Remembering a Leader – Bob McSpadden
BY DR. JOHN HOLDNAK
Bob McSpadden was a remarkable man whose name, during his 19 years as president, came to be synonymous with Gulf Coast Community College. In fact, Bob’s career at Gulf Coast began with his enrollment as a student in 1963 and continued with his subsequent employment as a professor in 1969. In 1973, he joined the administrative team, and in 1988, he became the College’s fourth president.
Bob was an ordinary guy – not President McSpadden, not Dr. McSpadden, but just Bob. When he first became president, he made some people feel uncomfortable because he simply wanted to be called Bob. It was the leaders in the Student Government Association (a group Bob himself was president of back in the 1960s) that first coined “Dr. Bob” as their respectful and affectionate name. It was a name that resonated over the years with folks both on and off campus and came to embody his humble, servant leader approach to work and life. He was also famous for saying that no one at the college ever worked for him – they worked with him.
Though Bob was an ordinary guy, what made him different from others was his innate ability to inspire and motivate others to extraordinary levels.
Though Bob was an ordinary guy, what made him different from others was his innate ability to inspire and motivate others to extraordinary levels. His unwavering focus and prioritization of students and communities the college served, in turn, gave the rest of us the foundation and framework on which to help build his vision.
He was the longest serving of the six presidents of the college. In fact, he has shaken the hands of more graduates coming across the stage during graduations than all of the remaining living presidents of the college – if not all of the other presidents – put together.
Bob had an unwavering belief that every one of the citizens in the college’s three-county service district deserved access to the same high-quality educational opportunities, a theme he carried for his entire time in office. During Bob’s tenure, he built or rebuilt most of the buildings at the college, and under his leadership, the college also grew by two new “full service” centers – one in Southport and the other in Port St. Joe. These unique facilities typify the kind of vision that has been the hallmark of Bob’s Gulf Coast.
Bob was all about “growing your own” leaders — an attitude, belief and course of action that many benefited from at the college and in the community – including most of the college’s current administrative team and many of the community’s current leaders. From Bob’s teaching and example, they learned how to be effective leaders, how belonging and believing in something bigger than oneself could pay dividends and provide fulfillment beyond imagination, and how looking for and finding the best in anyone and everyone was a far better way to live and grow personally. Bob led from the front and never asked anyone to do anything he wouldn’t do himself, or in most cases hadn’t done already.
He created a recognition program called the “Gulf Coast Person” award. He selected and recognized those who put students first, who always went the extra mile. He appreciated people who worked hard to put the best face possible on the college, and valued those who were exceptional teachers and honed their craft close to perfection. I would suggest to you that Bob McSpadden was not only “a” Gulf Coast person, but he will always be remembered as “the” Gulf Coast person. He and the college will always be inseparably intertwined, and our community is better for it!