Two results-driven faculty in very different disciplines are UCF's Pegasus Professors for 2003. Anthropologist Diane Chase spends several months each year in the jungles of Belize uncovering secrets of the lost Mayan culture. Eric Van Stryland is focused on optics, physics and electrical and computer engineering as a professor and director of the School of Optics/Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers.

Chase, of the College of Arts and Science, along with Van Stryland, was named Pegasus Professor by Provost Gary Whitehouse at the Founders' Day Convocation April 2, 2003 in the Student Union. Pegasus Professor is the university's highest honor for faculty and comes with an award of $5,000.

In her 19 years at UCF, Diane Chase has gained renown, respect and $1.6 million in grants working with her husband, co-researcher and professor Arlen Chase, and students on digs in Caracol, Belize. Their field work and discoveries, including that the Maya had an urban/suburban lifestyle similar to our own, have been reported by the New York Times, National Geographic, the BBC and National Public Radio.

Eric Van Stryland, who came to UCF as a professor in 1987, was named director of the SO/CREOL in 1999. Twice, he revolutionized the measurement of nonlinear optical properties of materials, paving the way for major advancements in understanding how light interacts with matter. The SO/CREOL has partnered with industry to solve complex problems and to draw high-tech enterprises to the area. Just days before he was designated Pegasus Professor, it was announced that the state will develop a $10 million Florida Photonics Center of Excellence at UCF, built upon the successes of the SO/CREOL. Photonics is the technology behind fiber-optic communications.

Chase's and Van Stryland's success as researchers is grounded in their skill and dedication as teachers and mentors to undergraduate and graduate students, along with junior faculty. Chase is a champion of interdisciplinary studies and as coordinator of that academic program has teamed faculty from various disciplines to teach courses together. She has also returned and paired retired faculty with current faculty to enhance the classroom experience.

In nominating Van Stryland, vice president for research M.J. Soileau, said Van Stryland is "very demanding of his students, systematically grooming them to excel, while leading them to make presentations to prestigious scientific meetings and to be published in top journals as they earn doctoral degrees." "I once audited one of his classes for the sheer joy that comes from understanding a difficult topic through superior instruction, " said Soileau. What is less obvious, Soileau continued, is "the respect and affection that [Van Stryland's] students have for him," with one being married in his backyard and another naming their child after him.

"Diane's activity as a scholar with an international reputation has set an example for new faculty members to become productive scholars," José Fernández, Pegasus Professor 2001, wrote of Chase. "Despite her international recognition, she has remained a most unassuming and modest individual who leads by example and gives others the opportunity to grow."

The Pegasus Professorship was established in 2000 to honor faculty who have made an extraordinary contribution to the university through excellence in teaching, research and service. First to receive the award was Charles Dzuiban, of the College of Education. In 2001, José Fernández, of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Peter Delfyett, of the College of Engineering and Computer Science and School of Optics/ CREOL, both received the award. Biology's Llewellyn Ehrhart was Pegasus Professor 2002.