The Wally Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center invites the campus community to join us for an online "Ro-tirement Celebration" in honor of University Professor Ro Di Brezzo beginning at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, May 1. Di Brezzo, who joined the UA faculty as an assistant professor of physical education in 1983, has announced plans to retire effective June 30.

Over the course of her 37 year career, Di Brezzo has served as program chair and interim department head for the Kinesiology Department, director of the Human Performance Laboratory, and co-director of the Office for Studies on Aging. In 1992, she co-founded the Teaching and Faculty Support Center. From 2012-2013, she served as vice provost for academic affairs and, from 2013 to 2017, she served as the university's first vice provost for faculty development and enhancement. In 2017 she became the first vice provost for faculty affairs. In October 2019, she returned to the faculty as University Professor of exercise science.

Di Brezzo has received many awards from the College of Education and Health Professions as well as the University of Arkansas for her research and teaching. These awards include the Outstanding Mentor Award in 2011 awarded by the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards, the Academic Excellence Award awarded by the University of Arkansas Athletics Department in 2008, and the Baum Faculty Outstanding Teaching Award in 1999. She has also been nationally recognized as a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and has twice received the Research Award from the Southern Academy of Women in Physical Activity, Sport, and Health.

To participate in the "Ro-tirement Celebration," simply go to the TFSC Online Community in Blackboard (learn.uark.edu), click on the "Virtual Meeting" link, and select the "Ro-tirement" link. If you have already signed up, "Wally Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center" will show up as a link under "Non-Credit Courses" when you log into Blackboard. If you are not currently a member of this community, we would love to have you! Just email Lori Libbert at TFSC@uark.edu and ask her to add you.