A GOVERNOR FOR ALL
LeRoy Collins (1909-1991)
Thomas LeRoy Collins was the 33rd governor of Florida and served from 1955 to 1961. Collins was the first governor from the South to promote ending segregation.
Who We Are
The LeRoy Collins Institute, named in honor of former Florida Governor LeRoy Collins, is a non- partisan, statewide policy organization which studies and promotes creative solutions to key private and public issues facing the people of Florida and the nation. See our By-Laws here: LCI By-Laws
Leadership
The Institute is governed by a distinguished Board of Directors that includes current and former state-elected officials, other policy makers, educators and private citizens from throughout Florida. The Institute is chaired by John Marks, III and the director is Lonna Atkeson.
Lonna Atkeson, Ph.D., Institute Director
John Marks III,
Board Chair
Fellows
Yimeng Li
Kenneth R. Mackie
Braeden McNulty
Eli McKown-Dawson
Austin Cutler
Yimeng Li
Yimeng Li is a postdoctoral researcher at the Leroy Collins Institute and the Institute of Politics at Florida State University. His research focuses on American politics and quantitative methods. His research in election administration includes voting by mail, provisional ballots, voter confidence, and voting technology. He received his M.Sc. with Distinction from the London School of Economics and Political Science and Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology.
Kenneth R. Mackie
Kenneth R. Mackie is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at Florida State University. His research examines how attitudes toward climate change policy influences partisanship and voting behavior. He is also active in a number of other subject areas including elections, education, federalism, public opinion, and race/ethnicity. He received a BA and MBA from Western Washington University, and MS from Florida State University.
Braeden McNulty
Braeden McNulty is a third-year graduate student in the Department of Political Science at Florida State University. His primary research interests examine the origins and behavioral consequences of rural resentment politics. He received a BA from Centre College, an MA from the University of Chicago, and an MS from Florida State University.
Eli McKown-Dawson
Eli McKown-Dawson is an undergraduate political science student. He is also a Fellow with the Institute of Politics at Florida State University and a member of FSU’s Research Intensive Bachelor’s Certificate Program in Political Science.
Austin Cutler
Austin Cutler is a second year PhD student in the Department of Political Science at Florida State University. His research focuses on American political behavior and public opinion. His research interests include affective polarization, race and ethnic politics, candidate selection, and partisanship. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Anthropology from the State University of New York at Geneseo, a Master of Arts in political science from The University of Mississippi, and a Master of Science in political science from Florida State University.
The Caldwell House
The LeRoy Collins Institute is located in the Caldwell House, which is at Florida State’s Law School. The land upon which this house originated was developed as Blackwood Plantation, 800 acres which were purchased in 1828 by Charles Black (1808-1830). Black’s widow Janet Reid Black was the daughter of Florida Governor Robert Raymond Reid, and the family occupied the property until the 1840’s. Sources describe a house on the property to have been built in 1826 by Col. Robert Butler (1786-1860), Florida’s first Surveyor General and friend of Andrew Jackson.