Dr. Thomas Kent “T.K.” Wetherell became the 13th president of Florida State University on January 6, 2003. A career educator with more than 30 years of experience in the State of Florida’s educational system, Dr. Wetherell is the only FSU president with experience in all four major divisions within higher education, having held positions in the offices of academic affairs, student services, business affairs, and college development. He has held leadership positions in two-year as well as four-year colleges, and he has served as a faculty member in both public and private institutions of higher education.

An outstanding advocate for higher education who has been called the state’s most politically astute university president, Wetherell has proven to be a leader among his peers, and he pushed successfully for universities to assess a tuition differential in an effort to make up for budget shortfalls and continue to offer high-quality education to students.

Soon after assuming the presidency, Wetherell, the first university alumnus to serve as president of Florida State, launched the innovative and ambitious Pathways of Excellence initiative that included hiring additional faculty members in interdisciplinary clusters built around academic themes, substantial investments in new facilities, and significant investments in graduate-level programs with emphasis on creating new interdisciplinary doctoral programs.

Wetherell scored a major coup in 2005 when The Florida State University lured the Applied Superconductivity Center to campus from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where it had been housed for more than two decades. The center has become the material research division of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

The most visible component of the Pathways initiative may be the $800 million worth of new construction and renovations, including state-of-the-art chemistry, biological science, psychology and medicine buildings, that have transformed the northwest corner of campus into a research quadrangle. In addition, other projects include several new research facilities, three new residence halls, dining halls, parking garages, a general classroom building and the Alumni Center.

Under Wetherell’s leadership, the university saw its students reach unprecedented national academic recognition, including three students who were named Rhodes Scholars — one of the oldest and most prestigious awards for international study. The success was in part due to the Office of National Fellowships, which guided students to win more than 40 nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships, including three Truman Scholarships, three Goldwater Scholarships, the Udall Scholarship and 22 Fulbright Fellowships, since Wetherell established it in 2005.

During Wetherell’s tenure as president, Florida State University’s College of Medicine, the nation’s first new fully accredited public allopathic medical school in the past 25 years, graduated its first class in 2005, opened six regional campuses, and established important research collaborations with the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare.

Dr. Wetherell has been inducted into Florida State University’s Hall of Fame and was the recipient of the prestigious Moore-Stone Award, the Circle of Gold Award and the university’s Distinguished Service Award. In addition, he has also been awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Flagler College.

Dr. Wetherell served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1980 to 1992, the last two years as Speaker of the House. During his tenure in the House he served as chairman of the appropriations committee and the higher education committee. The Miami Herald named him one of the Top Ten Legislative Leaders in the House each year from 1987 until 1992.

A third-generation Floridian, Dr. Wetherell was born on December 22, 1945 in Daytona Beach, Florida. He attended Port Orange Elementary School and Mainland Senior High School, where he was active in service clubs, student government and athletics. He attended Florida State University on a football scholarship and played on the 1963-67 football teams. He still holds the record for the longest kickoff return in Florida State University history. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social studies education from FSU in 1967 and 1968, respectively. He earned a doctorate in education administration from FSU in 1974.

Wetherell is married to Virginia B. Wetherell, who served as Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection from 1991 to 1998 and previously served as a state legislator representing Pensacola. She currently is president of Wetherell Consulting Services. They are the parents of three children, Kent, Blakely and Page, and have two grandchildren. Wetherell’s personal interests include athletics, outdoor recreation, travel and aviation.

Robert Witt serves as the chief executive officer of the Alabama System, Chancellor, exercising such executive powers as are necessary for the appropriate governance of the System. The Chancellor is the principal link between the Board’s responsibility for policy and each President’s responsibility for operations. The Chancellor reports directly to the Board regarding the current affairs of all components of the System and discusses with the Board basic issues, new directions, and policy recommendations. The Chancellor directs the planning, development, and appraisal of all activities of the System, and is responsible for their coordination and implementation. The Chancellor also provides linkage between the System and various components of state government, as well as other educational groups and organizations.

