Appointed to the board by Governor Lawton Chiles in 1991, Heekin was elected
chairman by his 13 fellow members in July. He will serve through August
1996.
By Sarah Robinson
Special to the Florida State Times
Jim Heekin, FSU Law School graduate, Orlando business attorney, CPA and Eagle Scout, has taken over leadership of the Florida Board of Regents.
Appointed to the board by Governor Lawton Chiles in 1991, Heekin was elected
chairman by his 13 fellow members in July. He will serve through August
1996.
"Jim Heekin will make an excellent chairman," said Jon Moyle, his immediate predecessor. "He's very thorough, strong in finance, listens well, and is determined and decisive."
In his five years on the board, Heekin has been chairman of the Regents' Long Range Planning and Finance committees and has served on five other committees from Legislative to Athletic Equity.
Now Heekin will guide the governing body of Florida's 10 public universities through a crucial time.
"The issue is money," Heekin said. "We have to be able to sustain the quality of our university system in the face of dwindling public funding."
So far, he said, "the universities have been very resourceful in securing federal and corporate grant money, as well as profiting from their research by licensing the technology they have developed."
As a result, he said, "the citizens of the state are getting an excellent return for the value of their dollars -- Florida offers one of the best educational bargains anywhere."
But he suggested that the bargain may not be possible indefinitely.
Over the last decade the number of high school graduates has remained relatively constant at about 85,000 to 90,000 each year; but by the turn of the century, Heekin said, that number should jump to 130,000.
"The challenge is not only to weather the current fiscal storm," Heekin said, "but also to prepare for a time when many more students will want to enroll in our university system."
Heekin, a partner in the Orlando law firm of Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, specializes in health care law. He graduated with honors from the FSU Law School in 1980.
"FSU has the best law school in the state," he said. "It offers students the opportunity to see the workings of the entire state government and court system right there at its feet."
Heekin attended the University of Florida as an undergraduate and received a bachelor's degree in accounting in 1971. A Florida Certified Public Accountant since 1973, he has worked in the Jacksonville and Miami offices of Price Waterhouse and has been treasurer of a publicly-held real-estate investment trust.
Of FSU-Florida football games, Heekin said, "I sit on each side half the time, and I'm never disappointed."
Heekin was born and raised in Jacksonville, one of nine children. He flys his own plane (a Cessna 172 four-seater) and raises orchids: "They thrive on neglect."
He is married to the former Marty MacNamara and has three sons, ages 19, 17 and 15.
Heekin serves on the governing boards of no fewer than 10 organizations including the FSU Law School Alumni Association, Shands Hospital, the Florida Institute for Film Education and the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival.
An Eagle Scout, he also is the troop committee chairman for the Central Florida Council of the Boy Scouts of America.