William L. Proctor (born January 27, 1933) is an American politician and university administrator. Proctor served as president of Flagler College in

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; es, San Agustín ) is a city in the Southeastern United States and the county seat of St. Johns County on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabit ...

between 1971 and 2001. In addition, he has served on Florida's State Board of Education, as a state representative for the

Florida Legislature The Florida Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. State of Florida. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article III, Section 1 of the Florida Cons ...

, as a

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...

city commissioner, as a chairman of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida association, as a member of the board of trustees of the

Florida School for the Deaf and Blind The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB) is a state-supported boarding school for deaf and blind children established in 1885, in St. Augustine, Florida, United States. History In 1882, Thomas Hines Coleman, a young deaf man, was ...

and as a vice-chairman of the Florida Education Standards Commission. He is the former Chancellor of Flagler College.

Early life, education, and political career

Proctor was born in

Atlanta 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 ...

, Georgia in 1933, and moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in 1944. Proctor attended 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 ...

, Stetson University, and

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 ...

. He received a bachelor's degree (1956), master's degree (1964) and doctorate (1968) from Florida State University. In addition, Proctor served in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed F ...

from 1954 through 1964. Proctor was elected to 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 ...

in 2004 and subsequently reelected, representing Florida's 20th District.

Florida State

Proctor played

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 ...

in 1955 and was selected in the

1955 NFL Draft The 1955 NFL season, 1955 National Football League NFL draft, draft was held January 27–28, 1955 at the Warwick New York Hotel, Warwick Hotel in New York City. This was the ninth year that the List of first overall National Football League Dra ...

by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, in the 20th round, although he never played professionally. He was inducted into Florida State University's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988. In 2007, Proctor was named the interim athletic director for the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivis ...

, serving until

Randy Spetman Randall William Spetman (born December 30, 1952) is an American college athletic director who was most recently athletic director at Florida State University from 2008 to 2013. Spetman has also been the director of athletics at Utah State Univers ...

was hired as the permanent athletic director in February 2008.

References

External links

Florida House of Representatives profile
1933 births Living people American football tackles Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Florida State Seminoles athletic directors Florida State Seminoles football players Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives Stetson University alumni University of Florida alumni Players of American football from Atlanta Players of American football from Florida {{US-academic-administrator-1930s-stub