{"id":125566,"date":"2026-01-20T23:25:33","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T23:25:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/125566\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T23:25:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T23:25:33","slug":"roscoe-hightower-famu-faculty-union-president-dies-unexpectedly-family-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/125566\/","title":{"rendered":"Roscoe Hightower, FAMU faculty union president, dies unexpectedly, family says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida A&M University<\/a> faculty union president Roscoe Hightower<\/a> \u2014 remembered for his gregarious personality and fearless leadership \u2014 died unexpectedly, his family said. He was 58.<\/p>\n

Hightower was found dead in his home on Thursday, April 4. His older sister, Cynthia Hightower-Hammett, had spoken to him the day before. She said he sounded \u201cfine and jovial\u201d and that he was preparing a salad for dinner.<\/p>\n

A couple of Hightower\u2019s friends also spoke to him the day before he died, but when they kept calling and texting him later, they were not getting an answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey knew that something was wrong because it wasn\u2019t like him. If he’s not able to answer, he will always call back,\u201d Hightower-Hammett, 61, told the Tallahassee Democrat. \u201cThey thought maybe he had fallen asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FAMU<\/p>\n

FAMU Faculty Union President Roscoe Hightower and his older sister Cynthia Hightower-Hammett.<\/p>\n

She says friends called the Tallahassee Fire Department<\/a>; when they arrived, they all gained entry into Hightower\u2019s house to find him dead due to natural causes, Hightower-Hammett said.<\/p>\n

Hightower, a FAMU marketing professor of over 20 years, was supposed to be teaching that morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very outgoing,\u201d said Hightower-Hammett, a retired science teacher. \u201cI don\u2019t think he ever met a person he did not like, and I don\u2019t think there\u2019s ever been a person who met him and didn\u2019t like him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hightower was a native of Goulds in Miami-Dade County. He left behind two daughters \u2014 18-year-old Jane and 20-year-old Asia.<\/p>\n

\"FAMU<\/p>\n

FAMU Faculty Union President Roscoe Hightower and his two daughters, 18-year-old Jane and 20-year-old Asia.<\/p>\n

He was a two-time FAMU alumnus with a bachelor\u2019s degree in 1988 and a master\u2019s degree in 1989, both in business administration. He also earned a doctoral degree from Florida State University<\/a> in services marketing in 1997.<\/p>\n

Before Hightower started teaching at FAMU in 2000, he taught marketing as an assistant professor at The University of Akron in Ohio for three years.<\/p>\n

Throughout Hightower\u2019s time at FAMU, he was the Centennial Eminent Scholar, president of the United Faculty of Florida (UFF) FAMU Chapter for six years and founder of the FAMU School of Business & Industry\u2019s<\/a> Facilities Management degree program.<\/p>\n

In addition, Hightower served as a board member on the Facility Management Accreditation Commission<\/a> and was a U.S. ambassador of the European Facilities Management Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hightower was also a member of the Upsilon Psi chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.<\/p>\n

\"FAMU<\/p>\n

FAMU Faculty Union President Roscoe Hightower, his older sister Cynthia Hightower-Hammett, and his niece Emily in 1998.<\/p>\n

Hightower ‘sorely missed’ by FAMU community<\/p>\n

For FAMU School of Business & Industry Dean Shawnta Friday-Stroud<\/a>, who also serves as vice president for University Advancement, Hightower was more than just a colleague.<\/p>\n

\"Shawnta<\/p>\n

Shawnta Friday-Stroud, vice president for university advancement, executive director of the FAMU Foundation and dean of the School of Business and Industry at Florida A&M University.<\/p>\n

Friday-Stroud and Hightower grew up about 10 minutes away from each other and attended the same high school \u2014 Miami Southridge Senior High School \u2014 before heading to FAMU for college, with Hightower being one year ahead of her.<\/p>\n

She says he was \u201clike a big brother and mentor\u201d to her: \u201cHe was a dedicated and fearless leader, a colleague and a friend that I knew for over 40 years,\u201d Friday-Stroud said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was committed to excellence in everything he did, and he expected the same from others around him. He was a staple in SBI and in FAMU’s community, and he will be sorely missed.\u201d<\/p>\n

FAMU Associate Professor Daaim Shabazz teaches in the School of Business and Industry and says the day prior to Hightower\u2019s passing, the two of them traded jokes about the respective challenges they were facing that day to lighten the mood.<\/p>\n

\"FAMU<\/p>\n

FAMU Professor Daaim Shabazz.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a hard worker and he was a visionary with a lot of ideas,\u201d Shabazz said. \u201cMost of all, he was an advocate and he deeply loved his alma mater.\u201d<\/p>\n

As one of the senators who represented the School of Business and Industry in FAMU\u2019s Faculty Senate, Hightower worked closely with the university\u2019s current Faculty Senate President Jamal Brown<\/a>, who says that Hightower was a \u201cfierce and courageous\u201d leader.<\/p>\n

\"Jamal<\/p>\n

Jamal Brown is a Florida A&M University College of Pharmacy professor and is also a FAMU alumnus.<\/p>\n

Brown explained how Hightower was on foot a few days ago, going door to door in the different buildings on FAMU\u2019s campus to speak with professors in efforts of recruiting them to be a part of the faculty union.<\/p>\n

\u201cHightower had courage, and he stayed in the business of trying to make sure that the faculty members of the university were represented well and that they were always taken care of in the best way,\u201d said Brown, a FAMU pharmacy professor.<\/p>\n

Honoring Hightower in Tallahassee<\/p>\n

The Faculty Senate will be paying homage to Hightower during a previously scheduled Faculty Day event Friday at the University Activity Center on campus, also known as the FAMU Clubhouse.<\/p>\n

The university\u2019s School of Business and Industry will have a wake to celebrate Hightower\u2019s life in the next few weeks, according to Friday-Stroud.<\/p>\n

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 13, at the Old West Enrichment Center, 2344 Lake Bradford Road, Tallahassee.<\/p>\n

Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com<\/a> or follow her on X: @tarahjean_<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Roscoe Hightower, FAMU faculty union president, dies unexpectedly<\/a><\/p>\n