|
This auditorium is named for Lansing
Gleason and his family. Lansing Gleason was the grandson of William
Gleason who served as Florida's Lt. Governor during Reconstruction
at the end of the Civil War. William Gleason convinced the state
legislature to use the newly passed (1862) land grant college act
to found an agricultural and technological university in what was
Eau Gallie, now part of Melbourne. Although this early initiative
failed, Lansing Gleason shared his grandfather's dream that there
should be a university here. He donated the money for this auditorium
as one of his many gifts to the university. William Gleason's great-great
grandson is currently completing his Ph.D. at Florida Tech. |
