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.

Dr. Thomas Frist, along with his father and friend Jack C. Massey, is the Founder and Chairman of the Hospital Corporation of America. In 1977, he became President of HCA and, in 1987, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. He served as Chairman of the Board in 1994, after the merger with Columbia, and after the merger with HealthTrust Inc. in April 1995, as Vice Chairman. Dr. Frist returned as Chairman and CEO in 1997.

Dr. Frist is a recipient of the Distinguished Graduates of Vanderbilt University Award and in 2012, Dr. Frist was the recipient of the United Way Lifetime Achievement Award.

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.

Steve H. Hanke is a Professor of Applied Economics and Founder and Co-Director of The Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise. He is a contributor at National Review, a well-known currency reformer, and a currency and commodity trader.

Prof. Hanke served on President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers, has been an adviser to five foreign heads of state and five foreign cabinet ministers, and held a cabinet-level rank in both Lithuania and Montenegro. He has been awarded seven honorary doctorate degrees and is an Honorary Professor at four foreign institutions. He was President of Toronto Trust Argentina in Buenos Aires in 1995, when it was the world’s best-performing mutual fund. In 1998, he was named one of the twenty-five most influential people in the world by World Trade Magazine. In 2020, Prof. Hanke was named a “Knight of the Order of the Flag” by Albanian President Ilir Meta.

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.

The Rev. Daniel Hendrickson, SJ, PhD, is the 25th president of Creighton University. A Nebraska native, Fr. Hendrickson earned his BA in psychology and theology from Marquette University in 1993 and entered the Society of Jesus in 1994. He received his MA in philosophical resources from Fordham University, a Master of Divinity degree from the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University, and MA and PhD degrees from Columbia University.

Fr. Hendrickson’s first contact with Creighton was as a student in the Jesuit Humanities Program in 1996. He returned as an adjunct instructor of philosophy from 2000 to 2003. He also served as an adjunct professor with Creighton’s Institute for Latin American Concern (ILAC) program in Santiago, Dominican Republic, in 2002. Fr. Hendrickson was a visiting instructor at Jordan University College in Morogoro, Tanzania, and an adjunct professor of philosophy at Fordham University.

In 2012, he returned to Marquette University as associate vice president in the Office of the Executive Vice President, working closely with the president, provost and academic deans. He then became an associate provost for academic initiatives at Marquette. He was elected to the Creighton Board of Trustees in 2013 and also serves on the boards of Boston College and Xavier University.

Fr. Hendrickson has a special interest in education with a global perspective. His international travel and immersion experiences have taken him to some 23 countries on nearly every continent.

Fr. Hendrickson, who grew up in Fremont, Neb., and graduated from Mount Michael Benedictine High School in Elkhorn, Neb., comes from a family of educators. His identical twin, the Rev. D. Scott Hendrickson, SJ, DPhil, is an assistant professor of modern languages at Loyola University Chicago, while his older brother, Ryan Hendrickson, PhD, is a political science professor and interim dean of the Graduate School at Eastern Illinois 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.

Joel Henry Hildebrand was an American educator and a pioneer chemist. He was a major figure in chemistry research specializing in liquids and nonelectrolyte solutions.

Frederick Hovde was elected to a Rhodes Scholarship and spent three years at Oxford University where he received two degrees in chemistry. While at Oxford, he was a member of the varsity rugby football team and in 1931 he became the third American in history to win his Oxford blue in the annual Oxford-Cambridge rugby union match. Frederick Hovde became the President of Purdue University in 1946 and remained President until his retirement in 1971. While Frederick was President the student body quadrupled and over 80,000 students graduated.

It was also during this time that Purdue established the schools of industrial engineering, materials engineering, technology, and veterinary medicine.

While at Purdue, he served on numerous government boards on scientific research, including military research. He also served as a member of the Board of Visitors to the United States Naval Academy, Board of Visitors to the Air University, Air Training Command Advisory Board, Board of Consultants to the National War College, and Board of Visitors to the United States Air Force Academy. In 1961, he served as chairman of the President-Elect’s Task Force Committee on Education. From 1970 to 1973, he served on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Hovde served as President of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (1953-1954), as vice chairman of the American Council on Education (1955-1956), and a member of the President’s Committee on Education Beyond High School (1956-1957).

After his retirement in, Frederick was named President Emeritus of Purdue.