These four researchers are driven to think big and work with purpose as they address some of society’s biggest problems.
Highlights
- Pegasus Professorships are UCF’s highest faculty honors. This distinguished award is given annually at Founders’ Day.
- The UCF community is invited to celebrate these professors and additional honorees during the Founder’s Day Faculty Honors Celebration on Wednesday, April 1, in the Student Union Pegasus Ballroom.
- This year’s Pegasus Professors represent expertise across AI, nursing, cancer research and special education.
UCF’s faculty are renowned thinkers, doers and creators delivering high-quality education and leading-industry research with purpose. They are the campus culture-setters — inspiring ingenuity while upholding our mission to change lives and livelihoods.
The most exceptional among them are recognized annually with the distinction of the university’s highest honor, the Pegasus Professor award. This year, Hassan Foroosh (College of Computer Science and Engineering); Carmen Giurgescu (College of Nursing); Annette Khaled (College of Medicine); and Matthew Morino (College of Community Innovation and Education) become the newest inductees of this esteemed group.
Their work and research have been motivated by a pursuit to positively impact society — redefining our capabilities with artificial intelligence (AI) systems; improving pre-term birth outcomes for mothers and their babies; curing cancer; and enhancing quality of life for people with disabilities.
Each will be recognized during Founders’ Day, which is April 1 this year and receive $5,000.
Meet the College of Nursing UCF Pegasus Professor for 2026:
Carmen Giurgescu
Chatlos Foundation Endowed Chair in Nursing Associate Dean of Research
Professor of Nursing
One day your research will:
Reduce the rate of pre-term births. For the past 20 years, my research has been examining how social determinants of health influence maternal health and birth outcomes, including preterm birth. Pre-term infants, born at less than 37-weeks gestation, are more likely to have developmental delays, hearing problems and blindness than infants born at term. Their mothers are more likely to have stress, depression, and anxiety. I am focused on improving the health of mothers and their babies.
What motivates you to take this on?
I’ve always been passionate about obstetrics, even since childhood. One of my aunts was pregnant with my cousin when I was a young child, and she was a physician, so she felt comfortable telling me about fetal development. I came to the United States in 1990, and I started working in a mother-baby unit. I had the opportunity to talk with mothers and provide care for their babies. And that put me on the trajectory and my passion for pregnancy and birth outcomes.
In what ways do your students inspire you?
They come up with new, innovative ideas that I never thought of. It’s not a matter of just them learning from me, but me also learning from them. When I see their passion for what they are doing and when I see them being successful, it drives me to be more innovative, to keep pursuing opportunities, and be more resilient.
What contributions at UCF are you most proud of?
I came here in fall of 2019, and back then the College of Nursing had $1.7 million in research funding. In the 2024-25 academic year, we had $3.8 million. That’s a 124% increase in funding in five years. I am really proud of the commitment of our faculty and the interprofessional collaboration that has increased research and advanced scholarship in our college.
Article by Jenna Marina Lee
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