On Wednesday, the UF Board of Trustees voted unanimously to
select W. Kent Fuchs as its president-designate. Fuchs (pronounced “Fox”) is
currently the provost of Cornell.
Fuchs and FAMU President Elmira Mangum worked together for
years at the Ithaca, NY campus. Back in 2009, Fuchs hired Mangum as to serve as
the university’s vice-president of budget and planning.
“Elmira Mangum brings an extraordinary range of experience
to this key administrative role at Cornell,” Fuchs said at the time of the
appointment.
Fuchs also offered tremendous praise for Mangum when she accepted the presidential position at FAMU.
“We offer our heartfelt congratulations to Florida A&M
University for the selection of Elmira Mangum as its next president,” Fuchs
said in a news release. “This is a visionary choice by FAMU’s trustees and a
great accomplishment for Elmira.”
He added that: “This is also a loss for Cornell. Elmira has
helped skillfully manage our budget, and we will miss the leadership and
professionalism she brought to this mission. She has been a great leader and a
great friend, and everyone at Cornell wishes her well in her new and exciting venture
as FAMU’s president.”
Fuchs and Mangum have kept their professional ties strong.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Mangum’s name was on the list of references
that Fuchs submitted with his UF application.
The Fuchs presidency could be an asset to Mangum’s efforts
to build FAMU into an even more powerful research school. UF and FAMU, the two
land-grant universities of the state of Florida, already have a number of
research partnerships. Mangum and Fuchs’ past success in working together could
help the two universities expand their shared research initiatives, especially
in the critical STEM fields.