{"id":13926,"date":"2018-05-23T20:24:55","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T20:24:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=13926&post_type=story"},"modified":"2020-05-21T18:54:37","modified_gmt":"2020-05-21T18:54:37","slug":"who-is-john-hitt","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Is John Hitt?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer 2018 | By Laura J. Cole<\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for a traditional profile of a president, this isn\u2019t it.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Chances are that if you\u2019ve lived in Central Florida at any point during the past 26 years, you\u2019ve heard about President John Hitt and what he\u2019s done to transform UCF and the region.<\/p>\n

In preparation for this article, I read and watched nearly two dozen features about Hitt. In almost all of them, he speaks at length about the people of UCF and what we\u2019ve all achieved together. He talks about the accomplishments he\u2019s most proud of, how many students are enrolled here (now more than 66,000) and what they go on to achieve.<\/p>\n

What I found less of is the man behind the curtain. He\u2019s naturally private, perhaps the result of years of knowing it\u2019s more important to talk about UCF than his life, knowing it makes it easier to accomplish what he wants. And, with the help of many people, he\u2019s been able to achieve some pretty difficult things, many of which naysayers said UCF would never be able to.<\/p>\n

During five interviews over the course of as many days in late March and early April, Hitt talked a good deal about UCF. He\u2019s retiring from the presidency on June 30, and naturally he\u2019s taking stock of the 26 years he\u2019s spent leading the university\u2019s growth. But in his office on the third floor of Millican Hall, he also opened up.<\/p>\n

[photo id=”14302″ title=”ucf-john-hitt-child-1200×800″ alt=”A colorized black and white photo of young white boy with blonde hair, blue eyes, and rosy cheeks wears a brown button-up shirt.” position=”center” width=”100%”]Pearl Harbor happened the same day John Charles Hitt turned 1. \u201cYou come into the world and have memories of uniforms, big trucks and people going off to war,\u201d he says. \u201cEven though I didn\u2019t have the vocabulary or the language abilities even, you start to get impressions of something big going on.\u201d[\/photo]<\/p>\n

You could say to know someone, you need to know who they\u2019ve been.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

To know Hitt, you\u2019d have to go back to Houston in 1940 \u2014 the year he was born. On his first birthday, the Japanese dropped bombs on Pearl Harbor and changed the course of the United States\u2019 involvement in the war.<\/p>\n

As a result, while Hitt was still just a small child, his father and uncle made a pact that whoever wasn\u2019t drafted would take care of the other\u2019s family. Hitt\u2019s father, a typographer and printer by trade, was the one who stayed behind. For several years, young John Charles grew up in a nice house with his cousin, Bill (who was only a month and two days younger than Hitt), his aunt and his parents. When his uncle returned, Hitt and his parents moved into a house of their own, a house that wasn\u2019t as nice or as big as that house with Bill, but it was a good house in a decent part of town.<\/p>\n

In Texas in the 1950s, the legal driving age was 14. \u201cNot the most sensible, if you think about being 14 and driving,\u201d Hitt says. But still, only a year later, he would become the man of the household when his father died of a heart attack, leaving him and his mother behind.<\/p>\n

[photo id=”14274″ title=”PhotoGallery-template-1200x800_JHitt_0007_Layer 3″ alt=”A black and white photo of a young, shirtless, white boy sitting next to an older white man, who has his arm around the younger boy, on the steps.” position=”left” width=”400px”]\u201cMy dad would pay me $1 for every 1,000 impressions that I could sell, which was a great life lesson,\u201d Hitt says. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter how many you run, if a customer won\u2019t pay for it, you\u2019ve done nothing helpful. In fact, you\u2019ve cost yourself and your company some money.\u201d[\/photo]<\/p>\n

Hitt didn\u2019t think about it at the time, but his mother was a remarkable woman. She was someone who, when people told her she couldn\u2019t do something, would say, \u201cFor a quarter, you can watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a bindery worker, she met her husband because they were both in the same business: printing. And in the 1950s, when it was less common for women to have professions, she not only worked in but also ran the family business.<\/p>\n

