{"id":16685,"date":"2019-07-08T12:35:04","date_gmt":"2019-07-08T12:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=16685&post_type=story"},"modified":"2023-11-20T20:25:56","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T20:25:56","slug":"5-questions-with-thad-seymour-jr","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/5-questions-with-thad-seymour-jr\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Questions with Thad Seymour Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer 2019 | By Laura J. Cole<\/em><\/p>\n

[lead]Leading one of the largest universities in the nation isn\u2019t what most people have in mind for retirement. But then, Interim President Thad Seymour Jr. isn\u2019t most people.[\/lead]<\/p>\n

Prior to being confirmed for the interim position in March, Seymour helped lead the development of UCF\u2019s strategic plan, spearheaded efforts to make UCF Downtown<\/a> a reality, and was named vice president for partnerships and chief innovation officer.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Former President Dale Whittaker] reeled me in nearly four years ago, and it\u2019s been this wonderful progression toward complete, abject failure at retirement ever since,\u201d Seymour says.<\/p>\n

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\u2019d wind up \u2014 just perhaps a little more circuitous.<\/p>\n

Seymour grew up on college campuses, where his father was an English professor and a dean at Dartmouth College, then\u00a0president of Wabash and Rollins colleges, in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and Winter Park, Florida, respectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up, it felt like a logical path to be in education,\u201d Seymour says.<\/p>\n

[callout background=”#FFC904″ content_align=”left” affix=”false” css_class=”” inline_css=”color: #455259;”]<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve 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\u2019s the case with the work we do at UCF.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 UCF Interim President Thad Seymour Jr.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/callout]<\/p>\n

At first, that meant teaching and coaching high school students at a small New Hampshire boarding school, after earning a history degree from Dartmouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was great fun and convinced me that I wanted to continue my studies,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

From there, he went on to the University of Wisconsin, where he earned master\u2019s and doctoral degrees in history.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never saw myself becoming the top American historian,\u201d he continues. \u201cI enjoyed research, but I liked teaching more.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Seymour was finishing his dissertation on Theodore Roosevelt, his wife, Katie, decided to go to business school to study her passion, nonprofit management.<\/p>\n

\u201cKatie has always inspired me,\u00a0and I was impressed by the work she\u00a0was doing and thought, \u2018Maybe that\u2019s\u00a0what I really want to do,\u2019 \u201d<\/span> Seymour\u00a0says. \u201cThe funny thing is she recently\u00a0found my application essay for [the\u00a0Kellogg School of Management at\u00a0Northwestern University], where I\u00a0wrote that someday I saw myself in\u00a0college administration. I\u2019d completely\u00a0forgotten about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

How he arrived in his current\u00a0position may seem like happenstance,\u00a0but make no mistake. His degrees\u00a0and time spent acquiring knowledge\u00a0informed who he became. And with\u00a0his background in education, his\u00a0inside knowledge of business in\u00a0central Florida, and his previous\u00a0involvement in everything from\u00a0Valencia College and Visit Orlando to\u00a0StarterStudio and Shepherd\u2019s Hope,\u00a0Seymour is perfectly positioned to\u00a0lead UCF at this point in its history.<\/p>\n

Pegasus<\/em> sat down with Seymour to\u00a0learn more about what drives him as\u00a0well as why he thinks UCF will only\u00a0continue getting better.<\/p>\n

\n

[photo id=”17305″ title=”Thad-Seymour-01″ alt=”1.” position=”left” width=”119px”][\/photo]<\/p>\n

What are you currently reading?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

A lot of what\u00a0I love to read is history. One of my\u00a0favorite authors is Doris Kearns\u00a0Goodwin, whose most famous book\u00a0is Team of Rivals<\/em>, which is about\u00a0Abraham Lincoln and how he\u00a0assembled a cabinet made up of his\u00a0political opponents to ensure he had\u00a0multiple points of view. She just wrote\u00a0a book called Leadership in Turbulent\u00a0Times<\/em>, which profiles Lincoln, Teddy\u00a0Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt\u00a0and Lyndon Johnson and looks at\u00a0common threads in their upbringing,\u00a0and the personal and professional\u00a0obstacles they ran into that forged\u00a0their leadership style. Ultimately,\u00a0each of them was most impactful\u00a0because they fell back on core values\u00a0that really mattered to them. It\u2019s a\u00a0great read.<\/p>\n

\n

[photo id=”17342″ title=”Thad-Seymour-02″ alt=”2.” position=”left” width=”132px”][\/photo]<\/p>\n

What motivates you?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

I think Katie and I are both\u00a0motivated by family and service.\u00a0We are privileged to come from\u00a0close-knit families with parents who\u00a0instilled in us key values, such as\u00a0the importance of family and living\u00a0lives of service. Katie is the eldest of\u00a0seven, and there were five kids in my family. And we raised three children\u00a0of whom we are very proud because\u00a0they are kind, caring people.<\/p>\n

Professionally, I\u2019ve been\u00a0fortunate to largely work in\u00a0organizations where you can make\u00a0a difference, where you can see the connection between the hard work\u00a0you do every day and its positive\u00a0impact on the world. Certainly, that\u2019s the case with the work we do\u00a0at UCF.<\/p>\n

\n

[photo id=”17343″ title=”Thad-Seymour-03″ alt=”3.” position=”left” width=”136px”][\/photo]<\/p>\n

You currently have an exchange student living with you. Can you tell me about him and how you became a host family?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

