Full Name:  John Edwin Thrasher
     Born:  December 18, 1943, Fort Jackson, S.C.
     Died:  May 30, 2025, Orlando, Fla.

Legacy Bricks:  Legacy Walk Map Link
   2003 Moore-Stone Award HOF - Loc 50

Thrasher was also a key component in providing funding for the new professional golf center at Don Veller Seminole Golf Course placing the Florida State Seminoles at the top of its class in the world of collegiate golf.

John has received numerous awards through the years including a four-time Legislator of the Year and the prestigious Circle of Gold presented to distinguished alumni of Florida State. He was also presented the rare Wescott Award which honors friends of Florida State whose loyalty and support can be called extraordinary.

John and his wife Jean live in Orange Park and have three children and three grandchildren.

John Thrasher dies; was FSU president, House speaker, Florida GOP titan.

John Thrasher - a towering figure in Florida politics and higher education whose decades of public service left a lasting imprint on the state - has died after a battle with cancer, his family announced May 30. He was 81.

Thrasher, a longtime Republican who came to power when the GOP began its takeover of state government in the late 1990s and early 2000s, was Florida House speaker and a state senator. He was a partner with The Southern Group, the lobbying firm he helped found, 2001-09 before being elected to the Senate.

Thrasher served in the House from 1992 to 2000, the final two years as speaker. He was chair of the Senate Rules Committee and chaired former Gov. Rick Scott's reelection campaign. Thrasher was nominated for the FSU presidency by Sandy D'Alemberte, a Democrat who was president of the university 1994-2003. He was president 2014-21.

He was president during the November 2014 shooting on the school's Tallahassee campus. A gunman went into the university's Strozier Library just after midnight and opened fire, injuring three before he was quickly shot and killed in a hail of bullets by Tallahassee and FSU police.

Thrasher rejoined The Southern Group after retiring from FSU. He was later replaced by current President Richard McCullough. In retirement, Thrasher - a lawyer by training - also was listed as a professor at Florida State's College of Law.

"Thrasher earned his bachelor's degree in business from FSU in 1965," his FSU Law bio says. "After graduating, he joined the U.S. Army, where he received the Army Commendation Medal in Germany and was awarded two Bronze Stars for his service in Vietnam. After he was honorably discharged as a captain in 1970, Thrasher returned to FSU, earning his law degree with honors in 1972."

Calling him "a truly great Floridian," McCullough said in a statement that "John's love for Florida State University was truly inspiring. As an alumnus, legislator, trustee, and president, he devoted his life to elevating FSU's national reputation and helping the university reach new heights in student success, academic excellence, and research.

"... We feel incredibly fortunate and blessed to have known him, and will always cherish the time we spent together at university events, out on the golf course, or sharing a meal. John had a remarkable ability to bring people together with his warmth, humor, and unmistakable charm," he added. "His legacy will live on in the spirit of Florida State and in the lives of all those he touched."

For a story when the Democrat named him Person of the Year for 2015, the newspaper said no other nominee for the honor "faced such daunting challenges and met them with such tenacity, integrity and success."

Here's more from that story:

"Not an academic - as was the top advertised requirement for the job - Thrasher, 72, surrounded himself with people who were and got out of their way. He answered the faculty's longtime call for market equity raises to recognize their value and enable FSU to compete for talent with other top-notch institutions.

"He publicly condemned bad conduct by members of FSU's lauded football team and championed better ways to support victims of sexual violence in the wake of the Jameis Winston rape allegation - all the while facing excoriating criticism by national media outlets.

"He boldly differed with members of his political party in opposing the current push to allow guns on campuses.

"He connected with students and every-day employees just as he did as one of the Florida Legislature's most powerful leaders - by listening and taking the time to know them by name.

"Then there was the $100 million donation he secured from the family of businessman Jim Moran to create a brand new college devoted to interdisciplinary entrepreneurialism. The enormous, unprecedented gift stands to change the face of FSU and Tallahassee for years to come.

"Amid the tumult of his choice as president, former Florida Senate President Don Gaetz wrote in an October 2014 Tallahassee Democrat column: 'My prediction is that, years from now, even some of the critics will be proud to say they attended or taught at Florida State University during the glory days of John Thrasher's presidency.'

"During an interview ... Gaetz, who considers Thrasher one of his closest friends, recalled his words a year (prior). 'I'm glad, of all the predictions we politicians make, I was right about this one,' he said. 'I knew I'd be.' "

In an exit interview with the Tallahassee Democrat after retiring from FSU, Thrasher said he hoped his legacy would be one of student success.

"I came from a pretty poor background. I was the first person in my family to not only go to college, but the first person in my family to graduate from high school. Education comes to me as an extraordinarily important thing," he said.

"When some student comes to Florida State University, my job is to make sure they get the best chance they can to achieve their hopes and dreams and go out and make a difference in the world."

"It is with great sadness that the family of former Florida State University President John Thrasher, 81, shares notice of his passing.