Anthony “Tony” Holloway, St. Petersburg’s new police chief, is a 1999 graduate of the Eckerd College Program for Experienced Learners.
He said it was a life-changing experience.
“I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it,’’ said Holloway, who juggled classes for five years while working full time for the Clearwater Police Department. “It opened a lot of doors for me.”
Holloway has been the Clearwater police chief for four years, a post he took after three years as police chief in Somerville, Mass.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in business management in 1999 from Eckerd and an MBA in 2001 from the University of Phoenix.
Holloway said he enrolled at Eckerd because the program was “more geared toward adults” with similar goals. “It was all working professionals,’’ he recalls. The professors, he said, were “all solid” and the classes were challenging.
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman told the Tampa Bay Times he was drawn to Holloway because he was looking for someone who was a strong leader, data-driven and had a commitment to community policing.
