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New Blood: Florida Trend's Faces of '96
Seasoned Executive
Name: Robert C. Lowes
Occupation: Chairman and CEO, Burger King Corp.
Place Of Residence: Miami
Previous Residence: Paris, France
Place Of Birth: Detroit
Education: B.A. and M.A., Michigan State University; B.A., University of Puget Sound
Family: Wife, Barbara; two sons ages 23 and 25
Car: 1995 Cadillac SLS Seville
Free Time: Golf (22 handicap), fine arts
Hero: None
Current Reading: "If You Golf You Are My Friend," by Harvey Penick
Robert C. Lowes, the top executive of Miami-based Burger King, educated his palate in the world's culinary capital. He formerly headed the Paris-based European food operations of Grand Metropolitan, the U.K. company that owns Burger King. He's now responsible for the world's second-largest fast food chain, with more than 8,000 restaurants in 58 countries. Burger King is on a financial roll these days; worldwide sales rose $8.4 billion last year, up 5.7% from the previous year. "There's a perceived renaissance under way at the Burger King Corp.," says Lowes. "My job is to keep us moving in that positive direction."
Virtual Classroom
Name: Judith V. Boettcher
Occupation: Director, Office of Interactive Distance Learning at Florida State University
Place Of Residence: Tallahassee
Previous Residence: State College, Pennsylvania
Place Of Birth: Minneapolis
Education: Ph.D., University of Minnesota, M.A. and B.A., Marquette University
Family: Husband, Gilbert; Four children, ages 26-31
Free Time: Performing arts, antique fairs
Hero: William Norris, former CEO of Control Data Corp., "For his vision of how technology should be used in education."
Current Reading: "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success," by Deepak Chopra
Judith Boettcher is extending Florida State University's reach into cyberspace. As new director of FSU's Office of Interactive Distance Learning, she and her staff are designing a classroom of the future with computer and video technology, an effort to expand off-campus instruction. "We want to make degree programs accessible to all of Florida's citizens," Boettcher says. "Technology can help us achieve that without losing the immediacy or the dynamic interaction that faculty and students must share." Under Boettcher's guidance, FSU plans to offer master's degree courses through home-computer Internet connections and through video conferencing centers to be set up around the state. Such courses may be offered as early as this year's fall term for graduate students pursuing social work, public administration, and library and information studies.
Cultural Ambitions
Name: Kahren Jones Arbitman
Occupation: Director, Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
Place Of Residence: Jacksonville
Previous Residence: State College, Pennsylvania
Place And Date Of Birth: Pittsburgh; May 16, 1948
Education: Ph.D. and M.A., University of Pittsburgh; B.A., Penn State University
Family: Husband, Michael; five children ages 20 to 31
Car: 1993 Saab 900S
Free Time: Sailing, exploring Florida
Hero: Rembrandt
Current Reading: "Beach Music," by Pat Conroy
Like many cultural institutions, the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens expects to feel the pain of federal budget cuts. Director Kahren Jones Arbitman will try to fill that funding gap while also raising public awareness of the museum and expanding its collection. "We have one the best collections of American art and Old Masters in the state, and yet many people don't know anything about us," says Arbitman, former director of Penn State University's Palmer Museum of Art. "I'd like to continue raising the quality of this museum so that we're known not only as one of the leading institutions in Florida, but also within the country."
Spin-Off CEO
Name: Joe R. Lee
Occupation: Chairman and CEO, Darden Restaurants Inc.
Place Of Residence: Orlando
Previous Residence: Minneapolis
Place And Date Of Birth: Wayne County, Georgia, Dec. 18, 1940
Education: Blackshear High School, Blackshear, Georgia
Family: Wife, Dale; son Michael and daughter Keena, both in their early 30s
Car: Audi Quattro
Free Time: Reading, golf
Hero: Winston Churchill
Current Reading: "Think Out of the Box" by Mike Vance
Joe R. Lee was a member of the founding team of the first Red Lobster, which opened in Lakeland in 1968. Now he's the top executive of Darden Restaurants, the world's largest publicly traded restaurant company. Its Red Lobster and Olive Garden chains boast more than 1,200 restaurants, 15,000-plus employees and annual sales in excess of $3.2 billion. In early 1995, Darden Restaurants split off from General Mills, its parent company since 1970, and instantly became one of the Florida business community's publicly held heavyweights. As part of the spin-off, Lee moved from General Mills' hometown, Minneapolis, to run Darden from Orlando. Unassuming and soft-spoken, Lee credits people around him for Darden's growth. "We've been lucky to have a good team in place," he says. "I'm just part of that team."
