Florida A&M University

History

Florida A&M was established by the Florida Legislature on October 3, 1887, as the State Normal College for Colored Students — one of many Black normal schools created in the South under the Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction political frameworks that acknowledged, however inadequately, the educational needs of Black Floridians. It moved to its current Tallahassee campus in 1891.

Under the Second Morrill Act of 1890, which required states with racially segregated higher education systems to establish land-grant institutions for Black students, Florida A&M became the Black land-grant university for Florida. This designation gave the university federal funding for agriculture and mechanical arts programs and shaped its curriculum and research mission.

FAMU's College of Pharmacy, founded in 1951, is the only pharmacy school in the state of Florida at an HBCU. It has been consistently ranked among the top programs for training Black pharmacists in the country. FAMU also operates the College of Law in Orlando, opened in 2002 — one of very few HBCU law schools in the deep South.

The Rattlers football program has produced numerous NFL players, and FAMU's School of Business and Industry, founded in 1974, has been recognized as one of the foremost business schools at any HBCU, emphasizing corporate partnerships and career placement at a level unusual for a public institution of its size.

In May 2025, the FAMU Board of Trustees selected Marva Johnson, J.D., as the university’s thirteenth president; the Florida Board of Governors confirmed the appointment in June, and Johnson took office on August 1, 2025, becoming only the second woman to lead the institution. The selection drew sustained protest from students, faculty, and alumni, who questioned her ties to the state’s political leadership over candidates with deeper academic-administration records. The transition followed the June 2024 resignation of President Larry Robinson amid fallout over a disputed $237 million gift pledge the university was ultimately unable to substantiate. Johnson’s formal investiture in 2026 set out an agenda centered on Carnegie R1 research classification, deeper federal partnerships, and positioning FAMU as a national hub for agricultural innovation and health equity. In fall 2026, FAMU enrolled its largest incoming class in a decade, roughly 1,900 first-time-in-college students, and launched a university-wide strategic planning initiative under Johnson's administration.

The Marching 100

FAMU's Marching 100 band, founded in 1946 by William P. Foster, is widely recognized as the premier college marching band in the United States. Under Foster's 52-year tenure, the band developed the high-stepping, show-stopping performance style that has influenced marching band culture nationwide. The Marching 100 has performed at four presidential inaugurations, at the Super Bowl, and at venues around the world. Its influence on HBCU band culture — and through that, on Black musical performance traditions — is incalculable.

Notable Alumni

A representative selection. Alumni records are verified against institutional and published sources. Unverified entries are flagged explicitly — we do not fabricate records.

Source notes: FAMU institutional archives; Florida Legislature, Acts 1887; Florida Board of Education records; William P. Foster, Band Pageantry (1981); International Tennis Hall of Fame, Althea Gibson biographical records.