Florida International University
Florida International University is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest university in Florida and the eighth-largest public university in the United States by enrollment. It is a constituent part of the State University System of Florida and one of four state-designated Preeminent State Research Universities.
FIU is classified as a Carnegie "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" institution. It has 11 colleges and more than 40 centers, facilities, labs, and institutes that offer more than 200 programs of study. It has an annual budget of over $1.7 billion and an annual economic impact of over $5 billion. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
FIU's intercollegiate sports teams, the FIU Panthers, compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and the Conference USA. The varsity sports teams have won five athletic championships and Panther athletes have won various individual NCAA national championships.
History
In 1943, state senator Ernest R. Graham initially proposed to the state legislature the establishment of a public university in Miami-Dade County. His bill did not pass, but he persisted in presenting his proposal to colleagues, advising them of the county's need for a state university. He felt the establishment of a public university was necessary to serve the city's growing population.In 1964, Senate Bill 711 was introduced by Florida senator Robert M. Haverfield. It instructed the state Board of Education and the Board of Regents to begin planning for the development of the state university. The bill was signed into law by then-governor W. Haydon Burns in June 1965. FIU's founding president, Chuck Perry, was appointed by the board of regents in July 1969, at which time the institution was named Florida International University. At 32 years old, the new president was the youngest in the history of the State University System and, at the time, the youngest university president in the country. Perry recruited three co-founders, Butler Waugh, Donald McDowell, and Nick Sileo. Former Miami Herald publisher and Knight Ridder chairman Alvah Chapman, Jr., used his civic standing and media power to assist the effort. In the 1980s, Chapman became chair of the FIU Foundation Board of Trustees.
The founders located the campus on the site of the original Tamiami Airport on the Tamiami Trail between Southwest 107th and 117th Avenues, just east of where the West Dade Expressway was being planned. The abandoned airport's air traffic control tower became FIU's first building, with Perry's office on the first floor. It originally had no telephones, no drinking water, and no furniture. Perry decided that the tower should never be destroyed, and it remains on campus, where it is now known variously as the "Veterans Office," "Ivory Tower," the "Tower Building," or the "Public Safety Tower," and is the former location of the FIU Police Department.
The groundbreaking for the Tamiami campus was held in January 1971. U Thant received FIU's first honorary degree.
Miami-Dade County's public university
In September 1972, 5,667 students entered FIU, the largest opening day enrollment at the time. Eighty percent of the student body had just graduated from Dade County Junior College. A typical student entering FIU was 25 years old and attending school full-time while holding down a full-time job. Forty-three percent were married. Negotiations with the University of Miami and Dade County Junior College led FIU to open as an upper-division only school; Perry's vision foresaw a "no gimmicks" institution with no student housing. Lower-division classes were added nine years later.The first commencement, in June 1973, took place in the reading room of the ground floor of Primera Casa—the only place on campus big enough for the ceremony. More than 1,500 family members and friends watched FIU's first class of 191 graduates receive their diplomas. By 1975, after seven years at the helm, Perry felt he had accomplished his goal and left the university to become president and publisher of the Sunday newspaper magazine Family Weekly, one of the country's largest magazines. When he left, more than 10,000 students were attending classes and the campus had five major buildings with a sixth planned.
Crosby and Wolfe: 1976–1986
, the university's second president and the founding president of the University of West Florida in Pensacola, agreed in 1976 to serve a three-year "interim" term. Under his leadership, FIU's North Miami Campus —located on the former Interama site on Biscayne Bay—was opened in 1977. State senator Jack Gordon was instrumental in securing funding for the development of the campus. President Crosby emphasized the university's international character, prompting the launching of new programs with an international focus and the recruitment of faculty from the Caribbean and Latin America. President Crosby's resignation in January 1979 triggered the search for a "permanent" president.Gregory Baker Wolfe, a former United States diplomat and then-president of Portland State University, became FIU's third president, serving from 1979 to 1986. During his tenure, the institution continued to grow; it became a four-year institution, though Wolfe was criticized for not hiring enough minorities and for leading a weak private fundraising effort. After stepping down as president, Wolfe taught in the university's international relations department. The student union on the Biscayne Bay Campus is named in his honor.
