LeRoy Collins Lifetime Achievement Award - Bob Rhodes
Jacksonville, Fla. — Bob Rhodes is the 2016 recipient of Leadership Florida’s LeRoy Collins Lifetime Achievement Award. This award recognizes an individual who has gone above and beyond by using their leadership abilities over a lifetime to improve the quality of life for Florida’s citizens and its future generations. The award was renamed in 1991 in honor of the late Governor LeRoy Collins. Rhodes was honored at Leadership Florida’s annual conference on June 25 in Orlando.
Rhodes played a key role in in the creation of Florida’s first statewide law regulating large real estate projects, the creation of regional water management districts, and the first program for the systematic public purchase of environmentally sensitive lands. In 1982, Governor Askew brought Rhodes into his administration as Chief of the new Bureau of Land and Water Management. In 1984, he joined the development company Arvida as senior vice president and general counsel. When Arvida was acquired by the Walt Disney Company, Rhodes became senior vice president and general counsel of Disney Development, working on EuroDisney and other major projects.
In Jacksonville, Rhodes has served as chairman of the Downtown Development Authority and the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, as well as a member of the Jacksonville Civic Council and the regional advisory board for the Trust for Public Land.
Even though Bob has spent almost his entire career in the private sector, his devotion to sound government and balanced public policy is a model of the public-spirited private citizen. Three governors have appointed him to lead or serve on blue-ribbon committees charged with important law reform efforts. For more than 40 years, Rhodes has worked on the front lines and behind-the-scenes in the creation of the Florida that we live in today.
Leadership Florida is proud to honor Bob Rhodes with its 2016 LeRoy Collins Lifetime Achievement Award.
For more information, contact Mercy Joy Corlew at mcorlewl@leadershipflorida.org.
About Leadership Florida
For thirty-five years, Leadership Florida has developed a reputation as a builder of a stronger, diverse statewide sense of community. A respected non-partisan convener of committed individuals, Leadership Florida enhances the knowledge and leadership abilities of Florida’s leaders through educational programs and by encouraging collaborative work for the betterment of our state. Leadership Florida provides Floridians essential information and a meaningful forum for their opinions and creates opportunities for shared experiences that are inviting, inspiring and of lasting value. Leadership Florida is a federally registered trademark.