Carl
M. Kuttler, Jr. has been an SPC administrator since 1965. In 1978 he
was named college president and has continued to serve in that role
since that time. During his
presidency, he has been an education advisor to the President of the
United States and the U.S. Secretary of Education; a co-sponsor of
leadership seminars with presidents Ford and Carter; and honorary
president of Leningrad University in Russia and of Baoji Teachers
College in China.
Dr. Kuttler was selected in 1998 as America's
outstanding college president by the Association of Community College
Trustees. He was named "Honorary Father" of the Russian
community college system, and an Outstanding America College President
by the honor students of Phi Theta Kappa.
Dr. Kuttler is an “entrepreneurial” college president who creates partnerships with government entities, other colleges and universities, and local and national businesses and corporations. These partnerships have contributed substantially to the success St. Petersburg College enjoys today.
Some examples of successful SPC partnerships:
By working with the Florida Legislature, Dr. Kuttler led St. Petersburg College into a new era as a four-year school offering baccalaureate degrees, the first community college in Florida to be given such a privilege.
Construction of the EpiCenter with Pinellas County, a $32-million, high-tech facility that offers economic, workforce and community development resources for the region and state. The EpiCenter is poised to become a premier education center for businesses in the southeastern United States.
New joint-use libraries with the cities of St. Petersburg and Seminole. The dual-purpose facilities, built on college property, are used by residents and college faculty and students. The joint-use libraries represent true entrepreneurship, saving taxpayers millions of dollars by reducing the need for two libraries within the same geographical area.
A partnership with the University of Florida that has brought a College of Pharmacy and a Dental School to SPC’s Seminole Campus.
The construction of a new SPC Downtown Center in the heart of St. Petersburg. The college and the Florida International Museum share space in the new building. Dr. Kuttler worked with FIM on several previous projects including bringing the John F. Kennedy Exhibit to FIM as well as two Russian Exhibits.
In May 2003, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation invited Dr. Kuttler to participate in an International Law panel of 25 worldwide leaders, along with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac. Recently, Dr. Kuttler was named Honorary Consul to the Russian Federation.
Dr. Kuttler’s emphasis on partnerships has resulted in several recent scholarly endeavors. He presented “America’s Potpourri of Higher Education Issues and a Case Study of One of Education’s Most Creative Partnerships” at the 2004 Oxford Round Table in Oxford, England. Also, he is a contributing author to The Entrepreneurial Community College (Roueche and Jones, Community College Press, Austin, Texas). Recently, he was the keynote speaker at a Harvard University workshop on entrepreneurial partnerships at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Dr. Kuttler is a graduate
of St. Petersburg College, Florida State University and Stetson
University College of Law.
