‘Most Powerful’ List Features COS Alumni

Story by UCF Today

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PHOTO COURTESY OF ORLANDO MAGAZINE

Several UCF College of Sciences alumni were listed on Orlando magazine’s 2016 list of the region’s 50 most powerful people.

The July edition of the magazine for the first time divides the 13th-annual list into categories, ranging from government and politics to philanthropy and community voices.

In GOVERNMENT and POLITICS,  Marcos Marchena, ’82, chairman of UCF’s Board of Trustees, is No. 7.

Marchena graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from UCF in 1982. As chairman of the trustees, he has worked diligently to win state approval for the UCF Downtown project. He is managing shareholder in Marchena and Graham and is general counsel for the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority.

In TOURISM and TRANSPORTATION, Walt Disney World president George A. Kalogridis, ’76, hold the second spot.

Kalogridis, a ’76 sociology graduate at UCF, leads the largest single-site employer in the country with 74,000 cast members. Disney World helped local causes last year by contributing $5.6 million as well as $38 million of in-kind support.

In PHILANTHROPY and COMMUNITY VOICES, former Florida Rep. Dick J. Batchelor, a ’71 political science graduate, is actively involved in numerous social causes, including homelessness, domestic violence and children.

Joe Kilsheimer, a ’79 journalism graduate, is mayor of Apopka, Orange County’s second-largest city. He was named in Orlando magazine’s 15 PEOPLE TO WATCH in Central Florida.

Read the full story on UCF Today including all of the University of Central Florida leaders and alumni recognized.



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