List of Presidents of the University of Central Florida

This List of Presidents of the University of Central Florida includes all who have served as university presidents of the University of Central Florida

University of Central Florida

The University of Central Florida, commonly referred to as UCF, is a metropolitan public research university located in Orlando, Florida, United States...

since its founding in 1963. The University of Central Florida is a space-grant

Space grant colleges

The space-grant colleges compose a network of 52 consortia, based at universities across the United States, for outer space-related research. Each consortium is based in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia or Puerto Rico and consists of multiple independent institutions, with one of the...

university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

located on a 1415 acres (5.7 km²) campus in Orlando

Orlando, Florida

Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. UCF is a member institution of the State University System of Florida

State University System of Florida

The State University System of Florida is a system of eleven public universities in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2011, over 320,000 students were enrolled in Florida's state universities...

and is the second-largest university in the United States. Although the institution was founded in 1963, the name officially changed to the University of Central Florida in 1978 from Florida Technological University.

The first president of the university was Dr. Charles Millican, who was appointed by the The Board of Regents

Florida Board of Governors

The Florida Board of Governors was created in 2002 by the passage of a constitutional amendment, which went into effect in 2003. By an unprecedented vote, a 17-member board was established to serve as the statewide governing body for the State University System of Florida, which includes all...

to create a new university in Central Florida

Central Florida

Central Florida is a regional designation for the area surrounding Orlando in east central Florida, United States. The area represents the third largest population concentration in Florida, after the South Florida and Tampa Bay regions, respectively....

. Realizing his goal when the first classes were held at FTU in the Fall of 1968, Millican would be followed by Dr. Trevor Colbourn and Dr. Steven Altman. The fourth and current president is Dr. John C. Hitt, who has served since March 1, 1992.

Powers and duties

The President of the University of Central Florida is the Chief Executive Officer

Chief executive officer

A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

of the university. The University's Board of Trustees nominates the president, who must then be confirmed by the Florida Board of Governors

Florida Board of Governors

. There is no limit set on how long a president may serve in office.

The president is responsible for the everyday operations of the university, as well as budget and program administration. They are responsible for consulting with the Board of Trustees, for setting the university's goals and mission, fiduciary policy and for creating appropriate committees and nominating deans and other executive officers of the university. In addition to serving as UCF's key spokesperson, the president is responsible for ultimately executing the rules and policies of the Board of
Governors and Board of Trustees. The president reports to the Chair of the Board of Trustees.

Though the University of Central Florida Athletic Association functions independently from the university, the president serves as the Chairman of the Athletics Association board, and appoints the majority of the board members. In addition, the president has the right to dissolve the Athletic Association as an independent entity at any time and bring it back under control of the UCF Board of Trustees.

