ORLANDO -- Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and five former governors will speak at a daylong Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government symposium Monday, March 27, at the University of Central Florida.

"A Day With The Florida Governors" will feature former governors Claude Kirk, Reubin Askew, Bob Graham, Bob Martinez and Buddy MacKay. They are scheduled to attend the symposium and participate on an evening panel that begins at 7 p.m. They also will speak at sessions throughout the day that will focus on each of their tenures as governor.

Bush will give the morning keynote address at 9:30 a.m. about his two terms as the state's 43rd governor, which began in 1999 and will conclude in January.

The symposium is free and open to the public. It will be held in the Pegasus Ballroom of the UCF Student Union.

"To our knowledge, this is one of the few times that all of the governors of Florida have appeared together," said Lou Frey, founder of the Lou Frey Institute and a Republican congressman who represented Central Florida from 1969 to 1979. "It is a historic event and will be interesting, informative and entertaining."

The Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government, which was founded in 2002, is a nonpartisan organization that promotes civic education for students and other Central Florida residents. Go to www.loufrey.org for more information.

Biographies of participating governors:

-- John Ellis "Jeb" Bush became the first Republican governor in Florida's history to win a second term when voters re-elected him in 2002. During his seven years in office, he has worked to improve education through increased standards and accountability and has reduced taxes while boosting the state's reserves. He has increased health insurance coverage for children, committed state resources to preserving the Everglades and held monthly office hours around the state so that citizens can meet with him.

-- Kenneth "Buddy" MacKay Jr. served seven years as lieutenant governor in Lawton Chiles' administration and then became governor for three weeks after Chiles died in 1998. An Air Force veteran, MacKay was a state legislator and served three terms in Congress before he joined Chiles' campaign. Chiles and MacKay helped to establish Enterprise Florida to improve economic development and tourism and worked to make state government more efficient. They also strengthened prenatal and child-care services and won an $11.3 billion settlement for the state from the tobacco industry.

-- Robert "Bob" Martinez became the first Hispanic governor in any U.S. state when he took office in 1987. He was the mayor of Tampa before he ran for governor in 1986. Martinez is known for improving the protection of wilderness areas and bodies of water such as Lake Okeechobee, Tampa Bay and the St. Johns River. He also strengthened the state's drug enforcement programs.

-- Robert "Bob" Graham served as Florida's governor from 1979 to 1986 before moving on to the U.S. Senate in 1986. Prior to his tenure as governor, Graham served in the state House of Representatives and Senate for 12 years. Graham is known for supporting many environmental programs, as he signed laws that allowed the state to purchase and protect river floodplains, beaches, barrier islands and wetlands. He also encouraged the federal government to take a stronger role in thwarting illegal drug smuggling in Florida.

-- Reubin Askew was a state representative and senator before he served as governor from 1971 to 1979. He supported tax reform and racial justice and also led an effort to require candidates and public officials to disclose their finances. He named the first African-American Supreme Court justice in Florida and appointed the first woman to the Florida Cabinet. A former Army paratrooper and Air Force second lieutenant, he is a professor of state government, public administration and public policy at Florida State University.

-- Claude Kirk Jr. became Florida's first Republican governor in nearly 100 years when he took office in 1967. A Marine who served in World War II and the Korean War, Kirk led the state at a time when a new constitution was approved and the office of the lieutenant governor was re-established. The Apollo 11 moon mission, which included Neil Armstrong's famous walk, also occurred during Kirk's tenure as governor. Symposium schedule:

9:30-10:20 a.m. -- Governing Florida Today: The Bush-Brogan/Jennings Years. Keynote Speaker: Gov. Jeb Bush.

10:30-11:20 a.m. -- Governing Florida: The Graham-Mixson Years. Features Gov. Bob Graham; Dick Batchelor, president of DBMG and former state representative; and Jim Pugh, president of Epoch Properties.

11:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m. -- Governing Florida: The Chiles-MacKay Years. Features Gov. Buddy MacKay; U.S. Rep. Ric Keller, R-Orlando; and Mike Griffin, deputy editor of the Orlando Sentinel editorial pages and a former political reporter.

1:30-2:20 p.m. -- Governing Florida: The Askew-Adams/Williams Years. Features Gov. Reubin Askew, Richard Swann of the Swann & Hadley law firm; and Martin Dyckman, retired associate editor of the St. Petersburg Times.

2:30-3:20 p.m. -- Governing Florida: The Martinez-Brantley Years and Graham-Mixson Years. Features Gov. Bob Martinez via videotape; Tim Nickens, deputy editor, St. Petersburg Times; and Pat Duggins, news director for WMFE.

3:30-4:20 p.m. -- Governing Florida: The Kirk-Osborne Years. Features Gov. Claude Kirk; Edmund Kallina, chair of the UCF History Department; and former congressman Lou Frey.

7-8:15 p.m. -- An Evening with the Florida Governors. Features Governors Kirk, Askew, Graham, Martinez and MacKay, moderator Reagan Smith of Clear Channel Communications and concluding remarks by Frey and Roy Lassiter, chairman of the Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government.