TAMPA, Fla. — Under Gov. Ron DeSantis, there has been a clear shift among Florida’s public colleges and universities. More and more Florida college and university presidents are coming from state government positions than ever before.

What You Need To Know

A number of new university presidents in Florida have come from backgrounds in government 

It is happening in Florida more often than other states 

Some argue the background in government helps school presidents navigate legislative affairs, fundraising and other aspsects of the job 

Others believe having little backround in academia harms the overall performance of the president

According to a 2023 study from the American Council on Education, more than half of the college and university presidents in the United States came from academia. Fewer than 10% moved into the role after having a background in government.

But Florida is an outlier.

More than a half dozen new college and university presidents in Florida under Gov. DeSantis have come from state government. The list includes:

Jeanette Nunez
WAS: Lieutenant Governor
NOW: President, Florida International University

Manny Diaz
WAS: Education Commissioner
NOW: President, University of West Florida

Richard Corcoran
WAS: Education Commissioner
NOW: President, New College of Florida

Adam Hasner
WAS: State Representative
NOW: President, Florida Atlantic University

Marva Johnson
WAS: Chair, Florida Board of Education + Legislative Affairs
NOW: President, Florida A&M University

DeSantis has acknowledged the changing background among college and university presidents is by design. He argues it’s a response to what voters want.

“We’ve taken that to heart for many, many years. We said we’re not going to allow these universities to be hijacked by woke ideology,” DeSantis said at a news conference in June, 2025. “We’re going to make sure we have strong leadership at all these universities.”

But research professor Judith Wilde believes working in state government and running a university are “completely different area(s) of expertise.” Wilde has studied college presidents for years and noticed the shift in Florida.

“Oh, I’ve written about it,” Wilde, a professor at George Mason University, said. “We typically have not see that many in such a short period of time. We have not seen that many (presidents) who come from, I’ll say, one route.”

She has also noticed that salaries for college and university presidents have ballooned in recent years.

“Florida was the first to really jump,” Wilde said. “In fact, Florida was the first to have a million-dollar president. That was Ben Sasse.”

Sasse served as president at the University of Florida from 2023 to 2024.

Those that move from state government to a role as university president do tend to reap financial rewards. Nunez went from making approximately $135,000 as lieutenant governor to making approximately $925,000 as FIU’s president.

Diaz more than doubled his salary moving from education commissioner to president at UWF.

And, including perks, Corcoran makes more than $1 million as president at New College of Florida, a school with a student population that doesn’t eclipse 1,000.

Nunez had previously served as an adjunct professor at FIU, but she held no other traditional academic credentials before becoming FIU’s president.

Corcoran had worked mostly as a lawyer and lawmaker, before being appointed education commissioner and then taking over as president at New College.

However, Dr. Jay Lemons, president at the search firm Academic Search, does not believe a background in academia is a requirement for a successful school president.

“I find that there are exceptional leaders that have come from outside higher education,” said Lemons, who once served as school president at Susquehanna University. “I don’t see it as a new phenomenon.”

Lemons believes the traits of a good leader are the same, whether in politics, business, the military or in academia.

He is also correct that there are examples from the past where leaders without typical backgrounds in academia transition to university president roles.

Dwight Eisenhower served as president at Columbia University after World War II but before becoming president of the United States.

Janet Napolitano moved from being President Obama’s Homeland Security Secretary to the president of the University of California’s System.

In Florida, Frank Brogan (lieutenant governor to FIU president, 2003) and Betty Castor (education commissioner to USF president, 1994) are past examples.

But it has not happened nearly as much in the past as it has in Florida under Gov. DeSantis, who would argue that’s by design and what voters wanted.