James Lorenzo Wattenbarger (May 2, 1922 – August 14, 2006)
/ref> was an American educator. A native of

Cleveland, Tennessee Cleveland is the county seat of, and largest city in, Bradley County, Tennessee. The population was 47,356 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Cleveland metropolitan area, Tennessee (consisting of Bradle ...

, Wattenbarger is credited as being the Father of the Community College System of Florida. His doctoral dissertation at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

outlined a master plan that the state used in 1955 to create the modern community college system. Wattenbarger returned to the University of Florida in 1968 to become a professor, and he founded the Institute of Higher Education. He was an active faculty member at the University of Florida until his retirement in 1992.

Santa Fe College Santa Fe College is a public college in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is part of the Florida College System and offers both associate and baccalaureate degree programs. Established in 1965 by the Florida Legislature as Santa Fe Junior ...

named the Wattenbarger Student Services Building Santa Fe College Map
/ref> after him in 1995.

Education

* Associate degree from

Palm Beach Junior College Palm Beach State College is a public college in Lake Worth, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. Palm Beach State College enrolls nearly 25,000 students in over 100 programs of study including bachelor of applied science, associat ...

in 1941 * Bachelor's degree from the

in 1943 * Master's degree from University of Florida in 1947 * Doctorate in Education from the University of Florida in 1950

References

External links

Official NY Times ObituaryInfo on Dr. Wattenbarger
1922 births University of Florida faculty University of Florida alumni 2006 deaths Palm Beach State College alumni 20th-century American academics {{US-academic-administrator-1920s-stub