It was created to replace a predecessor body called the Florida Board of Control, which had existed from 1905.
The Board of Regents was established in the Florida Statutes, Title XVI, Chapter 240, Part II.
(Title XVI Chapter 240.209, The 2000 Florida Statutes) The Board of Regents had a total of 14 members, 13 of which were appointed by the governor, and one who was the commissioner of education.
One of the members appointed by the governor had to be a full-time student of the state university system; historically, Florida governors gave great weight to the recommendation of the Florida Student Association in filling that seat.
[1] The Board of Regents hindered efforts by Governor Jeb Bush and the Republican-controlled legislature to end affirmative action in Florida's public universities, and it was consequently abolished by an act of the state legislature which was signed into law by Governor Bush on July 1, 2001.