To build on its position of academic excellence, Florida State must pursue initiatives and forward-looking programs in emerging fields. The enhancement of academic programs propels the University's academic status, attracts the best and brightest young scholars and appeals to the nation's highly recognized educators.

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Alumna Who Blazed a Trail is Now Clearing a Path
An alumna who blazed a trail at Florida State University is now clearing a path for needy students. Maxine Thurston-Fischer, Ph.D., and her husband, Kenneth C. Fischer, M.D., recently included a $2 million gift in their estate plans -- $1.6 million to provide support to first-generation, low-income students engaged in the Center for Academic Retention and Enhancement (CARE) and $400,000 to provide scholarships to needy students enrolled in the College of Social Work.

Knight Foundation Grant to Support Garnet and Gold Scholar Society
Michelle Avaroma believed that Florida State University could help turn her love for working in her community into both her passion and vocation — and it has, thanks in large part to the Garnet and Gold Scholar Society, a program that recently received a $250,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

A Window Into Legal Education
Helping to answer questions and give students a taste of what law school is really like is the Summer for Undergraduates program at The Florida State University College of Law. Thanks to the generosity of Wayne Hogan, a Jacksonville attorney and 1972 graduate of The Florida State College of Law, and his wife Patricia, this program is provided free-of-charge to 60 students each year.

Iwo Jima veteran Harold Ronson makes gift to World War II Institute
Early in his life, Harold Ronson made his mark at two of the bloodiest battles of World War II: Iwo Jima and Okinawa. And now, Ronson has made his mark at Florida State University with a gift of $100,000 to establish the Harold Ronson Endowed Fund at the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience.

Student-Run Fund Yields High Educational Returns
Allowing college students to manage a $1.2 million fund may seem surprising, but for participants in the College of Business Student Investment Fund, this experience sets them apart from their competitors in a shrinking job market.

Karbala to Hollywood: How the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans is Helping Soldiers
The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, or EBV, provides training in entrepreneurship and small business management to soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines disabled as a result of their service supporting operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

An Art Lover's Feast
The second annual Ringling International Arts Festival kicks off in Sarasota, Florida October 13-17, 2010. Presented by the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art (the State Art Museum of Florida governed by The Florida State University) in collaboration with the Baryshnikov Arts Center of New York, the festival is like a feast for lovers of the arts.

Catalyst for Building Better Communities in Florida
Created to enhance the quality of those serving in local governments, the Center for Florida Local Government Excellence has been working toward establishing an endowment to sustain the center in perpetuity and provide a place for concerned citizens to contribute funds and begin to make a change.

Fujifilm Helps Florida State Make Movie Magic
In the last five years alone, Fujifilm has donated 160,000 feet of film, valued at $50,000, to the graduate and undergraduate film programs. This unusual, useful gift gives students the experience of using a traditional medium, an opportunity few students would be able to afford outside of the Film School.

How Eyebrows Are Redefining Florida State’s Student-Centered Atmosphere
In just one year, Florida State alum Tom Petrillo has led 10 students from the Department of Retail Merchandising and Product Development  in the College of Human Sciences in a project that has taken the NowBrow brand from concept to the successful opening and growth of two salon locations.

The Greatest Generation Inspiring the Next Generation
“I can lecture all day about World War II,” said Dr. William O. Oldson, director of Institute on World War II and the Human Experience. “But there is nothing like coming in to class with a letter or diary, something that was there, to capture students’ attention and bring history alive for them. All of a sudden they realize, ‘My grandparents were real people!’”

Pulitzer Prize Winner Inaugurates Lecture Series
According to FSU Religion department chair Dr. John Corrigan, Daniel Walker Howe’s breadth of nineteenth-century knowledge and his ease in connecting history to present-day events made him “the ideal person to inaugurate the [endowed] lecture series.”

Keeping FSU Students on Trend: The Center for Retail Merchandising and Product Development
How does a program tasked with educating the next generation of retailers stay current? One of the answers at The Florida State is the Retail Center. “The Center is here to help us build relationships within the retail industry that helps shape our curriculum and our students as retail professionals,” said Ann Langston, director.

Fostering Undergraduate Research: The Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Awards
The Office of National Fellowships awards URCAA scholarships to undergraduate students paired with a supervising professor to carry out a research or creative project of their own design.

From Idea to Performance: How MANCC Supports the Choreographic Process
The Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC) was created to ease the journey from idea to performance and provide artists with the space and resources needed to conduct research for new works.

Giving Students a Global Focus
One of three year-round endowed lecture series, the Broad Lecture Series brings internationally renowned lecturers to Florida State to speak on topics relating to public policies and international relations

FSU Alumnus Creates Chance of a Lifetime for Students
David Ford endowed $100,000 from the Ford Family Foundation to establish the Office of National Fellowships.

PBS&J Gift Helps Support Girls in Science
The SciGirls program introduces middle- and high-school girls to a wide variety of hands-on, authentic science experiences.

Microscopic Fossils Make a Macroscopic Impact at FSU 
The Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility (AMGRF) recently received a very special gift—25,000 diatom fossil slides.

A SSTRIDE Toward Diversity
SSTRIDE is a glowing example of how private funding can impact lives beyond the walls of Florida State University.

Dedman School of Hospitality Receives $12.6 million
The realization of a $6 million stock gift is on the horizon.