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Milestones in FAU History (1990-1999)Jump to: 1955-1969 | 1970-1989 | 1990-1999 | 2000-Today
1990• Fall semester enrollment is 13,148.
• The Division of Nursing becomes the School of Nursing.
• The College of Liberal Arts is created and based on the Davie campus.
• The Social Science Building and the Science and Engineering Building open on the Boca Raton campus.
1991
• Fall semester enrollment is 14,415.
• Philanthropist Charles E. Schmidt makes a $10 million gift to FAU to create the Dorothy F. Schmidt Center for the Arts and Humanities in memory of his late wife. State matching funds double its value to $20 million. The donation, which also funds two 'Super Chairs• in the humanities and fine arts, ranks as the largest cash gift to academic programs ever received in the history of Florida's State University System. FAU names its College of Arts and Letters in honor of Dorothy F. Schmidt.
• The School of Nursing becomes the College of Nursing.
• Hillary Rodham Clinton makes a campaign speech in the University Center Auditorium on behalf of her husband, U.S. presidential candidate Bill Clinton.
• A group of FAU students and faculty members from the College of Business accepts an invitation from a member of the Supreme Soviet to travel to Russia to present concepts of American capitalism. While they are aboard a boat on the Volga River, the Soviet Union collapses. They arrive in Moscow on the first day that Russia's pre-Soviet flag has flown in the city since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, a sight that brings tears to the eyes of their young Russian guide. When they return home, they go on a local speaking tour to share their close-up view of history in the making.
1992• Fall semester enrollment is 15,133.
• Massachusetts Governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis joins the FAU faculty as a visiting professor of political science
• Hurricane Andrew strikes South Florida on August 24, 1992, causing 23 deaths and $26.5 billion in property damage in Florida and Louisiana. The National Hurricane Center reports that it is the most destructive hurricane ever to hit the United States. FAU's campuses are largely unaffected, but the Kendall campus of Florida International University is left in a state of devastation. FAU students and employees spend weeks rendering volunteer aid to FIU and the neighborhoods surrounding it, traveling singly and in caravans to distribute donated food, clothing and water, help repair roofs and provide other kinds of assistance. For many months, FAU's Boca Raton campus is an active drop-off point for relief supplies.
1993
• Fall semester enrollment is 16,123.
• The Jay and Sharon Raddock Eminent Scholar Chair in Holocaust Studies is established through gifts from Jay and Sharon Raddock and other donors.
• FAU is elected to membership in the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, the nation's oldest higher education professional association. (In 2010, the organization will change its name to the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.)
• FAU's intercollegiate teams join the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) and move to NCAA Division I.
1994
• Fall semester enrollment is 17,733.
• The Liberal Arts Building opens on the Davie campus, adjacent to Broward Community College's central campus. FAU and BCC administrators and faculty members develop carefully coordinated four-year degree programs that greatly expand higher education opportunities in Broward.
• The Dorothy F. Schmidt Center for Arts and Humanities opens on the Boca Raton campus, with Governor Lawton Chiles officiating. The beautiful new complex contains an electronic bell tower that sounds the Westminster Chimes on the hour, art studios, classrooms, lecture halls and the elegant Schmidt Gallery.
• The College of Education Building opens on the Boca Raton campus.
1995
• Fall semester enrollment is 18,079.
• A two-story student apartment complex opens on the eastern edge of the Boca Raton campus.
• Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell joins the faculty as the Tripp, Scott, Conklin & Smith Visiting Professor of Political Science.
1996
• Fall semester enrollment is 18,819.
• The BPW Scholarship House, funded by the Florida Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, opens on the Boca Raton campus.
• FAU purchases Barry University's Port St. Lucie facility to establish a campus on the Treasure Coast, in partnership with Indian River Community College.
• The Donnell-Kay Foundation and the estate of Anne Kunkel make donations totaling about $8 million to FAU's Pine Jog Environmental Education Center in West Palm Beach. When combined with state matching funds, these gifts create an $11 million endowment for Pine Jog's programs and services.
• The School of Architecture is established.
• The extensively remodeled FAU-BCC Joint-Use Library opens on the Davie campus.
