Former Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, who was appointed interim president of Florida International University in February, is the sole finalist to become president of the Miami-based school, the chairman of a search committee announced Thursday.
Carlos Duart, an FIU trustee who led the search committee, wrote in a message to the university community that the committee selected three finalists, but two said they would only continue to a public phase of the process if they were chosen as the lone candidate.
“As a result, these two finalists withdrew their candidacy,” Duart wrote. “Given her proven record of leadership and unique qualifications, the committee unanimously agreed to move Interim President Nuñez forward as its sole finalist for consideration by the FIU Board of Trustees.”
The trustees and the state university system’s Board of Governors would have to approve hiring Nuñez as president. Duart’s message said Nuñez will take part in campus forums on May 21 and the Board of Trustees will meet June 2 to formally interview her.
The announcement came after the University of Florida on Sunday said University of Michigan President Santa Ono is the sole finalist to become UF president. UF conducted a search after former President Ben Sasse resigned last year.
Nuñez has a history with the school
Nuñez, a Miami Republican who received bachelor’s and master’s degrees at FIU, left the lieutenant governor’s job to become interim president. She replaced Kenneth Jessell, who had served as FIU’s president since 2022.
While the FIU Board of Trustees did not specifically discuss Nuñez serving as president on a more-permanent basis at the time she took the interim post, trustee Dean Colson during a Feb. 7 meeting indicated the “probable results of the search are already known.”
Duart’s message Thursday said the search committee selected as finalists Nuñez and a “sitting president and sitting provost at other institutions.” He did not identify the other two candidates.
State law provides public-records and public-meetings exemptions for information about candidates to become university presidents, though the identities of final candidates are released as they are vetted publicly. The Florida House this spring tried to get rid of the exemptions, but the Senate did not go along.
Duart wrote that FIU is “central to Interim President Nuñez’s life and that of her family.”
“Interim President Nuñez’s distinguished career and commitment to further cement FIU’s position as a leader in higher education in Florida and across the country make her an excellent leader for FIU at this pivotal point in our university’s journey,” he wrote.
Nuñez, who also is a former state House member, is making an annual base salary of $850,000 as interim president and is eligible for a bonus up to 15 percent, according to information released in February.
The announcements this week about Nuñez and Ono being the sole finalists for the FIU and UF jobs have come amid heavy turnover in leadership of state universities and colleges.
For example, former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner was chosen in February to become president of Florida Atlantic University. Also, Florida A&M University last month announced the names of four finalists to become its president, and University of South Florida President Rhea Law has announced she is stepping down.
