UF continues looking for interim leader

Mori Hosseini [Photo courtesy UF Board of Trustees]

University of Florida Board of Trustees Chairman Mori Hosseini said Aug. 18 that he is continuing to work on finding an interim president as UF prepares to restart a presidential search.

Former President Kent Fuchs has served as interim president since last summer, when then-President Ben Sasse resigned. Fuchs was expected to leave the interim post by Aug. 1 but agreed in July to continue for an additional month.

“As soon as we have an interim president candidate, we will schedule an in-person board meeting to interview and consider the candidate for interim president,” Hosseini said during a trustee meeting on Monday.

The Board of Trustees is expected to relaunch a search for a president during the first quarter of 2026.

On June 3, the state university system’s Board of Governors rejected the UF trustees’ choice of former University of Michigan President Santa Ono to become president of the Gainesville school. Ono drew criticism from high-profile conservatives inside and outside of Florida for such issues as his past embrace of diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs, and his handling of on-campus protests after the 2023 attack by Hamas in Israel.

Hosseini said Fuchs has been “extremely gracious” in extending his interim appointment.