Growing up in Ybor City, Dick Puglisi was never quite sure what he wanted to do after his high school graduation. But there was a brand-new Florida university being built, not too far from home, and he and a few friends decided to apply.
“To our amazement, we were all accepted as part of that first class at the University of South Florida in 1960,” Puglisi said. “It changed all of our lives.”
A member of USF’s charter class, Dick Puglisi, Ph.D., has dedicated almost his entire career to teaching future educators, most notably through his work at the Gus A.Stavros Center.
After earning his degree in political science from the University of South Florida in 1964, Puglisi returned to USF’s College of Education to earn a teaching certificate and took a position at Leto High School, where he found a real love for teaching. His subject matter - social studies, history and economics - was especially relevant during a tumultuous time in history.
“The Vietnam War was raging, the LA Riots, it was the Civil Rights Era, and we had just experienced John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963,” Puglisi said. “It was a very interesting time to be teaching.”
During his time teaching, Puglisi continued his studies at USF to work on a master’s degree in education, and when he’d earned his degree in 1969, he was invited to take what was supposed to be a one-year leave of absence from the classroom to teach at USF.
“The College of Education had just hired several new education professors, but they wanted to bring teachers in from the school district to keep the program grounded and connected to the classroom,” Puglisi said.
Dick Puglisi
What was supposed to be a one-year position became a career when, after six months, he was invited to earn his Ph.D. and become a permanent member of the department. After taking a year off to finish a doctoral degree at Georgia State University, he rejoined USF’s College of Education as a tenure-track assistant professor. In 1980, Dr. William Katzenmeyer, dean of the College of Education, invited Puglisi to be director of USF’s Center for Economic Education.
The Center was established in 1975 as part of a state initiative to teach educators about capitalism and the global economy. Puglisi immediately saw a need to connect with school districts and provide free courses to educators from those districts taught by businesspeople from the community, so he made his first cold call on behalf of the Center.
“I saw an article in the newspaper about Frank Morsani, who owned five car dealerships,” Puglisi said. “I called him, and he actually took my call.”
Puglisi told Morsani his plan to bring in actual businesspeople to teach teachers about business and economics, and Morsani immediately agreed to be the first speaker.
After Morsani, Puglisi pursued local Chambers of Commerce, Rotary Clubs, and other people and organizations from the Tampa Bay area, which grew the Center’s reach broadly. Within a couple of years, they had courses scheduled for Tampa Bay area teachers and numerous local businesspeople teaching them. Puglisi believes the value was in the wealth of experiences the instructors offered.
“If you’re going to learn about entrepreneurship, instead of reading it from a book, isn’t it better to have someone like Gus Stavros, a World War II hero and local entrepreneur teaching it? Those teachers would be spellbound to hear the presentations.”
The Center was flourishing, but the beginnings of what would become the Gus A. Stavros Center were somewhat humble, initially located on the sixth floor of the library and then in 1982, they moved to the College of Education building. The turning point for the center was when Puglisi met Gus Stavros, who by then was chairman of the Florida Council on Economic Education, a statewide organization which advocated for economic education and financial literacy. Stavros wanted to come for a visit, and what he saw that day inspired an entirely new era at the Center.
When he walked into the lobby of the building, Stavros thought the entire first floor was occupied by the Center. But when Puglisi led him to the actual offices, it took Stavros by surprise.
“The center was just an area in the back where we had five desks and one office,” Puglisi recalls. “You could see the walls were concrete blocks painted over. He saw three people sitting at their desks and my office the size of a closet with no window. But we were happy to have the space.”
Stavros believed the Center deserved more and donated $150,000 to begin a fund to build a dedicated space, and ground was broken on The Gus A. Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education in 1990. Through Puglisi’s diligent pursual of donations and matching grants from the state and federal governments, they raised the funds to build the first floor, and later the second floor supported by the “Raise the Roof” campaign, which attracted private donors who got naming rights for spaces upstairs, such as the Tom James Conference Room and the Doyle Room.
The new Stavros Center was posh, compared to the former locations, and that is just the way Puglisi wanted it for educators, who often worked under less-than-ideal conditions and sometimes had to reach into their own pockets to create an engaging learning environment for their students. He also provided free VIP parking for all teachers, and a buffet dinner for evening sessions.
“I didn’t want it to be ostentatious, but I wanted this building to communicate dignity and professionalism in teaching,” he said. “This building says to teachers, ‘You are important.’”
Gus A. Stavros Center
Today, The Gus A. Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education still supports thousands of Tampa Bay K–12 educators each year through professional development, curriculum resources, and programs that advance free enterprise, financial literacy and economics education. Throughout its more than 40-year history, the Stavros Center has been recognized for excellence in economic education at the local, state, and national levels and also has the distinction of being awarded the prestigious Leavey Excellence in Private Enterprise Award three times. During its history, more K-12 educators from USF have received state awards in the FCEE Governor’s Awards program than in any other region in the state.
Former USF President and Florida Senator Betty Castor says that was a stalwart in the USF community who connected with faculty, students and the entire community.
“He was always positive and genuine, and one of those people who always meets friends,” Castor said. “That’s why he made so many connections. He wanted to make sure that he did something positive for the community and leave a lasting legacy, and he has surely done that.”
Puglisi retired in 2021 after more than half a century in the College of Education. He says now it’s all about family connections. He feels blessed to spend his time with his wife, children and grandchildren.
“The most important thing in a person’s life are the relationships you build, both personally and professionally,” he said. “If you have good relationships with people, you will accomplish great things.”