Recognizing the need for four-year degree programs in the Bay County area in the early 1970s, members of the local business community, the Naval Coastal Systems Center, Gulf Coast State College, formerly Gulf Coast Community College, the Bay County School Board and Tyndall Air Force Base began lobbying for an institution of higher learning.
Facilities for the center were located in the Bay County School Board Office Building and Gulf Coast Community College.
The new FSU at Panama City began operating with six administrative and support staff, five resident faculty, 531 students, and eleven degree programs.
The university realized that if educational quality and program consistency were to be maintained, it would be essential for the majority of the courses on the Panama City campus to be taught by regular FSU faculty.
The administrative building was named in honor of Senator Dempsey J. Barron, who sponsored the bill that secured funds for the permanent location of an FSU facility in Panama City.
[3] FSU Panama City is the only university in the country to offer undergraduate and graduate certificates in Underwater Crime Scene Investigation.