The University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) is the college for the

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...

and

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

s of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, and the largest of the university's 16 academic colleges. Most

core curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

classes, 43 majors, and 47 minors are part of the college. The university reports that more than 700 faculty members teach at least 35,000 students each year, with more than 11,000

undergraduates Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

pursuing a degree from the college and 1,500

graduate students Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and str ...

are also attaining

graduate degrees Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

in the college. The college faculty have received a variety of national and international awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, Guggenheim Fellowships, Senior Fulbright Awards,

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

Fellowships,

Presidential Young Investigator Award The Presidential Young Investigator Award (PYI) was awarded by the National Science Foundation of the United States Federal Government. The program operated from 1984 to 1991, and was replaced by the NSF Young Investigator (NYI) Awards and Presiden ...

s and

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

Fellowships. They hold memberships in the National Academy of Sciences, the Nobel Prize Committee, the

Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for prom ...

and the Royal Societies of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

br>
Liberal Arts and Sciences students have numerous scholarships and awards for their academic performance. During the past several years, CLAS students have been recognized as a Rhodes Scholar, Barry Goldwater Scholars, Harry Truman Scholars, and James Madison Scholars.

National rankings according to US News (2020 edition)

Departments

Research Centers and Institutes

Additional Programs and Centers

Deans of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Research

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences was awarded $40 million in annual research expenditures in sponsored research for 2018. Liberal Arts and Sciences researchers have been involved in groundbreaking research in a variety of disciplines. Their achievements include contributions of the algorithm and input optics for

LIGO The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool. Two large ...

, which has detected several "chirps" of gravitational waves produced by colliding black holes. Other significant research includes Project Implicit, which studies implicit bias. The college includes experts on pressing topics such as climate change.

Alumni

Notable alumni of the college include politicians Bob Graham,

Debbie Wasserman Schultz Deborah Wasserman Schultz (née Wasserman; born September 27, 1966) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from , first elected to Congress in 2004. A member of the Democratic Party, she is a former chair of the Democrat ...

, and Marco Rubio; former ambassador Dennis K. Hays, Kathy Fields, co-creator of

Proactiv Proactiv is an American brand of skin-care products developed by two American dermatologists, Katie Rodan and Kathy A. Fields, and launched in 1995 by Guthy-Renker, a California-based direct marketing company, that is endorsed by famous celebr ...

and Rodan + Fields skincare; Nobel Prize-winning chemist

Robert Grubbs Robert Howard Grubbs ForMemRS (February 27, 1942 – December 19, 2021) was an American chemist and the Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. He was a co-recipient ...

; award-winning authors

Kate DiCamillo Katrina Elizabeth DiCamillo (born March 25, 1964) is an American children's fiction author. She has published over 25 novels, including '' Because of Winn-Dixie'', ''The Tiger Rising'', ''The Tale of Despereaux'', ''The Miraculous Journey ...

and James Grippando, and Pulitzer-winning journalist

Dexter Filkins Dexter Price Filkins (born May 24, 1961) is an American journalist known primarily for his coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for '' The New York Times''. He was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for his dispatches from Afghanis ...

Notes

External links

Official website for the CollegeYtori MagazineCLAS Academic Advising infoCapital Campaign for the College''Gainesville Sun'' article about the Dean's search
{{DEFAULTSORT:Florida Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of * Liberal Arts and Sciences Liberal arts colleges at universities in the United States Educational institutions established in 1910 1910 establishments in Florida