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City of Jacksonville

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Lex Hester Memorial Scholarship Review Committee
The Lex Hester Memorial Scholarship Review Committee was created by Ordinance 2002-67-E, Executive Order 2018-03, and and Executive Order 2024-01, in memory of former City of Jacksonville Chief Administrative Officer, Lewis Alexander (Lex) Hester. As one of the key architects of Consolidation, the unique governmental structure that Lex Hester designed remains the largest consolidation project in the United States and continues to serve as a blueprint for communities across the nation and world. Following Consolidation in 1968, Lex Hester served the City of Jacksonville as its Chief Administrative Officer until 1975 and then again from 1991 until his death in 2000. He not only shaped Jacksonville's government, but he became recognized throughout the state as one of Florida's premier experts on governmental efficiency and was responsible for designing and carrying out critical initiatives that have defined Florida's cities.

The committee is charged with disbursing funds from the interest earned on the trust fund account to deserving and qualified University of North Florida students seeking careers in public administration. The Lex Hester Memorial Scholarship for Public Administration is a competitive award to an outstanding student in the University of North Florida MPA program. The scholarship is posted at https://www.unf.edu/coas/pspa/mpa/hester-coj.html.
 

Scholarship Application Process

To be eligible for the scholarship, all applicants must complete the online form, including an essay responses to the provided questions, a letter of recommendation, and submission of essay on the life of former City of Jacksonville Chief Administrative Officer, Lewis Alexander (Lex) Hester add including his contributions to public administration and how his values impacted his work and how his vision of consolidating government was important both in the past and continues to be so into the future. All submissions will be evaluated by the Lex Hester Memorial Scholarship Review Committee, who will provide award recommendations to the Mayor. The scholarship must be used for tuition and fee expenses only for the Master of Public Administration Program at the University of North Florida. There will be no reimbursement of residual funds.

Requirements

The following criteria shall be used in evaluating candidates for Scholarship awards (Executive Order No. 2018-03):
  • Submission of a complete and timely application from applicants seeking an award.
  • Current residence in Duval County.
  • Acceptance into, or current enrollment in, the Master of Public Administration Program at the University of North Florida.
  • A 3.0 GPA or higher as an undergraduate student or as a current graduate student. New students provide undergraduate GPA, and current students provide graduate GPA.
  • Official sealed transcript
  • Submission of responses (in essay form) to written questions, including: Why the course of study was chosen; why public service is important; why public administration studies are important; why the Scholarship is important.
  • Submission of essay on the life of former City of Jacksonville Chief Administrative Officer, Lewis Alexander (Lex) Hester including his overall contributions to public administration,  how his values impacted his work and how his vision of consolidating government was important both in the past and continues to be so into the future. 

Scholarship Application

Applications will be accepted starting March 17, 2025 through April 11, 2025.

Committee Members

  • Todd Norman, Chief of Employee and Labor Relations, Employee Services Department, City of Jacksonville, chair
  • Kara Tucker, Chief of Disabled Services, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department, City of Jacksonville, vice chair
  • Tracey Hester Flynn, Hester family member
  • Frederick Sumter, Construction Project Manager, Public Works Department, City of Jacksonville
  • Erin Abney, Chief of Current Planning, Planning and Development Department, City of Jacksonville
  • Chuck Gibson, Building Inspections Manager, Planning and Development Department, City of Jacksonville
  • Dr. Georgette Dumont, MPA Director, Public Administration Program, University of North Florida
Committee Staff: Rebecca Javurek, (904)255-5582, rjavurek@coj.net

Committee Member Contact Information

Meeting Minutes

Meeting Date

Documents
February 25, 2025 Meeting Agenda 2-25-25; Meeting Minutes 2-25-25