Colleges

Sliger, beloved FSU president, dies at 83

He was president for 14 years and brought the school into the ACC.

TALLAHASSEE - Former Florida State University president Bernard F. Sliger, who oversaw record growth at the school he brought into the Atlantic Coast Conference, died Wednesday (Oct. 10, 2007) in his native Michigan, where he had been vacationing. Mr. Sliger was 83.

The avuncular Mr. Sliger, who was known to faculty and students alike as "Bernie," had been in declining health in recent years. He died at a hospital in Marquette, Mich.

"Florida has lost a dear friend," Gov. Charlie Crist, a Florida State graduate, said Wednesday. "I was proud he was president when I was there. I loved him."

Mr. Sliger began a tradition of ice cream socials for students at Florida State and enjoyed playing pool with them as well. He was a constant presence on the campus - often casually outfitted in a linen shirt and trousers - chatting with faculty members, students and maintenance workers about nearly any subject.

"He'd have students over to his back yard and he'd play volleyball or Frisbee with them," recalled Steve Edwards, a former physics professor and faculty dean at the school. "The students just loved it. They were going to Bernie's house."

A native of Trout Creek, Mich., Mr. Sliger earned bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees in economics from Michigan State University.

He spent 19 years at Louisiana State University in a variety of roles and served a year as secretary of administration for the state when the lease was signed to build the Louisiana Superdome.

Mr. Sliger was president from 1977 to 1991 and again on an interim basis from September 1993 until Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte became president in early January of 1994. His beloved Seminoles won their first national title in football just days before his last retirement.

Mr. Sliger took great pride in keeping football coach Bobby Bowden from leaving for another school or pro job. Although Bowden was hired by his predecessor, Stanley Marshall, he was seen as a likely hire by Alabama in 1986 but a buyout clause put into the coach's contract by Mr. Sliger made it difficult to pirate the popular Bowden.

"I hated to hear about Bernie's passing," Bowden said. "He was the president here, 18 years, I believe, with me and was about as supportive as a president could be. I thought he was a great man and I sure am saddened that he has died."

Mr. Sliger also was instrumental in bringing former Seminole All American shortstop Dick Howser back to coach the school's baseball team in 1979.

Under Mr. Sliger, the university lured the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory away from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, acquired three supercomputers and obtained its Panama City campus besides becoming the ninth member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"But for Bernie Sliger, FSU would not be the institution it is today," Florida State president T.K. Wetherell said Wednesday. "There will never be another Bernie."

Mr. Sliger is survived by his wife of 62 years, Greta, and four children.

Funeral arrangements were pending, school officials said.

[Last modified October 11, 2007, 00:20:36]