{"id":13005,"date":"2025-10-20T22:14:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T22:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/13005\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T22:14:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T22:14:07","slug":"whos-next-for-usf-a-look-at-the-ninth-presidential-searchs-sole-finalist-the-crows-nest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/13005\/","title":{"rendered":"Who\u2019s next for USF? A look at the ninth presidential search\u2019s sole finalist \u2013 The Crow’s Nest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo courtesy of UNF<\/p>\n

By Jasmin Parrado & Alisha Durosier<\/p>\n

Nine months after USF President Rhea Law announced her resignation, USF named University of North Florida president Moez Limayem as a sole finalist in its ninth presidential search.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Oct. 13, Limayem formally introduced himself with a public forum at all three of the university\u2019s campuses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the USF St. Petersburg forum \u2014 the last campus he visited \u2014 Limayem expressed excitement about the university\u2019s consideration.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease remember where I started,\u201d Limayem said. \u201cThis is a kid who grew up without electricity in Africa. For me to be considered for the biggest honor of my life? I\u2019m speechless.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Adam Freeman, vice president of communications and marketing at USF, led the conversation with Limayem, in which Limayem discussed his determination to further consolidate all three of USF\u2019s campuses and nurture research efforts through strong business and faculty partnerships.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re going to sit and expect business as usual in terms of research and funding from federal and state, that is not going to happen,\u201d Limayem said during the forum. \u201cAnd I think that is absolutely the recipe for disaster.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

This sentiment calls back to his previous experience in higher education.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Before becoming UNF\u2019s president in 2022, Limayem led a 10-year tenure as the Lynn Pippenger Dean of the Muma College of Business at USF Tampa. Prior to that, he was the associate dean of research and graduate programs at the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business from 2010 to 2012.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Limayem also emphasized how he values athletics, citing past research on how it plays a role in students\u2019 lives.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me tell you, anyone who has any doubt of the impact of athletics on engaging students, private students, faculty, staff, alums, donors \u2013 all they have to do is see the excitement when we beat the Gators,\u201d Limayem said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Additionally, Limayem said he looked forward to working with Rob Higgins, who recently was announced<\/a> as USF\u2019s first-ever CEO of Athletics Sept. 9.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly don\u2019t think we would have found a better person who understands professional sports at a high level, who understands revenue generation, who understands sponsorship,\u201d Limayem stated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Limayem also addressed recent free speech tensions that arose after right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. He stated that the university should \u201cremain a marketplace of ideas of different backgrounds\u201d but that responsible civil discourse should also be exercised.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a few things always in my leadership, I think, that are nonnegotiable \u2013 this one is absolutely nonnegotiable,\u201d Limayem said. \u201cWhen we see people being killed for what they think or what they say, where are we as a society? Where are we as a democracy?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Limayem expressed that, during his UNF presidency, he has developed good relationships with the Florida Board of Governors (BOG) and learned substantially more about ways to manage and protect Florida\u2019s ecosystem, navigate the current sociopolitical climate and interpret university metrics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

USF announced the presidential search committee\u2019s recommendation of Limayem to the Board of Trustees (BOT) in September, describing him as \u201can accomplished, energetic and passionate higher education leader with deep ties to USF and the Tampa Bay region.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since USF\u2019s second President Cecil Mackey\u2019s appointment in 1971, Limayem is the first sole finalist to be recommended for the university\u2019s top role.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to associate professor of higher education and policy at USF St. Petersburg and former member of USF\u2019s BOT, Deanna Michael, whom The Crow\u2019s Nest spoke to in February<\/a>, Limayem fits what the university would be looking for this time around.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a leader who the academic community can respect, the [local] community can respect and our political leaders in the Pinellas area and Sarasota and Hillsborough can respect,\u201d Michael told The Crow\u2019s Nest in February, noting that a good candidate could come from a research role or even another presidency.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

USF has not given a timeline as to when the BOT will select a university president. The board\u2019s selection will be subject to the BOG\u2019s confirmation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t Post Views: 41 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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Written by: Alisha Durosier<\/a> on October 20, 2025. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo courtesy of UNF By Jasmin Parrado & Alisha Durosier Nine months after USF President Rhea Law announced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-13005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}