Oct. 28, 2025 — More than 400 University of Florida College of Medicine alumni and their friends and family returned to their old stomping grounds earlier this month for 2025 Alumni Weekend.

Classes celebrated their 10th through 65th commencement anniversaries during the event, which allowed alumni and their families to tour the campus, hear from a panel of research faculty about their work, attend a scholarship lunch and tailgate ahead of the Gators football game against Mississippi State — with the opportunity to wrestle a mechanical alligator.

Members in the Class of 2000 had the highest attendance rate.

Stephanie Walker, M.D. ’00, said she can hardly believe 25 years have already passed since graduation from medical school.

“When I see my friends and classmates, it feels like no time has passed,” said Walker, a family medicine physician at Prisma Health in Greer, South Carolina. “While I enjoyed spending time with my classmates and catching up during Alumni Weekend, I also really enjoyed meeting some of the medical students and learning about their experiences.”

Patricia Calhoun, M.D. ’89, the president of the UF College of Medicine Alumni Board of Directors, addressed attendees during a dinner celebrating milestone graduation anniversaries.

“We appreciate everyone’s efforts to celebrate with us,” said Calhoun, a family medicine physician in Jacksonville, Florida. “Everyone here has their own special memories of their time as a medical student. And today’s students are making their own memories too and forging their own path in our shared profession.”

College of Medicine interim Dean Jennifer Hunt, M.D., M.Ed., spoke with alumni and guests about the changes they may have noticed when coming to campus for the first time in what might have been decades, from new buildings and expanded programs to an increase in traffic down Archer Road.

But so much has stayed the same, Hunt said, from the value of teaching to the sense of community built during medical school.

“Maybe the modalities have been modified, but the time-honored gift of imparting knowledge from teacher to learner, the deeply meaningful exchanges, the joy and pride to watch our students grow and learn, the deeply meaningful relationships that grew out of some of the most intense and challenging times of your life — that hasn’t changed,” she said.

Two additions to the College of Medicine’s Wall of Fame were also announced during Alumni Weekend: Richard Bucciarelli, M.D. ’74, and Sonja Rasmussen, M.D. ’90.

Bucciarelli, who received the honor posthumously, was a respected national health policy leader, neonatologist and children’s health advocate who worked tirelessly to benefit the health of children across the state and nation.

He served in several leadership roles at UF, including chief of the Division of Neonatology, chair of the Department of Pediatrics and vice president of government relations. He played a crucial role in the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Federal Government Affairs and helped engineer a health insurance proposal aimed at providing universal coverage for children until age 23.

Bucciarelli also served as president of the Florida Chapter of the Academy of Pediatrics and was a fervent supporter of Children’s Miracle Network before his passing in 2015. His family accepted Bucciarelli’s Wall of Fame award on his behalf.

Rasmussen, a professor in the Department of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is a 20-year veteran of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where she held several scientific leadership roles during public health emergencies. She previously spent four years on UF faculty a professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Epidemiology, and Obstetrics and Gynecology and as the director of the Precision Health Program.

In 2009, Rasmussen was named a “Health Protection Hero” by the CDC.  She is an author on over 300 peer-reviewed publications and is the lead editor of “The CDC Field Epidemiology Manual,” released by Oxford University Press in 2019.

Photos by Matt Pendleton Photography and Nate Guidry