5 Questions with Thad Seymour Jr.
Summer 2019 | By Laura J. Cole
Leading one of the largest universities in the nation isn鈥檛 what most people have in mind for retirement. But then, Interim President Thad Seymour Jr. isn鈥檛 most people.
Prior to being confirmed for the interim position in March, Seymour helped lead the development of 91吃瓜网鈥檚 strategic plan, spearheaded efforts to make 91吃瓜网 Downtown a reality, and was named vice president for partnerships and chief innovation officer.
All this was after retiring from a 30-year business career, including his position as senior vice president of Tavistock Development Company, where he helped bring in more than $3 billion in investment for Lake Nona Medical City.
鈥淸Former President Dale Whittaker] reeled me in nearly four years ago, and it鈥檚 been this wonderful progression toward complete, abject failure at retirement ever since,鈥� Seymour says.
And while taking on increasing responsibilities over the past few years may seem antithetical to slowing down, finding himself in higher education administration is not actually all that far off from where he imagined he鈥檇 wind up 鈥� just perhaps a little more circuitous.
Seymour grew up on college campuses, where his father was an English professor and a dean at Dartmouth College, then聽president of Wabash and Rollins colleges, in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and Winter Park, Florida, respectively.
鈥淕rowing up, it felt like a logical path to be in education,鈥� Seymour says.
鈥淚鈥檝e been fortunate to largely work in organizations where you can make a difference, where you can see the connection between the hard work you do every day and its positive impact on the world. Certainly, that鈥檚 the case with the work we do at 91吃瓜网.鈥�
鈥� 91吃瓜网 Interim President Thad Seymour Jr.
At first, that meant teaching and coaching high school students at a small New Hampshire boarding school, after earning a history degree from Dartmouth.
鈥淭hat was great fun and convinced me that I wanted to continue my studies,鈥� he says.
From there, he went on to the University of Wisconsin, where he earned master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees in history.
鈥淚 never saw myself becoming the top American historian,鈥� he continues. 鈥淚 enjoyed research, but I liked teaching more.鈥�
While Seymour was finishing his dissertation on Theodore Roosevelt, his wife, Katie, decided to go to business school to study her passion, nonprofit management.
鈥淜atie has always inspired me,聽and I was impressed by the work she聽was doing and thought, 鈥楳aybe that鈥檚聽what I really want to do,鈥� 鈥� Seymour聽says. 鈥淭he funny thing is she recently聽found my application essay for [the聽Kellogg School of Management at聽Northwestern University], where I聽wrote that someday I saw myself in聽college administration. I鈥檇 completely聽forgotten about that.鈥�
How he arrived in his current聽position may seem like happenstance,聽but make no mistake. His degrees聽and time spent acquiring knowledge聽informed who he became. And with聽his background in education, his聽inside knowledge of business in聽central Florida, and his previous聽involvement in everything from聽Valencia College and Visit Orlando to聽StarterStudio and Shepherd鈥檚 Hope,聽Seymour is perfectly positioned to聽lead 91吃瓜网 at this point in its history.
Pegasus sat down with Seymour to聽learn more about what drives him as聽well as why he thinks 91吃瓜网 will only聽continue getting better.
What are you currently reading?
A lot of what聽I love to read is history. One of my聽favorite authors is Doris Kearns聽Goodwin, whose most famous book聽is Team of Rivals, which is about聽Abraham Lincoln and how he聽assembled a cabinet made up of his聽political opponents to ensure he had聽multiple points of view. She just wrote聽a book called Leadership in Turbulent聽Times, which profiles Lincoln, Teddy聽Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt聽and Lyndon Johnson and looks at聽common threads in their upbringing,聽and the personal and professional聽obstacles they ran into that forged聽their leadership style. Ultimately,聽each of them was most impactful聽because they fell back on core values聽that really mattered to them. It鈥檚 a聽great read.
What motivates you?
I think Katie and I are both聽motivated by family and service.聽We are privileged to come from聽close-knit families with parents who聽instilled in us key values, such as聽the importance of family and living聽lives of service. Katie is the eldest of聽seven, and there were five kids in my family. And we raised three children聽of whom we are very proud because聽they are kind, caring people.
