The
University of Central Florida Libraries is proud to announce that Stefani
Hammond is the 2019 recipient of the June S. Stillman Memorial Endowed
Scholarship.
Hammond
is a junior majoring in Anthropology. She plans to obtain a PhD, specializing
in Biological Anthropology, and to become a professor at an established
research university. A first-generation student, she began working as a student
assistant in Circulation Services in the John C. Hitt Library in August 2017.
Hammond’s
research career includes the McNair Scholars Program, the Research and
Mentorship Program (RAMP), and presentations at UCF Undergraduate Research
conferences. She has also participated in research fellowships, written
manuscripts for publication in academic research journals, and worked with
faculty mentor Dr. John Starbuck in UCF’s Morphometric Research Lab.
Hammond
has served as a mentor for UCF’s Resident Leadership Conference and is the
current Secretary of the Lambda Alpha Anthropology Honors Society. She has also
been a Resident Assistant and a Conference Assistant with the UCF Department of
Housing & Residence Life, a role with which she credits with teaching her
empathy and compassion in leadership.
This
is the 21st awarding of the Stillman scholarship, which is given to
a student or staff member of the UCF Libraries. June S. Stillman was one of the
first two librarians hired when UCF (then Florida Technological University)
opened in 1968. Her impact on students can be seen from a 25th
anniversary survey of the first graduating class, a majority of whom listed her
as a key figure from their student days. Stillman received her second master’s
degree in English Literature from UCF while working as the Head of Reference
Services at the Library. She retired in 1996 and tragically passed away in
1998. Her friends and family established the June S. Stillman Memorial Endowed
Scholarship in her honor. She is remembered as a consummate professional, the
epitome of gentility and compassion, and a proponent of lifelong learning.