Outgoing UCF
President John Hitt is now honored on plaques outside five buildings at the Central Florida Research Park.
Outgoing University of Central Florida President John Hitt, who first helped save the Central Florida Research Park from financial ruin and then developed academic programs that would complement the companies stationed there, is now honored on plaques outside five buildings at the complex.
During Hitt’s tenure, the complex just south of the university’s campus has flourished, covering 1,027 acres. It is the largest research park in the state and fourth largest in the country, according to the university. Hitt is retiring June 30 after 26 years as president.
“There are so many great partnerships in Central Florida because of John Hitt and UCF,” Dan Holsenbeck, senior vice president for university relations, said Monday. “It’s hard to find one that manifests John Hitt’s vision of a real, effective and efficient partnership better than this one.”
The five buildings that now bear his name are called Partnership I through V and are home to thousands of jobs in a variety of federal defense agencies, the National Center for Simulation and UCF’s Institute for Simulation and Training, which has brought in more than $26 million in research funding during the past two years. They are the country’s hub for organizations leading military simulation training and modeling efforts, according to the university.
The complex brings together commands from four armed services branches and industry leaders, academia and government organizations.
Two of the buildings were acquired in the past two years, when the Orlando Economic Development Commission and the National Center for Simulation worked with UCF to protect the modeling and simulation industry from closing. The university received state funding to buy the buildings and then leased them back to the military, allowing 3,000 federal employees to move in.
“I am particularly proud that our faculty, students and staff at UCF have been able to contribute to the safety, well-being and advancement of our military men and women,” Hitt said in a news release.
The park is run by the Orange County Research and Development Authority, a special district. Holsenbeck is a member of the governing board.
When Hitt took the helm at UCF in 1992, the research park was in distress, said Holsenbeck, who has been with the university since 1985. Hitt stepped in, offering police service and marketing and helping the park acquire land on the north side of the complex.
Hitt also cultivated academic programs at the university, such as computer science, that produce graduates who can work at the research park.
“He made it a university priority to work with local leaders to keep the park from going bankrupt and then to recruit the companies, create the academic programs to provide them with employees, and thus, the reason today for giving John Hitt and the community their due,” Holsenbeck said.