Christopher Madrid | Staff Writer
Dr. Frederick “Fred” Bouma passed away on Wednesday, January 29, 2025. He was 91 years old, and served multiple roles at FIU. A Celebration of Fred’s life occurred at MMC on Wednesday, March 12, at the College of Business.
Bouma earned his Bachelors of Arts in Hispanic Studies in 1954, and earned a Masters in Spanish in 1956, both from the University of Wisconsin. He earned his Ph.D. in Spanish in 1969 from the University of Illinois.
Bouma joined the FIU Modern Language department in 1974, and served for 8 years before transferring to the Undergraduate Education department in 1982. FIU started in 1972 as a University that only offered upper-division courses, accepting 80 percent of its first student body as juniors from Miami-Dade College. FIU created its lower-division courses in 1981. Bouma was one of the first on the lower-division team that established FIU as a 4-year university.
Bouma left the Undergraduate Education department soon after, and became the Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for almost 20 years. He retired in 2003, and returned a year later in 2004, as an Academic Advisor for the Department of Psychology. He retired a second and final time in 2017.
Bouma was known for his kindness and charity. He gave now-journalist Manny Garcia a second chance at FIU, and Garcia was able to graduate with a degree in journalism.
Fred is survived by his son, John Bouma, brother and sister-in-law, Jim and Donna Bouma, nephew Hal Bouma, and nieces, Heather, Holly, and Kelly Bouma, and Paige and Tracy Laverty.
“He will be dearly missed,” said Elizabeth M. Béjar, Provost, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
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