page_title: University of South Florida
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: University of South Florida / History
context_page_description: The University of South Florida is a public research university in Tampa, Florida. It is a member institution of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1956, USF is the fourth-largest public university in the state of Florida, with an enrollment of 50,927 as of the 2019–2020 academic year. Previously identified as a university system, USF has three campus locations: Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee. The university is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. USF is home to 14 colleges, offering more than 180 undergraduate majors, graduate, specialist, and doctoral-level degree programs.
  USF is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". In its 2011 ranking, the Intellectual Property Owners Association placed USF 10th among all universities worldwide in the number of US patents granted. The university has an annual budget of $1.5 billion and an annual economic impact of over $3.7 billion. According to the National Science Foundation, USF spent $581 million on research and development in 2018, ranking it 43rd in the nation.
context_section_description: USF was the first independent state university conceived, planned, and built during the 20th century. Former U.S. representative Samuel Gibbons was instrumental in the school's creation when he was a state representative and is considered by many to be the "Father of USF."  Although founded in 1956, the university was not officially named until the following year, and classes did not begin until 1960. The university was built off Fowler Avenue on the site of Henderson Air Field, a World War II airstrip. Before Henderson Field, the area was part of the 1920s 5,000-acre temple orange grove, the largest citrus grove in the world at the time, which gave the nearby City of Temple Terrace its name. In 1957, the Florida Cabinet approved the name "University of South Florida." At the time, USF was the southernmost university in the state university system. In 1962, the official USF mascot was unveiled as the "Golden Brahman." In the late 1980s, the mascot evolved into the "Bulls."
  Founded as a school for whites only, the university admitted its first African-American student, Ernest Boger, in 1961. Boger graduated in 1964 with a B.A. in psychology.
  The university grew under the leadership of John S. Allen, who served as its first president from 1956 until his retirement in 1971. During this time, the university expanded rapidly, due in part to the first master's degree programs commencing in 1964. Allen was known for his opposition to college sports in favor of an environment more academically-centered. Allen's ultimate legacy was to be the first person to build a modern state university from scratch: "As a completely new and separate institution, the University of South Florida became the first new institution of its kind to be conceived, planned and built in the United States in the 20th century." Today the John and Grace Allen Administration Building, named after the university's founding president and his wife, houses vital Tampa campus departments including Student Affairs, the Admissions Welcome Center, and the Controller's Office.
  In 1970, M. Cecil Mackey became the university's second president. During his time at USF, Mackey opened the university's medical school, School of Nursing, and first-ever Ph.D. program. Additionally, Mackey worked to strengthen the St. Petersburg campus, while opening new satellite campuses in Sarasota and Fort Myers. While serving as university president, Mackey continued to teach economics courses in a conference room across from his office. Mackey first coined a new descriptor for USF: "a metropolitan university." The term is still used to describe USF today.
  USF emerged as a major research institution during the 1980s under the leadership of the university's third president John Lott Brown. During his tenure, the USF Graduate School was established in 1980. In 1986, Brown oversaw the opening of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute on the USF Tampa campus. USF became the first university in the nation to offer a Ph.D. in applied anthropology and the first in the State University System of Florida to offer a degree program in women's studies. In January 1988, USF Lakeland opened.
  On February 15, 1988, Francis T. Borkowski was inaugurated as the university's fourth president. He served as president for five years, laying the groundwork for the university's football program, establishing on-campus housing for the USF president at the Lifsey House, and merging several colleges into the College of Arts and Sciences.
  Betty Castor became the university's fifth president and first female president when she was inaugurated in January 1994. She served as USF president for six years until 1999. During this time, USF grew to be one of the largest universities in the nation in terms of enrollment. The Florida Board of Regents named USF a "Research 1" University in 1998. In 1997, the university began its inaugural season of NCAA football. Two years later, the Herd of Thunder marching band debuted. In 2006, Castor returned to USF to lead the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions
caption: Moffitt Cancer Center on the USF campus.