The University of Florida finally has a permanent president.
The Board of Governors, in a nearly unanimous vote, approved former University of Alabama president Stuart Bell on Wednesday morning, signaling a stronger focus on athletics at the state’s flagship school.
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Bell is UF’s first permanent president in two years.
After former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse stepped down in 2024, former UF president Ken Fuchs and Columbia University professor Donald Landry served as interim presidents.
Bell will begin his five-year term on July 1. He led the University of Alabama for a decade, which took home three national championship football titles under his leadership.
The sole finalist for the presidential job last summer, Santa Ono, was blocked by the Board of Governors. Board members largely took issue with his past stances on diversity initiatives and response to pro-Palestinian encampments while leading the University of Michigan.
The lead-up to Bell’s vote was contentious, even without the memory of Ono’s fate.
Bell’s confirmation vote was planned for last week’s Board of Governors meeting, but board chairperson Alan Levine pulled the agenda item.
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In a letter to State University System chancellor Ray Rodrigues, Levine voiced concerns about UF chairperson Mori Hosseini’s scope of authority. Levine wrote that he had asked Board of Governors staff to review each university’s compliance with state governance rules. The review found that most have a clear understanding of the regulations, but that “significant delegations of authority” were granted to Hosseini, he wrote in the letter.
A heated discussion ensued at last week’s meeting, with Hosseini and Levine arguing back and forth and other board members questioning why Bell’s candidacy had become intertwined with the trustee leadership review.
Levine said he felt the governance issue needed to be addressed before any vote on Bell, and he didn’t want it to come across as a negative statement about Bell’s candidacy.
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