Peter S. Rummell

LAKELAND, Fla. (Dec. 9, 2010) Florida Southern College announced today that Peter S. Rummell, an international leader in the development of top hospitality and entertainment operations worldwide, will deliver the winter FSC commencement address at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 18, in Branscomb Auditorium.

We know that Mr. Rummell, whose distinguished career is highlighted by some of the most exciting real estate development in the United States and global marketplace, will share keen insights with our graduates on making their mark in the world, said Dr. Anne Kerr, president of Florida Southern College.

Rummell began his real estate career in 1971 with the Sea Pines Company, developers of Hilton Head Island, S.C. and Amelia Island in Florida. 

In 1977 he became general manager of Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach for the Arvida Corporation; in 1983, vice chairman of the Rockefeller Center Management Corporation in New York; and in 1985, president of the Disney Development Company.

The Disney Development Company was responsible for The Walt Disney Companys non-theme park land, including hotel and related development at the companys theme parks in Orlando, Anaheim, Paris and Tokyo.  During Rummells 12-year tenure as president, Disney developed over 20,000 hotel rooms in addition to the new town of Celebration, Fla. Upon the merging of the Disney Development Company and Walt Disney Imagineering (the companys design and creative division for theme park development), Rummell became chairman of the combined group.

In 1997, he left Walt Disney Imagineering to become chairman and chief executive officer of The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE), from which he retired in 2008. Later that year, he became chief executive officer of the Nicklaus Companies, founded by golf legend Jack Nicklaus, responsible for golf-course design, the development of golf and real estate communities, and the marketing and licensing of golf products and services. Rummell retired again in 2009.

Today, Rummell is on the board of AvalonBay Communities, the largest publicly traded apartment REIT in the U.S, and  The Haskell Company, a privately held design-build organization headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., with business interests spanning the western hemisphere. He also serves on the Advisory Board of Teach for America (Jacksonville Chapter), as a  trustee and executive committee member of the Urban Land Institute, and was co-chairman of the Jacksonville Super Bowl Host Committee, which hosted Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005.  Rummell holds a bachelors degree in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master of business administration degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He resides with his family in Jacksonville.