Alumnus Barron takes office as Florida State's 14th president

Eric J. Barron has taken his position as 14th president of The Florida State University.

Barron, 58, succeeds T.K. Wetherell, who served the university from 2003-2010.

As he moved into his Westcott Building office, Barron listed his priorities for his first few weeks. “I really want to see the synergism of the strategic plan, the fundraising of the university, and how it is we show our face to the world,” he said. “Of course we’re also going right into the legislative session,” he added.

Barron earned a bachelor's degree in geology from FSU as an honors student in 1973. He holds master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Miami, both in oceanography.

Barron noted that his leadership style is based on transparency, communication and approachability. “An element of leadership that’s really crucial is whether or not people sense you’re approachable. Can people walk up to you as you walk up to the building, ask you a question as you’re walking across campus or send you an e-mail and realize that you want to listen,” he said.

"I am extremely gratified and honored to return to my alma mater and serve as its next president," Barron said after his Dec. 8 selection by the Board of Trustees. "This is an outstanding university that is poised to become one of the finest in the world, and I look forward to helping it reach that goal."

Barron had been director of the highly prominent national laboratory, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., since 2008.

In an interview that appeared Feb. 3 in the prestigious journal Nature, Barron said he sees the major challenges of his new role as “to promote quality and student success in a constrained budget environment. Florida State University is functioning very well,” he said, “…but we ought to be able to do a much better job with philanthropy.”

Prior to taking the position at NCAR, Barron was dean of the newly formed Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin.

From 1986 to 2006, Barron was at Pennsylvania State University, where he was professor of geosciences, director of the Earth System Science Center, director of the EMS Environment Institute, and finally dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.

Barron is a Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological Society and the Geological Society of America. He has received many national awards as a scholar, researcher and distinguished lecturer, has published extensively and has been editor or a member of the editorial boards of a dozen academic journals. He has testified before Congress and has chaired numerous committees in service to the federal government, such as the NASA Senior Review for the Earth Sciences in 2005. He has chaired committees and panels of the National Research Council since 1987 and currently chairs "An Ocean Infrastructure for U.S. Ocean Research in 2030."

A highly visible scientist, Barron stressed his commitment to the full spectrum of academic disciplines, saying he is "an ardent supporter and advocate for the full spectrum of excellence in the arts and humanities, sciences, law, business and medicine."

A native of Lafayette, Ind., Barron has two grown children. He said he and his wife, Molly, are "a partnership" and that she will be an active participant in supporting Florida State University while he is president.