J. Griffen Greene

J. Griffen Greene (1910–1987) was an American educator.

Biography Early life and family Greene was born in 1910 in Montezuma, Georgia. Greene was the first President of Daytona State College.

Career During his career, Griffen served as a principal Lincoln Academy High School at Fort Pierce, Florida.

In 1958, Greene was appointed president of Volusia County Junior College, one of 12 public junior colleges established in Florida for African-Americans, majority of which were established between 1957 and 1962 under the initiative started by Governor LeRoy Collins. Greene later became an English and education professor at Bethune-Cookman College, working between 1973 and 1976.

History Greene’s grandfather, Amos Greene, was a slave in Greene County, GA on a plantation owned by Lemuel Daniel Greene, Sr., a descendant of Thomas “The Seagull” Green, Sr. who emigrated aboard the ship Speedwell and settled near the city of Petersburg, VA.

Awards and recognition In 2001, Greene was recognized by Governor LeRoy Collins as a “Great Floridian” as a part of the Governor’s Great Floridians 2000 program administered by the Florida Department of State.

In 2021, Daytona State College formally re-dedicated the J. Griffen Greene Center on the Daytona Beach Campus. The ceremony took place outside in front of the building bearing his name. The event included the unveiling of a new timeline mural that will be permanently displayed inside the Greene Center, highlighting his legacy