Randy Hanna, EdD

Dean

• FSU Panama City
• College of Applied Studies

Randy Hanna has served as the dean and chief executive officer of Florida State University Panama City since 2016. He previously served as Chancellor of the Florida College System and a member of the board of trustees of Florida A&M University, the University of West Florida and Tallahassee Community College. He also served as a member and chairman of the Florida State Board of Community Colleges.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his Doctorate of Education, Dr. Hanna earned a Juris Doctorate with High Honors from Florida State University. He received a MBA from Goizueta Business School at Emory University and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Florida. He was recognized for his outstanding service with the receipt of the Grad Made Good Award from FSU in 2014.

In addition to serving as dean of FSUPC, Dr. Hanna serves as the Dean of the College of Applied Studies for FSU.

He is known for his connection to the community and the students and is constantly focused on developing programs to meet the needs of the community, the region and the state. Under his administration, the university has created five new degree programs at FSUPC: bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering, hospitality management and commercial entrepreneurship and master’s degrees in systems engineering and law enforcement intelligence.

As Chancellor of the Florida College System, he led the system’s legislative efforts in conjunction with the council of presidents, successfully pushed for the expansion of workforce programs and led the system-wide efforts of enhanced focus on graduation and retention rates.

He has taught graduate classes at the FSU College of Education and College of Law and has taught at Tallahassee Community College. 

A leader of a successful multi-state law firm, Bryant Miller Olive P.A., he served as chairman of the Florida Board of Bar Examiners and the Federal Judicial Nominating Commission for the Northern District of Florida. He was also a recipient of the Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award.

Randy and his wife, Jerri, live in Panama City, Florida. They have two adult children, Curtis and Grace Ellen.