Florida Memorial University traces its history to two schools. In 1879 the Florida Baptist Institute in Live Oak was founded: and in1892 in Jacksonville, the Florida Baptist Academy was established. Decades later, the two schools merge at St. Augustine. In 1968 the College relocated to Miami to its present and permanent site.
The history of the institution’s presidents involve two lines of succession. The first line began in 1880 with Rev. Joseph Leroy Fish, first president of Florida Baptist Institute and ended at Live Oak in 1941 with Dr. Robert Lee Holley. The second line of succession began in Jacksonville in 1892, with Dr. Matthew W. Gilbert as President of Florida Baptist Academy and continues at Miami in 2006 under the leadership of Dr. Karl S. Wright, who became the eleventh and latest president in this line. In total twenty men have held the office.
The following table shows the line of succession at the Live Oak campus, and at the Jacksonville, St Augustine and Miami campuses.
LIVE OAK
Florida Institute
J.L.A. Fish, 1880-1890
H.B. Lawrence, 1890-1891
M.W. Gilbert, 1891-1892
G.P. McKinney, 1892-1903
L.C. Jones, 1903-1911
G.P. McKinney, (2 nd term)1911-1914
R.T. Pollard, 1914-1916
S.A. Owens, 1916-1917
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JACKSONVILLE
Florida Baptist Academy
M. W. Gilbert, 1892-1894
J.T. Brown, 1894-1896
Florida Normal Industrial Institute
Jacksonville-St. Augustine
N.W. Collier, 1896-1941
W.H. Gray, Jr., 1942-1944
J.L. Tilley, 1944-1949
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Florida Memorial College
A.C. Curtright, 1917-1925
F.G.R. Everett, 1925-1926
R.L. Holley, 1926-1941
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Florida Normal Industrial & Memorial College
St. Augustine & Miami
R.W. Puryear, 1950-1975
W.J. Wright, 1975-1976
W.C. Robinson, 1977-1989
L.E. Monroe, 1990-1992
Florida Memorial University
Miami
A.E. Smith, 1993-2006
K.S. Wright, 2006-
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Note: Information Gathered from Florida Memorial University Archives. |
