{"id":3566,"date":"2026-06-11T04:35:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T04:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3566"},"modified":"2026-06-11T04:35:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T04:35:16","slug":"uf-board-of-trustees-unanimously-selects-stuart-bell-as-schools-next-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3566","title":{"rendered":"UF Board of Trustees unanimously selects Stuart Bell as school\u2019s next president"},"content":{"rendered":"
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TALLAHASSEE \u2014 The University of Florida Board of Trustees on Wednesday appointed Stuart Bell to serve as the school\u2019s 14th president.<\/p>\n

Read more After weather delay, England routs Costa Rica in final World Cup tuneup<\/a><\/p>\n

The unanimous vote is the latest step in a volatile presidential search lasting two years and has already seen the State University System Board of Governors reject UF\u2019s previous choice for president in 2025. The board still needs to approve Bell\u2019s selection.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn everything that we do, we will serve the students, we will do the research, we will be at the cutting edge, and when people talk about who\u2019s the best in the nation, the University of Florida will be in that conversation,\u201d Bell said.<\/p>\n

Before the vote, board chairman Mori Hosseini pushed back against conservative activists who have criticized UF\u2019s presidential search, calling out Bell for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives during his 10-year tenure as president of the University of Alabama.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is way too important to have your personal reason or getting paid by somebody to tweet,\u201d Hosseini said. \u201cPut that aside. This board is not going to give in. We\u2019re going to do the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Bell said he won\u2019t enact DEI programs at UF.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me be clear. I am not coming to Florida to bring DEI or \u2018woke\u2019 back, period,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Faculty union leaders and Democratic lawmakers have condemned the entire university presidential search process. In 2022, the state created exemptions to public records and public meetings laws for searches. Under that law, only information about finalists for presidencies is made public.<\/p>\n

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Vice Chair Rahul Patel said the search committee would have run afoul of the law if they spoke of any candidates during the process and would have resulted in less qualified candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo suggest that we and our committee needed to be more transparent would be to suggest we and our committee violate Florida law,\u201d Patel said.<\/p>\n

Last year the Board of Governors rejected the UF board of trustees\u2019 recommendation to install former University of Michigan president Santa Ono as president of UF.<\/p>\n

Read more Letters: Sentinel sets the standard | Religious liberty at risk | \u2018No\u2019 on property tax cut<\/a><\/p>\n

Ono, an immunologist, was the sole finalist to become UF president. But the Board of Governors members voted against his appointment on a 10-6 vote, questioning his avowed reversal on DEI programs, which he embraced at Michigan.<\/p>\n

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But former state senator and current Board of Governors member Keith Perry spoke during public comment Tuesday and supported approving Bell.<\/p>\n

Student leaders also spoke in support of Bell, saying he \u201ctruly\u201d cared about students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can say without a shadow of a doubt that Dr. Bell is an incredible candidate that the university would be so lucky to have, that the students would be so lucky to have,\u201d said Blake Cox, student body president for the 2025-2026 year.<\/p>\n

Before serving as president of the University of Alabama, Bell served as provost and professor of engineering at Louisiana State University and as dean of the School of Engineering and professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Kansas.<\/p>\n

Board members asked him questions about campus safety, specifically the safety of Jewish students, supporting the university\u2019s academic health centers, fundraising, sports and faculty tenure.<\/p>\n

In his comments to the board, Bell said he wants to move UF up in the rankings to become a top three public university.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to take the university from being a great university to being the best university,\u201d Bell said.<\/p>\n

Read more DeSantis signs death warrant for South Florida killer of 18-year-old woman<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The University of Florida Board of Trustees appointed former University of Alabama president Stuart Bell to serve as the school\u2019s president. The state Board of Governors still needs to approve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-florida-news","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nUF Board of Trustees unanimously selects Stuart Bell as school\u2019s next president - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3566\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UF Board of Trustees unanimously selects Stuart Bell as school\u2019s next president - Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The University of Florida Board of Trustees appointed former University of Alabama president Stuart Bell to serve as the school\u2019s president. 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