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Undergraduate thanks professor with a billboard
Campus & Community

Undergraduate thanks professor with a billboard

By Alexandra Pecharich

February 13, 2026 at 12:31pm

A student is showing his thanks to a special professor with a billboard on Florida’s turnpike.

Ana Benaduce teaches anatomy at FIU, and biology major Brian Becker wanted to demonstrate his appreciation.

“She's been one of the absolute best professors that I think I've ever had,” says the pre-med student, who happens to own a billboard company. “Beyond just teaching anatomy, just as a person, she's been very inspiring to me in the way that she talks about motivation and everything to do with just life in general. I've looked up to her for a while.”

Becker’s very public expression took the shape of an electronic board that depicts the human heart and shows a photo of Benaduce standing next to what are, for her, classroom teaching aids: skeletons. Her web site, WittyAnatomy.com, is also listed so that interested passersby can take a look for themselves at what students rave about.

The oversized message - which appeared just days before Valentine’s, when many call out friends and loved ones important to them - reflects Benaduce’s oversized influence on FIU undergraduates, many of whom have gone on to positions as doctors, nurses, physical therapists, dentists and more. They speak of her vibrant personality, high energy and ability to clearly explain often-difficult material in a sometimes-humorous, always-engaging manner. Thousands have taken her classes since 2018, and many more keep up with her on social media.

Benaduce has more than 490,000 Instagram followers and 248,000 YouTube subscribers. Through her channels, she shares study tips, mini-lessons and interactive quizzes, an approach that reinforces classroom learning and fosters a sense of community among her students, allowing them to connect and collaborate beyond the classroom. 

“I love what I do. I love teaching,” Benaduce says. “Literally, what makes me do this is that I teach the way I would like to have been taught.”

Benaduce learned of the billboard only after Becker sent her a screenshot. Thinking it might be an AI-generated image, she asked him outright and learned that drivers were, indeed, seeing the real thing on their morning commute.

That served as a real pick-me-up for Benaduce, who had just learned that her father suffered a heart attack back in her homeland of Brazil, to which she has since flown. She posted on social media just what the gesture meant to her.

“I’m in a billboard, and I’m still speechless,” she says. “I will never forget this moment.”

Although they are rarely as over the top as the one from Becker, messages from her students are not uncommon. Benaduce says they send her notes all the time, and it means everything to her. Even others around the world chime in after taking her online courses.

“They say that they really learn anatomy,” she says. “They finally understand that it makes sense.”