{"id":26181,"date":"2026-04-20T17:07:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T17:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=26181&post_type=story"},"modified":"2026-04-20T17:17:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T17:17:37","slug":"ucfs-next-mission","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/ucfs-next-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF’s Next Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"

At UCF, the future isn\u2019t just imagined. It\u2019s built.<\/p>\n

When NASA needed more experts to accelerate space travel<\/a>, we created a university to train its future workforce.<\/p>\n

When the College Football Playoff invited only certain teams to compete for the national championship title, we changed the rules.<\/p>\n

When children needed more affordable prosthetics to grow with them, we engineered individualized bionic limbs.<\/p>\n

And now, with your help, the university\u2019s most ambitious campaign ever \u2014 Go For Launch<\/a> \u2014 will generate $3.5 billion to boost even more creators, doers and innovators<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how we\u2019ve already started.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Elevating Student Success<\/h2>\n

Mission: Bring tomorrow within reach for every Knight through scholarships, emergency funding and innovative support services.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Berline Civil is charting a course she once thought impossible.<\/p>\n

A first-generation college student, she used the Burnett Honors College\u2019s Inspire Scholarship as her launchpad \u2014 allowing her to attend UCF debt-free, study abroad in Spain and focus fully on discovery rather than day-to-day pressures.<\/p>\n

Now a junior majoring in biomedical sciences<\/a>, Civil is using the opportunities and support systems at UCF to define her own trajectory and uplift others in her orbit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Inspire Scholarship allows me to focus on my classes without putting my family in debt, but it\u2019s more than that,\u201d says Civil, who plans to become a physician. \u201cIt\u2019s allowed me to see a side of the world I never knew existed, and show my family and neighbors that life can be about more than just surviving.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the right systems in place, Go For Launch ensures more Knights like Civil can take flight and pursue a future once thought out of reach.<\/p>\n

\n

Fueling Discovery and Innovation<\/h2>\n

Mission: Accelerate UCF\u2019s role as a driver of breakthrough research<\/a> and real-world solutions by recruiting visionary faculty<\/a> and pioneering cutting-edge programs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Professor Christo Pirinsky is helping shape the future of finance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2018, UCF recruited him from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to pioneer something few universities had yet attempted: a program that blends finance, data science and emerging technologies to prepare students for an industry evolving at lightning speed.<\/p>\n

Since arriving at UCF, Pirinsky has built Florida\u2019s first master\u2019s program in fintech<\/a> \u2014 and one of the first in the nation.<\/p>\n

Go For Launch empowers experts like him to create dynamic new programs, ensuring UCF remains a catalyst for innovation for years to come.<\/p>\n

\n

Advancing Future Frontiers<\/h2>\n

Mission: Elevate UCF\u2019s national standing by enhancing campus spaces, technology and today\u2019s top student-athletes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kyle Coutray is exploring one of humanity\u2019s final frontiers: the human brain.<\/p>\n

While in high school, he witnessed a neighbor suffer a traumatic brain injury. That moment shaped his life\u2019s mission: developing technologies that restore movement for people with neurological injuries.<\/p>\n

Now pursuing UCF\u2019s medicine-engineering double degree program, Courtray is conducting research inside some of the university\u2019s most advanced research environments. In one lab, he helped develop a user-friendly platform for experimental neurorehabilitation. And in another lab, he led the development of an eye-tracking interface that translates subtle movements into digital control.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t just want to study the brain \u2014 I want to give people their lives back,\u201d Coutray says.<\/p>\n

By investing in cutting-edge labs and learning environments, Go For Launch makes it easier to\u00a0turn aspirations into life-changing technologies.<\/p>\n

\n

Building a Bolder Future<\/h2>\n

This campaign is unmistakably UCF, recognizing the full ecosystem of support that powers our growth \u2014 from philanthropy and transformational donor commitments to corporate partnerships<\/a>, research commercialization, licensing and revenue-generating ventures.<\/p>\n

At UCF, we know our future will be powered by partnerships, working side by side with industry, government and donors.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s what sets us apart: We dare to bring it all into orbit, collectively building a future the world has only begun to imagine.<\/p>\n

This mission is fueled by your support. Invest in a bolder vision for tomorrow. Make a gift today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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