Edward Thaddeus “Tad” Foote II (born December 15, 1937) served as the fourth president of the University of Miami

University of Miami

The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...

 from 1981 through 2001.

A graduate of John Burroughs School

John Burroughs School

Founded in 1923, John Burroughs School is a private, non-sectarian preparatory school with nearly 600 students in grades 7-12. Its 47.5 acre campus is located in Ladue, Missouri , an affluent suburb of Saint Louis. It is named for U.S...

 in St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

, and Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

, Foote served as dean of the law school at Washington University in St. Louis

Washington University in St. Louis

Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...

 from 1973 to 1980.

Foote was appointed University of Miami president in March 1981.
He was followed in this position by Donna Shalala

Donna Shalala

Donna Edna Shalala served for eight years as Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton and has been president of the University of Miami, a private university in Coral Gables, Florida, since 2001. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest...

, who served as Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

.

The dramatic rise in the University of Miami's rankings over the last two decades of the 20th century have been largely credited to Foote's leadership. Undergraduate admissions and academic standards were raised, top faculty recruited, and major private and government funding secured for research and permanent facilities. The increase in the University's local, national and international profile paralleled the rise of Miami as the so-called "Capital of the Americas."

The University of Miami established the Foote Fellowships in honor of the University's fourth president.