Tony Waldrop

He held several university leadership positions prior to serving as the President of the University of South Alabama. From 2001 until becoming provost and executive vice president at the University of Central Florida in 2010, he served as vice chancellor for research and economic development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to that he was vice chancellor for research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Waldrop was a six-time All American while at the University of North Carolina. He set the world indoor record (3:55.0) in the mile in 1974. He was the NCAA indoor 1,000 yard champion in 1973 and the NCAA indoor mile champion in 1974. He also won a gold medal at the 1975 Pan American Games in the men's 1500 meters and ran the mile in 3:53.2 for a win at the Penn relays in 1974. The cover of the May 1974 issue of Track and Field News shows him winning this race. He also was the first man ever to break the 4-minute mile in the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games in 1974 (3:59:7.)

Waldrop did his undergraduate education at the University of North Carolina and graduated in 1974 with a degree in political science. After retiring from running he entered graduate school at UNC-Chapel Hill and earned a Ph.D. in physiology.

Tony Waldrop (born December 29, 1951) is an American professor, academic administrator and former athlete, who was selected on Feb. 6, 2014, as the third president of the University of South Alabama.