Earlier today I was selected by the Florida Board
of Governors to be the next chancellor of the State
University System. I am incredibly humbled by their
confidence in my ability to lead the state of
Florida’s higher education system to even greater
heights. At the same time, I am struck by how much I
will miss serving as Florida Atlantic
University’s president.
For the past six years I have had the enormous
privilege of waking each morning knowing that I was
going to a job I loved, and though I am confident I
will enjoy my tenure as chancellor, there's no place
like home – and I consider FAU my home and the
home of my wife and our son.
During my time here I've made great friends, I've
learned from some of the world's brightest minds and
I've been kept young by our vibrant student body. I
worked with a wonderful group of students, faculty and
staff to propel FAU to a higher level of academic
standards, to develop partnerships with world-class
institutes such as Scripps Florida and Max Planck and
to create a more traditional sense of student life for
those who spend much of their time here – living
and learning.
When I attended FAU as a master’s degree
student in the College of Education in 1981, I could
not imagine I would be so blessed as to return to its
halls as president. FAU has opened an amazing number of
doors for me. As I have often shared with you, I was
the only member of my family to attend college, and
much of the success I have had in my professional life
I owe to what I learned at this wonderful university.
I have no doubt that FAU will continue to elevate
itself through the ranks of higher education, becoming
one of the top universities in the country. I look
forward to watching its continued ascent and sharing in
its accomplishments as a proud alumnus.
We will now begin a transition period during
which the Board of Trustees and I will engage in the
necessary processes to continue the orderly operation
of the university. I will remain as president of
FAU through the start of the fall semester, and I look
forward to more formally saying my farewells to you in
the coming weeks. In the meantime, I would like to
thank each of you for your continued dedication to this
university and for the support you have given to me and
my family during my tenure at FAU - it has meant more
to me than I can fully express.
I wish you the greatest success, now and in the
future.
