The University of Florida’s board of trustees unanimously selected Dr. Donald Landry to serve as interim president starting Sept. 1.
Landry, an endowed professor of medicine at Columbia University, is chairperson emeritus of Columbia’s Department of Medicine and former physician-in-chief at New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by George W. Bush in 2009 for his “diverse and pioneering research and his efforts to improve the well-being of his fellow man,” and holds over 50 patents.
His research has included alternative ways of harvesting stem cell lines from embroys that did not survive in vitro fertilization as opposed to human embryos, as well as solutions for addiction and kidney disease.
Last year, as chair of the the American Academy of Sciences and Letters, he conferred an award to Stanford University’s Jay Bhattacharya, now director of the National Institutes of Health, for “outstanding courage in the defense of intellectual freedom.”
Board Chairperson Mori Hosseini highlighted the rankings and stature of Landry’s department under his leadership.
The pick comes after the unprecedented rejection by the state Board of Governors of the university’s pick for its next president earlier this summer.
Following the move, interim president Kent Fuchs’ contract was extended until Sept. 1. Fuchs has served in the role since former President Ben Sasse stepped down.
Landry called coming to UF “the opportunity of a lifetime” at a time higher education is facing crises nationwide.
“I come from New York City, from Columbia,” he said. “I’ve seen the difficulties, and I watched in awe at the way the University of Florida has handled this difficult moment.”
Landry said he planned to continue the “culture of excellence, the respect for freedom of expression, and yet the respect of the inviolability of the right to learn and the right to teach.”
“It’s a nonpartisan organization,” he said. “We have a full spectrum of members, liberals to conservatives. We don’t choose sides.”
Hosseini told Landry that UF was home to the the most Jewish students in the country and was firmly committed to being against antisemitism. The university isalso committed to free speech, he said, and asked Landry to share his perspective.
Landry said he would emphasize safety and free speech and referred to seeing actions at Columbia that emboldened students to act more “recklessly.”
“We really do need to have universities that are neutral,” he said. “A neutral university, paradoxically, in this nation, at this moment, would be a conservative university. … We wouldn’t choose sides. There wouldn’t be constant pronouncements that divide the faculty into those who are aligned and those who are not, dividing the students.”
Landry said he believed the university could support “a wide range of speech on topics we dislike.”
“At a minimum, we will not allow disruption, and that’s what the (UF) board did,” he said.
The Columbia student newspaper reported that in 2020, Landry was early among those at the university to part ways with the name Samuel Bard, a slave owner. Landry retired a named professorship and the university’s former president later renamed a building.
Search committee chairperson Rahul Patel asked his thoughts on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts — a topic that tanked former pick Santa Ono’s path to the presidency when Board of Governors members expressed doubts about his stance.
“When DEI first emerged, it was a bit vague what it actually meant, and you could define the words to be many things,” Landry said. “By the time it crystallized, it was clear it had gone too far and I think we can all be thankful that government has intervened and returned us to a rational meritocracy.”
Landry spoke of how he increased funding for his department by 300 percent. He reorganized howresearch was done, he said, and recruited a highly coveted researcher that was part of that transformation. A “series of superstar recruits” led to a center that regularly brings in $20 to $30 million in research dollars, he said.
“I think the University of Florida is well on its way in this realm, attracting stars and building programs that are pre-eminent enough,” he said. “Pre-eminent programs create a pre-eminent university, and the funding will come with it.”
Faculty board member Luisa Amelia Dempere asked what Landry would to help retain faculty and continue to recruit top-notch faculty.
Landry said he prided himself in prior positions for “not letting people leave without a fight,” and said he wished to focus on rewarding people who contribute exceptionally and continuing to explore child care options for faculty.
Others askedforhis thoughts on post-tenure review, a controversial move taken by the state. Landry said he saw the review as merely a codification of existing expectations. He said he thought most faculty would likely meet standards of productivity, but said he was more interested by creativity and innovation.
“Productivity is important, but it’s not the pinnacle,” he said.
Meera Sitharam, chair of UF’s faculty union, said while her hopes were tempered that the next leader was simply someone who would “not do bad stuff,” she was “incredibly thankful that it isn’t another political appointee.” She praised Landry’s academic credentials.
“I think that that sort of solid research reputation, scientific reputation, by itself, counts for something,” she said. “That basically means that the person knows how to think critically and is open minded and can distinguish between complete nonsense, the sort of pie-in-the-sky kind of theories and questioning expertise that we see, and something solid.”
The selection was also lauded online by the likes of Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist and New College of Florida board member.
The appointment is subject to confirmation from the Board of Governors. Details of the interim contract are still in the works. The university expects to relaunch its search for a full-time president by spring 2026.
Times staff writer Jeff Solochek contributed to this report.