UF Starts Process to Replace Bernie Machen

On Thursday, the University of Floridas board of trustees kicked off the process to find a replacement for retiring President Bernie Machen. UF hopes to name a new president by the end of the spring 2015 semester.

Steve Scott, the vice chairman of the board, was tasked to lead the search committee to find a new president as Machen intends to retire by the end of the year. Scott is expected to name search committee members in the weeks to come.

Bernie Machen has been a transformational leader, said David Brown, chairman of the UF board of trustees on Thursday. Even during the years when UFs declining resources threatened our progress, Bernie found ways to grow our research operation, launch an innovation district, open a new medical research facility and award more scholarships to low-income students. When we asked him to extend his service to UF, he not only answered the call but worked with the states educational and political leaders to find new resources to launch us on our path to pre-eminence.