On March 5, 2012, Dr. Robert E. Witt was unanimously elected Chancellor of The University of Alabama System, which is Alabama’s largest higher education enterprise. Comprised of doctoral research universities in Birmingham, Huntsville and Tuscaloosa as well as the UAB Health System, the UA System budget exceeds $4.6 billion with student enrollment of 57,000 and more than 26,000 employees.

Prior to becoming UA System Chancellor, Dr. Witt was President of The University of Alabama, assuming that post in 2003. During his nine-year tenure he was responsible for successfully undertaking an ambitious plan for academic growth and achievement that has positioned UA as one of America’s fastest growing public universities. The University of Alabama’s Fall 2011 freshman class was the largest in history and ranked second in the nation among public universities in the enrollment of National Merit Scholars.

Before being recruited to Alabama, Dr. Witt was President of the University of Texas at Arlington from 1995-2003. He began his 35-year career in higher education in the state of Texas in 1968 when he joined the business school faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, rising through the ranks as chair and associate dean. In 1985 he was named dean of the UT business school, which was recognized by the Wall Street Journal as one of the top seven schools of business in the world.

Robert Witt received his B.A. in economics from Bates College, his M.B.A. from the Tuck School at Dartmouth College, and his Ph.D. from Penn State University. In 2011 he was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor, comprised of 100 living Alabamians elected on the basis of service to the state.

Michael V. Martin serves as President of Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU). The Florida Gulf Coast University Board of Trustees unanimously selected Dr. Martin to become the institution’s fourth President on July 1, 2017, and his appointment was confirmed by the Board of Governors.

President Martin came to FGCU from the Colorado State University System, where he served most recently as Chancellor Emeritus and Senior Fellow following three years as Chancellor. Prior to this, he was Chancellor of Louisiana State University; President of New Mexico State University; Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources at University of Florida; Vice President for Agricultural Policy at University of Minnesota; and served 15 years on the faculty, including a term as Faculty Senate president, at Oregon State University.

A native of Crosby, Minnesota, Dr. Martin earned a bachelor’s degree in business and economics and a master’s degree in economics at Mankato State College (now Minnesota State University). He received his Ph.D. in applied economics from the University of Minnesota in 1977. His areas of specialization are prices, international trade, public policy, transportation, and business logistics.

His membership on local, state and national boards and organizations spans decades of service, and currently includes the Farm Foundation Board of Trustees, and the International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium.

Dr. Martin and his wife, Jan, are parents to two children adopted from Korea. Amanda graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in graphic design. She and her husband, Paul Ehrsam, are parents to two terrific grandsons, Logan and Charlie. Son Sam has a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Minnesota, a master’s degree in human genetics from Sarah Lawrence University, and a master’s degree in software engineering from Pace University.

Walter Merritt Riggs was the president of Clemson University from 1910 to 1924 and the “father of Clemson football” coaching the first football team for what was then Clemson College.

Riggs graduated from the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama (now Auburn University) with a Bachelor of Science in engineering in 1892 and was a member of Auburn’s first football team. He was also president of his class and director of the glee club while at Auburn.

Riggs was the second president of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, taking over for William Lofland Dudley in 1912. Riggs Hall, which is the home of Clemson’s College of Engineering and Science, is named in his honor.

Adam Guy Riess is an American astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute and is known for his research in using supernovae as cosmological probes. Riess shared both the 2006 Shaw Prize in Astronomy and the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics with Saul Perlmutter and Brian P. Schmidt for providing evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating.

Frank J. Prout was third president of Bowling Green State University (1939-1951). He taught at Ohio Wesleyan and Zanesville High School until 1914 when he became principal of Chillicothe High School.

Widely respected in the academic community, he received honorary degrees from Ohio University (1919), Ohio Wesleyan University (1924), Miami University (1951), and Bowling Green State University (1952).

During his twelve-year term as president, he guided the campus through the difficult years of the Second World War and oversaw the development of BGSU as it changed from a teachers’ college to a university. Dr. Prout gained a reputation for getting things done and was popular among both faculty and students. Many felt he brought a personal touch to the office of president.

