Presidents of Florida Southern College

Rev. Claude Augustus Saunders was born in Manatee County, Florida on May 31, 1853. He attended Emory College and graduated in 1876 as class valedictorian. He joined the Florida Conference in 1877 and later became an elder in the Conference in 1882, serving appointments that included Presiding Elder of the Gainesville District until his retirement in 1924.

Rev. Saunders later became the Principal of the South Florida Institute, later known as the Wesleyan Institute, established in 1883 by the Jacksonville District of the Florida Methodist Episcopal Church, South in Orlando. At the end of his term as Principal, he was named Trustee and asked to draft a curriculum for the newly proposed college division. He was instrumental in persuading the Florida Conference to assume ownership of the College and move it to Leesburg in 1886. Rev. Saunders would continue to serve as Trustee until 1906. He passed away on January 21, 1943 at the age of 89.

Rev. William Wirt Seals was born in Georgia in July 1858 as the son of Rev. Thomas A. Seals and Margaret F. Seals. He attended the Richmond Academy in Augusta, Georgia before later graduating from Emory University in 1879. While there, he was part of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and served as the organization’s poet. He was admitted on trial to the North Georgia Methodist Conference later that year. In 1887, he married Belle Blandin in Alabama. Before joining Florida Conference College as President, he served a professor at the Southwest Georgia Agricultural College and Principal of Lutherville Institute in Georgia.

Rev. Seals only served one year as president of the Conference College from 1888-1889. He was committed to accomplishing something of the original mission of the institution by appealing to those Methodist students who were going out of state for their college preparation. His most significant problem was the lack of funds to increase the academic standing of the school. After he left the College, Rev. Seals held various roles at different colleges including as Professor at Florida Agricultural College and Wesleyan College as well as President of Douglasville College and Piedmont Institute. Rev. William Wirt Seals passed away in Washington, D.C on January 14, 1920.

Rev. Henry Edward Partridge was born near Lake Miccosukee, in Jefferson County, Florida on April 5, 1850. As the son of a minister, he received assistance from Florida Methodist ministers and attended Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He graduated in June 1871, returning a few years later for his Master of Arts Degree. He was licensed to preach October 6, 1870 and admitted on trial in the Florida Conference at Madison on January 3, 1872, later receiving Elders orders in January 1874. He served many Conference appointments as well as serving as Chairman of the Board of a private school in Ocala.

At the time of his appointment as President of Conference College in 1891, he was pastor of the Methodist Church at Leesburg. In his message to the Conference in Tampa on January 1892, he urged the Florida Methodists to increase support for the College. He advocated for the school as it was an “opportunity for young people to be taught under the proper circumstances especially under the moral influence of carefully selected faculty members.” Rev. Partridge later passed away on December 22, 1936 at the age of 86.

Dr. James Theodore Nolen was born in Franklin, North Carolina on April 22, 1863. He graduated with honors and won medals for academic excellence from Emory and Henry College at Emory, Virginia. After two years as a school teacher, he attended Vanderbilt University, completing the Bachelor of Divinity Degree in 1891. In 1892, he married Rose Charlotte Thomas of Spring City, Tennessee. Prior to becoming President of the Conference College in Leesburg, he served as principal of a high school and faculty member at another college.

Dr. Nolen was President at Leesburg during difficult years. He reported student enrollment in 1896 at just 85 with 7 faculty members, and the college plant consisted of three buildings. Following President Nolen's death on November 27, 1897, Professor E. F. Herman, teacher of Latin, Greek and German, served as President Pro Tem through December of 1897.

Dr. Shade Wilson Walker was born in Fayetteville, Tennessee on July 18, 1870. He attended the Hopewell Academy, Fayetteville Presbyterian College and the University of Nashville. He did special studies at Harvard University, where he studied with the famous philosopher and psychologist, William James. At the age of 23, Dr. Walker was a practicing attorney in Arcadia, Florida. During a local Methodist revival meeting, he was converted and answered the call to preach. He joined the Florida Conference in 1893, and his first assignment was in St. Augustine. Following a transfer appointment to Santa Ana, California, he became president of a small school in Wrightsville, Georgia. At this time, the Conference College was being moved to Sutherland (now Palm Harbor) and renamed the Florida Seminary School.

As the new President at age 32, Dr. Walker was an energetic young man with "commanding endowments of personality and impressive executive ability." Even the personal tragedy of losing his first wife in a boating accident off the coast at Sutherland in 1902 did not weaken his ability to lead the College. He gathered much broader support, which led to redecoration of the beautiful 159 room hotel as a girl's dormitory and the main building, the construction of a large new brick administration building, effective changes in the curriculum and increases in student body and faculty. The trustees granted him a first ever five-year contract in 1905 and the D.D. Degree in 1906 in recognition of his unique accomplishments. Also in 1905, Dr. Walker married his second wife Grace Parker, a graduate of the College and later member of the Honor Walk. In 1906, Dr. Walker presided over the school’s name change to Southern College. By the Spring of 1907, he needed a rest and submitted his resignation. Dr. Walker then accepted appointment to the Board of Trustees and served for many years until his death on March 17, 1958.

Dr. Walter Leonard Clifton was born in Mississippi on November 2, 1872. He was a graduate of the University of Mississippi and the University of Nashville before later obtaining his PhD from Columbia University. Before coming to Southern College in Sutherland, he had served as President of both Carrollton College and Grenada College.

