• Scott Adams contributes $2 million to the College of Business to establish the Internet Institute and the Adams Center for Information Technology (IT) Product Management and Entrepreneurship.

• The John M. DeGrove Eminent Scholar Chair in Growth Management and Development is established through a gift from an anonymous donor.

• The Helen Karpelenia Persson Eminent Scholar Chair in Community Caring is established through a gift from Helen Karpelenia Persson.

• The Davimos Family Eminent Scholar Chair in Brain Sciences is established through a gift from Richard H. Davimos.

• The Owls softball team wins the TAAC championship for the fourth time.

• The 61,000-square-foot Tom Oxley Athletic Center, the only coeducational facility of its kind in the country, opens on the Boca Raton campus.

• Sponsored research funding exceeds $37 million.


2001
• Terrorists crash airliners into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington and a field in Pennsylvania just as President Catanese is preparing to deliver the 2001 State of the University Address in the University Theatre. The address is postponed, replaced by a moment of silence. The University is evacuated after Governor Jeb Bush orders all state facilities closed. Later in the day, residence hall students hold a candlelight vigil in memory of the victims.

• Christine E. Lynn makes a gift of $10 million to the College of Nursing, which is named in her honor.

• The 12-story Florida Atlantic University/Broward Community College Higher Education Complex opens on the Downtown Fort Lauderdale campus, adjacent to the Reubin O’D. Askew University Tower. It is the first facility in the nation designed to house both university and community college programs.

• Students in the Florida Atlantic University’s School of Accounting placed seventh among all colleges and universities nationwide in a study conducted by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy.

• Louis and Anne Green donate $1.5 million to establish the Louis and Anne Green Alzheimer’s Research Center and Care Facility.

• Forseti Biosciences, Inc., the University's first biotechnology spin-off company, is founded by Dr. Ramaswamy Narayanan and Dr. Gary Perry of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science.

• The Fighting Owls play their first football game on September 1, 2001, at Miami's Pro Player Stadium against Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, losing 40-7.

• The Fighting Owls play their second football game on September 8, 2001, scoring a 31-28 upset victory over No. 22-ranked Bethune-Cookman.

• The Owls softball team records a fifth championship, playing in the Atlantic Sun Conference (formerly the Trans America Athletic Conference).

• FAU's athletic programs are ranked among the best NCAA Division I programs in the nation by Sports Illustrated.


2002
• President Catanese resigns to accept the presidency of the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne.

• Voters approve creation of a statewide Florida Board of Governors to oversee the State University System. The Boards of Trustees serving individual universities remain intact.

• A team of FAU computer science and engineering students develops CodeBlue, a computer-based health monitoring system that can connect people to their healthcare providers via the web. The project is named one of the year's 10 best student inventions worldwide by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

• George Cornell makes a $10 million gift to the Honors College, which is named to honor his late wife, Harriet L. Wilkes.

• Tamar and Milton Maltz make a $1 million donation to the Lifelong Learning Society on the Jupiter campus to build the 500-seat Tamar and Milton Maltz Center for Learning and the Performing Arts.

• The Charles E. Schmidt Biomedical Science Center is dedicated on the Boca Raton campus.

• The three-building Florida Atlantic University/Indian River Community College campus opens in Port St. Lucie, greatly enhancing the access of Treasure Coast residents to higher education.

• The Eleanor R. Baldwin House, a presidential residence and University reception center, opens on the Boca Raton campus.

• The Kenan Evren Eminent Scholar Chair in Turkish Studies is established through gifts obtained by the Turkish American Business, Education and Cultural Development Organization.

• The Office Depot Eminent Scholar Chair in Small Business Research is established through a gift from Office Depot, Inc.

• The College of Liberal Arts is merged into the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science to eliminate duplication of programs.

• FAU’s first capital campaign ends with $199 million in donations and pledges, almost double its original goal.

• The Marching Owls band makes its debut at the season's first FAU football game.

• The Owls softball team wins the Atlantic Sun Conference championship for the sixth time.

• The men's basketball team wins the Atlantic Sun Conference championship and gets invited to the NCAA Tournament --"the Big Dance."

• The baseball team wins FAU's first NCAA Regional Championship, beating No. 3-seeded Alabama and earning a No. 15 national ranking.

• FAU's football rivalry with Florida International University is launched on November 23, 2002, with a game that will reward each year's winning team with the Don Shula Trophy. FAU wins the first game, 31-21.

• Fall semester enrollment is 23,836.

2003
• Fall semester begins with 24,961 students enrolled. FAU has the most diverse student body in the State University System, with minority enrollment of 34.6 percent.

• Florida's Lt. Governor, and FAU alumnus, Frank T. Brogan (M.Ed., ’81) is named the fifth president of Florida Atlantic University by the FAU Board of Trustees.

• Dr. Ramaswamy Narayanan and Dr. Gary Perry, researchers in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, successfully test a new drug for human colon cancer in animal models.

• Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel speaks at FAU.

• The State of Florida awards FAU $10 million to establish the Center of Excellence in Biomedical and Marine Biotechnology, a research facility that will search the waters off Florida's coastline for drugs from natural sources that could be used to treat cancer, heart disease and other serious illnesses.

• The Lady Owls softball team wins the Atlantic Sun Conference championship for the seventh time and is listed among the all-time greatest teams in college softball history by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

• FAU football moves to new home field at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale; Becomes youngest Division start-up program to compete in the National Championship Playoffs.

2004
• FAU admits its first students to the University of Miami/ Florida Atlantic University medical school partnership.