[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 19]
[House]
[Pages 27707-27708]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        TRIBUTE TO JOHN LOMBARDI

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kuykendall). Under a previous order of 
the House, the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Fowler) is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my best wishes and 
appreciation to an outstanding educator, administrator, and author, Dr. 
John Lombardi, who has been the president of the University of Florida 
for more than 9 years now, and in that time he has become much beloved 
by the student body, faculty, and alumni. This is a man who truly made 
a difference during his years as president.
  It would take too long to list all of his many accomplishments, so I 
would like to highlight just a few.
  As an educator, Dr. Lombardi focused on and achieved higher academic 
standards, student performance, and graduation rates. As an 
administrator, he took care of critical details, such as offering 
better access to computers and augmenting opportunities by increasing 
the number of combined degree programs available to undergraduates. He 
was intricately involved in the opening of the Brain Institute, a 
premier center dedicated to brain and spinal cord research and 
treatment.
  He also excelled in the vitally important role as a fund-raiser, with 
gifts to the University increasing exponentially during his tenure, 
including a recently arranged multimillion dollar contribution to the 
law school.
  In addition, Dr. Lombardi was responsible for Florida's acceptance 
into the Association of American Universities, the prestigious higher 
education organization comprised of the top 62 public and private 
institutions in the United States.
  More important, though, was Dr. Lombardi the person, a person of 
great popularity and high regard. Let me just give my colleagues two 
examples.
  Dr. Lombardi was so well-loved by the students that I know that 
recently the student body voted to ask the Board of Regents to allow 
Dr. Lombardi to sign each of their diplomas.

[[Page 27708]]

  The second anecdote is even more true to his spirit, because at every 
homecoming Dr. Lombardi marched with the alumni band playing his 
trademark clarinet and wearing his Gator suspenders.
  Today, Dr. Lombardi is leaving his post after a decade of dedicated 
service. We are fortunate, though, that he will not be going very far 
and that he plans to return to teaching in the University's history 
department. On this occasion, I wish Dr. Lombardi and Cathryne all the 
best and offer great thanks for all his hard work and efforts on behalf 
of the University of Florida.

                          ____________________