FIU trustees OK Jeanette Nuñez for presidency

The Florida International University Board of Trustees on Monday unanimously approved appointing former Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez as the university’s president.

She has served as interim president since February and emerged last month as the sole finalist to become president. The appointment remains subject to approval by the state university system’s Board of Governors.

Ms. Nuñez is slated to receive a five-year contract with a base salary of $925,000 and annual performance bonuses of up to $400,000. Ms. Nuñez, who received bachelor’s and master’s degrees at FIU, said her hometown school has a tremendous opportunity for growth.

“We need to make sure that our reputation matches our reality,” she said. “Our reality is one of academic excellence, one of research and one of aligning with many strategic partners in this community, this state and this country.”

Roger Tovar, chairman of the Board of Trustees, cited a “combination of professional experience and an extensive network in South Florida and Tallahassee that makes Interim President Nuñez an ideal leader to help transition FIU into the future.”

Ms. Nuñez, who served in the Florida House before becoming Gov. Ron DeSantis’ running mate in 2018, left the lieutenant governor’s job to become interim president. She replaced Kenneth Jessell, who had served as FIU’s president since 2022.

Her move to FIU has been part of a series of changes in the presidencies of state universities and colleges – and efforts by Gov. DeSantis to reshape the higher-education system.

The university system’s Board of Governors on Tuesday considered and rejected the appointment of for­mer University of Michigan Presi­dent Santa Ono to become president of the University of Florida, while the University of West Florida Board of Trustees last week chose state Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. of Hialeah to serve as the Pensacola school’s interim president.

Meanwhile, the Florida A&M University Board of Trustees last month chose corporate executive Marva Johnson to become the school’s president, while University of South Florida President Rhea Law has announced plans to resign. Also, former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner was selected in February to serve as president of Florida Atlantic University.

Carlos Duart, an FIU trustee who led the school’s search committee, wrote in a message to the university community last month that the committee selected three finalists, but two said they would only continue to a public phase of the process if they were chosen as the lone candidate. The identities of presidential candidates at state universities and colleges are largely shielded from release.

“Given her proven record of leadership and unique qualifications, the committee unanimously agreed to move Interim President Nuñez forward as its sole finalist for consideration by the FIU Board of Trustees,” Mr. Duart wrote in last month’s message.

But it also has been widely speculated that Gov. DeSantis played a role in Ms. Nuñez getting the FIU job, something trustee Dean Colson appeared to acknowledge Monday as he supported her appointment.

“I believe she will be a very successful president, and to be honest, if we don’t pick her as our president, I suspect that tomorrow we are going to find out who the governor’s office’s second pick is,” Mr. Colson said. “I really like our first pick, so why would I take that chance?”