Hitt grew up working in that shop. Before he passed away, his father had Hitt work weekends. He may have been the owners\u2019 son, but he didn\u2019t get all the glory work. On Saturdays, for example, it was Hitt\u2019s responsibility to melt the used linotype \u2014 lines of words in single strips of metal \u2014 in a big, old iron pot, and pour it into 25-pound ingots.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a good while, I thought I wanted to learn enough about running the printing shop so I could take that over for mom,\u201d Hitt says. \u201cAnd based on some suggestions I had from others, I thought for a little while about becoming a minister. I don\u2019t have the personality for that, so that ended that.\u201d<\/p>\n

What he never thought of becoming while growing up \u2014 what he had no concept of even being a profession \u2014 was a university president. The idea of college was foreign to Hitt. His mother had finished high school but had never gone to college. And his father didn\u2019t have the choice to go, as he had to drop out of high school and work to pay for his mother\u2019s medical bills when she became ill.<\/p>\n

[photo id=”14279″ title=”PhotoGallery-template-600x800_JHitt_0000_Layer-4″ alt=”A black and white photo of man in academic regalia, including cap, gown and hood, standing next to an older woman.” position=”right” width=”300px”]\u201cSometimes people learned the hard way that my mom was a damn good business woman,\u201d says Hitt. \u201cAnd in those years, in the \u201950s, people might not have approved of a woman running a business, but there she was.\u201d[\/photo]<\/p>\n

But Hitt\u2019s mom would push him to go to college because it was his father\u2019s dream, and dreams are worth pursuing.<\/p>\n

And so in 1958, Hitt enrolled in Austin College, a small, private liberal arts college, more than 300 miles away from his home and his mother and everyone he knew in Houston. There, he played football, met the professor who would change the trajectory of his career and fell in love with the woman who would become his wife.<\/p>\n

Growing up, Hitt was a big kid, which in Texas meant not only that you played football but also that you played tackle. When asked to describe how he was as a player, he replies, \u201cOne word: mediocre.\u201d But there was that one great game. His team was trailing, and he had gotten so annoyed with the opposing player who kept holding him that he ran right through him and tackled the quarterback, forcing a fumble. Hitt\u2019s teammate recovered the ball, and the Austin College Kangaroos won the game.<\/p>\n

When Hitt started at Austin College, he didn\u2019t know what he wanted to study, but one semester he needed a course, so he signed up for a psychology class because he\u2019d heard the professor was a good lecturer. It was a big class for the small school \u2014 maybe 40 to 50 students, by Hitt\u2019s estimate. That professor would impact Hitt\u2019s life in ways he hadn\u2019t expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we tell one another about those experiences between professors and students happens to be true,\u201d Hitt says. \u201cIt was a life-changing experience. Bill [Angermeier] and I were master and apprentice, essentially, and he encouraged me to go to graduate school. He was a major force for good in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suddenly, Hitt knew what he wanted. He wanted to be like Angermeier, the man who gave him the opportunity to work in his lab and assist him on research projects. Angermeier became his mentor, encouraging Hitt to pursue a master\u2019s and doctorate in physiological psychology. He was also Hitt\u2019s best man at his wedding and a lifelong friend.<\/p>\n

[photo id=”14266″ title=”PhotoGallery-template-600x800_JHitt_0002_Layer 1″ alt=”A close-up portrait of an older main wearing wireframe glasses.” position=”left” width=”300px”]In the late \u201990s, Hitt\u2019s mentor Wilhelm Angermeier taught psychology courses at UCF. \u201cJust taking my first course from him was really dramatic in shaping my aspirations and my whole career,\u201d Hitt said in 1997. \u201cI think it\u2019s great that our students are having the chance to be exposed to someone like Bill.\u201d[\/photo]<\/p>\n

