==== Florida Tech Founder and President Emeritus Dies ====


MELBOURNE, FLA. March 26, 2002 —Dr. Jerome P. Keuper, founder 
and President Emeritus of Florida Institute of Technology, died 
after a long illness, on March 25, at Holmes Regional Medical 
Center in Melbourne, Fla. Born in Ft. Thomas, Ky., Dr. Keuper, a 
resident of Melbourne Beach, Fla., founded Florida Tech and was 
its first president, from 1958 to 1986. When it opened, as 
Brevard Engineering College, Newsweek magazine dubbed the school 
"The night school for missile men."

In 1958, when Dr. Keuper founded the small technology institute, 
247 students were signed up for the first classes. Today, the 
university enrolls 4,409 students; 3,053 of these are on the 
Melbourne campus.

Florida Tech President Lynn Edward Weaver said Dr.Keuper’s 
legacy is embedded in Florida Tech’s history.

"Dr. Keuper’s spirit is in every part of the Florida Tech 
campus. His vision, his drive to succeed and his unparalleled 
optimism made this university possible," Weaver said. "It is a 
remarkable thing to create a university and Dr. Keuper was 
certainly a remarkable man."

Dr. Keuper came to the Space Coast in 1958 as chief scientist in 
RCA’s Systems Analysis Group, at what is now Kennedy Space 
Center. Before arriving in Brevard County, he was a physicist in 
the Remington Arms plant in Bridgeport, Conn.

Some of the many posts filled by Dr. Keuper during his 
distinguished career include his appointment by the Florida 
governor to the State Board of Independent Colleges and 
Universities, where he also served as chairman of the Council of 
Presidents; director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, 
Jacksonville Branch; and president of the International Palm 
Society. He also was

a member of the advisory boards of the National Energy 
Foundation and Institute of International Education.

Dr. Keuper was a U.S. Army intelligence officer during World War 
II, serving in China and Myanmar, then called Burma. Upon his 
return to the United States, he earned degrees at Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology and Stanford University as well as a 
doctoral degree in nuclear physics from the University of 
Virginia.

In 1997, Dr. Keuper published Chinese 1000, a dictionary of 
colloquial and idiomatic Mandarin Chinese expressions. The work 
was a product of 50 years of study. In 1998, during the 
university’s 40th anniversary celebration, Dr. Keuper received 
Florida Tech’s President’s Medal for his many years of service 
to the university. A permanent Jerome P. Keuper Historical 
Collection also was established in the university’s Evans 
Library to house his papers and Florida Tech historical records.