Horizons Fall 2013

16 HORIZONS With the development of the new facilities and a residence hall, the uni- versity was able to admit its first class of 17 Ph.D. students, who were enrolled in four degree programs. The students were, coincidentally, taught by 17 fac- ulty members. In 1970, five of the sev- enteen Ph.D. students graduated. “The vision was that it would be- come the M.I.T. of the south,” said Abe Fischler, who left the University of California—Berkley in 1966 to come to Nova. “With my science background, it seemed like a good fit,” he added. Four years later, in July of 1970, Fischler became president of the small school. Later that year, the university entered a partnership with the New York Institute of Technology. “I looked around and askedmyself, ‘what do we have here?’ We have the op- portunity to make a difference. We changed the name to Nova University, and we changed the orientation. We were going to become a practical uni- versity,” Fischler said. The idea was to bring education to people where they were located, when Nova Southeastern University grew into the nation’s ninth largest, not-for-profit, private, research university. Today’s main campus in Davie, Florida, contains beautiful, functional buildings. NSU’s regional campuses have grown and include campuses in Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Miramar, Orlando, Palm Beach, and Tampa, Florida; Nassau, Bahamas; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. At these regional campuses, students receive in-person courses without having to leave their home city. NOVA MAIN CAMPUS: THEN NSU WEST PALM BEACH: THEN NSU WEST PALM BEACH: NOW OCEANOGRAPHIC CENTER: THEN OCEANOGRAPHIC CENTER: NOW In 1965, the Oceanographic Laboratory was established in a houseboat at 15th Street in Fort Lauderdale. In December 1970, the houseboat, staff members, and equipment moved to its permanent location on the Intracoastal Waterway opposite Port Everglades. Today, oceanography students and researchers work out of the Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystems Research, which is the largest facility in the United States dedicated to studying coral reef ecosystems throughout the world. The center also houses NSU’s National Coral Reef Institute, Guy Harvey Research Institute, and Save Our Seas Shark Center.