\u201cIn those days [the early \u201960s] you did not develop friendships with students,\u201d said Angermeier in an article from 1997. \u201c[But] I would say we were friends. It was mutual admiration. He liked me as a good teacher. I liked him as a good student. \u2026 I guess you could say I liked him best.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was also at Austin College that Hitt would meet Martha Halsted, the \u201cvery pretty, green-eyed blonde.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first time they saw each other, Hitt had gone to Martha\u2019s dorm to pick up a date. Martha was by the desk where students had to check in and out. Back then, such things were required for female co-eds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI looked at him and said, \u2018Oh, he\u2019s tall. He\u2019s good-looking. He has beautiful blue eyes. Too bad he\u2019s so young,\u2019 \u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Martha, after all, was a junior. Hitt was only a freshman. Hitt remembers seeing her again later in line at the cafeteria and thinking, \u201cWow, that\u2019s a good-looking gal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, they ended up in a small speech class together. They got to know each other and dated for months before breaking up, as young couples often do. They were alike in so many ways \u2014 both were only children \u2014 but also so different.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a not-very-good football player, and she was in the a cappella choir,\u201d Hitt says. \u201cHer dad was a petroleum geologist, and my dad had passed away. I was the first in the family to get a degree, and Martha had members of her family who had [degrees]. A lot of differences, but enough similarities to make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The split was good for them. It made them realize there was something about the relationship that was worth pursuing. Within six months of breaking up, they were engaged.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve now been married for 56 years and have two children and two grandsons.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s been a wonderful, wonderful life partner,\u201d Hitt says.<\/p>\n

[photo id=”14275″ title=”PhotoGallery-template-1200x800_JHitt_0008_Layer 2″ alt=”” position=”center” width=”100%”]Martha Halsted and John Hitt were married on December 23, 1961.[\/photo]<\/p>\n

In my interviews with Hitt, two subjects make him emotional: Martha and UCF.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

He can\u2019t imagine a life without her, an eventuality he\u2019d rather not think about. And while he\u2019s looking forward to being able to spend more time with his wife and their family, he\u2019s also wistful about separating from a place he\u2019s shepherded for more than a quarter of a century<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, I think anyone who\u2019s been in a job like mine for a lot of years would be excited to have some time to himself, but I think it\u2019d be dishonest if I said, \u2018Oh, I don\u2019t care. I\u2019m ready to go,\u2019 \u201d he says. \u201cPart of me would like to be staying, but I also know that\u2019s not a reasonable thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

[photo id=”14276″ title=”PhotoGallery-template-1200x800_JHitt_0009_Layer 1″ alt=”” position=”left” width=”400px”]Hitt graduated cum laude from Austin College in 1962 with degrees in psychology and communication arts. He went on to earn master\u2019s and doctoral degrees in physiological psychology from Tulane University. (Photo by Josh Letchworth)[\/photo]<\/p>\n

Hitt\u2019s health and age played a role in why he decided to step down now<\/a>. At 77, he\u2019s still sharp mentally, never missing the opportunity to inject his signature wit, but he did have a heart attack a few years back. He\u2019s made a full recovery, but he, naturally, worries about his health.<\/p>\n

He also stepped down because \u201cit was the right thing to do.\u201d The decision was not an easy one, but it was the one UCF needed.<\/p>\n

At the time, the university was in a position to potentially lose its provost, Dale Whittaker, who, after a nationwide search earlier this spring, will become UCF\u2019s fifth president on July 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d had a realization that was grounded in Dale\u2019s looking at the Iowa State presidency,\u201d he says, twisting the gold Pegasus ring on his right hand. \u201cI\u2019m always trying to game in my mind how things will play out, and it seemed very unlikely that I could hire the kind of person we would want to replace him if I couldn\u2019t say that I would be here three to five more years. And I just knew I couldn\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can\u2019t do something that you know is likely to be necessary,\u201d he continues, \u201cyou ought to get out. Do I wish to this day that I could continue? Yeah. But I know I made the right choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hitt has certainly received criticism for decisions made during his tenure, including ones he wasn\u2019t involved in. Universities by trade are full of smart people trained to be critical thinkers, and anyone in a position of leadership, especially for more than two decades, will undoubtedly upset some people along the way. He admits he\u2019s had to make difficult decisions, especially concerning budgets, which can impact not only people\u2019s programs but also their livelihoods. But he always tried to base those decisions on what was best for UCF.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a university president, you\u2019ve got to be known as someone who is trustworthy and reliable, and you have to have a sense of what really matters,\u201d Hitt says.<\/p>\n

