While the official Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University website does not name a founder, it does give the following info:

1. "Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University was founded as the State Normal College for Colored Students, and on October 3, 1887, it began classes with fifteen students and two instructors."
2. Representative Thomas Van Renssaler Gibbs "was successful in orchestrating the passage of House Bill 133, in 1884, which established a white normal school in Gainesville, FL, and a colored school in Jacksonville. The bill passed, creating both institutions."
3. However, Thomas DeSaille Tucker (an attorney from Pensacola) was the first President of FAMU while Gibbs was the second faculty member.

Source(s):
http://www.famu.edu/index.cfm?AboutFAMU&History


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