Faculty Senate
Welcome to the University of Florida Faculty Senate website.
Dr. Luisa Amelia Dempere is the 2025-2026 University of Florida Faculty Senate Chair. She is the Director of the Nanoscale Research Facility (NRF) and a Faculty Engineer with affiliations in the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Environmental Engineering Sciences at the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering (HWCOE). 
She is a double Gator, earning her Master's and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the HWCOE. Her professional career at UF has focused on teaching materials characterization techniques, research projects centered on the development of microscopy and microanalysis methodologies, and administrative leadership positions involving the management of multi-user characterization and nano-fabrication instrumentation facilities that support the training and research activities of UF PIs, students and staff, as well as other academic institutions, and industrial users.
Dr. Dempere’s involvement in shared governance spans almost two decades, as a member and often chair of multiple Joint Committees, Presidential Committees, Senate Councils, and as a Senator representing the HWCOE. The most recent efforts are with the Senate Nominating Committee, the Committee on Committees, the Senate Welfare Council, the Research and Scholarship Council, and the Senate Steering Committee. In addition, she recently served on the UF Action Team Committee for reducing faculty administrative burden, the Senate ad hoc committee on the state of shared governance at UF, and was awarded a fellowship in the SEC Academic Leadership Development Program.
As a certified trainer in the topics of managing difficult conversations and influencing behaviors to enhance accountability, Dr. Dempere has trained hundreds of UF faculty and staff in the use and application of these models. She has also served as a member of the executive council of several local, regional, and national professional societies and community groups, as well as program chair of multiple regional and national conferences and symposia.
Dr. Dempere is deeply honored to serve as Chair of the Faculty Senate and as a member of the University of Florida Board of Trustees, representing the faculty.
Luisa Amelia Dempere
Faculty Senate Chair
FacultySenateChair@ufl.edu