Timeline


2014

Sept. 23, 2014

FSU Board of Trustees name John Thrasher the university’s 15th president.

Nov. 6, 2014

The Florida Board of Governors confirms the FSU Board of Trustees’ selection of John Thrasher as FSU’s president.

Nov. 10, 2014

President Thrasher’s first day in office.

Nov. 20, 2014

A shooting takes place in Strozier Library. Three students are wounded, one of them seriously.

Dec. 7, 2014

FSU soccer team wins its first national championship in program history.

 

2015

March 17, 2015

FSU holds a formal investiture ceremony for President Thrasher.

Dec. 17, 2015

FSU receives the largest gift in university history — $100 million from Jan Moran and the Jim Moran Foundation to create what is now the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship.

 

2016

Feb. 6, 2016

President Thrasher named the Tallahassee Democrat’s 2015 “Person of the Year.”

March 31, 2016

President Thrasher is inducted into the FSU College of Business Hall of Fame.

July 2016

FSU receives $10 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to create a new Energy Frontier Research Center.

October 2016

FSU launches new Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences B.S. Degree Program — the first of its kind in the nation.

 

2017

February 2017

College of Motion Picture Arts alumnus Barry Jenkins’ film “Moonlight” wins the Academy Award for Best Picture.

August 2017

FSU opens two new residence halls — Magnolia and Azalea.

October 2017

Second Lady Karen Pence visits FSU to announce her new art therapy initiative, shining a light on FSU’s nationally acclaimed art therapy graduate education program.

October 2017

FSU researchers bring in record funding of $35.8 million from the National Institutes of Health.

November 2017

President Thrasher accepts the 2017 Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization, one of only four institutions to receive the award that year.

Nov. 27, 2017

President Thrasher is inducted into the Florida Veterans’ Hall of Fame.

December 2017

U.S. News & World Report ranks FSU No. 2 on its list of the most efficient of the nation’s highest-ranked universities.

 

2018

April 2018

The National Science Foundation awards the FSU-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory $184 million, five-year renewal grant.

June 5, 2018

The Seminoles softball team wins its first NCAA championship after competing in the Women’s College World Series.

Sept. 20, 2018

FSU welcomes President Mokgweetsi Masisi of the Republic of Botswana for an official visit.

Sept. 21, 2018

FSU celebrated the conclusion of “Raise the Torch: The Campaign for Florida State” — the most ambitious fundraising campaign in university history — after raising $1.16 billion.

October 2018

Hurricane Michael makes landfall in the Florida Panhandle, shutting down the Tallahassee campus for a week and striking a devastating blow to the Panama City Campus.

Oct. 19, 2018

Opened the new 5,600-square-foot Black Student Union, providing much-needed space for one of FSU's largest and most active student organizations and FSU’s African-American Studies program.

November 2018

The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities awarded FSU the 2018 Platinum Level Institutional Award for Global Learning, Research and Engagement, a prestigious award recognizing the university's internationalization efforts.

Nov. 2, 2018

FSU student Maura Binkley and faculty member Nancy Van Vessam are killed in a shooting at a local yoga studio.

Dec. 2, 2018

The Seminoles soccer team wins its second NCAA national championship.

 

2019

February 2019

FSU is awarded $8 million from Triumph Gulf Coast as part of a major 10-year initiative to restore Apalachicola Bay and revive the region’s imperiled oyster industry.

May 2019

FSU’s world-renowned Marching Chiefs is selected as the only collegiate band to participate in France’s official 75th anniversary D-Day Normandy parade.

June 2019

Legendary FSU Baseball Coach Mike Martin finishes his 40-year career after taking his 17th team to the College World Series.

Sept. 9, 2019

FSU joins the nation’s Top 20 public universities when U.S. News & World Report ranks FSU No. 18 in its “Best Colleges 2020” guidebook.

November 2019

Jim Moran School of Entrepreneurship becomes FSU’s 17th college and the nation’s first stand-alone college of entrepreneurship.

 

2020

Feb. 12, 2020

FSU officially opens the Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science Building.

March 7, 2020

FSU celebrates the grand opening of the new Seminole Legacy Golf Course – the first Jack Nicklaus Legacy Course in North America.

March 2020

COVID-19 forces the university to pivot to remote learning and working.

August 2020

Researchers receive a record level of funding in the 2020 fiscal year, bringing in $250 million in grants from federal, state and private sources — a new single-year funding record.

August 2020

President Thrasher announces his intention to retire and requests the Board of Trustees begin the search process to select his successor.

September 2020

FSU sees a record rise in graduate enrollment, boosting FSU’s total number of graduate students to more than 9,000.

September 2020

Nine FSU faculty members are selected as U.S. Fulbright Scholar Program award recipients, setting a new FSU record for most Fulbright Scholars in one year.

September 2020

For a fifth consecutive year, FSU is recognized as a Diversity Champion by INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.

November 2020

The Dedman School of Hospitality becomes FSU’s 18th college.

Sept. 14, 2020

FSU retains its place in the Top 20 among national public universities in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges 2021” guidebook.

October 2020

A record 95 percent first-year student retention rate places FSU among Top 15 nationally.

 

2021

February 2021

Florida State achieves the best graduation rate of any public university in Florida and one of the Top 10 in the nation, with 74 percent of students graduating in four years.

February 2021

FSU receives a record 62,574 freshman applications.

March 2021

More than 30 graduate programs are ranked in the Top 25 in U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 edition of “Best Graduate Schools.”

April 2021

Florida State University ranks No. 11 on the The Princeton Review list of Best Value Colleges for 2021 for students seeking an excellent education with great career preparation and at an affordable price.