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Olympic Knights: Dalhausser Dreams of Recapturing Gold

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6-11-16 Phil Dalhausser celebrates vs Gibb Patterson quarterfinals
Photo courtesy of FIVB

 

By Jenna Marina

ORLANDO, Fla. — UCF alumnus Phil Dalhausser is back at it again for Team USA. The 2002 business graduate and beach volleyballer is set to compete in his third Summer Olympics this month as the Rio Games kick off Friday.

Dalhausser is one of three UCF alumni who will participate in the Olympics this year. He is striving for another gold medal (he was crowned champion at the 2008 Beijing Games) and is joined by Aline Reis ’11 (Brazil, soccer) and Ricardo Gouveia ’14 (Portugal, golf), who are making their first Olympic Games appearances.

Dalhausser was introduced to beach volleyball at Daytona Beach’s Mainland High School where his coach liked to have his team practice on the sand to give the squad an advantage in the indoor game. His fondness for the game grew at UCF where he played club indoor volleyball and found ways to get extra practice on sand.

“They had sand courts on campus and Orlando had a nice little volleyball community and almost every night those courts were packed. So I would be at the courts probably more often than when I was in class,” he told the Orlando Sentinel. “Any time I could get a game in, I’d be down there playing. I guess you could say I was obsessed with it.”

In his first Olympics appearance in 2008, he not only won gold but was also named Most Outstanding Player for beach competition. He was honored as USA Volleyball’s Beach Team of the Year in 2015 with his partner Nick Lucena. The teammates promoted the Road to Rio on NBC’s The Today Show in April.

In addition to his many career highlights, he is a Michelle Akers Award winner (2009), which is the university’s highest honor given to alumni who have brought international, positive attention to UCF through their accomplishments.

Dalhausser, 36, and a father of two, has publicly said he expects these Games to be his last, so he has his heart set on making them unforgettable.

“There’s never been a male player who’s won two gold medals on the beach side, so I’d like to be the first to do that. That’d be pretty sweet,” he told the Daytona Beach News Journal.

Beach volleyball is set to compete at Copacabana Beach from Aug. 6 until Aug. 18. Dalhausser’s first match is scheduled for Aug. 7 against Tunisia at 3:30 p.m. and will stream live on www.nbcolympics.com.


College of Business Administration

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College of Business Administration Associate Dean Foard Jones presents the college's 2014 Professional Achievement Award to Mary Merrell Bailey, '85, '89, '01, '07. (PHOTO: Brandon Chestnut)
College of Business Administration Associate Dean Foard Jones presents the college’s 2014 Professional Achievement Award to
Mary Merrell Bailey, ’85, ’89, ’01, ’07.
(PHOTO: Brandon Chestnut)
Mary Merrell Bailey, J.D., ’85, ’89, ’01, ’07 | Managing Partner, Your Caring Law Firm

Professional Achievement Award 2014

College of Business Administration alumna and Dean’s Advisory Board member Merrell Bailey didn’t stop learning after earning her first degree from UCF. After studying to become a financial analyst, she returned for her master’s in taxation and accounting, while holding a CFO position at a banking software company.

Learn more about Merrell:

Keep on Truckin’

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UCF alumni donate (literal) tons to UCF Football

UCFtruck-web

Giving | Mike Maudlin, ’03, and Darren Cunningham, ’95, Maudlin International Trucks

By Jason Cannon

Alumni support their schools in many different ways, but showing up on game day and making an occasional donation wasn’t good enough for Mike Maudlin, ’03, and Darren Cunningham, ’95, two UCF grads who pegged their football fandom at a 10 out of 10.

Maudlin, a business major, and Cunningham, an accounting major, wanted to be sure their football team was able to travel to away games in style by providing the team use of a brand new truck and trailer.

“We want to support them,” says Maudlin, vice president and general manager of Maudlin International Trucks. “They had a great season last year.”

This season, the Knights have already hauled their equipment from Orlando to Missouri, Houston and Connecticut on Maudlin’s truck and trailer, with [final] stops in South Florida and East Carolina before the season ends Dec. 4, capping an 8,500-mile journey.

The truck is an 2015 International LoneStar, fully customized and upgraded, sparing no expense to get the Knights on the road.

“We wanted to go to the top of the top for the tractor set up,” Maudlin says.

“For us, we wanted to offer to our alma mater something that would suit them the best in terms of being able haul its football equipment and to showcase the program,” Cunningham adds.

The truck and trailer (a 43-footer they bought specifically for the school) are owned by Maudlin International, which also provided the driver.