Franchise Repairman
Name: Tony Dungy
Occupation: Head Coach, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Place Of Residence: Tampa
Previous Residence: Minneapolis
Place And Date Of Birth: Jackson, Mich.; Oct. 6, 1955
Education: B.A., University of Minnesota
Family: Wife, Lauren; three children, Tiara, James and Eric
Car: 1995 Ford Explorer
Free Time: Fishing, watching pro basketball
Hero: Former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Chuck Noll
Current Reading: Tampa Bay Buccaneers playbook
Tony Dungy arrives in Tampa as the latest would-be savior of the National Football League's hapless Buccaneers. Dungy, the former defensive coordinator of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, is the Bucs' fourth head coach in the last seven seasons. Fans say the revolving door spins for good reason: Through 20 seasons in the league, the Bucs have won barely 30% of their games. In the last three seasons, the team won 18 and lost 30. Dungy, only the fourth black coach in NFL history, says his first goal is to change the expectations of both Bucs fans and players. "This is a franchise where things have often gone wrong," he says. "I want to transform that thinking by bringing about a winning attitude and a winning atmosphere. If we can at least accomplish that, then we'll be moving in the right direction."
The Everglades' New Best Friend
Name: Stuart D. Strahl
Occupation: Executive Director, National Audubon Society's Everglades Ecosystem Restoration Campaign
Place Of Residence: Miami
Previous Residence: Easton, Maryland
Place And Date Of Birth: New York, N.Y.; July 30, 1955
Education: Ph.D., State University of New York at Albany; B.A., Bates College
Family: Married; three daughters, ages two, nine and ten
Car: 1988 Nissan Pathfinder
Free Time: Fishing, photography, shooting sports
Hero: Theodore Roosevelt
Current Reading: "In a Dark Wood," by Alston Chase
"There are several dozen institutions working toward preserving the Everglades ecosystem, but they all operate under their own vision and with their own mission," says Stuart D. Strahl, a veteran of conservation advocacy. His employer, the National Audubon Society, sees itself as a coordinator of Everglades conservation efforts. Strahl says his job will be "to help facilitate a consensus of what the overall goals should be. With non-profit institutions, people often get hung up on who does what and who's in charge. I've always been a big picture kind of person who'd rather focus on getting things done." He previously ran the Latin American programs of the Wildlife Conservation Society, where he earned praise for encouraging business to support preservation - an achievement he hopes to repeat in Florida.
Raising Eyebrows
Name: Paul S. Tipton
Occupation: President, Jacksonville University
Place Of Residence: Jacksonville
Previous Residence: Washington, D.C.
Place And Date Of Birth: Birmingham, Alabama; Feb. 21, 1939
Education: B.A., Spring Hill College
Family: Single, no children
Car: 1996 Chevrolet Tahoe
Free Time: Competitive ocean sailing
Hero: Yitzhak Rabin
Current Reading: "The Shipping News," by Annie Proulx
Paul Tipton is not your run-of-the-mill university president. The newly appointed chief of Jacksonville University, a small private school, is a Jesuit priest who never earned more than a bachelor's degree. While his appointment raised eyebrows among some faculty, the school's trustees point to Tipton's non-academic credentials; supporters say he is the right chioce for overseeing the school's soon-to-be-announced capital campaign to increase its endowment. "He has the experience, vision and leadership qualities that this university needs right now," says B.J. Walker, chairman of the Jacksonville University board of trustees. Tipton, who most recently served as president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, is regarded as a Washington, D.C., insider with good contacts. Tipton's connections extend to the White House: Last year, he flew to the funeral of slain Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin aboard Air Force One with President Clinton.
Dream Weaver
Name: J. Wayne Weaver
Occupation: Chairman and CEO, National Football League's Jacksonville Jaguars
Place Of Residence: Jacksonville
Previous Residence: Darien, Connecticut
Place And Date Of Birth: Columbus, Georgia; Jan. 14, 1935
Education: Jordan High School, Columbus, Georgia
Family: Wife, Delores; son Bradley, 32; daughter Leigh, 30
Car: "A Jaguar, of course."
Free Time: Jogging, mountain trekking
Hero: Harry Truman
Current Reading: "A Place Called Freedom," by Ken Follet
Jacksonville charged into the big leagues last year: Its population passed one million and the Jacksonville Jaguars team kicked off its first season in the National Football League. The new NFL franchise tied for last in its division, but its local appeal remains strong. "The NFL has been an awesome tool," says J. Wayne Weaver, the Jaguars' top executive. "The people here have realized that if it is used wisely, it can help facilitate an awful lot of social and economic change for the community." Weaver made his fortune in footwear, growing Shoe Carnival Inc. from four stores to nearly 100 with $250 million in annual revenues in less than a decade. He promises it will take even less time to turn the Jaguars into a winner.
