Harold A. Ward III

BIOGRAPHY

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Harold Anson Ward III became a member of the Rollins College Board of Trustees in 1978. Four years later he was elected chairman, and served four terms in that capacity. Among other positions beneficial to the college, he also participated in a presidential search committee and the Taxwise Giving Committee.

Ward is a Winter Park native who graduated from Winter Park High School. Afterward, he attended the University of Chicago and received both his bachelor's and law degrees. Following his graduation he became a clerk for the Honorable Hugo Black, Supreme Court Justice, and served in the Air Force as an officer to the General Counsel. He later became a member of the law firm of Winderweedle, Haines, Ward & Woodman.  

A very active member of the local community, Ward has served in numerous positions including: member of the board of control for the Winter Park Memorial Hospital Foundation, vice president and director of the Winter Park Library Association, member of the Florida and American Bar Associations, and chairman of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Rollins College in 1986, the Rollins Decoration of Honor in 1998, and the 1999 Outstanding Citizen of the Year award from Winter Park. 

Although Ward is not a Rollins alumnus, his family history is intertwined with the College. His grandparents attended the Rollins Academy in the late 1800s and his grandfather became a trustee. His father and aunts graduated from Rollins, and his son-in-law earned an M.B.A. from the Crummer Graduate School of Business.   

Ward Discusses his Grandfather, Harold A. Ward I

• "...He met Mr. Charles Morse, who was one of the early well-to-do people in Winter Park. And the story as he used to tell it, was that Mr. Morse came in and said that he was interested in some real estate – he wanted to buy some real estate..."
  
  
  
  
  
   

• "...I don’t know how we survived without air-conditioning, but we did; we didn’t have anything like that and it was hot like the Dickens and there were bugs and all of that, but it was a great place to grow up, a small community..."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

• "...I got to spend a good bit of time with him one-on-one and get acquainted.  And he was just a remarkable person that you could feel very comfortable with and that you could learn so much from that, it was an outstanding experience for me..."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• "Well, my first connection with Rollins as a kid, I think was selling the program for the Animated Magazine, which was held out here in Sandspur Bowl before the administration building was there..."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• "All three of these presidents that I’ve worked with–Thad, Rita, and Lewis–are totally different people, different personalities, different interests, different approaches, but all three have such unique qualities in their way of approaching things..."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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Ward Discusses Growing Up in Winter Park

Ward Discusses Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black

Ward Discusses his Early Exposure to Rollins

Ward Discusses the College's Presidents