{"id":326079,"date":"2026-07-01T15:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T15:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/326079\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T15:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T15:59:08","slug":"florida-board-of-governors-confirms-stuart-bell-as-university-of-floridas-14th-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/326079\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Board of Governors confirms Stuart Bell as University of Florida\u2019s 14th president"},"content":{"rendered":"

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 The Florida Board of Governors on Wednesday confirmed <\/a>Dr. Stuart R. Bell<\/a> <\/a>as the University of Florida<\/a>‘s 14th president, completing a national search and marking the university’s first permanent presidential appointment since Kent Fuchs left the role in 2023.<\/p>\n

Bell’s confirmation was effective immediately and followed unanimous approval by both the UF Board of Trustees and the university’s Presidential Search Advisory Committee.<\/p>\n

Bell becomes UF’s first permanent president since Fuchs, who led the university from 2015 to 2023 before returning in an interim capacity following former President Ben Sasse’s resignation. The appointment is expected to bring stability to the university’s leadership after several years of transition.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Florida Board of Governors on Wednesday confirmed Dr. Stuart R. Bell as the University of Florida’s 14th president, completing a national search and marking the university’s first permanent presidential appointment since Kent Fuchs left the role in 2023. (University of Florida)<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Dr. Bell\u2019s steady hand at the helm and with his vast experience, there is no limit to what the University of Florida can accomplish,\u201d UF Board of Trustees Chair Mori Hosseini said. \u201cDr. Bell has fully embraced our Board of Trustees\u2019 vision of leading UF to become one of the top three public universities in the nation, and I am absolutely confident he will take us there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell, who spent the past decade as president of the University of Alabama, said he is eager to begin leading Florida’s flagship university.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m ready to get to work.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThe University of Florida is an extraordinary institution with exceptional talent, remarkable momentum and limitless opportunity. I look forward to working alongside our students, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters as we continue building one of the world\u2019s great public universities,” Bell said.<\/p>\n

He also thanked the Board of Trustees, the Board of Governors, the search committee and the broader Gator Nation for their support throughout the selection process.<\/p>\n

The confirmation comes days after Bell was unanimously selected <\/a>by the UF Board of Trustees despite criticism from some conservative activists who questioned his record on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives while serving as president of the University of Alabama.<\/p>\n

Accuracy in Media, a conservative nonprofit organization, publicly opposed Bell’s candidacy and argued that DEI-related efforts continued at Alabama after restrictions were imposed. The group pointed to undercover video recordings involving university administrators and urged UF leaders to reject Bell’s appointment.<\/p>\n

Despite that criticism, Bell received support from President Trump ally and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who praised Bell following his selection by UF trustees.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongrats to Dr. Stuart Bell on being selected by the University of Florida to be the next university president,\u201d DeSantis wrote on X. \u201cDr. Bell did much to elevate the University of Alabama when he was the president in Tuscaloosa and I have no doubt that he will help UF reach new heights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rahul Patel, vice chair of the UF Board of Trustees and chair of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, said the search committee conducted an extensive review before recommending Bell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI congratulate Dr. Bell and welcome him to the Gator Nation,\u201d Patel said. \u201cThe Presidential Search Advisory Committee conducted a comprehensive, thoughtful and rigorous search. I am deeply grateful for their dedication and am confident that we have selected exactly the right leader for UF at this important time in its history.\u201d<\/p>\n

University officials said Bell oversaw record growth in research funding, student achievement and fundraising during his tenure at Alabama. UF leaders said his experience managing a large public research university made him the best candidate to guide the institution through its next phase of growth.<\/p>\n

Bell’s inauguration as UF’s 14th president will take place later this year, according to the university.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GAINESVILLE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 The Florida Board of Governors on Wednesday confirmed Dr. Stuart R. Bell as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-326079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326079","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=326079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}