Dean Emerita Lucinda Lavelli honored with National Dance Education Organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award

College of the Arts Dean Emerita Lucinda Lavelli has been named as a recipient of the Posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO). 
 
The Lifetime Achievement Award is the NDEO’s most prestigious award. It recognizes dance educators who demonstrated exemplary leadership, research, artistry, scholarship and/or philanthropy or service to dance education at the national or international level for at least 15 years.

Lavelli, who passed away on Nov. 24, 2025, served as dean of the College of the Arts from 2006 until her retirement in 2018.  During her 12-year tenure as dean, Lavelli was known for her strategic leadership and steadfast advocacy for the arts, both at the University of Florida and nationally, which earned her the nickname, “Wonder Woman of the Arts.” Prior to joining UF, she held leadership positions in arts administration at the University of Akron and the North Carolina School of the Arts.  

“Lucinda was an exceptional leader and a passionate advocate for the arts; particularly critical at a heavily STEM-focused institution like UF,” said Jennifer Setlow, COTA’s Senior Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, who worked closely with Connie Dow, dance educator and lifelong friend of Lavelli, to nominate Lavelli for the NDEO award.  

“Lucinda Lavelli and I met when we were dance students at Denison University,” Dow recalled. “I admired her lush, beautiful dancing and choreography. She began dancing as a child, and this love of dance eventually propelled her into arts administration. In nominating Ms. Lavelli for the NDEO Lifetime Achievement (Posthumous) Award, I learned more about her amazing career in prestigious schools and colleges around the country, and her advocacy for students, faculty and all aspects of art education She is indeed a worthy recipient of this award.”

At UF, Lavelli championed an expansive vision for the arts that emphasized collaboration across disciplines and positioned the arts as an essential part of the university’s academic and research mission.

Among the initiatives she spearheaded was the Creative B Summer Program, which launched in 2010 to connect faculty and students from across the university through interdisciplinary research and collaboration with local, national and international guest artists. She also championed the Creativity in Arts and Science Event (CASE) series, and participated in the Science, Engineering and the Arts Change Committee, which brought UF faculty together to develop cross-disciplinary approaches to research, teaching and service.

“Lucinda’s achievements in arts integration at the University of Florida changed the face of our college,” said Professor Emeritus Jerry Dickey, who served as director of the School of Theatre and Dance from 2012-2018.  “On a campus like UF that historically had risen to prominence in the sciences, her efforts to seek out partners from other disciplines were not always met with eager acceptance. She once said, ‘If you extend your hand in friendship, somebody’s got to be at the other end to shake it. You have to have someone else who can have some vision with you.’ Much more often than not, Lucinda found that visionary ‘someone’ who would shake her hand.”

Lavelli sought out hands to shake, not only across campus, but far beyond the walls of the university. She was a founding institutional member of the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru) and joined the Congressional Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math Caucus, advocating for the role of the arts in STEAM education.

Her leadership also ran deep in the Gainesville community, where she remained a powerful advocate for the arts following her retirement, and up until the time of her passing. She served on the boards of Dance Alive National Ballet and the Cade Museum and was an honorary executive member of the Star Centre Theatre.

“Among the many gifts for which Lucinda will be remembered, none stands taller for me than her relentless optimism,”  said College of the Arts dean, Kevin Orr. “Lucinda had a talent for making things happen; for transforming skeptics into believers. It was deeply infectious and fundamental to the college’s inspiring growth throughout her tenure. Seeing this in action time after time — it has stayed with me.” 

Lucinda Lavelli’s Lifetime Achievement Award honors a career defined by the idea that dance, and the arts across every discipline, belong at the center of education, innovation and public life; indeed, as core to our human experience.  

The College of the Arts is privileged to have known and been led by Lucinda Lavelli — and for so many in our community to have called her a colleague, a friend, a mentor. We are honored to celebrate her well-deserved recognition as a recipient of the NDEO Lifetime Achievement Award. COTA’s Wonder Woman of the Arts is deeply missed.

To celebrate Dean Emerita Lavelli’s legacy, the College of the Arts is raising funds to dedicate a permanent named space in the School of Music building, currently undergoing an expansion and renovation, in her honor. Please click here to give online. 

Checks can be made out to the UF Foundation with F030057 Lavelli in the memo line and mailed to: 

 College of the Arts Office of Advancement 
1389 Stadium Road 
Gainesville, FL 32611 

Please reach out to Assistant Director of Development Chandler Sandy with any questions or to discuss additional ways to give at chandler.sandy@ufl.edu or (352) 273-1499. You can learn more about the School of Music Building Renovation and Expansion at ufmusicbuilding.com