Thomas Kent "T.K." Wetherell
BS '67, MS '68, PhD '74 ED
Dr. Thomas Kent "T.K." Wetherell became the 13th president of Florida State University on January 6, 2003. He is the first university alumnus to serve as president of Florida State. A career educator with more than 30 years of experience in the State of Florida's educational system, Dr. Wetherell is also the only FSU president with experience in all four major divisions within higher education, having held positions in the offices of academic affairs, student services, business affairs, and college development. He has held leadership positions in two-year as well as four-year colleges, and he has served as a faculty member in both public and private institutions of higher education.
Dr. Wetherell is recognized as a high-energy, student-oriented president. He is an innovator who challenges faculty, staff and administrators to set high professional and personal standards. During his tenure as president, Florida State realized its dream of establishing, receiving full accreditation and graduating the first class of the nation's first public new allopathic medical school in the last 25 years.
Under Dr. Wetherell's leadership Florida State has undertaken the university's most extensive construction program, adding three new residence halls, a general purpose classroom building, new food services facilities, parking garages, an alumni center, research facilities, massive renovation projects, a Heritage Walk system throughout campus, as well as the construction of a new medical school.
Dr. Wetherell established the Pathways of Excellence program designed to enhance Florida State University's stature as a public graduate research university. The Pathways of Excellence program is designed with the Association of American Universities evaluation criteria as its basis. In addition to issuing a challenge to the university's community to reach a higher level academically, Dr. Wetherell also made available online data that will allow the public and individual faculty to monitor the university's and their respective academic department's success in this endeavor.
Dr. Wetherell is an outstanding advocate for higher education and has been called the state's most "politically astute president." In addition to his political insight, Dr. Wetherell is expert in resource development and led the university to successfully complete Florida State's second major capital campaign. During the campaign Dr. Wetherell gave the largest gift a seated president of a public research university has ever given to an institution in the United States. As president, Dr. Wetherell has also been the university's most vocal advocate for a community service program as part of students' college experience.
Dr. Wetherell has been inducted into Florida State University's Hall of Fame and was the recipient of the prestigious Moore-Stone Award, the Circle of Gold Award and the university's Distinguished Service Award. In addition, he has also been awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Flagler College.
Dr. Wetherell served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1980 to 1992, the last two years as Speaker of the House. During his tenure in the House he served as chairman of the appropriations committee and the higher education committee. The Miami Herald named him one of the Top Ten Legislative Leaders in the House each year from 1987 until 1992. During his years in the legislative process Florida enacted some of the most progressive education legislation in America.
A third-generation Floridian, Dr. Wetherell was born on December 22, 1945 in Daytona Beach, Florida. He attended Port Orange Elementary School and Mainland Senior High School, where he was active in service clubs, student government and athletics. He attended Florida State University on a football scholarship and played on the 1963-67 football teams. He still holds the record for the longest kickoff return in Florida State University history. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in social studies education from FSU in 1967 and 1968 respectively. He earned a doctorate in education administration from FSU in 1974.
Dr. Wetherell is married to Virginia B. Wetherell, who was appointed by Governor Chiles as Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection from 1991 to 1998. She previously served as a state legislator representing Pensacola. She currently is president of Wetherell Consulting Services. They are the parents of three children: Kent, Blakely, and Page, and have two grandchildren: Emily and Tyler. Wetherell's personal interests include outdoor recreation, travel and aviation.