Bill, just picked up this story. We've lost a close friend and our NAMMMR
founder & inspiration...
Jerome P. Keuper, founder and longtime president of the Florida Institute of
Technology in Melbourne, died Monday of congestive heart failure. He was 81.
Keuper founded the school as Brevard Engineering College in rented junior
high school classrooms in 1958 to provide training for the growing cadre of
rocket technicians pouring into Florida's Space Coast.
When he retired in 1986, the school -- renamed Florida Institute of
Technology in 1966 -- had grown into one of the largest and most respected
private research universities in Florida.
Today, it has more than 4,400 students. Last May, it awarded 380
undergraduate and graduate degrees to students at its main campus and 190
master's degrees at its 10 graduate centers around the country.
"Dr. Keuper's spirit is in every part of the Florida Tech campus. His
vision, his drive to succeed and his unparalleled optimism made this
university possible," said current FIT President Lynn Weaver.
Born and raised in Kentucky, Keuper earned a bachelor's degree from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master's from Stanford University
and a doctorate from the University of Virginia.
During World War II, he served as an intelligence officer in China and other
parts of the world for the Office of Strategic Services.
Keuper came to Melbourne in 1958 as a rocket scientist, working for a
contractor at what is now Kennedy Space Center.
In the summer of 1959, soon after he started the Brevard Engineering College
in rented junior high classrooms, the Brevard County School District kicked
the school out because Keuper allowed a black student to enroll. So Keuper
moved the new school to a church until he got his own building through
private donations.
Florida Board of Education member William L. Proctor, who was founder and
longtime president of Flagler College in St. Augustine, called Keuper a
driving force who helped establish clout for private colleges in Florida.
"I think he made a significant contribution to higher education in Florida,"
Proctor said.
Family members remembered Keuper as a fun-loving man with a warm
personality.
"He was definitely a physicist, but he was funnier than heck. He knew how to
tell a joke," said his daughter, Melanie Johnson.
Keuper is also survived by his wife of 52 years, Natalie, and a son, Philip.
Fountainhead Funeral Home in Palm Bay is handling arrangements.
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