Marshall McAllister Criser, Jr. (born September 4, 1928) is an American corporate lawyer and former university administrator. Criser is a native of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

, and earned his bachelor's and law degrees before becoming a practicing attorney. He was the eighth

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, serving from 1984 to 1989.

Early life and education

Criser was born in Rumson, New Jersey, the only child of a meat-cutter and grocer, Marshall Criser, Sr., and his wife, Louise Johnson.Samuel Proctor
Marshall M. Criser Interview
Samuel Proctor Oral History Project, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, p. 1–2 (2005). Retrieved February 14, 2011. In 1941, his father sold his little grocery store and moved his family to

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

. After graduating from Palm Beach High School in Palm Beach in June 1946, Criser attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. He earned his way through his undergraduate studies as a construction worker and cafeteria

cashier A retail cashier or simply a cashier is a person who handles the cash register at various locations such as the point of sale in a retail store. The most common use of the title is in the retail industry, but this job title is also used in the ...

, while remaining an active member of various extracurricular organizations. Criser was president of Sigma Nu Fraternity ( Epsilon Zeta chapter),

student government A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to so ...

, and the

Florida Blue Key Florida Blue Key is a student leadership honor society at the University of Florida which was founded in 1923. History Founding and early years "Florida Blue Key was founded on November 1, 1923, several days prior to the University's Homecom ...

leadership honorary society, in addition to being a senior officer in the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), the business manager of the ''Seminole'' yearbook, and

homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia. ...

chairman.Carl Van Ness & Kevin McCarthy, ''Honoring the Past, Shaping the Future: The University of Florida, 1853–2003'', University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, p. 82 (2003). He was also inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame. Criser graduated from the university's College of Business Administration with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in 1949, and from its

College of Law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, l ...

with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

degree in 1951. After graduation from law school, he was commissioned as a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

in the U.S. Army and served two years of active duty before entering the private practice of law in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Lawyer, regent, university president

Criser was a partner in the law firm of Gunster, Yoakley, Criser & Stewart in

for thirty-one years. He served as a member of the board of governors of The Florida Bar from 1960 to 1969 and as its president from 1968 to 1969, and was also a member of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...

House of delegates. He was two-term member of the Board of Regents of the

State University System of Florida The State University System of Florida (SUSF or SUS) is a system of twelve public universities in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2018, over 341,000 students were enrolled in Florida's state universities. Together with the Florida College Syst ...

from 1971 to 1981, having been appointed by Governor

Reubin Askew Reubin O'Donovan Askew (September 11, 1928 – March 13, 2014) was an American politician, who served as the 37th governor of Florida from 1971 to 1979. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 7th U.S. Trade representative from 1979 t ...

, and served as the chairman of the Board of Regents from 1974 to 1977.University of Florida, Past Presidents
Marshall Criser (1984–1989)
. Retrieved October 24, 2012. As chairman, Criser led the search committee that selected Robert Q. Marston as the new University of Florida president in 1974.Julian M. Pleasants, ''Gator Tales: An Oral History of the University of Florida'', University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, p. 67 (2006). The Florida Board of Regents selected Criser to be the eighth president of the University of Florida in 1984. He was the University of Florida's second

alumnus Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

to serve as its president.University of Florida Foundation, Named UF Facilities
Marshall M. Criser Hall
Retrieved July 20, 2009. His term as president is remembered for the enhancement of the university's instructional quality, the rapid rise of its admissions standards, the growth of its academic reputation, and its successful fund-raising among alumni and the business community. His administration successfully completed the process of the University of Florida's admission to the Association of American Universities (AAU), the leading association of North American research universities, in 1985, and forthrightly handled the football program's widespread violations of

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) rules under coach

Charley Pell Charles Byron Pell (February 17, 1941 – May 29, 2001) was an American college football player and coach. Pell was an Alabama native and an alumnus of the University of Alabama, where he played college football. He is most notably remembere ...

