Fred Gainous

Last updated

Fred Gainous
9thPresident of Florida A&M University
In office
2002–2004

Fred Jerome Gainous (born July 6, 1947) is an American academic administrator. He was the 9th president of Florida A&M University, serving from 2002 until 2004. He also served as chancellor of Alabama's community college system from 1988 until 2002.

Contents

Early life and education

Gainous was born on July 6, 1947 in Tallahassee, Florida, where he grew up in the Frenchtown neighborhood and attended Lincoln High School. [1]

After high school, Gainous attended Florida A&M University, paying for his education by working as a janitor at the university library and a doctor's home. [1] Gainous graduated from Florida A&M in 1969 with a bachelor's degree in agricultural education. [1] After two years teaching high school, he enrolled in graduate school at the University of Florida College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and completed a master's degree in agricultural education in 1972. [2] [1] In 1975, Gainous completed an Ed.D. at the University of Florida College of Education with a thesis titled The role of the county adult education administrator in Florida. [2] [1]

Career

From 1985 to 1987, Gainous an associate commissioner at the Kansas State Department of Education. [1] Then from 1987 to 1988, Gainous was an associate vice president at St. Petersburg College. [1]

Gainous served as the chancellor of the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education (overseeing the Alabama Community College System) from 1988 to 2002. [3] [4] Gainous returned to Florida A&M University in the role of university president in 2002. [5] However, Florida A&M experienced financial struggles under his presidency such as a $1.8 million deficit, employees criminally charged with theft, and late financial aid payments to students. [6] On September 28, 2004, the Florida A&M board of trustees voted 8–4 to fire Gainous after year's end, citing mismanagement of school finances and the move of the Florida A&M Rattlers football team to NCAA Division I-A, among other problems. [3] [7] [8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Barnett, Cynthia (October 2003). "Profile: Fred Gainous". Florida Trend. Archived from the original on March 29, 2006. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  2. 1 2 Gainous, Fred Jerome (1975). "Biographical Sketch". The role of the county adult education administrator in Florida (Ed.D.). University of Florida. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Kumar, Anita (September 29, 2004). "FAMU trustees vote to fire president". St. Petersburg Times . Archived from the original on October 10, 2004. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  4. ↑ Kumar, Anita (May 18, 2002). "FAMU greets new president". St. Petersburg Times . Archived from the original on June 26, 2002. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  5. ↑ "FAMU Presidents". Florida A&M University. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  6. ↑ Kumar, Anita (November 30, 2003). "Financial turmoil racks FAMU". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on February 25, 2004. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  7. ↑ Powell, Robert Andrew (October 9, 2004). "Florida A&M Tries to Recover From Failed Bid". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  8. ↑ Yeager, Melanie (September 29, 2004). "Headed for the door". Tallahassee Democrat. Archived from the original on October 25, 2004. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.