Professionally, I鈥檝e been聽fortunate to largely work in聽organizations where you can make聽a difference, where you can see the connection between the hard work聽you do every day and its positive聽impact on the world. Certainly, that鈥檚 the case with the work we do聽at 91吃瓜网.
You currently have an exchange student living with you. Can you tell me about him and how you became a host family?
For more than 18 years, our聽family has been involved with our聽sister Catholic diocese of San Juan聽de la Maguana in the Dominican聽Republic. Our friends there live聽in remote mountain villages, and聽the communities still have limited聽resources, though things are聽improving. Katie鈥檚 first trip was to聽assist on a surgical mission; and聽later, my sons, Katie and I helped聽with home-building efforts. Then聽Katie and our daughter began聽teaching English to youth in the summers.
As the program has matured, five schools have been started. Several聽of those schools鈥� top-performing聽students were invited to study in the聽U.S. and were supported by different聽Catholic schools in central Florida.聽Many of the students returned back聽to the Dominican Republic to attend聽college, but some stayed here.聽One of Katie鈥檚 students, Bacilio, a valedictorian from Melbourne聽Central Catholic High School,聽wanted to go to college here. Katie聽and I invited him to live with us two聽years ago. He completed his honors聽degree at Seminole State College,聽which is a five-minute bike ride from our house, and was admitted to 91吃瓜网.聽He鈥檒l come here to study 肠辞尘辫耻迟别谤听蝉肠颈别苍肠别 as a DirectConnect to 91吃瓜网聽student this fall.
There鈥檚 been a lot of conversation recently in the media about the cost of higher education and if it鈥檚 worth it. What do you think is the value of higher education?
In my DNA is the belief that聽education is the single most聽important thing that somebody can聽do to improve their opportunities,聽their quality of life, their livelihood聽and their impact on the world. If聽you think about higher education not as a cost but as an investment in聽your future, the returns are huge by every measure.
Now, that doesn鈥檛 mean that we聽don鈥檛 want to constantly work on聽the cost of education because the聽value is even greater if it鈥檚 more聽affordable. That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 utterly聽committed to the mission of 91吃瓜网,聽which is to transform as many lives聽as possible by making a high-quality聽college education accessible to as聽many people as possible. I would聽add that鈥檚 also true for our state聽college partners.
Why are you optimistic about 91吃瓜网鈥檚 future?
I鈥檓 optimistic for many reasons.聽There is a foundation of great聽people, history and momentum聽here. We went through a tough聽time, but that doesn鈥檛 define us.聽The core of who we are is strong聽and unchanged.聽As we continue moving forward,聽we need to keep our focus on three things.
One is to approach all of our聽work with a bias toward action. I聽think that鈥檚 essential to any good聽organization, particularly when you聽are committed to constant and rapid聽improvement, as we are.
Second is to invest in our people. The core of our mission is to develop聽the next generation of talent. That聽work depends on our greatest聽assets, which are our faculty and聽staff. So we have to pay attention聽to the people we have 鈥� how best聽to retain and develop them, so they聽can have the maximum impact here聽鈥� and then we must continue to聽recruit the best people.
The third is discipline and focus. By that I mean we should say 鈥渘o鈥澛爉ore often so we can say 鈥測es鈥� to聽bigger things.聽Because we鈥檙e big we鈥檙e going to聽be able to do many things and do聽them well. Asking ourselves, 鈥淲hat聽do we want to be known for 20 years聽from now?鈥� will lead us to focus on聽four or five things that we can be聽the best in the world at. It鈥檚 not that聽we will ignore everything else, but聽we need to find those few areas and聽be disciplined about making them聽exceptional.
For example, cybersecurity聽wasn鈥檛 on anybody鈥檚 radar screen聽in a meaningful way 10 years ago.聽We鈥檝e carved out a niche where聽we鈥檙e highly respected globally. How聽do we keep building on that and do聽even more?聽If we continue to execute our聽strategic plan, define how we will聽be truly distinctive, and focus on聽fueling the future of the region and聽the state, I believe we can become聽one of the great 21st-century聽universities. I鈥檓 honored to work聽with a great team that鈥檚 committed聽to making that happen.
If we continue to execute our strategic plan, define how we will be truly distinctive, and focus on fueling the future of the region and the state, I believe we can become one of the great 21st-century universities. I鈥檓 honored to work with a great team that鈥檚 committed to making that happen.