that shocked the university community during the 1984–1985 academic year. As an experienced lawyer, he supervised the university's own investigation of its football program, disclosed the results to the NCAA, and implemented reforms to ensure the integrity of the university and future compliance with NCAA legislation. Criser was responsible for initiating the university's first comprehensive

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

campaign in the fall of 1988.University of Florida Foundation, Endowed Professorships & Chairs
Marshall M. Criser Chair in Electronic Communication & Administrative Law
. Retrieved July 20, 2009. When completed three years later, in 1991, the capital campaign had raised more than $390 million for the university's

endowment Endowment most often refers to: *A term for human penis size It may also refer to: Finance * Financial endowment, pertaining to funds or property donated to institutions or individuals (e.g., college endowment) *Endowment mortgage, a mortgage to ...

.Pleasants, ''Gator Tales'', p. 79. At the time, the capital campaign realized the third-highest total of private donations ever raised by an American state university. Criser advocated reducing class sizes to improve the quality of academic instruction, and proposed reducing undergraduate enrollment by 1,500 students while maintaining the size of the university

faculty Faculty may refer to: * Faculty (academic staff), the academic staff of a university (North American usage) * Faculty (division) A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject ...

and budget.Pleasants, ''Gator Tales'', p. 78. The next three entering

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

classes were to be reduced by 500 entering students each. He also made plans for raising the university's admissions standards and its upper division retention requirements, bolstering the academic counseling program, and rewarding faculty excellence in instruction, research and academic publishing. The lost income from the smaller entering classes, and the costs of the other academic enhancements, were to be offset by increased investment income resulting from the capital campaign's additions to the university endowment. After resigning as the university president in 1989, Criser returned to the practice of law in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which th ...

, with the law firm of Mahoney, Adams & Criser,Criser to become law partner in Jacksonville
" ''Gainesville Sun'', p. 1B (August 17, 1989). Retrieved July 20, 2009. and its successor, McGuire Woods. When the Florida Legislature reorganized the governance system for the state's universities in 2001, Governor Jeb Bush appointed Criser as the founding chairman of the newly constituted board of trustees of the university. He served on the corporate board of directors of Barnett Bank, BellSouth, Florida Power & Light, Rinker Materials and Shands Hospital, and, at the request of Governor Bush, he later served as the chairman of Scripps Florida Funding Corp. He also served as a member of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

Infractions Appeals Committee. UF Criser

Legacy

The University of Florida named its new student administrative services building, Marshall M. Criser Hall, in honor of Criser in 1991. Criser Hall includes the Marshall Criser Student Services Center, the Office of Admissions, and the Registrar's Office. The University of Florida College of Law honored him with the endowed Marshall M. Criser Chair in Electronic Communications and Administrative Law. In 2007, Criser and his wife Paula made a $1 million gift to

Shands HealthCare University of Florida Health (UF Health) is a medical network associated with the University of Florida. It includes two academic hospitals – UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville and UF Health Jacksonville – and several other hospitals ...

to support the Shands at the University of Florida Cancer Hospital, a new $388-million treatment facility completed in 2009. Criser and his wife are the parents of six children: Marshall M. "Casey" Criser, III, the president of

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile ...

Florida and a member of the University of Florida Board of Trustees, as well as Edward Criser, Mary Loveland, Glenn Criser, Mark Criser and Kimberly Criser. On November 13, 2013, Criser's eldest son, Marshall Criser III, was selected as the next Chancellor of the

.Tia Mitchell,
AT&T's Marshall Criser tapped to be Florida's new university system chancellor
" ''Tampa Bay Times'' (November 12, 2013). Retrieved February 3, 2015.

References

Bibliography

* Pleasants, Julian M., ''Gator Tales: An Oral History of the University of Florida'', University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida (2006). . * Proctor, Samuel, & Wright Langley, ''Gator History: A Pictorial History of the University of Florida'', South Star Publishing Company, Gainesville, Florida (1986). . * Van Ness, Carl, & Kevin McCarthy, ''Honoring the Past, Shaping the Future: The University of Florida, 1853–2003'', University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida (2003).

External links