When FAU officials walked into his office in Tallahassee in the fall of 2002, Frank Brogan had no idea how that meeting would change his life.
“I knew FAU was looking for a new president, so when they came to see me I thought they were going to ask me if I could recommend someone for the job,” Brogan says.
Brogan, an FAU alumnus, had been Florida’s lieutenant governor for five years and was slated to run for governor. But when – much to his surprise – he was offered the job, Brogan’s life took an unexpected turn.
“I never had designs on being a university president,” Brogan muses. “But here I had a chance to continue my career in education and be a part of my alma mater. It was a chance to come back home.”
The youngest of six children, Brogan was born in South Florida but grew up in Cincinnati. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in education and wound up back in Stuart as a fifth grade teacher. He went on to get his masters in education at FAU, became the superintendent of schools and eventually worked his way to becoming the state commissioner of education. And now FAU president.
So what is daily life like for a politician -turned university president?
I spent a day with Frank Brogan to find out.
MORNING: RUNNING ON EMPTY
Brogan’s day starts early. He gets up with the sun – between 5:30 and 6 a.m. – and fuels up with a couple cups of coffee before his daily run.
“I don’t eat breakfast,” Brogan says. “I’ve never eaten breakfast, and neither has my twin brother John. It was the bane of our mother’s existence.”
Brogan has been running five miles a day, seven days a week for 16 years.
“I try to map out new routes every day,” he says . “I usually run down Spanish River, and on the weekends I run to the beach and back.”
The morning I caught up with him, at 6:30 a.m., it was still dark as he stretched and squatted and adjusted the earphones of his iPod.
So what does he listen to when he runs?
“AC/DC, Aerosmith and Lynyrd Skynyrd,” Brogan says. “Rock and roll really gets my rhythm going.”
AFTERNOON:MEETING OF THE MINDS
Monday, Oct. 9.
At 9 a.m. Brogan has his weekly executive cabinet meeting with the campus vice presidents, planning committee, athletic officials and the general counsel.
“We take a look at the past week and the issues of the day,” Brogan explains. “You can never assume that you know what’s going on or you are in the inner circle. I need to talk to the key people to keep updated as to what’s going on. It is an opportunity to talk to one another, compare notes and create a master plan for the whole university.”
At 12:30 p.m. Brogan takes the VP’s to lunch at PF Changs to talk about how things are going in a more “casual” setting. Then it’s back to the office for a series of scheduled meet and greets.
At 2:30 p.m. Brogan welcomes Fulbright Scholar Dr. Fatima Amrani, who is visiting from Morocco. During the publicity photo in front of the office flags, Brogan cracks a joke.
“Sorry, my Moroccan flag is in the cleaners.”
At 3:30 p.m. Jack Guistewhite, the first registrar for FAU, quietly presents Brogan with his new book about the history of FAU. Dressed in a seersucker suit and two-toned oxford shoes, Guistewhite recounts humorous anecdotes of his 20 years at FAU, and Brogan marvels at his extensive knowledge of the university’s inner workings.
“FAU may not be old, but it has a rich history,” Brogan says.
At 4:00 p.m. Brogan retires to his desk to take a phone interview with the Sun-Sentinel about FAU football “boosters.”
“FAU football depends on boosters,” Brogan says, “they are the non-student donors and supporters of football – many alumni – who keep the team going.”
EVENINGS:BUSINESS FOLLOWS HIM HOME
Brogan’s day doesn’t end with lunches, meetings and phone calls. At 5:30 p.m. he goes home…to work.
Granted his commute is only a quarter-mile drive to the Baldwin House, the chateau-like mansion that he calls home. The two-story building, though palatial, is not only his residence, but the place where his public and private lives merge. The downstairs, with its salon, wood-paneled office, formal dining room and grand ballroom atrium is the venue for various benefits and functions that Brogan, as FAU president, hosts. He actually lives, with his wife Courtney and their 18-month-old son Colby John, in a modest two-bedroom one-and-a-half bath apartment on the second floor.
AFTER HOURS: A FAMILY AFFAIR
“Colby John and Courtney always come down and greet our guests,” Brogan says. “Colby shakes hands and greets people like a mayor.”
Brogan’s face lights up when he talks about his family.
“I never thought I would have this life,” Brogan says. “When I was lieutenant governor my colleagues dragged me out to dinner one night. I thought I would be bored – I had recently lost my wife to cancer; she was my childhood sweetheart – and there was this beautiful, smart, vivacious woman. I thought, she won’t want anything to do with an old guy like me (Courtney, an attorney, is 23 years his junior), but I guess it was love at first sight.”
Yes, even presidents can be sentimental. Brogan even admits that the movie Steel Magnolias still brings a tear to his eye.
