Office of the Vice President

Melissa S. Curry, M.Ed., SHRM-SCP, serves as Vice President for Human Resources at the University of Florida, leading efforts to elevate employee engagement and retention for more than 33,000 employees.

As Vice President, Curry spearheaded enterprise-wide strategies for faculty hiring, executive searches, classification and compensation structures, and UF’s implementation of Workday to modernize HR operations and position UF as an employer of choice.

Over her 27-year career at UF, Curry has championed initiatives that reimagine the employee experience, build organizational effectiveness, and create a strong culture of accountability and performance.

Prior to her current role, Curry led a number of system implementations, recruitment efforts for the Faculty 500 initiative, and launched the Strategic Talent Group, an internal executive search group created to assist with UF’s high-level and difficult-to-fill positions.

Curry serves on the Board of Directors for the American Research Universities Human Resource Institute. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa and her master’s degree in higher education administration from UF. She is completing her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership at UF.

Angie Brown oversees communications for faculty and staff, including the biweekly UF at Work e-newsletter, as well as employee work-life initiatives. She facilitates internal change management efforts and provides strategic communication planning and execution for UFHR, CFO and other university units. Brown has worked in higher education communications for more than 25 years, including positions at UF, Penn State and Oregon Health & Science University. She has served on the National Consortium for Building Healthy Academic Communities’ Board of Directors and the Mindful Leader Advisory Board as well as co-chair of the UF Healthy Gators Coalition.

As director of Employee Relations and Engagement, Robert Cancellieri oversees UF’s comprehensive employee and labor relations program and strategy for faculty and staff. Cancellieri and his team work to promote a fair and respectful work environment, allowing employees the opportunity to achieve their professional and career goals. Cancellieri brings many years of experience as an attorney whose work focused primarily on labor and employment matters in both the public sector as Deputy Director of Labor Relations for Nassau County (NY) and in the private sector as an associate with Jackson Lewis P.C. Most recently he served for 6 years as the director of Employee Relations at Albert Einstein College of Medicine located in New York City.

Shannon Edwards oversees all aspects of benefits, retirement & leave for the University of Florida employees. In addition to the administration of benefit programs, Edwards is passionate about educating employees to understand their benefit offerings and partnering with them through all of their benefit related needs throughout their career.

Edwards graduated from Georgia Southern University with a degree in Business Administration. She has been in a benefits focused role for the past thirty years and has worked in various industries to include healthcare, technology, K-12 and higher education.

As director of Talent Acquisition and Onboarding, Audrey Gainey oversees UF’s Strategic Talent Group, which aims to identify, attract and engage potential and current faculty and staff and serves as a consulting group to departments throughout the university.

Gainey brings more than 24 years of experience in recruitment, selection and hiring to the UFHR team, having most recently served as talent acquisition manager for the City of Gainesville.  There, she led a team of eight in the development of recruitment and sourcing strategies, analyzed hiring needs and provided employee hiring forecasts and championing various initiatives.

Gainey has also led a number of system implementations, including the City of Gainesville’s automated onboarding process and background integration.  She served as the HR Change Champion for the City’s ERP Implementation efforts, a member of the City’s Equal Opportunity Diversity Committee and a member of the City’s Core Equity Leadership Team. During her tenure with the City, she was selected as an Emerging Leader, recognized for her commitment to diversity and awarded for her exceptional team efforts to staff a major City project.

Gainey holds a master’s degree in organizational management and a bachelor’s degree in marketing. She is also a Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional (SPHR-SCP) and a Certified Career Services Provider (CCSP) through the National Career Development Association.

Brent is an accomplished Human Resources Professional with over twenty years of experience in developing and implementing HR strategies that align with business and financial objectives. He has expertise in workforce planning, training and development, and employee relations within dynamic and fast-paced organizations. Brent stays current with industry changes through continuous professional development.

Brent oversees the University of Florida’s Classification & Compensation team to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Additionally, he manages Employment Operations & Records and serves as the HR Data Steward. In these roles, Brent works closely with university stakeholders to develop and implement programs that ensure market competitiveness and internal equity, effectively attracting, rewarding, and retaining high-performing faculty and staff.

