CHRISTOPHER F. ROELLKE

PRESIDENT, STETSON UNIVERSITY, DELAND

Stetson University is a comprehensive regional university with campuses in DeLand, Gulfport and Tampa that employs about 1,000 people. Roellke has served as Stetson's 10th president since July 2020, serving more than 4,000 students across a College of Arts and Sciences, a School of Business Administration, a School of Music and a College of Law. Roellke teaches first-year students through the Presidential Fellows Program and has helped lead record-breaking fundraising at Stetson for the past six years.

EDUCATION: Wesleyan University (BA), Cornell University (MS, Ph.D.), 2014 Fulbright scholar and a visiting scholar at Yale Law School

DAILY RITUAL: I make sure I have significant interaction with students on a daily basis. This reminds me of the importance of our work and why access and attainment in higher education are so important. I also work hard at regularly acknowledging all of the good work that my colleagues do to advance a Stetson education.

INDUSTRY TREND: At Stetson, we are deeply committed to providing the most potent forms of experiential, contemporary and integrative learning so that our students are well prepared to tackle the world's most pressing challenges and opportunities. Demographic shifts, coupled with dramatic advances in artificial intelligence, are the key issues confronting higher education today.

IN MY DOWNTIME: Though I have no musical talent myself, I am a huge blues music fan and fully appreciate a wide range of musical genres. I also enjoy competing with and against students in intramural athletics, despite my advancing age. The evidence is clear that students really step up when they compete against the president.

FOOD FIX
“A well-prepared smashburger and a side salad is my go-to meal after a long day. An indulgence would be an extra-large vanilla milkshake.”