Mr. Tim Cost

Tim Cost, 64, became President of his undergraduate alma mater, Jacksonville University, on February 1, 2013. Prior to his election, he was Executive Vice President for PepsiCo, the food and beverage world leader with revenues of $60 billion and 300,000 employees. He has 32 years of senior executive experience at many of the world’s top public companies, including Bristol-Myers Squibb, Kodak, ARAMARK, Pharmacia, Wyeth/Pfizer and Centocor/Johnson & Johnson. He was also Chairman of Global Health Care for Washington-based consulting firm, APCO Worldwide. Mr. Cost’s executive leadership experience at multiple FORTUNE 500 companies focused on the worldwide industries of consumer goods, health care and managed services.

During his tenure at JU, President Cost is committed to substantial improvements in student success, faculty excellence, campus upgrades and community connections. Since 2013, the University has added more than 60 new programs in law, health education, engineering, information technology, cyber security, and data/computer sciences. The endowment has increased more than 25%, as has the University’s campus footprint. JU is consistently ranked as a premier institution (top 10%) for students’ return on investment and has been selected one of “America’s Best Colleges” by U. S. News & World Report for the past 15 years. He has led the investment of $100 million into the University’s campus, led a successful $120 million ASPIRE comprehensive development campaign, launched the Florida EPIC program to support STEAM education, regional economic investment and job creation, and spearheaded the University’s historic $175 million “Future.Made” comprehensive campaign.

President Cost, a 1981 Magna Cum Laude Jacksonville University graduate, received his MBA in Finance and Economics from the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester, and is a graduate of Harvard University’s Presidential Leadership Program. As a collegiate athlete and four-year letterman on its baseball team, he is one of the top 10 winningest pitchers in JU Baseball history, and as a freshman in his first NCAA appearance, pitched the only 9-inning no-hitter in Jacksonville University history. He has received the Jacksonville University Distinguished Alumni Award and was selected a “Distinguished Dolphin” in recognition of Jacksonville University’s 75^th Anniversary. He has been inducted into the Florida Council on Economic Education’s Business Hall of Fame, the Jacksonville University Athletics Hall of Fame, has been named “Ultimate CEO” by the Business Journal, one of Florida’s “Most Influential Business Leaders” by Florida Trend, READ USA Leadership Award honoree, and “Guardian of the Arts” Award Recipient by Cathedral Arts. He is past Chair of the Jacksonville Civic Council, past Chair of JAXUSA Partnership (economic development), past Chair of the Education Advisory Board of the Northeast Florida STEM Initiative and past Chair of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Strategic Initiative on Community Outreach.

President Cost serves as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta/Jacksonville and is a member of many civic, cultural, education and business Boards, among them: GuideWell/Florida Blue, Brooks Rehabilitation, Jacksonville Civic Council, Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, Florida Council of 100, JAXUSA, ASUN Presidents Council, and THE PLAYERS Council. He is the former Vice-Chair of Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, and former member of the Boards of Directors of Web.com, SteinMart, the NCAA Division 1 Board, WJCT and JaxSports. He and his wife of 40 years, Stephanie, are the parents of two children, Melanie and Drew.