After weeks of searching, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences revealed its new dean Tuesday.
David Richardson was appointed dean of UF’s largest college, and Michael McKee was named its vice president and chief financial officer.
Richardson and McKee will officially take office Friday after holding their positions as interims since June. They will each be paid $300,000 annually.
There were three finalists for the dean position, and students had the opportunity to interact with them and ask questions during forums the week of Feb. 10.
Richardson wrote in an email that he is honored to work at UF, one of the nation’s top institutions. He said he hopes to test and improve learning methods in the classroom and further academic success and engagement.
“I hope to partner with our students to involve them in our mission,” he said, “and make sure every CLAS student finds a place to learn life-long lessons through engagement with the community, nation, or world.”
McKee will be responsible for identifying and allocating funds for the college’s goals and ideas.
His appointment follows a search launched last summer.
McKee said using all of UF’s resources to improve the college will be an important part of his new position.
“I’m absolutely thrilled (to be appointed),” McKee said.
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 3/12/2015 under the headline “UF’s CLAS confirms new dean, vice president after long search”]