Nichols has distinguished himself in education after serving for 20 years as president of one of Indiana’s oldest institutions of higher education, Hanover College.

Upon his retirement in 2007 as Hanover’s 14th president, he immediately stepped into the role of Interim President at Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tennessee.

The Right Reverend Richard Bland Mitchell was the eighth bishop of Arkansas in The Episcopal Church and the thirteenth Chancellor of Sewanee: The University of the South. An Episcopal camp and retreat center in central Arkansas is named for him.

The University of Texas System Board of Regents has selected Nebraska Alpha (Nebraska) Phi James B. Milliken –  widely regarded as a national leader in public higher education with 30 years of administrative experience at major university systems in three states – as the sole finalist for the position of UT System chancellor.

Milliken’s recommendation was approved unanimously by the board at a special called meeting Saturday.

Under state law, university governing boards must name finalists for chancellor at least 21 days before making an appointment. The Board of Regents must meet again to make the final selection official.

If approved, Milliken will become the 12^th chancellor of the UT System, one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation.

“We are honored to announce Mr. Milliken as our sole finalist for this critical leadership role,” Regents’ Chairman Sara Martinez Tucker said. “His experiences in higher education leadership are deep and broad, and he has very effectively guided university systems that have many of the characteristics and strategic aspirations embedded throughout UT’s academic and health institutions. Moreover, he has enjoyed strong support from elected officials, students, and campus leaders in his previous posts, all of whom described him as someone they could count on in times of great opportunity and challenges.”

Milliken most recently served as chancellor of The City University of New York (CUNY) from 2014 until 2018, overseeing the largest urban university system in the country, consisting of 24 campuses and more than 270,000 degree-seeking students. CUNY’s institutions include four-year colleges and universities, community colleges, and graduate and professional schools, including law and medicine. CUNY is considered one of the leading engines of social and economic opportunity in the country, and Milliken initiated and led numerous initiatives to expand access and student success. He is currently a distinguished professor at The CUNY Graduate Center.

Prior to his time at CUNY, Milliken served as president of the University of Nebraska (NU) four-campus system from 2004 until 2014.  At Nebraska he led a successful capital campaign, expanded campuses and was credited with reconnecting the university with the state. In a previous tenure at NU, he held several positions from 1988 until 1998 including vice president of external affairs and secretary to the Board of Regents at the system. He also served as professor of law at the Lincoln campus and professor of public affairs at the Omaha campus.

Between his earlier and more recent tenures at Nebraska, Milliken served from 1998 until 2004 as senior vice president at the 16-campus University of North Carolina system, where he led strategic and economic development, federal and state relations, and university advancement.   He was a leader in the successful effort to gain statewide approval for a multibillion dollar initiative to support new campus construction.

Milliken began his career in law, focused on securities and commodities litigation before entering the higher education arena in 1988. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska and a law degree from New York University. Before law school, he spent a year as a legislative assistant for a Nebraska congresswoman.

Milliken was selected following a national search led by Chairman Sara Martinez Tucker and a search advisory committee that included Board Vice Chairmen Jeffery Hildebrand and Paul Foster, as well as former Board Chairmen Donald Evans and James Huffines. The committee was supported by Steve Newton of Russell Reynolds Associates, a leading global search and leadership advisory firm.

“The University of Texas System is clearly among the leading university systems in the country, and it has great potential to do even more to serve the needs and ambitions of Texas and the world,” Milliken said. “I am honored to be the finalist for the position of chancellor of this remarkable institution, and I would welcome the opportunity to play a lead role in advancing this system of outstanding universities in the 21st century.”

If appointed chancellor, Milliken will succeed William H. McRaven, who became chancellor in 2015 and stepped down at the end of May. Larry Faulkner, the former president of UT Austin, has been serving as chancellor ad interim since then.

John David Millett was the 16th president of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and first chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents. During his career he served as the Senior Vice President of the Academy for Educational Development in Washington, D.C. Millett Hall at Miami University and an academic building at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, are named in his honor.

The Phi Delta Theta Free Enterprise Award is named, in part, after John Millett.