STEPHEN R. WISE, ED.D.
FLORIDA STATE SENATOR, DISTRICT 5
A native of Canton, Ohio, Stephen R. Wise moved to Melbourne, Florida upon graduation from high school. He obtained his Bachelor’s Degree from Florida Southern College in 1963, his Masters’ degree from Middle Tennessee State University in 1968, and his Doctorate from the University of Alabama in 1970.
Dr. Wise is retired after 30 years with the State’s educational system. He worked for 23 years at Florida Community College at Jacksonville and is credited with coordinating the development of more than 1,500 projects that generated approximately $60 million in external funding to the college. In his last assignment with FCCJ, he was Vice President of College Development.
On April 5, 1988, Dr. Wise was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in a district where a Republican had never won (he received 60% of the votes). Even prior to his election to the Florida House of Representatives, Dr. Wise contributed to a substantial amount of legislation on a variety of issues, including military high tech training, employment for disabled persons, child care, and community college education.
In 1996 the Republicans gained control of the Florida House of Representatives for the first time in 126 years. Dr. Wise was appointed by the Speaker to Chair the Academic Excellence Council that presided over the Educational Innovation, Education K-12, Community Colleges and Career Preparation, and Colleges and Universities Committees. In the 1999 and 2000 Sessions the Speaker selected Dr. Wise to Chair the Education Appropriations Committee that had jurisdiction over a $15.4 billion dollar budget.
On August 14, 2001 Dr. Wise was elected to the Florida Senate to serve the remaining year in Senator Horne’s term. Dr. Wise obtained 68.8% of the vote in a three person primary and avoided a potential secondary primary election. He now serves on the following committees: Criminal Justice Committee, Chair; Domestic Security Committee; Education Committee, Education Appropriations Committee; Regulated Industries, and the Legislative Auditing Joint Committee. Dr. Wise was recently appointed to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Standing Committee on Legislative Effectiveness & State Government, and the Education Commission of the States (ECS).
Dr. Wise and his wife, Kathryn, celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary in August, 2006. They have two daughters and four grandchildren. Kelly is married and lives in Largo with her husband and two children, and Tara is married and lives in MacCleney with her husband and two children.