The Florida State University College of Business on Thursday inducted three new members into its Alumni Hall of Fame during a black-tie gala at the Augustus B. Turnbull III Florida State Conference Center.
Inducted were Gail Knight, a highly successful photo-company pioneer and retired executive; Gregory Michaud, a distinguished leader and expert in real estate finance; and Steven J. Mudder, a globally renowned legal strategist, executive and investor.
In her acceptance speech, Knight hailed her induction as “by far my greatest professional achievement.” Michaud called it “the pinnacle of my career” and Mudder “the greatest professional honor of my lifetime.” The three spoke to a crowd that included FSU President Richard McCullough, Board of Trustees Chair Peter Collins, College of Business Dean Michael Hartline and other university officials and alumni. Collins (BS Finance ’92; MBA ’97) was inducted into the of the Alumni Hall of Fame in 2021.
The college bestows Alumni Hall of Fame recognition on graduates who have excelled in their careers and made a significant impact on FSU and the College of Business. The new inductees increased the Alumni Hall of Fame membership to 72 since its creation in 2003.
Hartline congratulated Knight, Michaud and Mudder for their “extraordinary accomplishments” and thanked them for their dedication to the college and university.
Hartline also noted the special timing of this year’s Alumni Hall of Fame gala.
“It comes as we continue our yearlong celebration of our 75th anniversary as a business school and as we stand poised to move into our state-of-the-art dream home, Legacy Hall – made possible by the work and generosity of so many in this room tonight,” he said.
Also, the college recognized Abigail “Abby” Danis as the recipient of its 2025 Recent Alumni Achievement Award. Danis is an Orlando-based market development manager for endourology at Boston Scientific Corp.
The Recent Alumni Achievement Award recognizes extraordinary FSU business alumni, particularly those who graduated within the past 15 years. Danis graduated in 2011 with a degree in marketing.
Here is a look at the three new FSU College of Business Alumni Hall of Fame inductees:
Gail Knight (B.S. Accounting ’82)
With her husband, Bob, Knight grew Bob Knight Photo from a fledgling party-pic photography company at FSU to the largest commencement photography company in Florida and California.
A certified public accountant, Knight used her insight with analytics and data management to drive company growth.
She successfully negotiated pricing for special events at The Walt Disney Company, resulting in more than 6 million photos over a 15-year period. Also, she and her team managed a three-year transition from analog to digital photography, including image management and storage, website design, production software and retail software, plus creation of a new workflow system, GradTrak®, which became an industry leader.
After 15 key acquisitions, their GradImages™ brand achieved service contracts with most of the nation’s universities and nearly 150 marathons per year, including five of the world’s major races, held in Chicago, Berlin, New York, Boston and London. Their mix of service and marketing led their company to reach nearly $100 million in annual revenue, with more than 4 million customers per year.
“The College of Business at Florida State was really where my life turned around,” Knight said. “If not for Florida State, I don’t meet Bob. If not for the College of Business, the party pic company doesn’t become a $100 million firm.”
She and her husband funded the Gail and Bob Knight Auditorium in the College of Business’ new home, Legacy Hall. They also recently funded a distinguished professorship in accounting.
They endowed an athletic scholarship for the FSU football program and a major gift for FSU softball. Additionally, they have contributed significantly to the FSU College of Communication and Information.
Also, Gail Knight speaks at events and serves as an executive committee member of the College of Business Board of Governors.
Gregory Michaud (B.S. Real Estate ’91)
Michaud, managing director and head of Real Estate at Voya Investment Management, oversees all aspects of the company’s commercial real estate loan platform, including sourcing, underwriting, asset management, legal and portfolio management. Under his leadership, a team of 60 professionals manages $16 billion in commercial mortgages.
He said FSU “set the trajectory for my life to be where I’m at right now.”
He added: “Florida State has that culture to not only train you and teach you and make you good academically, but also to make sure you’re set for the real world when you leave the college, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Michaud’s career with the firm began at ING Group, where he started as a real estate analyst before quickly advancing to investment officer, managing investments throughout the Americas. By 2000, he was leading an investment team, and in 2010, he assumed leadership of the real estate platform.
Following the Great Financial Crisis and ING Group’s divestiture of U.S. assets — creating Voya Financial — Michaud transformed the platform from a proprietary asset manager into the third-largest, third-party real estate credit manager in the United States.
At the FSU College of Business, he serves on the FSU Real Estate Center Executive Board and recently joined the FSU Foundation Board of Trustees.
Throughout his career, Michaud has remained committed to FSU, hiring and launching the careers of more than 25 real estate graduates.
His investments in the College of Business include the establishment of the Michaud Family Director’s Office for the FSU Real Estate Center in Legacy Hall, the college’s future home. Another philanthropic investment, the Michaud Endowment for Excellence in Real Estate, supports student academics and activities through the center.
Steven Mudder (B.S. Finance ’95)
Mudder, a leader in the global telecommunications infrastructure, helped form or acquire and manage more than 25 companies all over the world. He also built a 20-year career representing professional football players as an NFL-certified agent.
“One of my biggest joys – and biggest values of my time – is going back to Florida State and interacting with students, answering questions and trying to be a good influence and a good mentor,” he said. “It’s a special place that has given me so much.”
Mudder began his career in Atlanta at King & Spalding, where he represented multiple Fortune 100 clients. He practiced law for two years in Silicon Valley before becoming a partner at Atlanta-based Cohen, Cooper, Estep & Mudder, where Georgia Super Lawyers magazine recognized him as a Super Lawyer and Rising Star.
As vice president-international legal for American Tower Corporation, he led legal operations across Latin America and Asia. Along with nine colleagues, he left American Tower International and acquired Protelindo, a small Indonesian tower company with 232 towers. Mudder and his colleagues transformed Protelindo into Asia’s largest independent tower company with nearly 30,000 tower sites. He and his colleagues also founded Myanmar’s first independent tower company in 2012 and acquired a tower company in Europe, successfully exiting all three ventures.
Mudder has served on the FSU Foundation Board of Trustees and the College of Business Board of Governors. His investments total more than $1.36 million for Legacy Hall, the new home of the College of Business; Seminole Boosters, which supports FSU athletics; the FSU Foundation; and an endowed scholarship in the Master of Science in Finance program.
He regularly speaks to classes and has been the featured guest for the Charles A. Bruning Distinguished Speaker Series.