In 2012, the McKnight Brain Research Foundation endowed the University of Florida with $300,000 to establish a permanent annual lectureship as a memorial tribute to the late William G. “Bill” Luttge, Ph.D., the first director of the MBI. Held each year, the William G. Luttge Lectureship in Neuroscience explores inventive ideas and approaches to ensure healthy cognitive aging and to counter brain diseases.
Luttge spearheaded efforts to organize the vast amount of brain research conducted at UF into a comprehensive program. This eventually resulted in the establishment of the $60 million Brain Institute on the UF Health Science Center campus in Gainesville, which opened in 1998 and was renamed the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida to commemorate a $15 million gift from the McKnight Brain Research Foundation in 2000. Luttge passed away on March 24, 2012, after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
Past Lectures
2025 Luttge Lecturer
Ulman Lindenberger, Ph.D.
Dr. Lindenberger, director of the Center for Lifespan Psychology at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, presented “A Lifespan Perspective on Human Cognitive Aging.”
2024 Luttge Lecturer
Adam Gazzaley, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Gazzaley, the David Dolby Distinguished Professor of Neurology, Physiology, and Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, presented “The Future of Brain Optimization.”
2023 Luttge Lecturer
Joshua Gordon, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Gordon, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), presented “Challenges and Opportunities in Mental Health Research.”
2019 Luttge Lecturer
George F. Koob, Ph.D.
Dr. Koob, Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA), presented “Alcohol and Drug Addiction: the Gain in the Brain is in the Pain.”
2018 Luttge Lecturer
Michela Gallagher, Ph.D.
Dr. Gallagher, Director of the Neurogenetics and Behavior Center at Johns Hopkins University, presented “Contributions of Neurocognitive Aging to Risk or Resilience.”
2017 Luttge Lecturere
James L. McGaugh, Ph.D.
Dr. McGaugh, Research professor of Neurobiology and Behavior at the University of California, Irvine, presented “Making Lasting Memories.”
2016 Luttge Lecturer
Carole A. Barnes, Ph.D.
Dr. Barnes, Director of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Arizona, presented “Aging is Not a Disease: Normal Lifespan Changes in Brain Circuits Critical for Memory.”
2015 Luttge Lecturer
Fred H. Gage, Ph.D.
Dr. Gage, Professor in the Laboratory of Genetics at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and a UF alumnus, presented “Neuronal Plasticity and Genomic Diversity.”
2014 Luttge Lecturer
Steven T. DeKosky, M.D.
Dr. DeKosky, Director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Center at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, presented “The Brain Fights Back: Neuroplasticity in Aging and Disease.”
2013 Inaugural Luttge Lecturer
Paul E. Gold, Ph.D.
Dr. Gold, Distinguished Professor of Biology at Syracuse University, presented “Making Memories Metabolic – and Making Metabolic Memories.”
Luttge Award
The William G. Luttge Award for Outstanding Graduate Research in Neuroscience was established on funds donated by Dr. Sati Kalra, Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience, in the honor of Dr. Luttge, the Founding Executive Director of the McKnight Brain Institute. This distinction is awarded annually to Neuroscience PhD students who participate in a 15-minute oral competition. The top three students received monetary awards. The winner is engraved on a plate for the plaque that adorns the office suite and he/she goes on to represent the Neuroscience concentration at the College of Medicine Medical Guild Competition.
The Luttge Award is an open competition, honoring the graduate student of the year. The William G. Luttge Award for Outstanding Graduate Research in Neuroscience competition is held every spring. Faculty and staff is invited.
- 2024 – Philip Mackie
- 2023 – Grace Lloyd
- 2022 – Adithya Gopinath
- 2021 – Yuxing Xia
- 2020 – Kelly Demars
- 2019 – Hunter Futch
- 2018 – Caesar Hernandez
- 2017 – Sruti Rayaprolu
- 2016 – Danielle Sambo
- 2015 – Regina T. Martuscello
- 2014 – Amanda N. Sacino