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate, which helped 80 minority graduate students in science and engineering fields earn their Ph.D.s.
These graduates now work at companies like Intel and government agencies such as the Department of Agriculture, she said. They also hold positions at laboratories and universities across the country.
Donnelly said she still keeps in contact with her mentees.
“In the age of Facebook, it’s easy to be in touch with people all over the country,” she said.
Donnelly was nominated for the award by colleagues and a former student in 2012, and she said she had no way of knowing when the White House would decide.
Donnelly said she credits much of her success to her mentor, Brij Moudgil, a UF Department of Materials Science and Engineering professor.
Supportive mentors are important, she said.
“Everyone should have one or two of those, and (Moudgil) was mine,” Donnelly said.
Since then, Donnelly said she’s paid it forward by helping so many students. They are determined to succeed and appreciative of help, she said.
“I’ve got the best job on the planet,” she said.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 - 4 on 3/31/2015 under the headline “White House recognizes UF prof for mentoring”]
