Thomas Kent Wetherell (December 22, 1945 – December 16, 2018) was an American politician and educator. He served as member of the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

from 1980 to 1992, and was president of

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

from 2003 through 2009.

Early life

Wetherell was born in

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal Resort town, resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County near the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coastline, its population ...

, to a well known Pioneer family of the Daytona Beach area. His father Thomas James Wetherell, was born in Holly Hill on Feb. 16, 1912. and his mother Mildred Juanita Kent Wetherell. His paternal great grandparents Thomas Wetherell ( 1845- 1921) and Margaret Wetherell who traveled to this country by schooner from Durham, England. arrived in the Daytona Beach area, in 1876 from Philadelphia on a boat that was heading for Miami. It stopped here instead when it ran into a tropical storm. The family had traveled to this country by schooner from Durham, England. It was his grandfather Thomas Wetherell (1867–1945) who was involved in many of the ''firsts'' in the area including helping build the Ponce de Leon Lighthouse. Wetherell attended Port Orange Elementary School and

Mainland High School Mainland High School is a public high school located in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. It is attended by 1,979 students of grades nine through twelve. The mascot is a Buccaneer and strongly resembles the old logo of the Tampa Bay Buccane ...

. He attended Florida State University (FSU) on a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

and played from 1963 to 1967. While at FSU, Wetherell joined the

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad ...

fraternity. He earned two

academic degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to students upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions commonly offer degrees at various levels, usually including unde ...

s in social studies and education, in 1967 and 1968. In 1974, he received a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in education administration from FSU.

Political career

Wetherell, a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, was a member of the

from 1980 to 1992, and Speaker of the House in 1991 and 1992. He served as chair of the house's Appropriations and Education committees.

Educational career

Wetherell served as president of

Tallahassee Community College Tallahassee Community College (TCC) is a public community college in Tallahassee, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. As of fall 2017, TCC reported 24,639 stu ...

(TCC) from 1995 to 2001; before that, he was president of the

Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida The Independent Colleges & Universities of Florida (ICUF) is an association of 30 private, educational institutions in the state of Florida. Like the 12 public universities in Florida, all ICUF schools are accredited Accreditation is the indepen ...

. During his time as president of TCC, the school saw increased enrollment and a campus expansion. Wetherell also worked at

Daytona Beach Community College Daytona State College (DSC) is a public college with its main campus in Daytona Beach, Florida. DSC also has 6 smaller regional campuses throughout Volusia and Flagler counties. It is part of the Florida College System. The college offers more ...

and

Florida Technological University The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University S ...

. After he resigned from his post at TCC, Wetherell was a

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

for the

Southern Strategy Group Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, ...

. The FSU Board of Trustees appointed Wetherell to be president on December 18, 2002. His salary was ranked among the top ten for public university presidents in the United States. Later, Lee Hinkle, joined Wetherell's administration as a Vice President for University Relations. In late 2006, he added his voice to efforts by

Bernie Machen James Bernard Machen (; born March 26, 1944) is an American university professor and administrator. Machen is a native of Mississippi, and earned several academic degrees before becoming a university administrator and president. Machen had been t ...

, president 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 ...

to bring a play-off to Division I-A

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Personal life

After a divorce from his first wife, with whom he had a son, Wetherell married

Virginia Bass Wetherell Virginia Bass "Ginger" Wetherell (born May 15, 1947) is an American businesswoman and politician. She was a member of the Florida House of Representatives for the Florida's 2nd House district, 2nd district between 1982 and 1988, then the first Se ...

, a former Florida state government official and state legislator; he gained two stepdaughters from this marriage. Until early 2018, he maintained the 983-acre Oak Hill Plantation in

Jefferson County, Florida Jefferson County is a County (United States), county located in the Big Bend (Florida), Big Bend region in the North Florida, northern part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 14,510 ...

near Tallahassee. He was a fan of hunting birds including turkey, dove and quail on the estate. At one point he had pledged the lodge and grounds to Florida State University upon his death but since 2012 or 2013 he changed his will to leave it to his family. Wetherell had been suffering from prostate cancer since 2002. Wetherell died from complications of cancer on December 16, 2018, six days before his 73rd birthday.

References

External links

FSU: Office of the President
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wetherell, T. K. 1945 births 2018 deaths American football wide receivers American lobbyists Deaths from cancer in Florida Florida State Seminoles football players Florida State University alumni Mainland High School alumni Players of American football from Florida Presidents of Florida State University Speakers of the Florida House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives Sportspeople from Daytona Beach, Florida