President Hanbury Leaves Lasting, Powerful Legacy at NSU
President George L. Hanbury II and his wife Jana.
President George L. Hanbury II has greatly enhanced the faculty, staff, and student experience at Nova Southeastern University during his 15 years as president of what is now Florida’s largest private research university.
The feathers in his cap are numerous, from overseeing the design, construction, and opening of the new state-of-the-art 311,000 square-foot Tampa Bay Regional Campus in 2019, to partnering with Broward County to establish the Alan B. Levan-NSU Broward Center of Innovation at the Alvin Sherman Library on the Fort Lauderdale Campus, to working with HCA to establish the HCA University Hospital as a teaching and research facility adjacent to the Fort Lauderdale Campus.
Hanbury is also credited with initiating the concept and leading NSU’s efforts to provide the matching funds for the Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystem Science Research, and successfully acquiring a $15 million grant from the National Institute of Science and Technology within the U.S. Department of Commerce. The center now serves as a national resource for coral reef research with more than $40 million dollars of external funded research being performed within its new laboratories.
In 2014, Hanbury spearheaded the opening of a regional campus in San Juan, Puerto – a four-story, state-of-the-art facility equipped with technology and computer labs, videoconferencing, a multi-purpose room, drug information center, a wet lab, offices and a fitness center, to name a few of its features.
And the list goes on.
His shared successes with NSU also have made headlines. Below are just a few examples:
- George L. Hanbury II Shares Insights on NSU Dramatic Growth
- Kiran and Pallavi Patel Commit $200 Million for NSU Tampa Bay Regional Campus
- George Hanbury: A Well-Done Career
- NSU President Discusses Stepping Down with NBC’s Jackie Nespral
One of President Hanbury’s most memorable quotes is “Keep your aim above your reach, be bold and persistent in achieving your aim, but most of all, maintain your integrity—it is your most precious asset.”
It has been a goal he has truly embraced … and one he will leave behind.