University of Florida Calls in SP&A Executive Search to Help Find Next President
January 7, 2025 – SP&A Executive Search has been retained by the University of Florida to lead in its search for its 14th president. The school selected the search firm that led the efforts that found former president Ben Sasse, as well as the University of South Florida and Florida State University’s presidents. “The search committee is advisory and will ultimately recommend a small number of highly qualified candidates to the UF board of trustees,” said Mori Hosseini, chair, University of Florida board of trustees. “The board of trustees will interview the finalists and select the next president of the University of Florida, with the board of governors of the State University System ratifying. The committee will be assisted by an executive search firm selected by the board of trustees. The charge to the committee and brief biographies of committee members will be posted on a search website.”
“The committee begins its work in a momentous and transformative time for the University of Florida, which, in 2022, was first ranked as a Top 5 public university in the country,” Ms. Hosseini said. “The next president will have an opportunity to lead Florida’s flagship university in its quest to be firmly and consistently recognized among the most prominent and influential public and private universities in the country. With these distinguished and dedicated committee members in place, we can now begin our presidential search with the focus needed to ensure we identify the best leader to take the University of Florida into the future.”
At a December meeting, search committee chairperson and board of trustees member Rahul Patel said the committee had considered four firms before deciding to use the same firm that had “impressed” the last committee unanimously, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
The University of Florida is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, FL. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. The university traces its origins to 1853 and has operated continuously on its Gainesville campus since September 1906. It is the third largest Florida university by student population and is the fifth largest single-campus university in the U.S. with 54,814 students enrolled in fall 2023. The University of Florida is home to 16 academic colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes.
SP&A Executive Search (formerly known as Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates) is a boutique woman- and minority-owned executive search firm specializing in and exclusively dedicated to serving the higher education and non-profit sectors. Prior to establishing SP&A Executive Search, the firm’s consultants served in leadership capacities at leading national and international executive search firms.
Finding Higher Education Leaders
Over one-third of all the searches conducted by the firm have been for the positions of president and chancellor and an even larger proportion have been for the wide array of senior officers including: provosts, vice presidents for all functional areas, academic deans, directors, and other senior administrators.
Related: Academic Sector Pumping Big Fees Into Search Firms
Albert Pimentel co-founded SP&A in 2007 and has led and managed hundreds of search assignments for a variety of public and private universities and colleges, nonprofit organizations, and governmental agencies over the course of the past 20 years. He has recruited candidates for both academic and administrative positions for university systems as well as individual campuses.
Will Gates, co-founder and partner, has 15+ years of experience and has conducted more than 300 senior-level searches for colleges, universities, and nonprofits and in the fields of advanced technology, consumer goods, and biotechnology. He has conducted a number of high-profile searches and has recruited board members, chief executive officers, presidents, chief operating officers, executive directors, vice presidents, and directors. This has included work for Fortune 50, mid-sized, and small, rapidly growing corporations, as well as major philanthropic and educational institutions.
University of Arizona Search
In September, SP&A helped to recruit Suresh Garimella as the 23rd president of the University of Arizona. The unanimous board vote follows a comprehensive national search fueled by the work of the U of A presidential search advisory committee and informed by robust community feedback. He succeeds Robert C. Robbins. “Dr. Garimella is student-focused and considers himself first and foremost a faculty member. With a 35-year career in higher education, Suresh is engaging, a great listener and a collaborative leader,” said Arizona board of regents chair Cecilia Mata. “Wildcats are part of our state’s DNA, and Dr. Garimella has shown he is the right leader at the right time to heal and grow Arizona’s land-grant university.”
“One of the most exciting parts of this process was seeing the amount of quality leaders from across the country interested in becoming our next president,” said Cindy Rankin, associate professor of physiology and presidential search committee member. “This broad enthusiasm reinforced my long-held belief that the U of A is indeed a spectacular institution rich in tradition, deep in academics and connected with the community. Dr. Garimella stood out to me among the prospects. He is an internationally known scholar with the temperament and experience to unify our campus, and together capitalize on our uniqueness and strength to reach even greater heights. I’m honored to have been part of this truly collaborative effort to select our next president.”
Related: Why Universities Have Stepped Up Efforts to Involve Search Firms
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
