Florida Polytechnic Narrows its Presidential Search to Two Candidates

Floridas newest state university has narrowed down its search for its first president to two candidates.

Florida Polytechnic Universitys presidential search committee held a public meeting on Tuesday morning in which it announced that the choice came down to Randy Avent, currently the associate vice president for research and the associate provost at North Carolina State University, and Robert McGrath, the senior vice president and director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

We were extremely impressed by the pool of candidates for this important position, said Don Wilson, who sits on the schoolss board of trustees and is on the search committee. As a brand new state university, dedicated wholly to hands-on, high-tech STEM education, Florida Polytechnic is unique in the world of higher ed. It requires a leader with entrepreneurial vision, proven leadership ability and a commitment to continuously riding the cutting edge of technology. I feel confident well find that combination of attributes among our finalists.

The candidates will be at a meet-and-greet on Sunday and the committee is expected to announce a finalist on Monday.