Maidique presidency and expansion
assumed the presidency at FIU in 1986, becoming the fourth in the university's history and the first Hispanic leader of any of Florida's state universities. Maidique graduated with a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, before joining the private sector. He held academic appointments from MIT, Harvard and Stanford Universities, and has been named to several US presidential boards and committees.Under his leadership, FIU heralded in an era of unprecedented growth and prestige, with all facets of the university undergoing major transformations. Physically, the university tripled in size and its enrollment grew to nearly 40,000. During his 23 years as president, the school established the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, the FIU College of Law, the FIU School of Architecture, and the Robert Stempel School of Public Health. Also during his tenure, the endowment grew from less than $2 million to over $100 million.
During Maidique's tenure, the university added 22 new doctoral programs. Research expenditures grew from about $6 million to nearly $110 million as defined by the National Science Foundation. In 2000, FIU attained the highest ranking in the Carnegie Foundation classification system, that of "Doctoral/Research University-Extensive." FIU's faculty has engaged in research and holds far-reaching expertise in reducing morbidity and mortality from cancer, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, diabetes and other diseases, and change the approaches to the delivery of health care by medical, public health, nursing and other healthcare professionals, hurricane mitigation, climate change, nano-technologies, forensic sciences, and the development of biomedical devices. The arts also flourished while Maidique was at the helm, with the university acquiring The Wolfsonian-FIU Museum on Miami Beach and building the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum on its main campus. In athletics, FIU made inroads in becoming a powerhouse athletic university during Maidique's time as president; he unilaterally changed the mascot from the Sunblazers to the Golden Panthers early in his tenure, and he championed the eventual establishment of an NCAA football program. Finally, the school earned membership into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest honor society.
Maidique was the second longest-serving research university president in the nation. Now President Emeritus, he serves as the Alvah H. Chapman, Jr., Eminent Scholar Chair in Leadership, and Professor of Management at FIU.
Rosenberg presidency
On November 14, 2008, Maidique announced that he would be stepping down and asked FIU's board of trustees to begin the search of a new president. He said he would remain president until a new one was found. On April 25, 2009, Mark B. Rosenberg was selected to become FIU's fifth president. He signed a five-year contract with the board of trustees. On August 29, 2009, Rosenberg became FIU's fifth president.Having begun as a two-year upper division university, FIU has grown into a much larger traditional university and serves international students. More than $600 million has been invested in campus construction, with the addition of new residence halls, the FIU Stadium, recreation center, student center, and Greek life mansions, as well as the fielding of the Division I-A Golden Panthers football team in 2002.
Since 1986, the university established its School of Architecture, College of Law and College of Medicine, and acquired the historic Wolfsonian-FIU Museum in Miami Beach. FIU now emphasizes research as a major component of its mission and is now classed as a "very high research activity" university under the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Sponsored research funding from external sources for the year 2007–2008 totaled some $110 million. FIU has a budget of over $649 million. The Florida International University School of Hospitality & Tourism Management collaborated with the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China to work on preparations for the 2008 Summer Olympics. FIU was the only university in the United States invited to do so.
In December 2013, it was announced Royal Caribbean was building a $20 million 130,000 sq. ft. training facility for its performers at the school. The facility opened in March 2015. The complex serves architecture, art, and hospitality students and includes lighting, set design, marketing, and other internship and training opportunities. On March 15, 2018, a newly constructed pedestrian bridge collapsed outside the university, resulting in six fatalities. On May 6, 2020, Florida Department of Transportation announced plans to design and rebuild the bridge.
Rosenberg suddenly resigned from the university effective January 21, 2022, citing deteriorating health conditions of his wife. Just a week later it was revealed that he stepped down because of allegations that he had made advances to a younger female employee, "causing discomfort", and creating a hostile work environment. Rosenberg is currently a professor of political science and international relations at the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs at FIU.