STORIES
|
Rent
Jackson
Mobley
FSU GRADS BECOME UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS
By Amy Zukeran
Life on campus was so appealing to some of FSU's graduates that they made their careers in higher education, and at least 57 have reached the top - the presidency of a college or university.
Their institutions stretch from the southernmost tip of Florida to the West Coast, across the Pacific to the Philippines and across the Atlantic to Finland in northern Europe.
Though the field of study varies, many of those former FSU students love the demanding, varied tasks required by their jobs. They also treasure memories of their time in Tallahassee and the people they met.
Of the group, four are women.
The fields of study include music, the sciences, business management, sociology and psychology. Most of the graduate degrees are clustered around education administration programs, but there are surprises.
"I received the Ph.D. in music from FSU," said Edward D. Mobley, recently retired president of Bainbridge College, in Georgia.
"This is not exactly the model for preparing a future college president," Mobley continued. "However, the truth of the matter is that the whole program was of such high quality that I think it caused me to raise my sights and think with a more extended view of life in general."
Mobley is one of seven presidents in Georgia who have doctorates from FSU; 18 other states and two foreign countries have colleges or universities with FSU alums in charge.
A commonly cited reason for taking high- pressure, top jobs is the excitement of mapping a university's future in a time of rapidly changing cultural attitudes and evolving technology.
And some of the FSU grads aim for the biggest, best known universities. Mark Wrighton, for example, has been provost and chief academic officer of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Now he is chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.
Wrighton received a B.S. in chemistry from Florida State in 1969. He joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after earning a doctorate in chemistry at age 22.
Others, leading smaller colleges or universities, talk about a coziness with faculty, students and alumni not possible on large campuses.
"As you move up within a larger institution, there is less and less contact with students," said Bill Proctor, president of Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla., who earned a doctorate in education administration from FSU in 1968.
"But in a small, private college, you don't lose that," he said.
David B. Burks, who is president of his alma mater, Harding University in Searcy, Ark., received a Ph.D. from Florida State in higher-education administration in 1974.
The one trait in common in this group is the warm memories of FSU.
Clyda S. Rent, president of Mississippi University for Women, said "the basic tools of critical thinking and synthesis" that she learned as an FSU student are valuable to her today.
Rent earned bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in sociology from Florida State, where she was a senator and homecoming queen, among other achievements.
"(Florida State) was alive with a wonderful array of scholarly types who also possessed a wealth of practical experience and, thankfully, a sense of humor," recalled Edward D. Jackson, South Georgia College president in Douglas. Jackson earned a Ph.D. in design and management of post-secondary education in 1974.
Flagler College's Proctor contributed this to the fond memory file for FSU alumni:
"I would have to say the highest point was when I was on the (football) coaching staff when we beat the University of Florida for the first time," he said with a smile.