Silverfield College of Education and Human Services announced at UNF

Higher Education

The University of North Florida announced Jan. 27 its newly named Silverfield College of Education and Human Services.

The university said the naming of the college follows a transformational gift from Gary and Laine Silverfield, both longtime supporters of UNF, along with their sons and their spouses, Leed and Becky Silverfield and Ryan and Katie Silverfield.

The amount of the gift wasn’t disclosed.

“Since 1972, UNF’s College of Education and Human Services has graduated more than 22,000 students with bachelor’s degrees or higher, who have gone on to educate, mentor and counsel future generations of students in our region,” UNF President Moez Limayem said in a news release.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Silverfields for their generosity and for their passion for education.”

Moez Limayem, president of the University of North Florida, leads applause at the Jan. 27 ceremony announcing the school's newly named Silverfield College of Education and Human Services.

The gift will support several initiatives:

• Silverfield Family Endowed Professorship in Sport Management and Coaching Education, UNF’s first endowed professorship in the field.

• The Laine S. Silverfield Endowed Professorship in Special Education, an endowed professorship dedicated to recruiting, retaining and supporting an outstanding faculty member in special education or a closely related field.

• Silverfield Family Coaching Education, Professional Development and Research Fund that will cover costs related to coaches’ annual certification and will fund the Silverfield Family Athletic Symposium.

Laine and Gary Silverfield are applauded at the Jan. 27 University of North Florida ceremony announcing the school's newly named Silverfield College of Education and Human Services.

• Establishes and funds a director position for The CIRCLE, an on-campus community supporting programs, initiatives and events for students with intellectual and developmental differences. This position will integrate established support programs including THRIVE, USOAR, Duval County Public Schools Project Search and The Arc Jacksonville On Campus Transition Program.

• Establishes the Silverfield Special Education Fund to support programmatic initiatives, events and student opportunities.

• Silverfield Endowed Excellence Fund to provide resources for the dean of the college to grow degree programs and student resources including scholarship funding for students.

Laine Silverfield, a Jacksonville native, received a graduate degree in special education at UNF and was named the Outstanding Alumni Award honoree in 2008. Gary Silverfield was a member of the college’s advisory board for many years.

The university said the new gift will build on the Silverfields’ two long-established scholarships at UNF: The Gary and Laine Silverfield Endowed Scholarship and The Laine S. Silverfield Special Education Endowed Scholarship.

Gary Silverfield is the founder of Silverfield Development Co. and Silverfield Commercial Realty, collectively The Silverfield Group.

It is a full-service real estate firm with a focus on both commercial and residential real estate development and brokerage in Northeast Florida and the Southeast.