[photo id=”14267″ title=”PhotoGallery-template-1200x800_JHitt_0000_Layer-10″ alt=”An older man stands in his office with a wide smile on his face. In front of him are three yellow labs and two black labs.” position=”center” width=”100%”]In April, dogs in the Canine Companions program stopped by Hitt\u2019s office.[\/photo]<\/p>\n

During our interviews, Hitt reminisces about what it means to be a leader and how who we are impacts what we do.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

We don\u2019t talk about it much in these interviews, but Hitt is someone who believes in America. He believes in its promise and potential. It\u2019s a level of patriotism perhaps associated with a certain generation, but every day, Hitt places an American flag pin on his left lapel, just above a UCF pin, right above his heart.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a man of faith. Both he and Martha are Episcopalians, and they\u2019re eager to find a church in their new home of Madison, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a self-described old-school Democrat and a Rachel Maddow-watching news junkie.<\/p>\n

He gets as excited about new technology as anyone you\u2019ll meet. His new home has two wireless sound systems, and he wears an Apple watch on his wrist and an iPhone in a holster on his hip. Every few seconds, they buzz with the notification of new emails and messages and events.<\/p>\n

And he\u2019s 100 percent a dog person, admitting he knows he shouldn\u2019t let London, a golden retriever-yellow lab mix, sleep in bed with him and Martha. But he does.<\/p>\n

I tell you these things because they\u2019re who Hitt is, but also to say this: In a nation that is deeply divided on many topics, Hitt sees these differences as a reason to work together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an unusual situation here [at UCF], where people are much more likely to want to work together to solve a problem than they are to point fingers and want to fight,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve had the good fortune to discover that early on. That\u2019s not to say that we always have harmony on everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you get into a lot of trouble when you start denying free speech or people\u2019s civil rights, period,\u201d he continues. \u201cYes, many people are trying to push the agenda a certain way. But the best motivated among them is just saying, \u2018Look, this ain\u2019t working for me.\u2019 Why would you refuse someone the right to speak up? They\u2019re asking for respect. They\u2019re asking for you to listen to their grievance. Why wouldn\u2019t we?\u201d<\/p>\n

[photo id=”14336″ title=”ucf-john-hitt-family-collage-1200×800″ alt=”A collage of photos of Hitt with his family over the years.” position=”center” width=”100%”]Clockwise from top left: John and Martha Hitt (center) visited with their daughter-in-law Julie, son Charles and daughter Sharon during a gala in May honoring Hitt\u2019s legacy at UCF; Hitt with his daughter and son when they were younger; the Hitts with their daughter, son and grandsons in 2003.[\/photo]<\/p>\n

As we sit in his office, you can hear the beeps and rumblings of heavy equipment and the shouts of a construction crew.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

The Reflecting Pond \u2014 which you can see from the panoramic window in his office that looks out onto the John C. Hitt Library and horseshoe-shaped lawn \u2014 is being renovated.<\/p>\n

After being drained in October, the pond is being rebuilt. The concrete base was demolished, removed and resurfaced. The fountain got new plumbing and filtration, upgraded lighting and a more efficient plumbing structure. When more than 5,000 students and alumni charge into its aquamarine waters this fall during Spirit Splash<\/a>, it\u2019ll be ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat Reflecting Pond out there, it\u2019s a very special place for a lot of people,\u201d Hitt says, his blue eyes shining. \u201cThere were a lot of proposals of marriage made and accepted there. In the next few weeks, we\u2019re going to have all these kids with their caps and gowns on, knee deep in the pond. It\u2019s so iconic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Admittedly, when Hitt became president of UCF in 1992, he didn\u2019t realize how sentimental he\u2019d become about a water feature. Then, the Reflecting Pond had only a single spigot, a far cry from today\u2019s display. But as much as the main campus has changed since he started, his view of the Reflecting Pond has remained a constant.<\/p>\n

Sure, the construction can be seen as one more way of reinforcing the common campus refrain that UCF stands for \u201cUnder Construction Forever.\u201d But, for many, it speaks to something that seems as inherent to UCF as it does to the city we call home: change, growth, evolution.<\/p>\n

Some universities have been around for centuries. This fall, UCF will celebrate the 50th<\/sup> anniversary of the first classes held on campus.<\/p>\n

And for half of our history, Hitt has been leading \u2014 and encouraging \u2014 that reinvention.<\/p>\n

