Third dean: Solomon created ‘a path to growth and preeminence’

As FSU's third business dean, E. Ray Solomon oversaw explosive student enrollment, initiated a commitment to research and service, established a fundraising program and led the effort to build a new wing for the Rovetta Business Building.
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Hank Aaron smashed his historic 715th home run. “The Way We Were” topped the U.S. music charts. And Florida State University’s business school proudly became the FSU College of Business.

Amazing hits, all of them.

All happened in 1974, the year E. Ray Solomon succeeded Charles A. Rovetta and became FSU’s third business dean. Solomon oversaw explosive student enrollment, initiated a commitment to research and service, established a fundraising program and led the effort to build a new wing for the Rovetta Business Building (RBB) -- the Rovetta Business Annex (RBA), completed in 1984.

All those accomplishments positioned the College of Business for the international standing it boasts today.

Solomon also created endowed chairs, spearheaded expansion of the college's master's and doctoral programs and led creation of the college's risk management and insurance and real estate programs, which perennially rank in the Top 5 nationally. 

In addition, he emphasized the development of leaders who could help businesses and government agencies respond to changes in workplaces and industries. “The foremost objective of the college is to provide such leaders,” he said.

Solomon served as dean for 18 years until 1991 when he returned to full-time faculty service in an endowed position in risk management and insurance. Now, nearly 35 years later, the College of Business celebrates its 75th anniversary as a separate academic unit, trumpets multiple Top 10 academic programs and stands poised to move into Legacy Hall, a stunning world-class facility scheduled for substantial completion in August. 

Solomon retired in 1997 and passed in 2019, two years after his induction into the inaugural class of the college's Charles A. Rovetta Faculty Hall of Fame. 

“We owe eternal gratitude to Dean Solomon for the course he charted – a path to growth and preeminence, with a laser focus on students, their success and our future,” said Michael Hartline, the current dean of the college. “Equally important, he created a family-style culture that embraced students, faculty and staff members, and alumni, and we’ve nourished that ever since.”

‘He cared about students’

That includes a College of Business hallmark – individual attention.

Dr. William T. Hold (BS RMI ’63), the benefactor of FSU’s Dr. William T. Hold/The Alliance’s Program in Risk Management and Insurance, frequently shares a story from more than 60 years ago of when he was a student in the college: Solomon stopped him in the hallway and encouraged him to apply for a scholarship. Hold’s scholarship led him to pursue doctoral studies at the University of Wisconsin, where Solomon had earned his Ph.D., then secure faculty positions at Wisconsin and the University of Texas. 

Hold later became president and co-founder of The Risk & Insurance Education Alliance, a major supporter of the college, and a 2012 inductee into the college’s Alumni Hall of Fame. 

“He cared about students, and he wanted to help somebody succeed,” Hold says. “He changed my life and set me on a course I couldn't have done without Florida State and him.” 

Born in Carrabelle, a small fishing village on Florida’s northwest Gulf Coast, Solomon joined FSU’s teaching faculty in 1962 and immediately distinguished himself as more than an educator. Former students and colleagues remember him as the ultimate gentleman for his politeness, consideration for others and servant leadership, traits that became college trademarks.

Gary Bliss, a longtime senior lecturer in the Department of Finance and a former banking executive who earned his bachelor’s in finance in 1978 and his MBA in 1980 from FSU, credits Solomon’s leadership for his decision to change academic paths. As an undergraduate studying biology and chemistry, Bliss found it difficult to contact and communicate with his faculty members. Roommates suggested he check out the College of Business. 

“The atmosphere that Dean Solomon created was completely different,” Bliss said. “I immediately saw the college as a place where I could grow and succeed.”

A warm and caring culture

Others did, too, and found ways to express their gratefulness. Mary Solomon, the dean’s wife, often remarked that alumni continued to make donations in her late husband’s memory to the E. Ray Solomon Presidential Scholarship or the E. Ray Solomon Endowment at the Southern Scholarship Foundation. Mary Solomon passed earlier this year at age 97. 

The Solomons’ daughter, Susan, shares anecdotes of her father doing two things that came naturally: talking to students and smiling.

Bliss added that Ray Solomon “built a culture that was warm and caring, and created an environment that led to student success.”

That included alumni engagement. Recognizing that the college needed outside support including funding to attain preeminence, Solomon established the college’s Board of Governors, which included Bliss as a founding member. Bliss, senior vice president at Tallahassee State Bank at the time, recalled traveling throughout Florida with Solomon and board members to establish connections with alumni.

Bliss said he never forgot what Solomon told alumni during a visit to Miami more than three decades ago, before the first DVD, text message or website.

“He explained the future of business would include artificial intelligence,” Bliss said. “None of us knew what it was.”

Accolades galore

Solomon's contributions earned him numerous accolades during his career and beyond. He received the university’s prestigious Vires Torch Award, Circle of Gold Award and Ross Oglesby Award for Outstanding Contributions to Students.
Outside FSU, his community involvement inspired the Southern Scholarship Foundation to establish the annual E. Ray Solomon Community Service Award in his honor.

In retirement, Solomon maintained service roles with community organizations, including Goodwill Industries of the Big Bend, the Economic Club of Florida, the Tallahassee Memorial Hospital (TMH) Foundation and the Southern Scholarship Foundation. 

His involvement reflected the philosophy that guided his academic career: Educational institutions must become integral parts of their communities.

Two years before her passing, Mary Solomon made certain her husband would remain embedded in the College of Business community: She committed $1 million to establish the E. Ray Solomon Family Floor in Legacy Hall. The name will grace the third floor, fittingly the level of the dean’s suite.

“As Mary said, Dean Solomon loved the College of Business, as he showed through 35 years of energy, vision and dedication,” Hartline said. “We’ll always honor his life and exceptional contributions to our college and university.”

-- Pete Reinwald