U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, on May 20 criticized the University of Florida’s decision not to include interim President Donald Landry as a finalist for the university’s 14th president and questioned Landry’s $2 million severance package.
UF on May 18 announced Stuart Bell, the former president of the University of Alabama, as its sole finalist for president.
“I personally do not know Dr. Landry or have enough familiarity as to whether he would be the right person to lead UF,” the former Florida governor wrote in a letter to State University System of Florida Chancellor Raymond Rodrigues. “But what I do know is that Dr. Landry has a clause in his contract that he would be awarded a multimillion-dollar payout if he failed to become the permanent president at UF. That is crazy.”
Landry’s severance pay is in addition to his $2 million base salary and a performance bonus of up to $500,000, bringing his maximum compensation for eight months leading UF to $4.5 million.
UF interim President Donald Landry speaks during the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new HiPerGator4 supercomputer at the University of Florida’s East Campus Data Center on Oct. 14, 2025, in Gainesville.
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Scott, in the letter, called for an investigation into Landry’s contract and an explanation from UF’s search committee for why he was passed over. He urged lawmakers and the next governor to reform UF’s contracting and presidential search processes.
“It is vital that our incoming state leaders next session consider outlawing the abdication of any State University Board’s work to fully review and vet their governance policies,” he wrote.
Scott criticized the search process for lacking transparency and for mirroring the university’s previous presidential search, which named former University of Michigan president Dr. Santa Ono as its sole finalist.
UF’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved Ono as president-elect last year, but questions soon emerged about his past support of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at UM, his views on climate change, and his stance on antisemitism. The Florida Board of Governors, the governing body overseeing the state’s 12 public universities, ultimately voted down Ono’s appointment. It was the first time in BOG history that it rejected a university trustee board’s leadership selection.
Following Ono’s rejection, UF emphasized the need for the Presidential Search Committee to keep the process confidential to attract top candidates.
Bell , if confirmed by UF’s trustees and the Board of Governors, could earn up to $3 million annually.
Scott also took issue with Attorney General James Uthmeier’s $100,000 salary at UF, noting in the letter that professors who teach comparable hours earn roughly $5,000. He argued that UF should prioritize student outcomes and job placement over inflated salaries for faculty and administrators. The average salary for a UF graduate six years after graduation is $56,000, he said, compared to an average professor salary of $150,000.
“Some of you may be asking yourself, why the hell does Rick Scott care about who the president of UF is. I care because I want every kid to have the same chance to live the American dream as I had,” Scott wrote. “The American dream starts with getting a great education as a path to a good paying job.”
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Scott slams UF presidential search as Bell named sole finalist
