Florida State University President John Thrasher visits FSU Panama City Campus

The FSU Alumni Association invited local leaders, staff, and faculty members to a reception with new President, John Thrasher, in June. FSU Board of Trustees selected John Thrasher to serve as the 15th President of FSU in November last year from 11 candidates and 39 applicants.

Thrasher earned a bachelor’s degree in business from FSU in 1965.After leaving Florida State, he joined the U.S. Army where he received the Army Commendation Medal in Germany and was awarded two Bronze Stars for his service in Vietnam.He was honorably discharged as a captain in 1970. He then returned to his alma mater to earn a law degree with honors in 1972.

In his political career, Thrasher has served on a school board, was speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, was chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, and had been re-elected to the Florida Senate, district 6, just one day before being confirmed by the Board of Governors as FSU’s new president.Thrasher resigned from the Senate seat in favor of the FSU presidency.

In his speech Thrasher credited FSU’s outgoing Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Allan Bense, for saving Panama City’s Campus and announced future plans to grow the Panama City Campus by adding a dormitory to attract and accommodate out-of-town students.