Meet Doug and Doris Dunlap & Their “Why FSU

By JERRY KUTZ, RETIRED SR. VICE PRESIDENT SEMINOLE BOOSTERS & CURRENT OWNER, PUBLISHER OF THEOSCEOLA.COM

Unconquered visited Doug and Doris Dunlap to share their family’s Seminole journey and find out why they are so involved with Florida State University.

The questions were the easiest they have ever been asked.

“We get a lot of pleasure out of it,” Doris said. “It’s just such a part of us.

“It’s fun because everyone, including grandchildren, enjoy sports and other university related activities, so it gives us a chance to get together as a family”

The evidence is on display in Doug’s Syntech office, a company he has owned since 1989.

“Florida State is just a part of me,” Doug said. “I grew up in a neighborhood right by Doak. I walked to every game from the time I was five or six.”

The Dunlaps have a skybox with 24 seats and buy 20 more in the stadium for employees. They own baseball and basketball tickets. They are members of the University Center Club where they host their annual Holiday company party for 300.

They fund multiple Golden and Silver Chief memberships and recently made a six-figure gift to baseball facilities and operations.

“We were on the Booster Cruise with Mike Martin, Sr. and Carol and realized we had never given anything to baseball,” Doug recounts. “We’ve given money to engineering, to hospitality, the business school, plus the Boosters. So I thought giving to Mike Jr’s program would be a good thing.”

Doug’s history dates back to the Danny Litwheiler era (1955-63) when he and friends served as batboys and loaded scores on the old board, taunting opponents, including Georgia and NFL Legend Fran Tarkenton. “One year we dressed for opening day as bat boys,” Dunlap recalls. “Cliff and Bobby Hinkle. I wore Litwhiler’s St. Louis Cardinal’s uniform, so I got a lot of history there.”

Litwhiler’s 1958 squad, led by Dick Howser, was FSU’s first team to appear in the College World Series. That Litwhiler jersey might have been worn in the Cardinal’s 1944 World Championship season, in which Litwhiler played a pivotal role.

The Power Couple

Dunlap joined the United States Marine Corps to fund his education with the GI Bill. After serving in Vietnam, he asked his father for advice.

“Maybe I should go to Georgia Tech because he went to Georgia Tech,” Doug recalls. “He said, ‘If you want to work for somebody all your life, go be an engineer. But if you want to own the company, go to business school.’

“So that’s what I did and it turned out to be okay.”

Doug chose Accounting at FSU and now owns Syntech, employing 70 engineers and 200 total employees.

Prior to buying the company, which began as the Wayne Colony Company, Doug served as comptroller. Doris worked in human resources. Despite the fact they attended Leon High, they had yet to meet.

Their dates were frequently to FSU games. As the relationship advanced, they were living their jobs 24 hours a day, so Doris accepted an offer with the Tallahassee Democrat where her career flourished.

“I was hired as personnel director and then HR director and then took over administration and then accounting, delving into finance,” Doris said.

Within five years, she touched all the bases running marketing, production and circulation. “Eventually, I was over all of the business side,” said Doris, who

was being promoted too fast to finish a degree.

People noticed. In 1996, she was selected the first female Chairman of the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce.

Meanwhile, Doug was pouring money into the development of FuelMaster, an automated fuels accounting system for the commercial market. Developed for the Air Force, FuelMaster would enjoy rapid growth in non-military segments.

In addition to secure fuel delivery for vehicles, FuelMaster maximizes fleet performance for over 8,000 customers. The cloud-based system serves many users, including the US Government, Fortune 500 companies, local municipalities and schools, delivering fuel and fleet data real time.

In 2019, Syntech received the World’s Greatest Fuel Management Company award by World’s Greatest Television.

Knight Ridder, the parent company of the Democrat, sent Doris to an executive training program at Northwestern University’s Business School and tasked her with overseeing a project effecting 25 newspapers across the country.

“Yeah, (working away from home) was tough because I had a first grader and a seventh grader and my dad living with us and Shane (her oldest) entering college,” Doris said.

Doug became Mr. Mom for a hectic year.

“I owned the company and my partners were wondering if I still worked here,” Doug said with a laugh. “But it was good because it gave me a great appreciation for how many roles women assume. It made me appreciate what my employees handle.”

The company continued to have great success, which allowed Doris to consider early retirement to spend more time with the family, and she completed this in 2000.

Where Did They Find Time For FSU Sports?

Listening to their journey, I ask, “How did this power couple find time to attend so many FSU games while raising three children?” Another easy answer.

“I can’t imagine living in Tallahassee and not being involved with the University,” Doris said. “It’s a part of our lives we do together, whether at the game or watching away games on television, our family is always together.”

Each picture speaks a thousand words about family memories.

Doug’s prize possession is a composition of ticket stubs Doris crafted. From the first FSU-UF game played in Doak in 1964, Doug tossed his ticket stubs into a keepsake box, where they remained until framed.

Like a museum docent, Doug points to a picture of Doak he nearly tossed. “If you look closely, the score is Florida 7, Florida State 3 and I thought what do I want with this?” Doug said. “Then I realized the picture was taken in the first half of the ‘Choke at Doak’.”

FSU trailed 28-3 at half but rallied to “win” 31-31.

“We’ve seen a bunch of wins down there too,” Doug said, noting two of his favorites occurred in Gainesville.

“1977 was one of the greatest because (Bobby Bowden’s team) really turned that thing around and went down there and beat Florida,” he said. “When they had the NFL Draft, I believe Florida had more players drafted than any college and here we went down there and man handled them.

“It was mostly want to… and Ron Simmons didn’t hurt.”

The 1993 win is a bigtime memory too. “My youngest son was there when Warrick Dunn caught that pass and went for a touchdown. It put a stake in the Gators’ heart,” Doug said, “and he’s been to every game since.”

Passing Down Fatherly Advice

All three Dunlap children are FSU graduates. Oldest son Shane majored in Criminology. Daughter Sara played soccer at Florida State, and majored in Fashion Merchandising. Youngest, Scott, majored in Accounting and is now a CPA.

Each entered the family business and with fatherly advice, will have accounting degrees.

“I made them go back and get their accounting degree,” Doug said. “The youngest has his CPA but the other two have gone back. Sara graduated with honors in accounting and is now studying for the CPA. Shane is two courses short and will sit for the CPA. If you really want to run the business, the biggest thing is to understand the financial implications of what you are doing. And when you send out a letter and can sign it as a CPA, it gives you a lot of credibility.”

The “Why” Examined Closer It is easy now to see why the Dunlaps give back.

“When you’ve been around it as long as I have, it doesn’t matter what the sport is, I want to see them play and I want to see them do well,” said Doug, who knows investment in development is essential to success.

“We have the financial resources to really make an impact and so we do,” he said.

Doris began to attend FSU games with her father so long ago “you could bring your umbrella in with you” but she didn’t understand the ins and outs of funding athletics until she married Doug.

“It’s like this basketball team,” she said. “We have met many of them over the years who are just good people. It is nice to give them the opportunities this program does. It is incredible. It really is.”

The Dunlaps have a final answer to their “why.”

“Giving to FSU is a way to touch so many people,” Doug said. “Whatever we did, whether it’s a little bit or a lot, it’s an institution that goes in a million different directions so (giving to FSU) is just a great avenue to absolutely touch a lot of people.”

“Yes, Doug Dunlap grew up a Seminole in the shadow of Doak Campbell Stadium,” Miller said. “But he, Doris, their family and the employees of their company are avid supporters of Florida State University and the people it serves.

“We are most appreciative of their support and their enduring legacy.”