1997
• Fall semester enrollment is 19,577.
• Sponsored research funding exceeds $24 million.
• Manuel Diaz Farms, Inc., of Kendall makes the first of a series of tree donations to FAU, planting some 2,200 royal palms, coconut palms and other native species on the Boca Raton campus, dramatically transforming its appearance. This plus 4,000 more trees provided by Manuel Diaz Farms to beautify the Boca Raton, Davie and Jupiter campuses add up to a total in-kind donation valued at $1.5 million.
• The women's softball team wins the TAAC championship.
1998
• Fall semester enrollment is 19,666.
• The Schmidt Family Foundation, headed by Richard L. Schmidt, makes a $15 million donation to the university in memory of FAU benefactor Charles E. Schmidt, who died in 1996. State matching funds double its value to $30 million. The gift supports FAU's medical education partnership with the University of Miami and funds construction of the Charles E. Schmidt Biomedical Science Center. It sets a new state record for cash gifts to academic programs. FAU names its College of Science in honor of Charles E. Schmidt.
• The Herbert and Elaine Gimelstob Eminent Scholar Chair in Judaic Studies is established through donations made by Herbert and Elaine Gimelstob and others.
• FAU benefactors Eugene and Christine Lynn donate $750,000 to the College of Nursing to establish the Christine E. Lynn Center for Caring, a wide-ranging community outreach service addressing the healthcare needs of underserved populations, particularly at-risk children and the frail elderly. State matching funds increase the value of the gift to $1.275 million.
• FAU student Mindy Tyson places first on the national CPA exam, receiving the Gold Medal for her outstanding performance.
• Renovation work is completed on General Classrooms South, one of the oldest buildings on the Boca Raton campus.
• The Physical Sciences Building opens on the Boca Raton campus.
• Governor Lawton Chiles takes part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the University's John D. MacArthur campus in Jupiter.
• The FAU Foundation hosts a gala at the Boca Raton Resort & Club to kick off the University's first capital campaign, with a goal of $100 million.
• The women's softball team wins the TAAC championship for the second time.
• Sponsored research funding exceeds $31 million.
1999
• Fall semester enrollment is 20,581.
• FAU's John D. MacArthur campus at Jupiter opens, offering degree programs at the upper-division and graduate levels. The campus is the home of the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the first honors college in the United States to be built from the ground up.
• SeaTech, FAU's state-of-the-art ocean engineering research center at Dania Beach, is dedicated. The keynote speaker is Rear Admiral Paul G. Gaffney, chief of research for the U.S. Navy.
• The Education and Science Building opens on the Davie campus.
• Carl DeSantis gives $2 million to the College of Business to establish the DeSantis Center, which focuses on preparing students to enter the business side of the motion picture/entertainment industry. State matching funds increase the gift to $4 million.
• Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams of Northern Ireland is named a Distinguished Visiting Scholar. She and her fellow Nobel Laureate, Archibishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, make a public presentation sponsored by FAU called "An Evening of Unity."
• The Board of Regents authorizes an intercollegiate football program at FAU.
• Howard Schnellenberger, a legendary figure in college football, is named FAU's first head football coach.
• Retired public school teacher Eleanor R. Baldwin of Boca Raton pledges $1.5 million to FAU to fund construction of a presidential residence, which will bear her name.
• The Barry and Florence Friedberg Lifelong Learning Center opens on the Boca Raton campus. Funded by generous gifts from the Friedbergs and other donors, the Center serves the educational interests of men and women of retirement age. FAU's Lifelong Learning Society is believed to be the largest and most successful program of its kind in the country.
• The Jupiter campus opens and is formally named for the late John D. MacArthur. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation donated the 135 acres on which the campus is built.
• The Honors College opens at FAU's John D. MacArthur Campus at Jupiter. The first honors college in the nation to be built from the ground up, this top-echelon institution offers a four-year liberal arts and sciences curriculum to academically gifted students.
• The women's softball team wins the TAAC championship for the third time.
• The baseball team has a record-breaking year, tying the national record for consecutive victories (37).
• Sponsored research funding exceeds $36 million.
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