The University of Central Florida’s Presidential Search Committee selected seven applicants to invite to campus on Thursday for in-person interviews.

The applicant pool includes a remarkable depth of academic scholarship and accomplishment, including candidates with membership in the prestigious National Academy of Medicine and National Academy of Engineering, and affiliation with institutions in the Association of American Universities, which represents the country’s leading research universities.

“From a very strong pool of applicants I am pleased with our choices of academic scholars with impeccable records of achievement,” said Trustee William Self, an associate professor in the College of Medicine and a member of the Search Committee. “These candidates are world-renowned in their disciplines and also strong academic leaders that have led or are currently leading large and complex academic and health enterprises in higher education. I am confident that from this strong pool of candidates we will find our next President and that this leader will be a proud member of the faculty in their discipline.”

Candidates who will move forward in the process are:

  • Barbara Boyan, Alice T. and William H. Goodwin Jr. Dean of College of Engineering and Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University; and member, National Academy of Engineering
  • David Brenner, Vice Chancellor, Health Sciences, and Distinguished Professor, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego; Adjunct Professor, Salk Institute for Biological Studies; and member, National Academy of Medicine
  • Amr Elnashai, Vice President/Vice Chancellor for Research and Technology Transfer, University of Houston
  • Vistasp Karbhari, President, University of Texas at Arlington
  • Richard Larson, Executive Vice Chancellor and Vice Chancellor for Research, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
  • Cato Laurencin, University Professor; Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery; Chief Executive Officer, The Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering, University of Connecticut; Director, The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center for Biomedical, Biological, Physical and Engineering Sciences; member National Academy of Medicine and National Academy of Engineering
  • Javier Reyes, Vice President for StartUp West Virginia; Milan Puskar Dean of the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, West Virginia University

Beverly Seay, who chairs the Search Committee and the UCF Board of Trustees, praised the quality of the candidates interested in leading UCF.

“This whole process has been very eye-opening, producing high-quality candidates who are equipped to build a future at UCF that addresses our opportunities and our challenges,” Seay says. “It will be a valuable exercise for us to bring these individuals to campus and to learn from them. I encourage our campus community to take advantage of the opportunity to hear from this group of leaders with very different backgrounds and perspectives.”

Candidate interviews will be conducted in person during a meeting of the Search Committee, scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, March 5, in the Key West Ballroom of the Student Union. Livestreams for that meeting, available for viewing only as a live broadcast, will be as follows:

Morning session: https://youtu.be/RcAizO0KKjQ

Afternoon session: https://youtu.be/e4M0m0dD-0w

The schedule for the first-round interviews on Thursday is:

7:30am – 8:00am Committee Briefing

8:00am – 9:00am Barbara Boyan

9:15am – 10:15am David Brenner

10:30am – 11:30am Amr Elnashai

11:45am – 12:45pm Vistasp Karbhari

12:45pm – 1:30pm Lunch Break

1:30pm – 2:30pm Richard Larson

2:45pm – 3:45pm Javier Reyes

4:00pm – 5:00pm Cato Laurencin

5:15pm – 6:15pm Debrief

On Tuesday, Search Committee members also discussed the possibility of considering additional candidates who may apply later.

The Search Committee will recommend candidates to the Board of Trustees. Then, finalists will return to campus after spring break for open forums and campus visits. The campus community will have the opportunity to provide feedback on each of the finalists.

The Board of Trustees will vote on the selection of the president. Then, the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state’s public universities, will vote on whether to confirm the selected candidate.