Frederick Henry Schultz, a longtime advocate of education, was instrumental in establishing the Schultz Center for Teaching and Leadership. In 1997, a group of concerned citizens, educators and business leaders charted a course for education reform in Jacksonville. The goal was to raise student achievement by providing professional development services across Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns County Public Schools. Fred took the lead in this effort and presented the concept of the Schultz Center to Senator Jim Horne, supporter of education reform and improving the quality of teaching. Fred began a campaign to raise the required matching funds, beginning with a $1 million dollar challenge grant from himself and his wife, Nancy Schultz. The Schultz Center opened its doors in February 2002 thanks to its founder, Fred Schultz.

Fred was born January 16, 1929 in St. Vincent's Hospital. He graduated from the Bolles School (1946), the Lawrenceville School (1947) and Princeton University (1952). He also received an honorary doctorate from the University of North Florida (1989). Prior to his graduation from Princeton, he was married to the former Nancy Jane Reilly of New Orleans (August 11, 1951), who remained the love of his life for nearly 60 years. After a brief stint in the CIA, Fred served as an artillery officer in the Korean Conflict where he received a bronze star.

In 1955 Fred and his family returned to Jacksonville. He then joined the Barnett Bank Management Training Program where he met his best friend, former Congressman, Andy Ireland. Fred then embarked on quite a remarkable business career, which included being a founder of Florida Wire and Cable, Platt Pontiac, Florida Trend Magazine, the Schultz Center and many other companies. Fred was a long time director of Barnett Banks, American Heritage Life, Southeast Atlantic Beverage, Transco Energy, Florida Steel and numerous others. He was also a Special Limited Partner of South Atlantic Venture Funds for over 25 years.

In the field of public service, his record was truly amazing. He began as a board member of the Jacksonville Expressway Authority, now JTA (1961-1963). He was a member of the Florida House of Representatives (1963-1970) where he sponsored legislation to create the University of North Florida and Florida College at Jacksonville, formerly FCCJ. In 1969 and 1970 he served as Speaker of the House where he inaugurated many new processes and procedures. This led to him teaching a class at Harvard on State Government and becoming a Kennedy Fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics. In 1971 he was appointed Chairman of the Citizen's Committee on Education, a two year study on public and private education in Florida. This began an intense interest in improving public education that continued until his death. In 1976 he became Chairman of the Florida Council on Education. In 1977 he became a member of the National Council on Educational Research. In 1983 he was Chairman of the Florida Institute of Education. He was a member of the Advisory Committee at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University for over 17 years. He was also Chairman of the Workforce Development Board of the State of Florida from 1994 - 1997. Fred was a longtime trustee of the Bolles School, Episcopal Children's Services and the Alliance for World Class Education. All this culminated in the founding of the Schultz Center for Teaching & Leadership, a nationally renowned facility devoted to advanced training of teachers and principals. The center opened in 2002 and continues to be a great success. Fred truly earned his unofficial title of "Mr. Education" in Jacksonville. In 1976 Fred became Chairman of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce where, among other things, he hosted the now famous, Amelia Island Conference. This led to the creation of both Leadership Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Community Council. Over a 45 year period he received numerous awards from the Chamber including the Junior Chamber's Outstanding Young Man in 1964, the Good Government Award in 1969 and the full Chamber's Distinguished Citizen's Award in 1996. He was also the first recipient of Leadership Jacksonville's Lifetime Achievement Award which is now known as the Frederick H. Schultz Lifetime Achievement Award. The pinnacle of Fred's career came in 1979 when he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Board of Governor's of the Federal Reserve System. This was after he declined to serve as the Secretary of Education. He considered his work with Paul Volcker at the Fed during the economic crisis of 1980-1981 to be the most interesting and important of his life. The Fed's crushing of inflation led to an unprecedented boom in the economy over the next 15 years.