Expert on Florida history opens lecture series in Pugh Hall

September 12, 2008

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A noted expert on Florida history will deliver the opening talk in a new lecture series named in honor of longtime University of Florida historian Samuel Proctor.Michael Gannon, professor emeritus of history from UF, will open the Samuel Proctor Florida History Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Pugh Hall Ocora with a talk titled “Ponce De Leon and the Discovery of Florida.” The series is sponsored by the Bob Graham Center for Public Service and the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program. Admission is free. No tickets are required.Gannon, who received his doctoral degree from UF in 1962, is also the author of numerous books including “The New History of Florida,” his most recent.

“We are delighted to host Dr. Gannon as the first speaker in our new Florida history series,” said Michael Bowen, assistant director of the Bob Graham Center for Public Service. “As part of our mission, the Graham Center hopes to reconnect our students and our community with their Florida heritage. There is not a better person to open this series than Dr. Gannon.”

The lecture is also the first collaboration between the Graham Center and the Oral History program.

“The Oral History Program is honored to be a co-sponsor of this event,” said Paul Ortiz, director of the Oral History program. “Samuel Proctor and Michael Gannon were close colleagues and friends for decades. We consider Dr. Gannon to be a member of our family, and a peerless interpreter of Florida’s past.”

The Samuel Proctor Florida History Lecture Series is made possible by generous donations from the Proctor family and alumni members of the Tau Epsilon Phi Fraternity.

The Bob Graham Center for Public Service provides students with opportunities to train for future leadership positions, meet policymakers and take courses in critical thinking, language learning and studies of world cultures.