Timothy Letzring, senior vice provost for academic affairs, made the appointment in close consultation with Provost John Buckwalter. The decision was shaped by thoughtful feedback from faculty, staff and other stakeholders throughout the search.

“Dr. Weishampel’s steady leadership as interim dean has created an environment that supports the success of our students, faculty, and staff and strengthens collaboration across the college.” — Timothy Letzring, senior vice provost for academic affairs

“Dr. Weishampel’s steady leadership as interim dean has created an environment that supports the success of our students, faculty, and staff and strengthens collaboration across the college,” Letzring says. “I am confident that as dean, he will continue to elevate the College of Graduate Studies through innovation, scholarly distinction and a strong commitment to graduate students.”

Weishampel has spent nearly 31 years at UCF, beginning his career as an assistant professor in biology. He has served in a variety of leadership roles, including biology graduate program director, director of interdisciplinary studies and senior associate dean. He has also served as a U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) program officer in the Division of Graduate Education. In those roles, his oversight helped elevate UCF’s national profile in graduate education and expand opportunities for interdisciplinary training and research engagement.

“This college sits at the intersection of everything UCF aspires to be from research excellence, student opportunity and meaningful community impact,” Weishampel says. “I’ve spent the better part of my career here building those connections, and I’m excited to deepen that work as dean.”

As permanent dean, Weishampel’s agenda centers on three interlocking priorities: supporting graduate students and postdoctoral scholars success, strengthening day‑to‑day operations, and building collaborations across UCF and with external stakeholders.

“Our graduate students and postdocs are doing extraordinary work. My job is to make sure the infrastructure, the mentorship and the resources are in place so they can excel — and so the world knows about it.” — John Weishampel, College of Graduate Studies dean

In practice, he says he sees these as inseparable. For Dean Weishampel, prioritizing competitive stipends and accessible health care, goes hand in hand with modernizing degree audit systems and data tools that help students and advisors track progress. He also believes both efforts depend on strengthening relationships with faculty, principal investigators, industry partners, and the graduate education community to enhance opportunities and UCF’s national profile.

“Our graduate students and postdocs are doing extraordinary work,” he says. “My job is to make sure the infrastructure, the mentorship and the resources are in place so they can excel — and so the world knows about it.”

Weishampel’s first steps as dean include establishing an advisory board, launching a strategic enrollment plan to strengthen domestic and international recruitment, and creating additional pathways for graduate students to showcase their research and compete for national and international recognition.

“We have made significant progress,” he says. “The goal now is to build on it deliberately to make UCF a destination for the best graduate students and scholars, and to ensure every one of them leaves prepared to take on the challenges associated with our dynamic world.”

“The goal now is to build on it deliberately to make UCF a destination for the best graduate students and scholars, and to ensure every one of them leaves prepared to take on the challenges associated with our dynamic world.” — John Weishampel, College of Graduate Studies dean

A nationally recognized scholar, Weishampel’s research spans remote sensing of forest ecosystems, sea turtle ecology and pioneering applications of LiDAR to detect archaeological features beneath forest canopies. His work has been supported by major federal agencies, including NSF, NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Education, garnering honors such as the NSF CAREER Award and NASA New Investigator Award.

Earlier in Weishampel’s career, he held numerous fellowships and visiting appointments, including service as a Fulbright distinguished research chair and senior scholar; Fulbright awards in Canada, Germany and Spain; a Charles Bullard Fellowship at Harvard University; and a visiting professorship in Paris. From 2019 to 2021, he served as a program officer at NSF, administering the Research Traineeship and Innovations in Graduate Education programs across more than 100 institutions, an experience he now draws upon in his leadership.

Weishampel holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Duke University and master’s and doctoral degrees in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia. Before joining UCF, he served as a National Research Council Research Associate at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

For UCF’s graduate community, Weishampel’s selection reflects confidence, in a leader who knows the institution well and brings a clear vision for what comes next.