For more than 18 years, our\u00a0family has been involved with our\u00a0sister Catholic diocese of San Juan\u00a0de la Maguana in the Dominican\u00a0Republic. Our friends there live\u00a0in remote mountain villages, and\u00a0the communities still have limited\u00a0resources, though things are\u00a0improving. Katie\u2019s first trip was to\u00a0assist on a surgical mission; and\u00a0later, my sons, Katie and I helped\u00a0with home-building efforts. Then\u00a0Katie and our daughter began\u00a0teaching English to youth in the summers.<\/p>\n

As the program has matured, five schools have been started. Several\u00a0of those schools\u2019 top-performing\u00a0students were invited to study in the\u00a0U.S. and were supported by different\u00a0Catholic schools in central Florida.\u00a0Many of the students returned back\u00a0to the Dominican Republic to attend\u00a0college, but some stayed here.\u00a0One of Katie\u2019s students, Bacilio, a valedictorian from Melbourne\u00a0Central Catholic High School,\u00a0wanted to go to college here. Katie\u00a0and I invited him to live with us two\u00a0years ago. He completed his honors\u00a0degree at Seminole State College,\u00a0which is a five-minute bike ride from our house, and was admitted to UCF.\u00a0He\u2019ll come here to study computer\u00a0science<\/a> as a DirectConnect to UCF\u00a0student this fall.<\/p>\n

\n

[photo id=”17344″ title=”Thad-Seymour-04″ alt=”4.” position=”left” width=”144px”][\/photo]<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been a lot of conversation recently in the media about the cost of higher education and if it\u2019s worth it. What do you think is the value of higher education?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

In my DNA is the belief that\u00a0education is the single most\u00a0important thing that somebody can\u00a0do to improve their opportunities,\u00a0their quality of life, their livelihood\u00a0and their impact on the world. If\u00a0you think about higher education not as a cost but as an investment in\u00a0your future, the returns are huge by every measure.<\/p>\n

Now, that doesn\u2019t mean that we\u00a0don\u2019t want to constantly work on\u00a0the cost of education because the\u00a0value is even greater if it\u2019s more\u00a0affordable. That\u2019s why I\u2019m utterly\u00a0committed to the mission of UCF<\/a>,\u00a0which is to transform as many lives\u00a0as possible by making a high-quality\u00a0college education accessible to as\u00a0many people as possible. I would\u00a0add that\u2019s also true for our state\u00a0college partners.<\/p>\n

\n

[photo id=”17345″ title=”Thad-Seymour-05″ alt=”5.” position=”left” width=”136px”][\/photo]<\/p>\n

Why are you optimistic about UCF\u2019s future?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

I\u2019m optimistic for many reasons.\u00a0There is a foundation of great\u00a0people, history and momentum\u00a0here. We went through a tough\u00a0time, but that doesn\u2019t define us.\u00a0The core of who we are is strong\u00a0and unchanged.\u00a0As we continue moving forward,\u00a0we need to keep our focus on three things.<\/p>\n

One is to approach all of our\u00a0work with a bias toward action. I\u00a0think that\u2019s essential to any good\u00a0organization, particularly when you\u00a0are committed to constant and rapid\u00a0improvement, as we are.<\/p>\n

Second is to invest in our people. The core of our mission is to develop\u00a0the next generation of talent. That\u00a0work depends on our greatest\u00a0assets, which are our faculty and\u00a0staff. So we have to pay attention\u00a0to the people we have \u2014 how best\u00a0to retain and develop them, so they\u00a0can have the maximum impact here\u00a0\u2014 and then we must continue to\u00a0recruit the best people.<\/p>\n

The third is discipline and focus. By that I mean we should say \u201cno\u201d\u00a0more often so we can say \u201cyes\u201d to\u00a0bigger things.\u00a0Because we\u2019re big we\u2019re going to\u00a0be able to do many things and do\u00a0them well. Asking ourselves, \u201cWhat\u00a0do we want to be known for 20 years\u00a0from now?\u201d will lead us to focus on\u00a0four or five things that we can be\u00a0the best in the world at. It\u2019s not that\u00a0we will ignore everything else, but\u00a0we need to find those few areas and\u00a0be disciplined about making them\u00a0exceptional.<\/p>\n

For example, cybersecurity<\/a>\u00a0wasn\u2019t on anybody\u2019s radar screen\u00a0in a meaningful way 10 years ago.\u00a0We\u2019ve carved out a niche where\u00a0we\u2019re highly respected globally. How\u00a0do we keep building on that and do\u00a0even more?\u00a0If we continue to execute our\u00a0strategic plan, define how we will\u00a0be truly distinctive, and focus on\u00a0fueling the future of the region and\u00a0the state, I believe we can become\u00a0one of the great 21st-century\u00a0universities. I\u2019m honored to work\u00a0with a great team that\u2019s committed\u00a0to making that happen.<\/p>\n

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\u2019m honored to work with a great team that\u2019s committed to making that happen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":17292,"template":"","categories":[],"tags":[1390],"class_list":["post-16685","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-thad-seymour-jr","issues-1348","issues-summer-2019"],"yoast_head":"\n5 Questions with UCF Interim President Thad Seymour Jr.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Interim President Thad Seymour Jr. talks books, motivation, the value of higher education and the future of the University of Central Florida.\" \/>\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\/5-questions-with-thad-seymour-jr\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Questions with Thad Seymour 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