UF president plans to step down, become professor

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – University of Florida President Kent Fuchs announced Wednesday he plans to step down and transition to a professor.

Fuchs, 67, is currently in his eighth year after becoming the university’s 12th president in 2015.

Fuchs plans to stay in his position through the completion in fall 2022 of UF’s capital campaign and until the next president is appointed, which is expected to occur by early 2023.

“When I was appointed in 2014, I was asked to make three commitments to the Board of Trustees and the Board of Governors,” Fuchs said in a video. “First, that I would work to raise the stature of UF to be among the nation’s top 10 public universities. Second, that UF would launch and complete a $3 billion fundraising campaign. Third, that UF would not increase its tuition while I served as president. Those promises were made and those promises were kept.”

Fuchs said he has informed the trustees that after he leaves his position, he will take a sabbatical, then return to UF as a professor in his home department of electrical and computer engineering. There, he will join his colleagues in teaching and conducting research.