Edward T. Foote II

During Foote's tenure as University of Miami president, the University of Miami football team won two national championships. Following the second national championship, on January 29, 1988, then UM football coach Jimmy Johnson and the 1987 Miami Hurricanes team presented President Ronald Reagan with a University of Miami jersey at The White House after winning 1987 national championship

In March 1981, Foote succeeded Henry King Stanford as the fourth University of Miami president.[4][5]

During Foote's tenure, undergraduate admissions and academic standards were raised, top faculty recruited, and major private and government funding secured for research and permanent facilities. The increase in the university's local, national and international profile paralleled the rise of Miami as the so-called "Capital of the Americas".

Foote's tenure as University of Miami president included a capital fundraising campaign that was the second-largest in the history of American higher education at the time, raising $517.5 million; purchasing or constructing nearly 50 buildings; and bolstering the academic quality of admitted students. In 1982, Foote pared undergraduate enrollment by 2,500 to 8,500, raising standards for admissions and improving retention and graduation rates by targeting a smaller but more selective student body.

By fall 2000, entering students had an average SAT score of 1200, about 100 points higher than the class of 1981. Today, the university's mean SAT score is 1315.[6]

Foote also launched a steadily-increasing amount of sponsored research conducted by University of Miami professors and scientists. In 2000, $193.9 million was spent on research, up from $58.1 million, in 1981. Foote also created three new colleges, the School of Architecture, the School of Communication, and the Graduate School of International Studies, and increased the number of full-time faculty members by 560, and championed the university's athletic program. Under him, the University of Miami won four national championships in football and three College World Series baseball titles. He also reinstated the men's basketball program.[7]