Premiere: 'Memories of Bob Lawton and the History of the Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor Award at FSU'

Florida State University will host a special movie premiere featuring the documentary “Memories of Bob Lawton and the History of the Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor Award at FSU.” The event will take place 3-5 p.m. Wednesday, July 20, at the Student Life Cinema located in the Askew Student Life Center, 942 Learning Way. Parking at the Traditions Garage is recommended for those not already on campus. 

The Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor Award is the highest honor faculty can bestow on a colleague and has been presented annually since the late 1950s. However, many people do not know the full story of who Robert O. Lawton was, how he helped to transform FSU in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, or the tragic circumstances of his death in 1980, which led to the naming of the award in his honor. Now, thanks to the hard work of many folks over the past three years, including Lawton professors who worked with and knew Bob Lawton, plus spectacular help from University Communications, FSU Libraries (GEOSET and the Heritage Archive) and videographer Fred Rabbath of Tallahassee, this important FSU story has been recorded for prosperity. Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor Emeritus James C. Smith, who was hired by Bob Lawton in the 1950s and was a close friend of Lawton’s through the decades, wrote and narrates the story. The resulting 55-minute documentary will be premiered at this event. 

A short trailer about Bob Lawton and the documentary may be found on FSU’s Robert O. Lawton Award website at https://provost.fsu.edu/faculty/awards/robert-lawton by scrolling down the page.

Please RSVP at https://fsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8bNP1RejdtA1eHI. 

For questions, please email Mark Riley mriley@fsu.edu or Jimmy Cole at jcole@admin.fsu.edu.