List of presidents

Term	Name	Background and accomplishments
First 1965–1978	Dr. Charles N. Millican	Millican was the founding president of "Florida Technological University." As such, he chose the university slogan of "Reach for the Stars," helped to design the university's distinctive Pegasus Pegasus Pegasus is one of the best known fantastical as well as mythological creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine horse, usually white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. He was the brother of Chrysaor, born at a single birthing... logo, and devised the university's concentric circle design. One of the highlights of Colbourn's tenure, was the commencement address delivered by President Richard Nixon Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under... from the Reflecting Pond in 1973. Regarded as the "Father of UCF," Millican remained at the university following his retirement in 1978, earning the title "President Emeritus." Before his time at UCF, Millican was a pastor of Olive Branch Baptist Church in Mississippi, and served as a coordinator for the 44th College Training Detachment of the United States Army Air Forces United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force.... during World War II World War II World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis... .
Second 1978–1989	Dr. Trevor Colbourn	Under the leadership of Colbourn, and as the diversification and growth of the university's academic programs grew away from its strictly technological and scientific beginnings, the university was renamed from Florida Technological University to University of Central Florida in 1978. During his tenure, the university established its football program, the Central Florida Research Park Central Florida Research Park The Central Florida Research Park, is a research park abutting the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, United States... and numerous satellite branch campuses. Following his presidency, Colbourn returned to teaching full-time, earning the title "President Emeritus" and eventually assumed the role of University Historian.
Third 1989–1991	Dr. Steven Altman Steven Altman Steven Altman, Ph.D. is an American professor and academic administrator, president of the Newschool of Architecture and Design in San Diego, CA. He previously served as the third president of the University of Central Florida from 1989 to 1991....	Altman's inauguration festivities, which were upbeat and filled with hopeful rhetoric following a tremendous rise in the university's image under Colbourn, included an address by Gennadi Gerasimov Gennadi Gerasimov Gennadi Ivanovich Gerasimov Gennadi (or Gennady) Ivanovich Gerasimov Gennadi (or Gennady) Ivanovich Gerasimov (Russian, Геннадий Иванович Герасимов, (1930, Yelabuga – 14 September 2010, Moscow) was the Russian ambassador to Portugal from 1990 to 1995. Previously he was foreign affairs spokesman... , a spokesman for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991... . During his short tenure as UCF's third president, the Knights Football program moved from NCAA Division II up to Division I-AA, and the athletics program moved to the America South Conference (presently the Sun Belt Conference Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference is a college athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , the higher of two levels of Division I football competition . The Sun Belt has member institutions... ).
Interim 1991–1992	Dr. Robert A. Bryan Robert A. Bryan Robert Armistead "Bob" Bryan is a former American university professor, administrator and university president. Bryan is a native of Pennsylvania, and earned his bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees before becoming a professor of English literature...	Bryan became the interim president of the university following the resignation of Steven Altman, who left briefly into his tenure to return to the corporate workforce. Preceding his time at UCF, Bryan was a long-time faculty member of the University of Florida University of Florida The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906... , and would serve as the university's interim president from 1989 to 1990. Bryan would subsequently serve as interim president once again, this time at the University of South Florida University of South Florida The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA... from 1993 to 1994.
Fourth 1992–Present	Dr. John C. Hitt John Hitt John C. Hitt, Ph.D. is an American professor and academic administrator, serving as the fourth and current president of the University of Central Florida since March 1, 1992...	Since becoming UCF's fourth president, Hitt has presided over a university which has doubled in terms of enrollment to become the nation's second-largest, increased its admission standards, and completed construction of an on-campus football stadium Bright House Networks Stadium Bright House Networks Stadium is the football stadium for the University of Central Florida’s football team, nicknamed the Knights. Located in Knights Plaza on the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, the stadium was the first on-campus stadium in NCAA Division I... , new arena UCF Arena The UCF Arena is a multi-purpose arena complex located on the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, USA. It is the home to the UCF Knights men's and women's basketball teams... , and the development of the UCF College of Medicine University of Central Florida College of Medicine The UCF College of Medicine is an academic college of the University of Central Florida located in Orlando, Florida, USA. The dean of the college is Deborah C. German, M.D.... at Lake Nona. In addition, the university's football program moved from Division I-AA to Division I-A (FBS) in 1996, and UCF has become a "very high research activity" university as ranked by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered in 1906 by an act of the United States Congress, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is an independent policy and research center, whose primary activities of research and writing have resulted in published reports on every level... . Before taking the reins at the UCF, he served as interim president and vice president at the University of Maine University of Maine The University of Maine is a public research university located in Orono, Maine, United States. The university was established in 1865 as a land grant college and is referred to as the flagship university of the University of Maine System... , and held other administrative positions at Bradley University Bradley University Bradley University, founded in 1897, is a private, co-educational university located in Peoria, Illinois. It is a small institution with an enrollment of approximately 6,100 undergraduate and postgraduate students and a full-time faculty of approximately 350.... and Texas Christian University Texas Christian University Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ... .

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Powers and duties

List of presidents

See also

External links