Dr. Clifton was said to have remarkable intellectual powers. As most presidents who had preceded him, he also taught classes, including subjects in "mental and moral philosophy." His tenure also turned out to be difficult financial years for the College. So much so that much of the College land had to be sold to cover indebtedness in spite of some liberal donations by the Trustees. At Dr. Clifton's departure, the problem continued to require special attention. After leaving Southern College, Dr. Clifton served as the Superintendent for Polk County schools before later moving to Tennessee where he passed away on July 5, 1932.

Dr. Ludd Myrl Spivey was born in Eclectic, Alabama on December 5, 1886. Soon after, his family moved West, where he attended high school in Oklahoma City. College work was done at Epworth College and Vanderbilt University. In 1912, he was ordained a Methodist minister and married Clara Louise Helmkampf of Jackson, Missouri. By 1920, he had received two degrees from the University of Chicago, where he has also gained a great admiration for the teachings of the American philosopher and educator, John Dewey. He then was appointed to a teaching position and later as Dean at Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama.

Dr. Spivey came to Southern College in Lakeland in 1925. The modern buildings and equipment on the new Lakeland site meant a sizeable indebtedness, and Dr. Spivey's first years coincided with the post-Florida-boom years as well as a nationwide depression. As late as 1933, the trustees voted to close Southern; however, Dr. Spivey took up the task of continuing the College with such engaging enthusiasm and tireless energy that the entire enterprise seemed destined to prosper from that time forward. In 1935, Spivey oversaw the changing of the College’s name to Florida Southern College. By 1938, he had successfully persuaded Frank Lloyd Wright, a nationally known architect to build a series of campus structures, while admitting that no money was in hand at the moment. By 1941, Wright had not only completed Annie Pfeiffer Chapel, the first of ten campus structures, but another one was in progress. During his tenure, the campus increased from two buildings to more than forty. The student body increased from less than 300 to over 1400. The operating budget went from approximately $114,000 to over $1 million. Official accreditation came. Graduate and community-oriented programs were added. Intercollegiate sports began. The achievements of past and future graduates were acknowledged and celebrated in the form of the Honor Walk. The Citrus Institute began with the state’s first ever Grove Management program. After a remarkable 32-year tenure, Dr. Spivey retired from the College in 1957; he passed away on December 27, 1962 at the age of 76.

Dr. Robert Aldine Davis was born in Broxton, Georgia on June 15, 1928. He completing his B.B.A with honors at the University of Georgia, his M. Div. Degree at Emory University, and his S.T.M. Degree at Yale University on a Danforth Scholarship. Before coming to Florida Southern, he was the Director of the Wesley Foundation at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Georgia Institute of Technology, on the executive staff of the Methodist Division of Higher Education in Nashville, and President of Brevard College in Brevard, North Carolina.

Dr. Davis was inaugurated on November 12, 1976. During his presidency, the College endowment made an important advance, including major contributions to new scholarships and the first endowed chairs: the Jessie Ball duPont Chair in the Natural Sciences, the Nelson C. White Chair in the Life Sciences, the John and Ruth Tyndall Chair in Citrus, the William F. Chatlos Professorship of Business Administration and initiation of the Bishop Edward J. Pendergrass Chair in Religion. Multiple structures were added to the campus debt free by the end of construction: the Chatlos Journalism Building, the Charles Jenkins Residence Hall, the J. Carlisle Rogers Building, and the Centennial Tower. In 1981, the men’s Basketball, Golf, and Baseball teams won the College’s first ever Triple Crown by winning the NCAA Division II National Championships in their respective sports. In 1982, the men’s Golf team became the first Florida Southern team to win back-to-back champions two years in a row for the second time. During Davis’ tenure, women’s sports began to flourish, and in 1993, the women’s Softball team won the College’s first women’s NCAA Division II National Championship. Dr. Davis retired from the College in 1994. He later passed away on October 5, 1997. The Robert A. Davis Performing Arts Center, which opened in 2000, was dedicated in his honor.

Dr. Anne B. Kerr graduated from Mercer University with her bachelor’s degree and then received her master’s degree and doctorate from Florida State University. Prior to coming to Florida Southern, she was the Vice President for Institutional Advancement at the University of Richmond after previous executive roles as Vice President at Rollins College and Assistant Dean at the University of Central Florida.

Dr. Kerr was named Florida Southern College’s President on January 9, 2004 thus becoming the College’s first ever female President. During her tenure so far, the College has seen unparalleled growth. The student body has increased to more than 3,200 students total from 2,500 students in 2005. Over 22 buildings and facilities have been added to the campus, including the construction of the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Usonian House. Multiple renovations have also taken place across campus including the restoration of Wright’s Waterdome, and gardens have also been renovated and added across the campus. All of these efforts have led Florida Southern to on Princeton Review’s “Most Beautiful Campus” list for 11 years in a row. Academic programs have grown with the addition of the Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise (2011), Ann Blanton Edwards School of Nursing and Health Sciences (2021), School of Physical Therapy (2019); in 2017, Florida Southern also became affiliated with the Polk Museum of Art, which now hosts the College’s Art History and Museum Studies program. More than 20 new undergraduate majors have been added as well as new graduate programs in accounting, education, and nursing. The College’s first doctoral programs were also added under Dr. Kerr’s tenure in education, nursing, and physical. Because of this growth, Florida Southern College consistently ranks high on national lists from across the country in areas such as “Most Innovative,” “Best Regional Universities in the South,” and “Top Producer of Fulbright Winners.” Intervarsity sports have also thrived at the College with teams winning a total of 27 NCAA Division II Championships, including the Women’s Lacrosse team winning their first championship in 2016, just 5 years after the program began.