Sam Proctor was named one of 50 Most Important Floridians of the 20th Century by Florida newspapers. His legacy is not his own history but is the history of thousands of other Floridians. Interviewing more than 3,300 Floridians, Proctor documented the progress of the state and its peoples. Proctor was among the first scholars to recognize the diversity of Florida’s history, introducing the study of women, African-Americans and Latin immigrants to academic and public forums of debate.

A history professor at UF, he passed on his love of history to students for more than 50 years. He helped found the Southern Jewish Historical Society and the university’s Center for Jewish Studies. He served as editor of The Florida Historical Quarterly, was a curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History and served as UF’s historian and charter member of the state’s nomination review board for the National Register of Historic Places.

Proctor’s dedication and contributions to the state of Florida will never be forgotten. To his students he gave his love of the past, to historians he provided valuable information and to the state of Florida he provided a sense of pride that commemorates its historical significance.

Colleagues, former students and friends created this endowment in his honor in 1990. The Samuel Proctor Fund provides a series of fellowships that will be granted annually to the top graduate students in the progra