#barbaradrake

[adayephoto]

The Fall and Rise of Damon Woodard, ECE Associate Professor - Powering the New Engineer

How Damon Woodard, Ph.D., rose from being a high school dropout to become the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in computer engineering

The Fall and Rise of Damon Woodard, UF ECE Associate Professor

This story about the Fall and Rise of Damon Woodard, an associate professor in the University of Florida's Electrical and Computer Engineering department was originally published in the Winter 2021 issue. Woodard recently shared the never-before-told story of his incredible journey from being a high school dropout to a $20M-funded biometrics researcher during UF's summer 2023 commencement ceremony. My colleague Barbara Drake interviewed him and I supplied the portraits of Woodard and his wife.

Read more about Damon Woodard's story at: https://www.eng.ufl.edu/newengineer/news/the-fall-and-rise-of-damon-woodard/

[weary-hart]

30/30 2015 day 18

As a child new teeth meant a glass full of quarters on the dresser. But here I am getting a sunburn, become a lizard on the concrete patio. A melting popsicle (still in the package) icing the abscess  (pocket of bacterial puss) heralding the arrival of my bottom left wisdom tooth. This us not the gum breaking peak excitement of third grade. I'm twenty five. And my jaw is growing an enamel muncher against gravity. I pray for the insurance coverage. I pray for solid food. I pray for sleep. I pray for wisdom.