As assistant vice president for Human Resources, Brook Mercier oversees the areas of University Benefits and Employee Relations. Prior to this role, he served as director and associate director of Employee Relations. Mercier has also served as associate director for Classification and Compensation as well as Employee Relations manager for the Health Science Center and Facilities Services. Mercier joined the University of Florida in 2006 after seven years working in human resources in private industry. He enjoys the fulfillment of seeing managers and employees achieve success for their departments and the University of Florida.

• Ph.D., Religious Studies, Boston University
• Master of Divinity, Yale University
• B.A., Northwestern University

As assistant vice president for organizational culture and performance and senior director of Training and Organizational Development (T&OD), Bob Parks works with his team and colleagues across HR and campus to continuously improve and strengthen UF’s culture and elevate performance. In his role as Sr. Director, Dr. Parks has focused on building UF’s leadership, organizational, and professional development programs and create a significant competitive advantage for UF. He has worked at UF as a trainer, leadership development specialist, and OD consultant for 20 years. Before joining UF, he taught or trained in both university and corporate environments for more than five years.

Dr. Parks earned his bachelor’s degree at Northwestern University, his master’s degree at Yale University, and his doctorate at Boston University. He is a certified executive coach and executive coach master trainer and certified to facilitate several leadership and professional development programs.

As the Director of Strategic Initiatives, Amber Wuertz initiates, directs and implements a broad range of topics of organizational significance for all operations and activities of human resources, including special projects and key strategic initiatives. In her role, Wuertz Works directly with leadership and stakeholders to formulate and execute strategies aligned with university needs.

Wuertz received her bachelor’s degree from Western State College of Colorado, and her master’s degree in management from the University of Florida. Wuertz has worked in UFHR since 2006 and has previously served in roles in Talent Acquisition & Onboarding, Employee Relations, and Classification and Compensation.

• M.B.A., Business Administration, University of North Carolina – Greensboro
• B.S., Psychology, Appalachian State University

Ross brings more than 25 years of leadership and organizational development experience to this role. Most recently, he served as a manager of human capital at Deloitte, where he spearheaded change management and organizational initiatives for various clients. Prior to that, Ross was the managing director of the Office of Transformation and Change at Virginia Tech, guiding leaders through both growth and challenges. He led a dedicated team that provided comprehensive organizational development leadership to 22 divisions representing more than 12,000 staff and faculty.  Leveraging integrity, transparency, and empathy, Ross builds trusted relationships with leaders and colleagues across campus, ready to assist and be of service to the university.

When not on campus, Ross enjoys time with his wife, three daughters and two dogs. 

As the Director of Administrative Services, Sommer Green plays a pivotal leadership role in overseeing and managing the business operations of UFHR. Green is responsible for directing and coordinating a wide range of functions, including accounting, budgeting, compliance, human resources, procurement, and administrative operations. She supports strategic planning efforts, assesses the efficiency of fiscal and administrative policies, and spearheads initiatives to enhance business processes. In addition, Green coordinates the completion and submission of several university reports on behalf of Human Resources, including the SACS accreditation report, effort reporting activity and space allocation. Additionally, Green collaborates with the Vice President and is involved in special projects as needed.

Green is a graduate of the University of Florida, where she received a bachelor’s degree in Computer and Information Sciences. She joined UF in 2004 and came to UFHR in 2020 via the Biomedical Engineering Department, Office of the Vice President for University Relations and Operations Analysis.

Patrick serves as the management representative in collective bargaining and labor relations matters with the in-unit faculty and graduate assistant employee groups. Keegan enjoys the opportunity to engage in thoughtful and collaborative dispute resolution whenever possible.  Prior to joining the University in 2022, he served in various educational leadership capacities.  After teaching high school history for several years, he moved into secondary school administration where he focused on curriculum and instruction.  Keegan then spent several years as a director of human resources and chief negotiator for the school board, eventually becoming Assistant Superintendent. Keegan has extensive labor and employee relations experience and has served on the Board of Directors for the Florida Educational Negotiators.  He earned his B.A. in History and M.A. in International Business from UF, and his Doctor of Educational Leadership (EdD) from Florida Gulf Coast University.