Fuchs has served as the university’s interim president since Aug. 1, 2024, following the sudden resignation of Ben Sasse after just 17 months on the job. Fuchs previously served as the university’s full-time president from 2015 to 2023.
Landry is Hamilton Southworth Professor of Medicine and former chair of the Department of Medicine at Columbia in New York City. He previously served as the physician-in-chief at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
“The decision to come to the University of Florida was very simple. This is the opportunity of a lifetime,” Landry said. “The preeminent university in what one could argue is the preeminent state in this nation at this moment in time.”
Landry also is a member of the American Chemical Society, the New York Academy of Sciences, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians. In 2015, Landry, who holds 50 patents, was elected to the National Academy of Inventors.
“The publications, grants, U.S. patents and intellectual property spawned by Dr. Landry’s research are vast,” an October 2022 letter announcing his resignation as physician-in-chief says.
Landry was questioned by UF trustees at Emerson Alumni Hall about his views on antisemitism and the First Amendment as it relates to protests on campus, as well as diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, his ability to manage the various major construction projects on campus, and how he would handle other duties related to the office.
Landry called the meaning of DEI unclear and “vague” when programs first started popping up across the nation.
“By the time it crystalized it was clear that it had gone too far, and I think we can all be thankful that government has intervened and returned us to a rational meritocracy, because we need the best at every possible moment if we’re going to answer the challenges that face us in this state and this country,” he said.
When asked about UF’s success in athletics, Landry pointed out that he runs the 400 meters and that he was in Gainesville in March to compete in the World Masters Athletics Indoors Championships.
“The fact that, repeatedly, teams at this university compete at a level of excellence with integrity is actually a reinforcement of the values of the place at every level across its research, across its teaching, its clinical care. And I think the reinforcement is valuable in and of itself. There’s no inconsistency at this university. It’s uniformly excellent,” Landry said.
Fuchs was expected to serve as the interim president for less than a year while the university’s Presidential Search Committee looked for UF’s next leader. It thought it had found one in Ono, then the president of the University of Michigan (UM), and the UF board unanimously approved his candidacy on May 27.
Ono was promised a five-year compensation package worth up to $15 million, which would have made him one of the highest-paid public university presidents in the country.
But Ono soon was questioned by UF trustees about his past support of DEI and his stances on antisemitism and climate change. He faced even greater scrutiny in front of the BOG.
Leading up to his confirmation hearing on June 3, other Florida Republicans – including U.S. Reps. Greg Steube, R-Bradenton, and Byron Donalds, R-Naples, and former Gov. and now U.S. Sen. Rick Scott – also openly criticized Ono.
At the hearing, Ono was grilled for roughly three hours on his past support of DEI during his time at UM, his views on holistic versus merit-based admissions, his handling of pro-Palestinian protests on campus, gender-affirming care, climate change and his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the end, the vote to confirm Ono failed 6-10 — the first time in BOG’s history it voted down a university trustee board’s leadership selection.
Leading state Republicans who railed against the UF board’s selection of Ono quickly followed with a letter to the university urging that its next presidential search in less than three years be more of an “open process.” State law, however, requires such searches to be exempt from Florida’s open government laws.
UF trustees reponded in a letter to the lawmakers that it is important to shield the process from public view in order to attract the best candidates.
Trustee Rahul Patel, head of the UF search committee, noted during the process that 10 sitting university presidents were considered for UF’s presidency. “Confidentiality enabled us to engage top candidates who would not have otherwise participated,” the letter said.
The university is expected to begin its search for another permanent president in early 2026.
