Members of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee

• Jim Smith, the chairman of the Florida State University Board of Trustees, is an attorney specializing in governmental matters, including legislative affairs and administrative law. Smith, a Florida State alumnus, served as Co-Chair of the Florida Election Reform Task Force from 2000 to 2001; Secretary of State from 1987 to 1995; Chief of Staff in the Office of the Governor in 1987; and State Attorney General from 1979 to 1987.
  
  
• Joseph Travis, Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Biological Science, has served on the Florida State faculty since 1980. He has served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences since 2005. Travis is a highly regarded expert in the field of evolutionary biology and ecology.
  
  
• Paul Cottle came to the Florida State Physics Department in 1986 after earning his Ph.D. at Yale University. He is presently Chair Elect of the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society, which awarded him the George B. Pegram Medal for Excellence in Science Teaching in 2002.
  
  
• Carol A. Darling holds the Margaret Rector Sandels Professorship in the College of Human Sciences. She is a recipient of Florida State's Distinguished Teaching Award, former president of the National Council on Family Relations, and has been a Fulbright Scholar twice at the University of Helsinki.
  
  
• Clifford Madsen, a Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Music, has been on the faculty since receiving his Ph.D. from Florida State in 1961. He is the coordinator of music education, music therapy and contemporary media.
  
  
• Diane Roberts, a Florida State alumna, is a professor of English at Florida State and a graduate of Oxford University. A Marshall Scholar, she is a 2003 Grad Made Good, a National Public Radio commentator, the author of Dream State, and a journalist. She has been a political columnist for The St. Petersburg Times, as well as an op-ed writer for The New York Times, The New Republic, and The Times of London.
  
  
• Renisha Gibbs, an FSU alumna, serves as Director, Human Resources at Florida State, leading the areas of Diversity & Equal Opportunity and Employee/Labor Relations.
  
  
• Jay Landers recently left as CEO of Chase Health Advance. He served as executive director of the Florida Department of Natural Resources and as Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation. He serves on the Florida State University Research Foundation Board of Directors.
  
  
• David Grimes, of Homestead, a law student, is Speaker for the Florida State Congress of Graduate Students. He received the “Bob Brandewie Student Life Senator” award for the senator most committed to developing legislation that enhances student life at Florida State, and the Senate Ethics Award for the senator who carried out his duties with the highest sense of personal ethics and honor.
  
  
• Ken Van Assenderp, a Florida State alumnus, is an attorney in Tallahassee, and is former Alumni Board Chair. Gov. Jeb Bush appointed him in December 2000 to serve on the Governor’s Select Elections Reform Task Force.
  
  
• Delores Spearman is on the Alumni Association’s National Board of Directors, and holds two Florida State degrees. She is an active community volunteer in Brevard County and a donor to the university.
  
  
• Lauren Robertson, a senior in the College of Business, is the vice president of the Student Government Association at Florida State. She formerly was the Senior Class President and the 2008 Panhellenic President.
  
  
• Adam Fox is a senior political science major in the College of Social Sciences and is also director of the Office of Legislative Affairs for the Student Government Association. He is president of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.
  
  
• Russ Morcom and his wife Genie provided the leadership gift that led to the building of Florida State University’s new Morcom Aquatic Center, as well as the reading program in psychology. A donor to both academics and athletics, the Florida State engineering graduate is a Circle of Gold recipient and Foundation Board of Trustees member and served as chairman of Seminole Boosters 2006-2008.
  
  
• Justice Raoul Cantero is a Florida State alumnus, Harvard Law graduate and Fulbright Scholar. He was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by Gov. Jeb Bush and served from 2002 to 2008. He has been an adjunct professor at the Florida State College of Law, and is currently a practicing attorney in Miami.
  
  
• Will Weatherford is a legislator representing District 61 in Pasco County in          the Florida House of Representatives, where he serves as chair of the Education Policy Council and is a member of the full Appropriations Council on Education and Economic Development.
  
  
• Glenda Thornton is chair of the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce and past chair of the Leadership Tallahassee Board of Governors. She also has served as chair of the United Way of the Big Bend and is a member of the Seminole Boosters board of directors and the College of Law Board of Visitors. She is a Florida State alumna.
  
  
• Ken Willis is a prominent businessman and has served as chairman of Florida State’s College of Business Board of Governors. He holds an M.B.A. from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in business from Florida State. He is on the Executive Board of the Seminole Boosters.
  
  
• Harry Sargeant III, a 1978 Florida State graduate, is a prominent businessman who owns the largest fleet of oceangoing asphalt tankers in the world. He is a strong supporter of Florida State as a donor and as a member of the Seminole Boosters.

Alternate Member

• Chris Diamantis, a graduate of the Florida State University College of Business and a member of its Board of Governors, is chairman and CEO for Integrated Financial Settlements, Inc.