The Gator Nation has a new leader.
UF officials announced Monday that Lee Patouillet, executive director of the University of Pittsburgh Alumni Association, will take the reigns of the UF Alumni Association on Sept. 1 as executive director.
The former director, Randy Talbot, resigned after four years last fall and is now working at Florida Atlantic University.
Patouillet spent 17 years at Pittsburgh and worked at the University of South Florida for six years. He said as a longtime Florida resident, he knew all about the fandom of The Gator Nation before he took the job.
"I've long admired this level of affinity," he said.
Patouillet, who will be paid $200,000 a year, is now in charge of more than 100 Gator Clubs across the world and 55,000 members of UF's alumni association, said Paul Robell, UF vice president for development and alumni affairs.
Patouillet said it is ironic that he will lead UF's alumni association because he helped the organization establish a dues program in 1989 by sharing research he did as a USF employee.
Aside from helping to get the dues program at UF up and running, Patouillet said he has one UF class under his belt, which went toward his doctorate degree. He finished his doctorate in administration and policy studies at the University of Pittsburgh.
Robell said Patouillet was an attractive candidate mainly because of his 25-year experience in the industry. He said most leaders don't have doctorate degrees, but Patouillet is unique as a "student of the alumni relations field."
Although Patouillet said he has not been able to generate too many ideas so far, one of the ideas he is exploring with Robell and other UF officials is motivating UF alumni to advocate on behalf of the university during legislative sessions.
Patouillet said connecting with UF students is also a high priority when he arrives this fall, especially since UF students make up the largest student alumni association in the country.
"I think that bodes well for the future of the university in terms of alumni support," Patouillet said. "I believe that students are alumni in residence,"
Patouillet said he will bring his wife of 32 years, Mary, and his sheltie dog, Pepper, with him when he moves to Gainesville. His son, Nolan, attends Geneva College in Pennsylvania.
