Three Community Leaders Selected UNF Presidential Medallion Recipients

Joanna Norris, Associate Director 

Department of Public Relations 

(904) 620-2102 

The University of North Florida announces the selection of three community leaders to receive the prestigious Presidential Medallion, an honor given to community leaders who have helped guide UNF during its 39 years.  

“We are very fortunate to have leaders in the community who have helped the University of North Florida become the region’s premier institution of higher education,” said UNF President John Delaney. “Our momentum is growing every day thanks to people who are passionate about the University.” 

This year’s honorees include Luther Coggin, Steven Halverson and Joannie Newton. Coggin will be awarded his Presidential Medallion at noon on Tuesday, Oct. 4, during the University’s annual Founders Day luncheon at the University Center Banquet Hall on campus. Halverson and Newton will be awarded a Medallion individually later this year.  

Each individual will receive the Presidential Medallion for Outstanding Service, which is the highest form of nonacademic recognition awarded by the University. The Medallion is given annually to recognize both alumni and friends who have given their time and talents to help make UNF an outstanding institution of higher education.  

Coggin served on the UNF Board of Trustees (BOT) from 2002 to 2010 and also served on the steering committee for the University’s successful “Access to Excellence Campaign” from 1997 to 2003. Nowhere is his influence seen more clearly on campus than in the college named in his honor—the Coggin College of Business—through which he has provided scholarships, fellowships and professorships. For all of his service to UNF and his wide–ranging civic involvement, he was recognized with the Prime F. Osborn III Distinguished Business Leader Award from the Coggin College of Business and was made a UNF Honorary Alumni. 

Halverson served on the UNF BOT for four years, including a stint as vice chairman. As a member of the inaugural board appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush, he worked through many organizational and operational issues as a new system of higher education governance took shape in Florida. In 2007, he was the recipient of UNF’s Prime F. Osborn III Distinguished Business Leader Award from the Coggin College of Business.  

Newton was appointed to the original UNF BOT by Gov. Jeb Bush in 2002 and served until 2003, when she was appointed to the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the State University System comprised of 11 universities across the state. After her service on the state board, she returned to the BOT for a term from 2006 until 2011 and was reappointed for a second term ending in 2016. She has supported the University through the Partnership Initiative in the Coggin College of Business, where her late husband Martin E. Stein Sr. helped establish the University’s Business Advisory Council. She has also contributed to the Fine Arts Center and has established two endowed professorships in the name of UNF President John Delaney. 

-UNF-