Richard McCullough became the 16 th president of Florida State University in August
2021, bringing more than 30 years of academic leadership experience to the role.
During his tenure, he has built on FSU’s foundation as one of the nation’s top public
universities by investing in student and faculty success and academic and research
excellence.

Since assuming the presidency, McCullough has recruited world-class faculty, staff, and
administrators; grown the university’s research portfolio; encouraged entrepreneurial
endeavors among students and faculty; cultivated relationships with elected officials and
community leaders; enhanced fundraising efforts; and promoted athletic success.

Under McCullough’s leadership, the Florida Legislature awarded Florida State
University $125 million to build an academic health center and launch FSU Health, one
of the largest and most ambitious projects in FSU's history. The initiative will transform
health care delivery, education, and biomedical research in the region. FSU also
received $6 million to establish a new Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases. In addition,
FSU was awarded $98.4 million from the Triumph Gulf Coast Board to build aerospace
and advanced manufacturing facilities, which will be transformational for Northwest
Florida.

McCullough has led efforts to secure record levels of funding from the Florida
Legislature, increase research expenditures to a new high of more than $454 million
annually, invest more than $100 million into the emerging field of quantum science and
engineering, streamline the process of moving research to the market, and broaden
funding opportunities from the National Science Foundation and the State of Florida to
support the FSU-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, the largest
and highest-powered magnet laboratory in the world and the only one of its kind in the
United States.

He also expanded scholarships and programs for honors students and first-generation
students and implemented a comprehensive strategy that has resulted in student
retention and graduation rates that are among the best in the country, as well as student
debt levels that are among the nation’s lowest.
 
Before joining FSU, McCullough served as vice provost for research and professor of
materials science and engineering at Harvard University. He previously spent 22 years
at Carnegie Mellon University, where he began his academic career as an assistant
professor of chemistry and rose through the ranks to become the Thomas Lord
Professor of Chemistry. He also served as the head of chemistry, the dean of science
and the university’s vice president for research.

He is a first-generation college student who attended Eastfield Community College and
subsequently earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Texas at
Dallas and a doctoral degree in organic chemistry from Johns Hopkins University and
served as a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University. He has more than 110
publications, is a serial entrepreneur who started two companies, and is an elected
member of the National Academy of Inventors.