After months of presidential search updates, the wait is over: UF will learn the name of The Gator Nation’s next leader.
The Board of Trustees will select the new president today from the two remaining candidates.
Kent Fuchs and David McLaughlin made it through a final interview round with the Presidential Search Committee on Tuesday morning, where they were asked 13 questions on topics such as goals, strategies and leadership.
Each candidate also attended a faculty and campus/community assembly Tuesday evening in Emerson Alumni Hall. They answered predetermined questions based on responses from the greater UF community during the 2012 presidential search.
Questions touched upon student engagement, being a top research institution, community and economic development, sustainability, diversity, athletics and being a part of The Gator Nation.
McLaughlin, New York University Provost for the last 13 years, spoke to about 40 members of the campus and community at 5 p.m. He said he is interested in the presidential position because he believes in the American research university system.
“In studying the University of Florida, I became aware that the University of Florida itself has done an exceptional job over the last decade — decade and a half — in positioning itself to the very top of the American public research universities,” he said.
On potentially becoming a Gator, McLaughlin said, “I will be, at best, an honorary Gator. It’s going to take time to move from that honorary membership into a real membership. That time will happen as I become more and more at one with the University of Florida and its programs and its culture.”
Fuchs, who spent the past six years as the Cornell University provost, spoke to the same group at 7:30 p.m. He said the president has the unique responsibility of setting the tone of the university, which is done through visibility and accessibility.
“It would be a real honor and privilege to be a member and a No. 1 fan of The Gator Nation,” Fuchs said. “The Gator Nation is quite special.”
Graduate Assistants United took up about one-third of the audience. Representatives said they were not as happy with the process of asking set questions, as they came to the assemblies looking to ask their own.
“We want to work together with (the president) to make UF a top 10 university and improve working conditions for graduate students,” said Kevin Funk, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science.
Also in the audience was Gainesville Mayor Ed Braddy, who said he hopes to maintain a strong relationship with UF President Bernie Machen’s successor .
“The university is really the center of gravity in our community,” Braddy said.
UPDATE: Kent Fuchs of Cornell University is the new president-elect of University of Florida, stay tuned for a full story.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 10/15/2014]
Kent Fuchs
McLaughlin is a candidate to replace Bernie Machen as UF president.
Kent Fuchs
