Marshall McAllister Criser, Jr. (born September 4, 1928) is an American corporate lawyer and former university administrator. Criser is a native of New Jersey, and earned his bachelor's and law degrees before becoming a practicing attorney. He was the eighth president of the University of Florida, serving from 1984 to 1989. Early life and education Criser was born in Rumson, New Jersey, the only child of a meat-cutter and grocer, Marshall Criser, Sr., and his wife, Louise Johnson. In 1941, his father sold his little grocery store and moved his family to West Palm Beach, Florida. After graduating from Palm Beach High School in Palm Beach in June 1946, Criser attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. He earned his way through his undergraduate studies as a construction worker and cafeteria cashier, while remaining an active member of various extracurricular organizations. Criser was president of Sigma Nu Fraternity (Epsilon Zeta chapter), student government, and the Florida Blue Key leadership honorary society, in addition to being a senior officer in the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), the business manager of the Seminole yearbook, and homecoming chairman. He was also inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame. Criser graduated from the university's College of Business Administration with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1949, and from its College of Law with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1951. After graduation from law school, he was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army and served two years of active duty before entering the private practice of law in Palm Beach County, Florida. Lawyer, regent, university president Criser was a partner in the law firm of Gunster, Yoakley, Criser & Stewart in West Palm Beach, Florida for thirty-one years. He served as a member of the board of governors of The Florida Bar from 1960 to 1969 and as its president from 1968 to 1969, and was also a member of the American Bar Association House of delegates. He was two-term member of the Board of Regents of the State University System of Florida from 1971 to 1981, having been appointed by Governor Reubin Askew, and served as the chairman of the Board of Regents from 1974 to 1977. As chairman, Criser led the search committee that selected Robert Q. Marston as the new University of Florida president in 1974. The Florida Board of Regents selected Criser to be