UF is still searching for an interim president just two weeks before Interim President Kent Fuchs’ contract runs out, the university’s Board of Trustees said Monday.
“I’m continuing to work on identifying the candidate for interim president,” board chair Morteza “Mori” Hosseini said. “This has been a focus over the past few months, and I have taken a deliberate and thoughtful approach to this responsibility.”
An in-person board meeting will be scheduled as soon as there is a candidate for interim president, he added.
Kent Fuchs filled in as interim president following former president Ben Sasse’s unexpected resignation in July of last year.
The Board of Trustees identified Santa Ono, the former president of the University of Michigan, as the search’s sole finalist May 4. The Board of Trustees unanimously confirmed Ono to be UF’s 14th president in late May. The Florida Board of Governors then rejected him in a 10-6 vote June 3, marking the first time since the board’s creation that it rejected a presidential candidate.
Fuchs has been serving as interim president since August 1, 2024, and his contract was set to end July 31. But right before it expired, the contract was extended to September 1.
Fuchs has been “extremely gracious in extending his appointment,” Hosseini said.
Fuchs was present at the board meeting on Monday and expressed appreciation to the board.
“I know that you all are not settling for just anyone that wants the position,” Fuchs said. “You want the very best for the institution.”
UF expects to launch a new presidential search in the first quarter of 2026.
Contact Leona Masangkay at lmasangkay@alligator.org. Follow them on X @leo_amasangkay.