“We paid for the wrap — For everything,” Cunningham says. “The only thing they stroke us a check for is the gas. The insurance and everything falls on us.”

The trailer will remain with the school for storage after the season, but the truck will come back to Maudlin and go into the company’s rental fleet.

As a token of appreciation, UCF provided the dealership with a handful of tickets, which the company uses to invite customers to tailgates and build networking opportunities, and also helps Maudlin International establish a business relationship with the school and other program supporters.

“It helps us showcase just how good our product is and how we can back it up,” Maudlin says.

Watch time-lapse video of the truck being wrapped in black and gold:

This article originally appeared in an Oct. 15, 2014, news story on successfuldealer.com.

UCF Alumni Introduces New Awards for Young Alumni

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This fall, the UCF community will gather to celebrate the achievements of young alumni who continue to “Reach for the Stars” in their professional and personal lives. Young alumni currently make up one-third of our alumni population, making them our largest constituent base. So, to help recognize some of the great work they’re doing, the UCF Alumni Association is introducing its inaugural 30 under 30 awards program!

 

 

Eligibility and criteria includes:

  • Must be a graduate of the University of Central Florida (undergraduate or graduate degree).
  • Must be age 30 or under on Dec. 31, 2015.
  • Must have made an impact in one or more of the following areas:
    • business
    • research
    • leadership
    • arts
    • community
    • education
    • philanthropy
  • Must demonstrate a commitment to maintaining a lifelong relationship with UCF.
  • Must strive to uphold the tenants of the UCF Creed.
  • Must be willing to submit a professional head shot that can be published by the UCF Alumni Association and other UCF entities, as deemed appropriate.
  • Self-nominations will not be accepted.

Know someone who deserves to be recognized? Nominate him/her!

2015 timeline:

July 3 | Nominations open
July 31 | Nominations close
Aug. 3 | Nominees contacted to submit additional information, including a professional head shot and a resume/CV
Aug. 16 | Deadline for nominees to submit additional information
September | Inaugural class of 30 under 30 honorees notified
Nov. 20 | Inaugural class of 30 under 30 awards dinner

Questions?

Contact: Latoya Jackson, ’12

 

Alumnus Magician Performs for Penn & Teller

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Penn & Teller: Fool Us — “Penn’s Favorite Card Trick”
Pictured (L-R): Teller, Kostya Kimlat, and Penn Jillett
Photo: Jacob Kepler/The CW — © 2015 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved
Orlando magician, Kostya Kimlat, ’10, appeared on an Aug. 17 episode of the CW’s “Penn & Teller: Fool Us,” a one-hour competition series celebrating magic and featuring the legendary duo, Penn & Teller.

On each episode, aspiring magicians are invited to perform their best trick to try and fool one of magic’s most famous pairs. None of the competing magicians get to perform the trick more than once, and there are no camera tricks, secret edits or helpful camera cuts.

In the seventh episode of the show’s second season, Kimlat performed an original card trick he developed when he was 19 years old. But, Kimlat didn’t go on the show with a focus on fooling the magic duo.

“It was an honor to be invited to perform for Penn and Teller,” he says. “I’ve been watching them since I started in magic 20 years ago, and I never would have imagined this opportunity.”

Lucky for Kimlat, he was able to fool the guys, which means he’ll be opening up for the magicians’ celebrated show at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in November.

WATCH HIS TRICK:

More Info

In 2006, Kimlat was the youngest magician to be featured on the cover of Magic Magazine.

A resident of Orlando, he founded See Magic Live, which trains and books magicians for events across the country. His company’s local team serves as the magicians for the NBA’s Orlando Magic and teaches magic classes for kids and adults at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

His local ties run deep — he’s a graduate of Winter Park High School and the University of Central Florida, and he’s been a weekly fixture at Christner’s Prime Steak & Lobster, performing an intimate dinner and magic show at the Lee Road steakhouse for the last seven years.

In addition, Kimlat is a motivational speaker, using magic to train employees at organizations around the world, like NASA and GE. When he presents his keynotes and workshops, he unravels magic’s centuries-old principles of perception and secrets of communication, empowering people to be more effective in their business and everyday lives. Often referred to as “the business magician,” Kimlat has presented his sophisticated brand of magic to thinking audiences in more than 200 cities on five continents.

Kimlat graduated from the UCF Burnett Honors College with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. His Honors in the Major thesis was titled, “The Role of Magician and Philosopher in Society: The Archetype of Wonder and its Cognitive Implications in Modern Life.”

He’s currently authoring his first book, titled, “Think Like a Magician.”

To learn more about this magic Knight, visit kostyakimlat.com.

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