Learning to lead

MHA student Valerie Newman is the recipient of the Fleury Yelvington Fellowship

Valerie Newman’s interest in health care was first sparked as a teen when she volunteered at a large health care system in south Florida. A few years later, she learned about careers in health care administration, which would allow her to combine her interests in business and finance with her passion for health care.

Now a second-year student in the college’s master’s in health administration program, Newman enjoys the daily collaboration she experiences with her fellow M.H.A. students and is grateful to have the chance to apply classroom knowledge and skills to her work in the department of anesthesiology at the UF College of Medicine. Another highlight is receiving the Fleury Yelvington Fellowship.

“As a first generation college student, I am independently navigating my way through college financially,” Newman said. “Receiving this scholarship has helped to relieve my financial burden and allowed me the opportunity to focus on what I am really passionate about: education and health care.”

Fleury Yelvington, a 1985 UF M.H.A./M.B.A. graduate, said the idea for establishing the scholarship came unexpectedly.

“Remarkably, I decided to create a scholarship in the college because at a reunion a fellow classmate said, ‘You’ve been so successful … you really need to do something significant for future classes.’ It was a blunt, but profound epiphany to me,” she said. “As future students establish and grow their careers, I hope the call to action of my colleague inspires them too.”

To learn how you can support students like Newman, contact Sam Wagner, the college’s development director, at samuel.wagner@ufl.edu or 352-273-6360.