[photo id=”14269″ title=”PhotoGallery-template-1200x800_JHitt_0002_Layer 8″ alt=”A group of students rush into the water of the Reflecting Pond.” position=”center” width=”100%”]Spirit Splash began during President Hitt\u2019s tenure. \u201cThe first ever invasion of the pond was right before a homecoming game we played against Troy State,\u201d Hitt recalls. \u201cMartha and I were standing just outside Millican Hall, and one student stepped in and looked around, and no one yelled at him to get out. So another one stepped in, and nothing happened. Before long, everybody went in. And from then on it\u2019s been so much a part of the campus culture.\u201d[\/photo]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14138,"template":"","categories":[977],"tags":[1204,775,664,868],"class_list":["post-13926","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","tag-dale-whittaker","tag-john-c-hitt","tag-reflecting-pond","tag-spirit-splash","issues-1242","issues-summer-2018"],"yoast_head":"\nWho Is John C. Hitt? Meet The Man Behind The UCF Evolution.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For a quarter century, President John C. Hitt worked to put the University of Central Florida on the map. But who is the man behind the evolution?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who Is John Hitt?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For a quarter century, President John C. Hitt worked to put the University of Central Florida on the map. But who is the man behind the evolution?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pegasus Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-21T18:54:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2018\/05\/StorySquare-Thumbnail_JohnHitt-220x230.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"220\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"230\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"16 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/\",\"name\":\"Who Is John C. Hitt? Meet The Man Behind The UCF Evolution.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2018\/05\/StorySquare-Thumbnail_JohnHitt-220x230.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-23T20:24:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-21T18:54:37+00:00\",\"description\":\"For a quarter century, President John C. Hitt worked to put the University of Central Florida on the map. But who is the man behind the evolution?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2018\/05\/StorySquare-Thumbnail_JohnHitt-220x230.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2018\/05\/StorySquare-Thumbnail_JohnHitt-220x230.jpg\",\"width\":220,\"height\":230,\"caption\":\"A portrait of John C. Hitt from the side shows him smiling.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Who Is John Hitt?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/\",\"name\":\"Pegasus Magazine\",\"description\":\"The Magazine of University of Central Florida\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/#local-main-organization-logo\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\",\"caption\":\"University of Central Florida\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Who Is John C. Hitt? Meet The Man Behind The UCF Evolution.","description":"For a quarter century, President John C. Hitt worked to put the University of Central Florida on the map. But who is the man behind the evolution?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Who Is John Hitt?","og_description":"For a quarter century, President John C. Hitt worked to put the University of Central Florida on the map. But who is the man behind the evolution?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/","og_site_name":"Pegasus Magazine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF","article_modified_time":"2020-05-21T18:54:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":220,"height":230,"url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2018\/05\/StorySquare-Thumbnail_JohnHitt-220x230.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@UCF","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"16 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/","name":"Who Is John C. Hitt? Meet The Man Behind The UCF Evolution.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2018\/05\/StorySquare-Thumbnail_JohnHitt-220x230.jpg","datePublished":"2018-05-23T20:24:55+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-21T18:54:37+00:00","description":"For a quarter century, President John C. Hitt worked to put the University of Central Florida on the map. But who is the man behind the evolution?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2018\/05\/StorySquare-Thumbnail_JohnHitt-220x230.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2018\/05\/StorySquare-Thumbnail_JohnHitt-220x230.jpg","width":220,"height":230,"caption":"A portrait of John C. Hitt from the side shows him smiling."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Who Is John Hitt?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/","name":"Pegasus Magazine","description":"The Magazine of University of Central Florida","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/who-is-john-hitt\/#local-main-organization-logo","url":"","contentUrl":"","caption":"University of Central Florida"}]}},"acf":[],"story_subtitle":"For a quarter century, President John C. Hitt worked to put UCF on the map. But who is the man behind the evolution?","story_description":"For a quarter century, President John C. Hitt worked to put UCF on the map. But who is the man behind the evolution?","story_thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2018\/05\/MainStory-Image_JohnHitt-1140x515-263x175.jpg","width":263,"height":175},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/13926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/story"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/13926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19508,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/13926\/revisions\/19508"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}