The endowed Amanda Gill Memorial Fund was established to provide further research or educational opportunities to students studying public health, specifically in the area of infectious disease, which Amanda was passionate about.

USF College of Public Health alumna Amanda Gill had a heart for helping others.

A graduate of the first BSPH class in 2011, her parents said Amanda had a passion for working with people with infectious diseases and always said she wanted to work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or in Africa to help AIDS patients.

Amanda was born in September of 1988 in Clearwater, Fla. She spent the majority of her education at Northside Christian School before transferring to Clearwater Hight School, where she graduated.

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While attending USF, Gill worked at Busch Gardens and was awarded the Employee of the Year award. But being a big sister was her true badge of honor. “She was a fierce protector of her younger brother, Matthew, who also ended up attending USF, and always had his back,” Amanda’s father, Jim, said.

Always on the go, her family said she was involved in many activities in her free time and was a light to others. She loved adventure, her dog, Oakley, and had a heart to help. “She wanted to help people more than anything,” her mother Denice said. “When she smiled, everybody smiled.”

After graduating the COPH, Amanda’s  career path lead her across many different cities in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. From food safety for local restaurants to the North Florida Evaluation and Treatment Center, Amanda’s parents said that each role could be linked back to her interest and experience in public health.

One role even led her right to the front lines of COVID at a drive-thru testing center.

In her most recent role, Amanda worked as an Infection Preventionist at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta.

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“She wanted to do the best and go above and beyond,” said Shalom Patel, infection prevention manager of operations at Piedmont Healthcare with whom Amanda worked. “Amanda was fun and very bright, and she had an infectious smile. She was one of my most enthusiastic employees who was always very open and honest with me, which I appreciated. She was a team player and went out of her way to help other people. Acceptance overall was really important to Amanda.”

During her time at Piedmont, Patel said a big part of Amanda’s role was collaborating closely with the engineering department. She also worked with the MRSA-prevention team and infection prevention in the cardiac critical care unit areas.

Patel also noted that Amanda was a natural leader and mentor who took new employees under her wing.

“When she moved to Atlanta to work at Piedmont, she was very happy,” Patel said. “Amanda said this was the type of work she wanted the whole time. In infection prevention, she got to be the ‘boots on the ground,’ I think she was in the right place.”

In 35 years, Amanda lived a full life and was invested in helping so many others. “She was a shining light in all of our lives,” Denice Gill said.

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A Celebration of Life was held Monday, Oct. 30, 2023, at Central Christian Church in St. Petersburg, Fla. Live Stream Link: https://boxcast.tv/view/amanda-gill-memorial-service-3p-vnovk1edkyfq3jnemasb

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that you please consider donating to the Amanda Gill Memorial Fund #540045 at the University of South Florida.

Donations may be mailed to: USF Foundation, Inc., 4202 E. Fowler Ave., ALC 100, Tampa, FL 33620 (ATTN: Beth Ahmedic, USF Health); memo line: Fund #540045 Amanda Gill Memorial Fund

Story by: Liz Bannon, College of Public Health