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Downtown group picks leader from USF

The former dean is well versed in the salesmanship he'll need in issues facing St. Petersburg.

By STEPHANIE GARRY, Times Staff Writer
Published January 9, 2008

Peter Betzer, the former dean that built the USF College of Marine Science into a high-profile program, takes over as new leader of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership on Feb. 18.
	[Dirk Shadd | Times]

Peter Betzer envisions a high-tech hub to help complement the area's flighty tourism industry, but he'll face a pileup of other issues as the new leader of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership.

The homeless. The Rays' proposed stadium. Affordable housing for teachers.

Betzer takes over as president of the partnership, a group that advocates development on behalf of local businesses, on Feb. 18.

"He just has a wonderful relationship with the people in the city," said Elaine Smalling, vice president of the group.

Betzer, 65, the former dean of the USF College of Marine Science, has a doctorate in chemical oceanography, but his years of winning support from politicians and businesses landed him the new job. In his 25 years at the helm, USF's marine science program grew from a small department to a high-profile college that has attracted other research heavies, including the U.S. Geological Survey and SRI International of Silicon Valley.

Betzer hopes to have several research firms interested in moving to the city by the end of the year. But as Smalling noted, the city faces plenty of pressing issues unrelated to research. Betzer's longtime service with the Partnership, she said, has prepared him.

Betzer served on its executive committee as a nonvoting member for about a decade. At his November retirement dinner, it was announced that an endowment at the college would be renamed after him and the Partnership.

Longtime friend Thomas Churchill Dunn, a lawyer and civic activist, said Betzer's enthusiasm and political savvy would help him accomplish whatever he undertakes in the new post.

"Part of his job is going to be salesmanship, and there's no better salesman," Dunn said.

USF searched unsuccessfully for a replacement for Betzer last year and ended up hiring an interim dean, William T. Hogarth of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. USF spokesman Ken Gullette said USF needed the interim dean to handle budget shortfalls that require experienced leadership.

Hogarth starts next week and will lead the college for a term of two to three years, in which USF will try again to find a permanent dean, Gullette said.

Betzer replaces former Partnership president Donald Shea, who moved to Shreveport, La., to be closer to family.

Times staff writer Curtis Krueger contributed to this report. Stephanie Garry can be reached at sgarry@sptimes.com or 727 892-2374.

[Last modified January 8, 2008, 23:43:58]