Oak Hammock’s history is steeped in academic research and the belief in a better life in retirement. Based on Professor of Sociology Gordon Streib’s research on the benefits of living in a retirement community, retired faculty and alumni encouraged leaders at the University of Florida to consider sponsoring a Continuing Care Retirement Community, or CCRC.

In 1997, Dr. Streib and Dr. Ray Coward, director of the University of Florida’s Institute of Gerontology, arranged for President John Lombardi and a key group of UF and UF Foundation staff members to attend a presentation regarding the development of a CCRC sponsored by UF.

Following the presentation and further research, a not-for-profit was formed to separate the financial and legal obligations of the CCRC from UF. Formal incorporation of Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, Inc. occurred in early 1