Presidential searches taking off at three Florida universities

Century Tower at the University of Florida. Credit: UF website

University of Florida and Florida A&M University announced candidates Tuesday to tap as interim presidents following resignations by both institutions’ leaders, while Florida Atlantic University will kick off its second presidential search since its most recent president left in 2022.

UF President Ben Sasse is set to step down on July 31, and an email to university staff indicated that Kent Fuchs, Sasse’s predecessor, has agreed to serve as interim president as the university searches for a new leader.

Sasse started the position in February 2023 after leaving the U.S. Senate and his home state of Nebraska. He announced his resignation Thursday, citing his wife Melissa’s epilepsy diagnosis and “new batch of memory issues.”

“Gator Nation needs a president who can keep charging hard, Melissa deserves a husband who can pull his weight, and my kids need a dad who can be home many more nights,” Sasse wrote in a news release . “I need to step back and rebuild more stable household systems for a time.”

“I’m going to remain involved in serving our UF students — past, present, and future — but I need to walk arm-in-arm with my dearest friend more hours of every week,” Sasse continued.

Sasse said he will remain in Gainesville at UF as a teacher and adviser.

Fuchs has agreed to accept the interim presidency, according to a university news release , although the board of trustees will formally vote on the change in leadership at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Fuchs was president as recently as 2023 before taking a one-year sabbatical and has since returned to teach in the UF College of Engineering.

FAMU interim announced

A similar process is underway at FAMU, where trustees met Tuesday morning in Tallahassee to set the date for President Larry Robinson’s retirement to become official on Aug. 4, two days after summer commencement.

The board agreed to enter into negotiations with former university administrator Tim Beard to serve as an interim president for no more than one year.

Beard recently retired as president of Pasco-Hernando State College in New Port Richey. A FAMU alum, he previously served as assistant director for career services and director for student affairs at his alma mater, as well as in its college of engineering graduate student services office between 1989 and 2003.

Robinson thanked those who have worked around him and reflected on increased graduation rates and other performance benchmarks since his tenure started.

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Four-year graduation rates at the state’s only public HBCU have increased from about 28% for the class of 2015-2019 to 35% for the class of 2019-2023.

“I have to give a huge shout out not only to the administrators and staff but to the faculty of Florida A&M University,” Robinson said during the trustee meeting Tuesday. “What they’ve done in terms of being in those sort of on-the-ground, you know, putting their hands and arms around our students, has been incredible, and at the same time they’ve done that they’ve had record years of research funding.”

A year ago, FAMU announced nearly $100 million in research awards in fiscal year 2023.

Robinson began at FAMU in 1995 as visiting professor in the Environmental Sciences Institute. He will take a one-year sabbatical before returning to teach in the School of the Environment.

The resignation will take effect months after the university made headlines after announcing a $237 million donation that later was considered “ceased.” It would have been the largest private donation at an historically black college or university.

The donation was announced by Texas hemp farmer Gregory Gerami during FAMU’s graduation ceremony in May, but a state investigation raised questions about the gift’s legitimacy. Wiley University in Texas and Coastal Carolina University had previously been approached by Gerami with donations; neither came to fruition after vetting processes.

“Everything about FAMU is special and I’ve had a chance to enjoy all of it, but also I’ve seen the challenges as well, and you know we’re going through some of those now, I understand that clearly,” Robinson said.

Loryn May, FAMU student body president and trustee, praised Robinson’s leadership.

“On behalf of the students I just wanted to express our gratitude to President Robinson because we acknowledge his unwavering dedication to not only advancing FAMU’s mission but just also being a president that we as students have been able to interact with him personally,” May said.

FAU to restart search

Wednesday, FAU will update the public on its presidential search. The search committee is scheduled to meet virtually to introduce the process for a second time.

The search has been open since John Kelly stepped down as president and Stacy Volnick was named interim president in Sept. 2022.

The university, with its main campus in Boca Raton, previously conducted a search to fill the role of president, but that search was called off after a Board of Governors investigation determined the search committee violated Florida’s Sunshine Law and state regulations.

Problems found by the State University System inspector general included an anonymous survey by the search committee to identify candidates, the questionnaire administered to candidates, and the vetting of applicants. The questionnaire asked candidates about their personal pronouns, although it was found the information was not passed on to the search committee and there were no legal grounds against that information being collected.

Previously, as reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education , state Rep. Randy Fine, a Broward County Republican, said he was told by Gov. Ron DeSantis that he was a “shoo-in” for the FAU presidency, and days after Fine wasn’t named as a finalist, the search was suspended.

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