Electronic Retailer
Name: James Held
Occupation: President and CEO, Home Shopping Network
Place Of Residence: Tampa
Previous Residence: New York
Education: J.D., Albany Law School at Union University; B.A., Allegheny College
James Held's career has been a professional whirlwind in recent years. Since 1993, he has held senior positions with the Bloomingdale's department store chain, apparel designer Adrienne Vittadini, the television shopping channel QVC, and now QVC's rival, Home Shopping Network. He was recruited by another former QVC executive, Barry Diller, who now serves as chairman of Home Shopping Network. Perhaps in deference to his powerful boss on the West Coast, Held shies from disclosing even the most innocuous details about himself. His job is to reinvigorate HSN at a time of intense competition from conventional and electronic retailers. "Electronic retailing is an absolutely unique and insular experience," Held says. "But at the same time, we have to consider the whole world of retailing as our competition."
Arvida's Education Advocate
Name: John Murphy
Occupation: Vice President for Education, Arvida Co.
Place Of Residence: Boca Raton
Previous Residence: Charlotte, N.C.
Place And Date Of Birth: North Adams, Massachusetts; June 13, 1935
Education: Ph.D. and M.A., University of Massachusetts at Amherst; B.A., North Adams State College
Family: Married; six children ages 13 to 40
Car: 1995 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
Free Time: Golf (20 handicap), reading, gardening
Hero: Harry Truman
Current Reading: "Beyond Peace," by Richard Nixon, and "The Politics of Diplomacy," by James Baker
In his book "The Devaluing of America," former U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett calls John Murphy one of the modern heroes of American education. As superintendent of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., school system, Murphy designed and implemented an innovative model for public education reform that has been adopted by school districts nationwide. In his newly created position with Arvida, Murphy will serve as an educational liaison between Arvida residential communities and local school boards. Murphy will identify the concerns of parents living in Arvida communities and work with public school officials to address them. Arvida believes it's the first community developer to create such an educational liaison position. "This type of involvement is crucial if we are going to solve the crises of education," says Murphy. "We must realize that education involves the entire community and goes far beyond the doors of the school house."
In Blockbuster's Backyard
Name: Ray Sumon
Occupation: CEO, Video Avenue
Place Of Residence: Boca Raton
Previous Residence: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Place And Date Of Birth: Iran, April 28, 1958
Education: B.A., Western Michigan
Family: Wife Ruth; two children, Brandon 7, Sarah 4
Car: 1995 Jaguar XJ6
Free Time: Volleyball, basketball
Hero: Michael Jordan
Current Reading: "The Making of a Blockbuster," by Gail DeGeorge
Last summer, Ray Sumon sold an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based chain of video rental stores, Video Watch, for $59 million. Now he's at it again with a new company called Video Avenue, based in Pompano Beach, just up the road from the Fort Lauderdale headquarters of Blockbuster Entertainment, the nation's leading video rental company. Sumon says four Video Avenue outlets were scheduled to open by the start of this month, and that he plans to open 40 more within two years - all in South Florida, where he sees no strong competitor other than the Blockbuster chain. "It just makes good business sense," says Sumon. "Most areas have four or five chains competing with one another."
Policy Issues
Name: Susanne K. Murphy
Occupation: Deputy Insurance Commissioner, State of Florida
Place Of Residence: Tallahassee
Previous Residence: Columbia, South Carolina
Place And Date Of Birth: New Orleans; May 13, 1952
Education: J.D. and B.A., University of South Carolina
Family: Married; two children, ages six and ten
Car: Isuzu Trooper
Free Time: Racquetball, gardening, cooking
Hero: Thomas Jefferson
Current Reading: "Winston Spencer Churchill," by William Manchester
Susanne Murphy already knew plenty about hurricanes when she moved to Florida. She lived without power and water for more than a week after Hurricane Hugo ripped through her South Carolina community in 1989. Now she's dealing with a hangover from Hurricane Andrew: property insurers' reluctance to do business in Florida. "The challenge of the homeowners market in Florida is what attracted me to the job," says Murphy, the state's second-ranking insurance regulator. "The industry needs to understand that Florida has been, and can continue to be, a very good market for them." To make underwriters' lives easier, Murphy streamlined the application process for new insurance companies and speeded up the state's deliberations on rate requests. "We need to create a more inviting environment for insurance companies," Murphy says, "and if we do that, we'll be sending a very powerful message that Florida is open for business."
