After Florida Memorial’s University yearlong search for a president that required at one point stepping back to square one, it chose former Florida A & M University and past Leon County – where Tallahassee is located – Commissioner Henry Lewis III.
In his role as president of Florida Memorial University, the continues a more than three decade long career in Florida’ Historical Black Colleges and Universities.
While he spoke about those university’s’ genesis and the role they play in higher education today, Mr. Lewis also emphasized his 10-year plan for the university, called Vision 2020.
It includes everything from nearly doubling the university’s enrollment from 2,000 to 3,500 to starting a college of nursing to bringing back a dormant football program.
Along with those lofty goals, he’s looking to give Florida Memorial a more research-focused mindset and tie it closely to Miami’s business community to see how it can help speed the recovery.
“We have an annual budget of about $42 million dollars and that translates into almost $100 million dollars in impact on our community,” he said. “I've… found that South Florida has, particularly Miami, 14% unemployment rate. To solve that we've got to attract more businesses that can create more jobs and provide the man power that has the expertise to fuel those jobs.”
Mr. Lewis discussed his vision for the university and how he hopes to accomplish it, with little tuition increase, with Miami Today staff writer Zachary S. Fagenson.