| George Langford |
Full Name: George Robertson Langford
Born: October 13, 1923, Thomasville, Ga.
Died: January 3, 2019, Tallahassee, Fla.
Legacy Bricks: Legacy Walk Map Link
1985 Moore-Stone Award HOF - Loc 63
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| FSU Career |
| Moore-Stone Award | |
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| Member of the FSU Hall of Fame |
| Elected into the FSU Hall of Fame in 1985 |
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The Florida State University Athletic Department presents the Moore-Stone Award for Outstanding Service to Florida State Athletics to George Langford. This attorney, businessman and civic leader
has served two terms as president of the Seminole Boosters. His projects have run from major stadium improvements to books on Seminole football. George Langford has generously devoted his drive,
organizational ability and great enthusiasm to the improvement of Florida State athletics. Obituary for George Robertson Langford From the Tallahassee Democrat, January 5, 2019, page A1. Longtime FSU Supporter George Langford has died at 95. George Langford, the "father of the Seminole Boosters" who helped save the Florida State University program in the 1970s and unceasingly supported FSU for five decades, died at his home Thursday night. He was 95. He had been in declining health for years, his oldest son Lawton Langford said. "His family was not with him at the moment of death, but we had a chance to be with him during the day," said Langford, chairman and CEO of Municorp., the publishing company founded by his father in 1951. "We had a long goodbye. There was nothing that needed to be said or hadn't been thought of." Born Oct. 13, 1923, in Thomasville, Ga., George Robertson Langford was the youngest of four, all of whom died before him. After graduating from Thomasville High, Langford served under Gen. George S. Patton in World War II from 1942 to 1945. After he was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army, Langford attended the University of Virginia, graduating in 1950 with a bachelor's and a law degree. He began Municipal Code Corporation in 1951 and married Marian Corbin Lawton in 1954. Together they built Municode into the largest codifier of municipal codes in the U.S., with more than 2,000 clients. Langford was named Florida Entrepreneur of the Year in 1989 and inducted into the Institute of American Entrepreneurs. Lawton Langford described his father as both a creator and savior. He co-founded Springtime Tallahassee and served as its second Andrew Jackson after Pete Rich. He was instrumental in starting Leadership Tallahassee and raising money to save the Monticello Opera House. He turned around Tall Timbers and made it what it is today. "He was a consummate fundraiser who would excite people and get them to join in on his cause," Lawton Langford said. Some other beneficiaries of his fundraising prowess include the Maclay School, the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce, the United Way, St. John's Episcopal Church and St. Peter's Anglican Church. Most of all, Langford was an avid supporter of FSU, even though he was the only member of his family to not attend FSU. He was a founding member of the Seminole Boosters Board of Directors in the 1970s, served six terms as the FSU Foundation chair and is one of only two people given lifetime membership on the FSU Foundation Board of Trustees. He co-chaired FSU's first capital campaign and is credited with founding the Golden Chiefs. "George earned admiration and respect not only for the countless ways he served FSU but also for his integrity and great love for this institution," FSU President John Thrasher said. "He has passed on that love to his family, and they also are very active with Florida State." Langford received the Alumni Association's highest honor, the Bernard Sliger Award, and the Circle of Gold. He also received the Athletics Hall of Fame Moore-Stone Award, and Honorary Doctor of Letters, and the FSU faculty's Torch Award. FSU Vice President for Advancement Tom Jennings said, "It is difficult to overstate his positive influence on so many aspects of FSU's athletic and academic programs." Administrators and alumni turned to Langford during one of the university's darkest hours - when the football team won a total of three games in three seasons during the 1970s. "Our program was in dire straits," said Andy Miller, who was 24 when Langford hired him in 1975 as executive director of the Seminole Boosters. "We had no money at all." The athletic department was $600,000 in the red and had no prospects of raising more. The FSU President Stan Marshall threatened to shut down the department if money wasn't raised to clear the debt. Everyone around the table agreed the Langford was the person who could help, Miller said. "He was the guy that really took on the challenge, meeting people and holding meetings. We pulled it out of the dump." Langford fell back on his fundraising skills and raised the money needed to keep the program alive. And he was influential in hiring a new coach named Bobby Bowden. Langford became a mentor to Miller, imparting his business leadership and fundraising skills on him. "He taught me all the valuable information about business and relationships and dealing with people," Miller said. In recognition of Langford's support and achievements, the Boosters created the George Langford Award to recognize who made a huge commitment to FSU. "I can't say enough about him," Miller said. "He had way more impact on the university than anyone I know." Langford was recognized for his unwavering commitment and dedication to FSU in 2000 when the Boosters named a grassy area outside Doak Campbell Stadium after him. The Langford Green underwent a massive renovation in 2017 after being used for years by fans, vendors, and ESPN's College GameDay hosts for years. The field even played host to country music star Brad Paisley. Langford was one of the first patrons to give $1 million to FSU. The family made an endowed gift of $600,000 to the College of Law at the request of then-dean Sandy D'Alemberte to create an endowed chair in municipal corporations, Lawton Langford said. The gift was match by $400,000 from the Florida Legislature. But the college never hired an endowed professor in municipal corporations, so his father called D'Alemberte, who by that time was president of the university to talk about moving the endowment to another department. "Dad asked what department had never received a gift and it turned out to be the classics department," Lawton Langford said. "Can you imagine being the department head and getting a phone call about receiving a $1 million gift?" Langford is survived by two sons, Lawton Langford and George Robertson Langford Jr., their wives and five grandchildren. The family asks that donations be sent to St. Peter's Church or the Seminole Boosters. Funeral arrangements are not yet confirmed. |
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