Marshall McAllister Criser, Jr. (born September 4, 1928) is an American corporate

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and former university administrator. Criser is a native of

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of 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 ...

, 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, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

. After graduating from

Palm Beach High School Palm Beach Lakes Community High School, also known as Lakes or PBL, is a coeducational public high school located in the Palm Beach Lakes community of West Palm Beach, Florida. It is under the jurisdiction of the School District of Palm Beach ...

in Palm Beach in June 1946, Criser attended the University of Florida in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

. He earned his way through his

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

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 c ...

, while remaining an active member of various

extracurricular An extracurricular activity (ECA) or extra academic activity (EAA) or cultural activity is an activity, performed by students, that falls outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school, college or university education. Although approved a ...

organizations. Criser was president of

Sigma Nu Sigma Nu () is an undergraduate Fraternities and sororities in North America, college fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1869. Since its founding, Sigma Nu has chartered more than 279 chapters across the United States and Ca ...

Fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

( Epsilon Zeta chapter),

student government A students' union or student union, 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 social, organizatio ...

, and the Florida Blue Key leadership honorary society, in addition to being a senior officer in the

Reserve Officers Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...

(ROTC), the business manager of the ''Seminole''

yearbook A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of Annual publication, a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually ...

, 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 and Canada. United St ...

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, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in 1949, and from its College of Law with a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

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 se ...

in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

and served two years of active duty before entering the private practice of law in

Palm Beach County, Florida Palm Beach County is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's third-most populous county after Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and Broward County, Florida, Broward County ...

Lawyer, regent, university president

Criser was a partner in the

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

of Gunster, Yoakley, Criser & Stewart in

for thirty-one years. He served as a member of the

board of governors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

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 association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

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

Board of Regents In the United States, a board often governs institutions of higher education, including private universities, state universities, and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual co ...

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 Sy ...

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 ...

, 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 (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

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 The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of predominantly American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 69 public and private ...

(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 College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) rules under coach Charley Pell 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. As UF president, he was vocal about infraction enforcement on the NCAA Presidents Commission stating, "the ultimate responsibility must be assumed by the CEOs because we don't have enough NCAA cops to solve all of the problems." Criser was responsible for initiating the university's first comprehensive

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

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.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

enrollment by 1,500 students while maintaining the size of the university faculty and budget.Pleasants, ''Gator Tales'', p. 78. The next three entering

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially 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 in ...

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 the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, 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 John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Bush family, Bush political family, he was an unsuccessful candidate for pre ...

appointed Criser as the founding chairman of the newly constituted

board of trustees A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of the university. He served on the corporate

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of Barnett Bank,

BellSouth BellSouth, LLC (stylized as ''BELLSOUTH'' and formerly known as BellSouth Corporation) was an American telecommunications holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth was one of the seven original Regional Bell Operating Companies after ...

, 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 College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

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 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., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

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