John Elmer Champion

John E. Champion (May 11, 1922 – November 22, 2002) was an American accountant, professor, administrator and college president.

Early life and education Born in Chipley, Georgia, (now Pine Mountain) Champion was raised in rural Georgia. His father Jessie owned a meat market before managing a building supply business. John was the younger of two brothers. He earned his BBA at the University of Georgia in 1942 before serving in World War II. After the war, he returned to Athens for an MBA with a focus on accountancy. After graduation in 1949, he spent time as an accounting assistant at the University of Indiana at Bloomington while earning his Certified Public Accountant certificate. Champion returned to the University of Georgia as an associate professor of accounting before starting work on his doctorate in accounting and economics at the University of Michigan. Mary Lanier had graduated from college and intended to join her family's business but took time to visit an Aunt and Uncle in Ann Arbor, Michigan where she met John Champion. The pair married in June 1955.

Accomplishments FSU's academic/facility milestones under President Champion:

The National Science Foundation named FSU one of 30 Centers of Excellence On January 25, 1968, an editorial was suppressed in the Florida Flambeau. Boyles considered it "libelous per se".

That decision shocked many students and faculty who considered it "suppression of artistic expression". However, a prominent legislator, Mallory Horne took an opposing view: "The whole thing makes me goddamn mad. If I used language like that they'd throw my ass in the poky." Three days later, student support convinced him to rescind it, but he resigned the presidency again in February 1969. He decided not to leave FSU, so he returned to teaching in the College of Business as a professor.

Personal Soon after moving to Tallahassee, the Champions began a family, welcoming Sally Lanier in 1956 and John Jr two years later. John's wife Mary was an Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) graduate in home economics. She was born and raised in West Point, Georgia and according to her FSU biography was a "Southern lady" who "brought grace and elegance to Florida State University".

John died in 2002, and Mary stayed active in FSU activities for 12 years before moving to North Carolina to be close to children and grandchildren. She died in 2018.