What’s in a name? The Story of The Selmon Expressway

On September 4, 2011, Tampa Bay lost our beloved Lee Roy Selmon. It is hard to believe it’s already been five years since his passing. His contributions to our community are too numerous to list individually but, needless to say, they affected almost every area of life in Tampa Bay, from education to business to community service and philanthropy.

To the THEA family, The Selmon Expressway is more than the name of a road; it is a continuation of Lee Roy Selmon’s legacy.

In 1999, when the Selmon Expressway converted to All Electronic Tolling (AET), Lee Roy Selmon gave his time and talents to us. He helped us deliver messages to the community, through videos, print advertisements, and radio interviews. Lee Roy wanted to make sure that Tampa Bay residents and drivers of  “his expressway” were thoroughly informed about the innovative and progressive changes. 

Rather than seek monetary compensation, Mr. Selmon requested that THEA provide an opportunity for young scholars to further their education, specifically in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S.T.E.M.) Honoring Mr. Selmon’s request, THEA initiated the S3 Program, “S3” standing for “Selmon S.T.E.M. Scholarship.”

The program features outreach programs in area middle and high schools, sponsors the University of South Florida (USF) College of Engineering’s Bridge-Building Competition, provides monetary scholarships to engineering students and USF and paid internships at THEA.

Thanks for your effort in helping us honor this great man. He gave us his name. We will honor him forever. We miss him dearly. #63