After a bruising two-year stretch defined by political controversy, leadership instability and a botched presidential hire, the University of Florida has zeroed in on a veteran red-state academic leader as its next president: longtime University of Alabama President Stuart Bell.
UF’s presidential search committee on Monday named Bell the sole finalist to lead the state’s flagship campus, signaling a sharp shift away from the politically combustible choices that defined the eras of Ben Sasse and Santa Ono.
The search committee’s selection sends a clear message: After the turbulence surrounding Sasse and Ono, UF wanted a president already steeped in the realities of leading a flagship university in the conservative South.
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