Mike Pate

Mike Pate earned his degree in business administration from FSU College of Business in 1968, where he was a member of the Marching Chiefs and the honor societies Kappa Kappa Psi (band) and Alpha Delta Sigma (advertising).
He enjoyed a 37-year career in the newspaper industry, beginning at the Tallahassee Democrat and later holding positions at the Miami Herald and the Sun Herald in Biloxi, Mississippi, before joining the Sun News in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where he ultimately became president and publisher. In 1997, he returned to Tallahassee as president and publisher of the Tallahassee Democrat.
Pate has served on the Board of Visitors of the Florida A&M University School of Journalism, Tallahassee Area Chamber of Commerce, Tallahassee Economic Development Council and executive committee of the Tallahassee Symphony, as well as in several volunteer roles while in Myrtle Beach.
He served as chair of the Emeriti Alumni Society at FSU (2023-2025) and now serves as immediate past chair. He has also served on the FSU Foundation Board of Trustees, as program director for the Knight Creative Communities Institute and as chair of the Opening Nights advisory board. He helped form the first FSU Alumni Band and has been recognized as a College of Business Hall of Fame inductee (2012), a Grad Made Good (2011) and as a recipient of the Commitment to Excellence Award (2024).
Mike and his wife, Judy, are proud parents to one son, Brian, and enjoy spending time with their grandchildren.