Bill Healy, class of 1982, recalls “best memories” of early days of University of North Florida and the College of Business.

“My overall UNF experience was excellent, and I have always been proud to be a UNF graduate,” Healy said.

I truly grew up with University of North Florida. My father, Dr. Edward Healy, was the first department head of the Natural Sciences Department. I graduated from UNF in 1982 when it was still an upper-level university.

My father started working June 1st, 1971 at the Arlington Expressway offices with a handful of other original UNF employees. This was over a year before UNF held its first class on October 2nd, 1972.

Our family moved from Rhode Island to Jacksonville in late July 1971. We were a large family with six children. Some of us were excited to move and others were not so happy. As a 10-year-old boy I was excited to move for the first time to experience year-round sunshine. We moved to the edge of suburbia off Baymeadows Road between San Jose Boulevard and Philips Highway. In 1971 this area of Jacksonville was very rural with a few subdivisions being built. At the corner of Baymeadows Road and Philips Highway there were only stop signs. The closest red light on San Jose Boulevard was at Dupont Junior High School.

My first memories of UNF were in 1971. Every Saturday morning Dad would take us to the nearest library in San Marco and then we would drive out to the UNF campus. My Dad wanted to see the progress of the first four UNF buildings. We would drive slowly down the muddy dirt road filled with rain and potholes. We would walk around the construction site and through the buildings to see the progress each week. It was common to see deer, wild boar, alligators, and other wild animals running around the campus. Moving from Rhode Island I had never seen an alligator or armadillo. I would come home excited to tell my Mom about the animals we saw each week. Mom was not very happy that we would see alligators and snakes almost every week. She was always concerned for our safety. These weekly Saturday morning trips were an exciting event that I always looked forward to. One of the privileges of visiting UNF every Saturday morning was when we got home, we had the pleasure of washing the mud off Dad’s car.

The weekend before classes started at UNF was total chaos. Construction crews were putting the final touches on the buildings fixing issues the staff identified. Light sockets and light switches didn’t work because someone forgot to flip the electrical breaker. The walkways were not paved. There were very few paved parking spaces. The Natural Science Department professors were working hard setting up their offices, classrooms, and labs. Fortunately, the professors were young and happily pitched in toopen the university. I can vividly remember professors opening boxes of desks, tables, and chairs to set offices and classrooms.

My Dad volunteered me to stock the chemistry lab. As a 12-year-old I was given the assignment to open the boxes of chemicals, sort the chemicals and stock the chemicals on the shelves in alphabetical order. I was excited and proud to be able to help open a new university. In my career I have dealt with OSHA on several occasions. I often have wondered how many OSHA violations I committed as a 12-year-old stocking the chemistry lab shelves.

In the following years Dean Dr. Willard Ash, College of Arts and Sciences, would hold an annual Holiday party for the professors and their families at his home in Montclair off San Jose Boulevard. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet the families of the other professors. The stories about opening the university were told for years at this annual party.

When UNF opened it was for juniors and seniors only. Most classes were at night and most students were in their 30’s or older who needed more assistance than an average college student. Dad was now at work most nights which was a new experience for our family. There was a definite impact to our family life as Dad was not home until about 10 p.m. several nights per week. He missed many of our sporting events and school activities until UNF grew and had more day classes. My Dad later moved into admirative roles to spend more time with the family but never stopped teaching.

In 1980 I started attending UNF. UNF was still on its own island with no retail stores nearby. From Philips Highway I drove on J. Turner Butler Boulevard to campus every night. As I exited on to St. Johns Bluff Road, I had to pay a 10-cent toll every day. You could not turn right or go straight when you exited on to St. Johns Bluff Road. The only choice after paying the toll was a left turn to UNF. Conveniently there was often a police officer watching the toll booth to insure you paid the 10-cent toll.

UNF in 1980 was still a commuter university for juniors and seniors only. I was in the College of Business majoring in Transportation and Logistics. At the time only three universities in the country had a Logistics major: Penn State, Ohio State and UNF.

