OPT Visionary - Summer 2014

PAGE 19 T he Nova Southeastern University that exists today, which in- cludes a 314-acre main campus and comprises nearly 27,000 students as well as more than 162,000 alumni, is something its founders never could have conceived when it was initially chartered on December 4, 1964, and known by the moniker Nova University of Advanced Technology. Initially located in offices on East Las Olas Boulevard in downtown Fort Lauderdale, the university would eventually relocate to a nearby western suburb called Davie thanks to the generosity of a $300,000 gift from Edwin Rosenthal and a $1-million donation from Louis Parker, which made possible the construction of NSU’s first buildings on an abandoned naval airfield. On a memorable day in September 1967, 17 Ph.D. students officially enrolled in the fledgling university, launching what has now become an esteemed and ever-growing educational enterprise comprising 18 col- leges, schools, and centers. The academic diversity NSU offers current and future students can be summed up in one simple statistic: Associ- ate’s, bachelor’s, master’s specialist, doctoral, and first-professional de- gree programs are offered in 150 programs. Currently, the university offers degree, nondegree, and certificate pro- grams at more than 52 national and international locations. It also has regional campuses in Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Miramar, Orlando, Palm Beach, and Tampa, Florida; Nassau, Bahamas; and San Juan, Puerto Rico, where students can receive in-person instruction without leaving their home city. Although there have been many significant milestones along the way that have led NSU to the cusp of preeminence, perhaps none was more important than the historic merger that occurred in 1994 between Nova University and a rapidly burgeoning institution known as Southeastern University of the Health Sciences in North Miami Beach. Through this historic merger, which included a fusion of names to create a rechris- tened Nova Southeastern University, a paradigm of educational excel- lence called the NSU Health Professions Division officially opened on June 22, 1996—and the accolades have been accruing ever since. To help commemorate NSU’s 50 th anniversary, The Visionary invites you to look back at some of the major milestones that have played an integral role in making the university the progressive and respected ed- ucational entity it is today. By Scott Colton, B.A., APR HPD Director of Medical Communications and Public Relations Nova Southeastern University TURNS 50 CELEBRATING AN EDUCATIONAL MILESTONE Above photo courtesy of the NSU Archives.