{"id":242514,"date":"2026-04-22T23:20:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T23:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/242514\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T23:20:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T23:20:30","slug":"red-hat-day-honors-celebrates-fsus-wertheim-college-namesake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/242514\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Hat Day honors, celebrates FSU\u2019s Wertheim College namesake"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida State University\u2019s Herbert Wertheim College of Business<\/a> set aside Thursday, April 16 to tip a red hat \u2013 or hundreds of red hats \u2013 to the college\u2019s biggest benefactor.<\/p>\n

The college\u2019s inaugural Red Hat Day featured\u00a0students, faculty, staff,\u00a0alumni and university officials who\u00a0gathered, topped in\u00a0red,\u00a0in\u00a0honor and celebration of\u00a0Dr. Herbert Wertheim,\u00a0whose\u00a0record\u00a0philanthropic investment launched a new era of preeminence in the college and whose\u00a0ever-present\u00a0red fedora\u00a0has emerged as a\u00a0collegewide\u00a0symbol of\u00a0distinction\u00a0and optimism.<\/p>\n

\u201cWear your red hat with joy,\u201d\u00a0Dr. Wertheim said during an afternoon ceremony\u00a0inside the Herbert Wertheim Center for Business Excellence.<\/p>\n

Dr.\u00a0Wertheim\u2019s\u00a0recent\u00a0$65 million commitment \u2013\u00a0the largest\u00a0endowment\u00a0in FSU\u2019s\u00a0history\u00a0and\u00a0the second-largest gift the university has ever received\u00a0<\/a>\u2013 named the college and its new state-of-the-art-facility, the Herbert Wertheim Center for Business Excellence<\/a>. The investment also includes funds that, for starters, expand scholarships, enhance professional development, enrich faculty development and embrace emerging academic trends.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe speakers for Red Hat Day included, from left, Wertheim College Dean Michael D. Hartline, Dr. Herbert Wertheim, student Jaclyn Madson and FSU President Richard McCullough. (Photo by Kallen M. Lunt) <\/p>\n

Red Hat Day\u00a0fittingly\u00a0focused on students, giving many a\u00a0first\u00a0opportunity to greet the\u00a0munificent\u00a0man in the red hat.\u00a0The event included\u00a0lunch from 4 Rivers Smokehouse;\u00a0a \u201cHang with Herbie\u201d networking event;\u00a0multiple food trucks;\u00a0and speeches by\u00a0FSU President Richard\u00a0McCullough, Wertheim College Dean\u00a0Michael D.\u00a0Hartline\u00a0and\u00a0Dr. Wertheim himself.<\/p>\n

Student leaders\u00a0passed out red hats\u00a0emblazoned with the\u00a0college\u2019s new\u00a0branding\u00a0and offered various other Wertheim College\u00a0swag\u00a0to all who attended.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wear\u00a0this red hat proudly. Don\u2019t you?\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0emcee\u00a0Jaclyn Madson, a Wertheim College\u00a0honors student who will graduate in May.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019ll forever keep,\u00a0and\u00a0maybe even\u00a0sometimes wear, these red hats, which symbolize global excellence at the Herbert Wertheim College of Business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hartline\u00a0said the red\u00a0hats\u00a0\u201cillustrate our connection, our enthusiasm and our unified pursuit of excellence and greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u00a0added: \u201cWe\u2019re here to celebrate you, our\u00a0students and\u00a0faculty and staff.\u00a0We\u2019re\u00a0also here to celebrate Dr. Wertheim and his vision and generosity for investing so much in us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr. Herbert Wertheim greets a student during Red Hat Day. (Photo by Kallen M. Lunt)Dr. Herbert Wertheim responds to a “hats off” gesture from Wertheim College Dean Michael D. Hartline, student Jaclyn Madson and FSU President Richard McCullough. (Photo by Kallen M. Lunt)<\/p>\n

Dr. Wertheim\u00a0told attendees to\u00a0\u201cthink about the red hat as something that gives you energy, and gives you truth, and gives you creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Wertheim,\u00a0an inventor,\u00a0investor\u00a0and philanthropist who lives in Palm Beach,\u00a0said\u00a0he became attached to\u00a0his headwear\u00a0almost two decades ago\u00a0when he\u00a0returned\u00a0to South Florida\u00a0from a trip to Ecuador wearing a red hat.\u00a0He was teaching a\u00a0medical school class at the time, and\u00a0virtually\u00a0every\u00a0student and colleague\u00a0he\u00a0encountered\u00a0told him how good the hat looked\u00a0on\u00a0him. He finally declared, jokingly,\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m never taking it off!\u201d<\/p>\n

McCullough said the\u00a0red\u00a0hats make a \u201cbold statement\u201d\u00a0and\u00a0reflect the story of Dr. Wertheim,\u00a0a self-made billionaire\u00a0who\u00a0overcame a modest upbringing and academic challenges, became\u00a0a Doctor of\u00a0Optometry\u00a0and launched\u00a0Brain Power Incorporated,\u00a0the world\u2019s largest manufacturer of ophthalmic instruments and chemicals.\u00a0Dr. Wertheim\u00a0also holds\u00a0numerous\u00a0patents\u00a0and\u00a0invented a coating for eyeglass lenses that filter and absorb dangerous ultraviolet rays.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has lived the American dream,\u201d McCullough said\u00a0of Dr. Wertheim, \u201cand he\u2019s\u00a0an amazing philanthropist, giving back to public universities and so many causes that change people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr. Herbert Wertheim, seen here with FSU President Richard McCullough, proudly displays the diploma replica he received, awarded from the FSU Herbert Wertheim College of Business to “The Red Hat.” (Photo by Kallen M. Lunt)Students, faculty, staff, alumni and university officials observe the Red Hat Day ceremony in the atrium of the Herbert Wertheim Center for Business Excellence. (Photo by Kallen M. Lunt)<\/p>\n

McCullough\u00a0presented\u00a0Dr.\u00a0Wertheim\u00a0with a\u00a0framed\u00a0example\u00a0of\u00a0an updated\u00a0FSU business diploma,\u00a0now\u00a0reflecting the\u00a0Herbert Wertheim College of Business.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that it will be a reminder to all of our students\u00a0of\u00a0how you shape Florida State University\u00a0and our lives,\u201d McCullough said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the luckiest guy in the world,\u201d\u00a0Dr. Wertheim\u00a0said, standing between McCullough and Hartline\u00a0at the podium. \u201cI\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0be here if it\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0for these two\u00a0and\u00a0the perseverance\u00a0they\u2019ve\u00a0had.\u00a0It has been six years since I first came here and said, \u2018We need to do something about health care.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Wertheim\u2019s investment includes funding for the Wertheim Business of Healthcare Initiative, which will prepare Wertheim College students for impactful careers in the healthcare workforce. The initiative aligns with FSU Health<\/a>, a university-wide enterprise to transform health\u00a0care in Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur system is broken,\u201d Wertheim said about health care, \u201cand only businesspeople can fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dr.Dr. Herbert Wertheim enjoys a fun photographic moment with students during Red Hat Day. (Photo by Kallen M. Lunt)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida State University\u2019s Herbert Wertheim College of Business set aside Thursday, April 16 to tip a red hat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[49700,49703,76851,232,234,233],"class_list":["post-242514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-college-of-business","tag-herbert-wertheim-center-for-business-excellence","tag-herbert-wertheim-college-of-business","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}