Bob Graham receives posthumous governor’s Medal of Freedom
Gov. Ron DeSantis has posthumously awarded Florida’s highest civilian distinction, the Medal of Freedom, to former Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham (1936-2024). This recognition celebrates Graham’s extraordinary lifetime of public service, his commitment to civic leadership and his enduring legacy through the Bob Graham Center for Public Service, housed within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida.
“This award honors Senator Graham’s extraordinary service to Florida and the nation, but it also points to the future,” said the center’s Interim Director Marianne Vernetson. “His vision was not only to lead in his own time but to educate and empower young people to lead in theirs. That is the mission of the Bob Graham Center — to equip students with the knowledge and skills to strengthen our democracy and improve the communities they serve.”
Born on Nov. 9, 1936, in Coral Gables, Florida, Graham graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UF in 1959. He eHeserved as Florida’s 38th governor from 1979 to 1987 and as a U.S. senator from 1987 to 2005 and was widely respected for his work on education, environmental conservation and national security. Graham chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee and co-chaired the congressional inquiry into the 9/11 attacks, and in 2010 he was appointed by President Barack Obama to chair the commission investigating the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
After retiring from the Senate, he and his wife, Adele, founded the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at UF to continue his lifelong commitment to civic education and public policy. The center bridges academics with real-world public service through signature programs in leadership development, policy innovation and community dialogue. Embodying Graham’s commitment to ethics and community engagement, the center nurtures the next generation of public servants and civic-minded professionals.
The center will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2026.
The Medal of Freedom was established in 2020 and allows the governor to recognize any person who has made an especially meritorious contribution to the interests and citizens of the state, its culture or other significant public or private endeavor.