All-Time Most Influential Thaddeus Seymour Former President, Rollins College (1928–2019) The death of a 91-year-old man is never truly a surprise. So when word came in October 2020 that Thaddeus Seymour, 12th president of Rollins College and arguably the most beloved citizen of Winter Park, had passed away following a year of precarious health, the reaction was grief tempered by gratitude for a life well lived. The towering Seymour and his wife, Polly, came to Rollins from Indiana’s Wabash College. (Prior to that, he had been an English professor and later a dean at Dartmouth College.) An ebullient intellectual who also enjoyed performing magic tricks, the unconventional Seymour was a perfect fit for the college and for locals who appreciated his humor and lack of pretension. But Seymour was more than an entertaining raconteur. During his presidency, which lasted from 1978 to 1990, he led the college’s centennial celebration, raised funds to construct the Olin Library and the Cornell Social Science Building and reinstated Fox Day (a random spring holiday heralded by the appearance of a small fox statue on Mills Lawn). In his so-called retirement, “Citizen Thad” volunteered at the Winter Park Library’s New Leaf bookstore—which was founded by Polly, herself a past Influential who passed away in 2024—and co-chaired Preservation Capen, the volunteer group that raised funds to save the historic Capen House (now an events space at the Polasek Museum & Culture Gardens) from demolition. But for Seymour, dozens of less showy homes built by Habitat for Humanity of Winter Park-Maitland were even more important. Seymour co-founded the worldwide nonprofit’s local chapter in 1993 with developer Hal George (yet another past Influential). In 1997, the Seymours were named Citizens of the Year by the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce. And the college, appropriately, still celebrates Thaddeus & Polly Seymour Acts of Kindness Day. #winterparkmagazine #winterparkfl #rollinscollege #mostinfluential