Notable Alumni
Notable Alumni in the Florida Legislature
For more than a century, Florida Southern alumni have answered the call to public service. The Mocs profiled here have represented communities across the state in the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate, from Lacy Day Edge, who became the youngest Speaker of the House in 1923, to leaders shaping state policy today.
Florida Senate
Ben Albritton '90 | Florida Senate
A Lakeland native, Ben Albritton earned a Bachelor of Science in business/citrus from Florida Southern in 1990 and went to work for his family's citrus grove company. He was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2010, taking over the District 66 seat previously held by fellow alumnus Baxter Troutman, and was elected to the Florida Senate in 2018 to represent the same region. Albritton has also chaired the Florida Citrus Commission and the East Charlotte Drainage District and served as president of the Peace River Valley Citrus Growers Association.
Lacy Day Edge '12 | Speaker of the Florida House
Lacy Day Edge graduated from the Academy program at Southern College in 1912, where he played on the College's first football team. That same year, at 21, he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives, and in 1923 he became the youngest Speaker of the House at 23. He went on to serve two terms in the Florida Senate, was the first mayor of Groveland and later served on the College's Board of Trustees until his death in 1971. He founded the "Old Guard" alumni association and was named Florida Southern's Alumni of the Year in 1969.
Clark Maxwell Jr. '56 | Florida Senate Republican Leader
A St. Petersburg native, Clark Maxwell Jr. earned a Bachelor of Science from Florida Southern in 1956 and was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha. A U.S. Army veteran, he represented Brevard County in the Florida House of Representatives beginning in 1974 and in the Florida Senate beginning in 1978, where he served as Republican leader. He resigned in 1984 to lead the State Community College System, a post he held until retiring in 1997.
Robert "Bob" McKnight '66 | Florida Senate
A Port Chester, New York, native who moved to Miami in 1948, Robert W. "Bob" McKnight graduated from Florida Southern in 1966 and earned an MBA from Florida State University the following year. At Florida Southern, he was president of Omicron Delta Kappa and of his sophomore, junior and senior classes. He represented Dade County in the Florida House of Representatives beginning in 1974 and in the Florida Senate beginning in 1978. A U.S. Army veteran, he has written two books about Florida politics.
G.T. "Doc" Melton | Florida Senate
Green Thomas "Doc" Melton played football, coached the men's basketball team as a senior and performed with the Vagabonds, the College's acting group, while at Florida Southern. After graduation, he founded Melton Funeral Home in Lake City and coached the Columbia High Tigers during World War II while serving on the War Administration Board. Elected to the Florida Senate in 1959, he chaired the Education Committee and helped create Lake City Community College, becoming its first board chairman.
N. Curtis Peterson Jr. | President of the Florida Senate
N. Curtis Peterson Jr. represented his hometown of Lakeland and Polk County in the Florida Senate for 18 years after his election in 1972, serving as president pro tempore in 1980 and Senate president in 1982. A Coast Guard veteran of World War II, he was one of Florida's first licensed landscape architects and co-founded Lakeland's Peterson Nursery. Known for bridging the gap between Democrats and Republicans, he championed agriculture, education reform and corrections reform. Florida Southern awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1984.
William Alan Trask | Florida Senate President Pro Tempore
Born and raised in Polk County, William Alan Trask attended Florida Southern before earning his degree from the University of Florida. He worked in the citrus and cattle industries, led the Polk County Farm Bureau and served as a Polk County commissioner from 1963 to 1968. Elected to the Florida Senate, he represented Polk County until 1982 and served as president pro tempore from 1974 to 1976.
Stephen R. Wise '63 | Florida Senate
Born in Canton, Ohio, Stephen R. Wise earned a Bachelor of Science from Florida Southern in 1963, followed by a master's degree in education from Middle Tennessee State University and a Ph.D. in education from the University of Alabama. After working as a schoolteacher and in Jacksonville local government, he represented the Jacksonville area in the Florida House of Representatives from 1988 to 2000 and in the Florida Senate from 2001 to 2012. Throughout his career, he championed education issues across Florida.
Quillian S. Yancey '49 | Florida Senate
A World War II Army veteran, Quillian S. Yancey was elected student body president at Florida Southern in 1948 and named to the Honor Walk at his 1949 graduation. He served as an FBI agent and a congressional legislative assistant before earning his law degree from George Washington Law School in 1960. He served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1966 to 1972 and as state attorney for the Tenth Judicial Circuit from 1976 to 1984, including a period as Polk County's interim sheriff. He came out of retirement to win a Florida Senate seat in 1990 and served one term.
Florida House of Representatives
Frank Attkisson | Florida House
Frank C. Attkisson earned a Bachelor of Science in business management from Florida Southern. He served on the Kissimmee City Commission and as mayor of Kissimmee from 1996 to 2000 before his election to the Florida House of Representatives, where he served until 2008. He was elected to the Osceola County Commission in 2010 and became chairman of the board in 2012. Attkisson died in 2017.
Eric Eisnaugle '00 | Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal
Judge Eric Eisnaugle graduated summa cum laude from Florida Southern in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science in business administration and economics and earned his law degree from Vanderbilt University in 2003. He served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2008 to 2012 and again from 2014 until 2017, when he was appointed to the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal.