In 1980 I turned 20 years old. Very few of my classmates were near my age. I had classmates who were 30-55 years old. I remember classmates with varied backgrounds including train engineer, warehouse manager, truck driver and dock worker at the port. UNF did not offer the social environment available at other universities or what UNF offers today. We all commuted to UNF and most students had full-time jobs, and families. Students from as far away as St. Augustine and Lake City attended the campus. The occasional beer after class was the only social activity on campus. Unfortunately, I graduated from UNF with no lasting friendships and do not remember the names of most of my classmates.

My first class at UNF was a transportation class taught by Dr. Kevin Horn. Dr. Horn was a passionate, vibrant, energetic professor. He had one small quirk that I had never seen in any of my teachers or professors. Dr. Horn stuttered when he was excited. Having a professor who stuttered was a new and often challenging experience. After my first class I went to my Dad’s office to tell him I had a professor who stuttered. At the time Dad was the Vice President of Academic Affairs. His first reaction was there is no way you have a professor who stutters. Dad called the department head and verified that Dr. Horn did stutter. They told me to stick with the class and Dr. Horn became my favorite professor and was one of the best professors I encountered in my college career.

My Transportation and Logistics professors Dr. Horn, Dr. Harms and Dr. Cunningham were excellent. They were passionate, committed, and forward-thinking professors. They challenged us as students and provided real world scenarios to lead and manage business. I analyzed and wrote reviews on more than 50 Harvard Business Review case studies during my UNF career. It is interesting that in the COVID world we live in today we hear about Supply Chain issues daily. I learned how to solve Supply Chain issues during my UNF career. The definition of Logistics I learned at UNF was, “Have the product at the right place, at the right time and at the right cost in usable form.” Today everyone is a Supply Chain expert but UNF was teaching the same concept 40 years ago.

A funny moment as a student occurred in the library elevator. I was on the elevator with a much older student who was carrying the chemistry book Dad used in his class. I asked who he had for chemistry and he replied Dr. Healy. I asked what he thought of Dr. Healy. Let’s just say that he did not have anything nice to say about Dr. Healy. As we got off the elevator I said, “Dr. Healy is my Dad,” and turned and walked away. The student walked to my table after about 10 minutes and apologized. I said, “No apology needed, Dr. Healy is just as tough as a father as he is a professor.” My Dad thought the story was funny and he told the story for many years.

One of the best memories attending UNF was lunches with my Dad. A couple times per week I had the opportunity to spend an hour with my father. At the time I was at UNF I didn’t realize the importance of this experience. I now realize that he was teaching me about life during these lunches, preparing me to have a successful career, be a loving husband and a supportive father. My father was always a teacher who never missed an opportunity to impart his wisdom on his students or his family. As a father of five children who has been married 39 years, I now value those special memories with my father.

A special moment for my Mom and Dad was when I graduated from UNF in 1982. I was the second member of my family to graduate from college. I had the honor of my Dad presenting me with my UNF diploma at graduation. At the time he was on stage as the Vice President of Academic Affairs.

UNF gave me the foundation to have a successful business career. I am currently the Vice President of Aftermarket for Great Dane Trailers. I have utilized the skills I learned at UNF everyday during my 40-year career. Without my UNF education I would not have been successful as I am today. My overall UNF experience was excellent, and I have always been proud to be a UNF graduate.

As an administrator in various roles, department head, dean, vice president, Dad never left the classroom and always taught classes. He was always a teacher at heart. In 1991 he returned to teaching full time. In 2008 Dad decided to retire from UNF after 37 years. At the time of his retirement, he was No. 2 in seniority at UNF. In his academic career he spent 51 years as a college professor. The UNF Department of Natural Sciences offices were named after my Dad.

An interesting note: Bobby Bowden head football coach at FSU was one year older than Dad. Every year the state university system increased the retirement age by one year to allow Bobby Bowden to continue to coach at FSU. Dad was able to teach if Bobby Bowden was at FSU. He did end up retiring one year before Bobby Bowden stopped coaching FSU.

*Bill Healy is Vice President of aftermarket Great Dane Trailer manufacturers based in Savannah, Ga.