BOT Chair announces the new FAU Presidential Search Committee
5 de jun de 2024
Almost a year after the Board of Trustees announced the suspension of the presidential search amidst controversy, Bussani announced that a new 15-member search committee, guided by Trustee Sherry Murphy, will begin its search process this summer.
A version of this story previously ran in the University Press, a student news organization covering Florida Atlantic University.
On Tuesday, Piero Bussani, Chair of the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Board of Trustees (BOT), announced via email to the FAU community the formation of a new 15-member Presidential Search Committee. This initiative marks the revival of the presidential searchprocess, which had been on hold for nearly a year.
Bussani said the formation of the committee — which includes faculty, students, alumni, trustees and local business leaders — emphasizes a commitment to a transparent, diverse and inclusive search process.
The search was initially suspended by the BOT almost a year ago after Chancellor Ray Rodrigues of the State University System of Florida (SUS) sent a letter to former BOT Chair Brad Levine, highlighting issues with the search process and requesting its suspension.
Amid the ensuing controversy, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody determined on October 30 that FAU’s suspended presidential search violated Sunshine Law by anonymously ranking candidates to a search firm, which then presented the rankings back to the committee.
In Dec., Florida Board of Governors (BOG) Inspector General Julie Leftheris decided that FAU’s presidential search violated state law and failed to meet audit and compliance regulations and Office of the Inspector General staff ultimately recommended that the BOT had to restart the search process.
When BOT Chair Levine resigned from his position in Feb., the board unanimously appointed Bussani as the new chair. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Bussani to the BOT board in 2022.
According to Bussani, the new search process will begin this summer with initial organizational and working group meetings, consultations with a search firm, and the development of a marketing plan and public events calendar. A web page will also be launched to provide biographical information on committee members and facilitate stakeholder input.
The search committee, chaired by Trustee Sherry Murphy, includes the following members:
Craig Mateer, Board of Governors
Pablo Paez, FAU Trustee
Ernie Ellison, FAU Trustee
Kevin Wagner, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Dean, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Stefan Andjelkovic, Student Body President-Elect
Brian Poulin, Chair, FAU Foundation Board
Roland Valdivieso, FAU Alumnus
Jeff Joyner, FAU Alumnus
Michelle Hagerty, Philanthropist
Scott McClenaghan, Executive Vice President, SE Florida Pro CRE at First Horizon Bank
John Tolbert, Senior Vice President, Blackstone Real Estate Hotels & Resorts
Robert “Bobby” D’Angelo, FAU Alumnus
Stephanie Toothaker, Esq., Chairwoman and Chief Strategist, Toothaker.org
Robert Allen, Esq., Founding Partner, Robert Allen Law