Harry Goode | Florida House
Melbourne native Harry C. Goode Jr., whose family was among the city's founding settlers, attended Florida Southern from 1956 to 1958 and served in the Army from 1961 to 1963. He owned Harry Goode's Outdoor Shop, founded by his father, and served as Melbourne's mayor from 1979 to 1986 before representing the city in the Florida House of Representatives until 2000. He returned as mayor from 2004 to 2012 and was serving on the Melbourne City Council at the time of his death in 2013.
Hugh Grainger Jr. | Florida House
Jacksonville native Hugh James Grainger Jr. attended Stetson University before transferring to Florida Southern, where he was a member of Theta Chi. By 1954, he had returned to Jacksonville and started a real estate business. In 1970, he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives, representing his hometown as part of District 18.
Larry Kirkwood '69 | Florida House
Lawrence R. Kirkwood earned a Bachelor of Arts from Florida Southern in 1969 and served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1977 to 1980. He went on to serve as a judge in Osceola County from 1981 to 1990 and in Orange County from 1991 to 2010, and in 2011 he became a senior judge for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court.
Edna Lockett | Florida House
Edna Pearce Lockett represented Highlands County for three terms in the Florida House of Representatives. She was only the third woman elected to the Florida House and the only woman serving during her tenure. She helped pass a law allowing women to serve on juries, advanced women's rights in Florida and, drawing on her experience as a successful cattle rancher, worked on agricultural issues. A Florida Southern trustee, she was elected Honorary Chancellor in 1980 and was posthumously named to the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame in 1998.
Harvey Matthews '70 | Florida House
Harvey W. Matthews served in World War II with the Eighth Air Force and retired as an Air Force captain in 1964. He moved to Orlando, worked in local high schools and earned a degree in business education from Florida Southern in 1970. That same year, he ran for the District 39 seat on a platform of education and law enforcement, and he served in the Florida House of Representatives until 1976.
Ray Mattox | Florida House
Winter Haven native Ray Mattox served in both the Navy and Army during World War II before earning a Bachelor of Science from Florida Southern and a law degree from the University of Florida. Admitted to the Florida Bar in 1955, he represented his hometown for 18 years in the Florida House of Representatives, where he was known for voting his conscience rather than along party lines. He later served as department commander for the Florida American Legion from 1980 to 1981.
Kent McKinley | Florida House
Before entering public office, Kent S. McKinley and his wife, Marjorie, owned newspapers in Buffalo, New York, and Sarasota, Florida. After settling in Sarasota, the couple became closely involved with Florida Southern, which awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1954. Beginning in 1967, he represented Sarasota and District 118 in the Florida House of Representatives and served on the Committee on Commerce. The Marjorie M. McKinley Music Building on campus is named for Marjorie in recognition of the couple's gift.
George Sheldon | Florida House
Raised in Plant City, George Sheldon attended Florida Southern from 1965 to 1966 before completing his bachelor's and law degrees at Florida State University. He represented the Tampa area in the Florida House of Representatives from 1974 to 1982 and later served as deputy attorney general for Central Florida, secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families and acting assistant secretary for the federal Administration for Children and Families. A lifelong advocate for children, especially those in foster care, he later led Our Kids, a Miami-based foster care organization. He died in 2018.
Wallace Lee Storey '57 | Florida House
Bartow native Wallace Lee Storey earned a Bachelor of Science in social science from Florida Southern in 1957 and a law degree from Stetson University, where he studied as a Highbaugh Fellow and later joined the law school faculty. He opened a law partnership in Bartow, served as assistant county attorney for Polk County and was president of the Stetson Lawyers Association. He represented Polk County in the Florida House of Representatives from 1965 to 1967 and served for many years on the board of overseers for Stetson's law school.
Joe Tedder | Florida House
Raised in Lakeland, Joe G. Tedder earned a Bachelor of Science in accounting from Florida Southern and spent a decade as an accountant at his family's firm, Tedder, Grimsley and Company. Elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1992, he played a key role in passing the Florida Performance and Accountability Act of 1994 and authored Florida's first charter school legislation. Elected Polk County tax collector in 1996, he led the office to the Governor's Sterling Award in 2015 and has served as president of the Florida Tax Collectors Association.
Baxter Troutman | Florida House
Baxter Troutman served four terms in the Florida House of Representatives, representing District 66, which included Hardee County and parts of Highlands and Polk counties. He focused on agricultural issues, especially cattle and citrus, and comes from a family with deep roots in Florida agriculture and politics. His grandfather, Ben Hill Griffin Jr., served in both the Florida House and Senate. In 2017, Troutman launched a campaign for Florida commissioner of agriculture.
Wendell H. Watson | Florida House
A U.S. Marine Corps veteran of World War II, Wendell H. Watson attended Florida Southern and the University of Florida and made Lakeland his home around 1944. He served on the Lakeland City Commission, on the Polk County School Board for 12 years and on the Florida State School Board, in addition to two years in the Florida House of Representatives. He owned Watson's Office Supply in Lakeland, and Wendell H. Watson Elementary School is named in his honor.
Ben Whitfield | Florida House
Perry native Benjamin Thomas Whitfield earned a bachelor's degree from Florida Southern, followed by a master's degree in education and a doctorate in higher education from Florida State University. He started an industrial arts program at Taylor County High School and later served as dean of students at the College of the Albemarle in North Carolina and at Westark Community College in Arkansas. A U.S. Navy veteran, he served one term in the Florida House of Representatives.