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FSC's Florida Lecture Series
adds political affairs lectures to agenda

LAKELAND, Fla. (June 2, 2003) - FSC's Center for Florida History announces the creation of the Robert W. and Susan E. McKnight Political Affairs Lecture Series. The annual lectures, funded in part by FSC alumnus Robert W. McKnight and his wife, Susan E. McKnight, will begin during the 2003-2004 Florida Lecture Series. 

The McKnight lecture will complement the center's current Florida Lecture Series, with emphasis on securing distinguished speakers with unique experiences in Florida politics and public policy. Lecturers may include current or former Florida legislators, cabinet members, and congressmen or those who have had a significant impact on Florida's history through public policy. The McKnight lecture will be one of the six lectures on the Florida Lecture Series schedule.

Robert W. McKnight graduated from FSC in 1966 with a degree in business administration and earned his MBA at Florida State University. He served in the Florida House of Representatives and Florida Senate as a member from Dade and Monroe Counties. He was an honored legislator and in 1980 was named one of the "Five Outstanding Young Men in Florida" by the Florida Jaycees. He currently serves as senior vice president and principal of Fringe Benefits Management Company in Tallahassee, a national benefits administrator. McKnight has been a member of the FSC Board of Trustees since 1996 and was awarded the college's Alumni Achievement Award in 1995. 

Susan E. McKnight is a 1968 Auburn University graduate with a bachelor's degree in early childhood education. She took advanced coursework at New York University and has extensive post-graduate training in early childhood education. She teaches kindergarten at Epiphany Lutheran School and has served on the school board of Timberlane Church of Christ School, in Tallahassee. McKnight has been active in community affairs and has won numerous awards for her church service. 

About Florida Southern College
Florida Southern is a four-year, private, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and a master of business administration degree accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Located in Lakeland, Fla., the college is home to the largest, single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world. 

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