Donald R. Eastman III is an American academic administrator who served as the fourth President of

Eckerd College Eckerd College is a private liberal arts college in St. Petersburg, Florida. Founded in 1958, part of the campus is waterfront and beach on Boca Ciega Bay. Because of its location, Eckerd is considered a "beach school" and has its own student ...

from 2001 to 2020.

Education

Eastman enrolled at

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

in 1963, but soon transferred to the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...

, where he was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1968. He earned a PhD from 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 ...

and also attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. While an undergraduate at Emory, he became a member of 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, and he continued his active membership in the Fraternity while at Tennessee.

Career

From 1989 to 1990, Eastman was the Executive Director of University Communications at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. From 1991 to 1998, he served as the Vice President for University Relations at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. In 2001 he became the President of

. At the beginning Eastman's tenure as President of Eckerd College, the institution has been warned that it might lose its accreditation. Eastman was criticized for insensitive remarks regarding rape. However, by the end of his presidency, Eastman was credited with doubling applications for admission to Eckerd, providing more student housing, and improving the college's stature after its financial scandals. In November 2019, Eastman announced that he would retire from his position. Eastman officially retired on June 30, 2020, having served the second-longest term of any Eckerd College president. Eastman was succeeded as president by Damián J. Fernández, the previous chancellor of

Penn State Abington Penn State Abington is a commonwealth campus of the Pennsylvania State University located in Abington, Pennsylvania. The campus is set on of wooded land. The roughly 4000 undergraduate students (full-time and part-time students combined) are ta ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eastman, Donald R. University of Tennessee alumni University of Florida alumni Harvard University alumni Cornell University staff University of Georgia faculty, staff and administration Presidents of Eckerd College Year of birth missing (living people) Living people