June 2025 | Brittney J. Miller
For eight years in a row, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Florida’s higher education No. 1 in the country for its low-cost tuition and high graduation rates. Four Florida schools made it into the publication’s top 50 public universities in 2025 — the second most among all states.
At the same time, Florida’s higher education landscape has experienced considerable leadership turnover. More than a dozen presidencies have changed hands in the past three years amid retirements and politics.
Each new face — or familiar face, in some cases — brings different priorities and plans to Florida’s 12 state universities, 28 state and community colleges and 30-plus private educational institutions.
Amid the turnover, Florida Trend interviewed incoming and interim presidents about their goals and strategies for navigating the often-tumultuous world of higher education. The following interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
NEWCOMERS
JEANETTE NUÑEZ
Florida International University, Miami
Appointed interim president in February 2025
Before she held a statewide leadership position, Jeanette Nuñez was once a student at Florida International University. She later served as a Republican state representative for Miami-Dade County from 2010 to 2018 before landing the role of Florida’s Lieutenant Governor in 2018. Nuñez is the first woman and first FIU graduate to lead the school. Her appointment as interim president — reportedly at the request of Gov. Ron DeSantis—sparked backlash among some FIU Faculty Senate members, students and alumni. She told Florida Trend she hopes to be a candidate for permanent president.
IN HER WORDS ...
It’s really pivotal to be able to navigate the often-changing waters of politics and how those impact the university. ... Being able to take the reins at this time is going to continue to help elevate the university and bring much-needed attention, both externally and internally. Funding is always going to be key for FIU because we’re constantly striving to do more, be better, recruit more faculty, retain those doing good work. We’re always looking at what the next step and the next wave of growth is going to be.
Jeanette Nuñez earned a BA and a master’s degree from FIU and once taught a graduatelevel course on health policy at the university. She also served as a guest lecturer and adjunct professor.
I’m going to approach this position, no matter how long my tenure is, with a sense of urgency, making sure that we are taking the necessary steps to provide a very clear path ahead. ... That’s going to take a significant amount of investment and internal focus on the important areas that we consider to be our ‘centers of excellence,’ (including areas like the environment, resiliency, health and medicine, and technology and innovation).
For those that were detractors, I’d say just watch what I’m going to do for the university. If their lack of support is focused on what’s best for the students, I think they will quickly view my tenure here as something that’s going to be positive for our students’ success. I’m not afraid of detractors. I’m not afraid of people voicing their concerns. I love to prove people wrong. And for those that want to join me in the betterment of our students, I always have an open door.
DR. HARRY K. MOON
Nova Southeastern University, Davie/Fort Lauderdale Began presidency January 2025
Dr. Harry K. Moon started his journey at Nova Southeastern University — Florida’s largest private university, with more than 20,000 students — in 2018 as its executive vice president and chief operating officer. Leaning on his extensive medical background, which includes former executive roles at Cleveland Clinic Florida, he helped integrate 30-plus clinics to create NSU Health, a university-affiliated health care network.
IN HIS WORDS ...
The strategy is to fulfill the potential of our health care educational programs into clinical programs. We will partner with clinical entities to bring true patient care into our educational environment. I believe that the best patient care occurs in an environment of research and education. ... We also have a fabulous asset that sits in Port Everglades: the NSU Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center that is doing incredible, important work (researching sharks, sea turtles, coral and more). That has the potential to become the Woods Hole (Oceanographic Institution) of Florida.
Since we’re fundamentally a graduate and professional university — only 30% of our students are undergraduates — we can begin to address the greatest threat to higher education: its cost, or debt. We have begun programs to compress the time to complete bachelor’s and terminal degrees. This fall, we will begin the first program in our osteopathic medical program where you can obtain your degree in six years instead of eight. ... If you look at it from a return on investment, it makes incredible sense. We will do that in virtually every graduate and professional program.
Today is a very dynamic time. We’re seeing changes come from Washington, D.C., on a daily basis. They are affecting some schools more than others. ... We looked at our potential loss from our research programs from the indirect allocation, and we calculate that would be $1.6 million. It would be inconsequential to our operating budgets today. I attribute that to our efficiency in how we conduct research. ... Since we’re not a state university, we are not as exposed to some of the mandated changes. We can pursue our own fate without any other bias and weather the storm as it may come.
G.DEVIN STEPHENSON
Florida Polytechnic University, Lakeland Began presidency July 2024
G. Devin Stephenson, who holds a doctorate in higher education administration, served as president of Northwest Florida State College for about eight years before taking the helm at Florida Polytechnic University. He’s the second leader of Florida’s youngest state university, the state’s only public university wholly dedicated to STEM. His appointment prompted controversy among the school’s board of trustees, who voted 7-6 to give him the gig ahead of four other finalists with STEM backgrounds. (Three of the objecting trustee have since resigned or did not seek a second term.)
IN HIS WORDS ...
Some didn’t think I was a good fit because I didn’t have a STEM degree. But I do have a very solid education in the administration of higher education. ... When I interviewed for the job, I spent an hour with students in a forum. Would you believe no one asked me how to process a calculus problem? They wanted to know if I cared. I assured them I will be an engaged president. Some believed the students would revolt after three months, and it’s been just the opposite.
We have several goals — foremost is increasing enrollment to 3,000 students by 2030. We are on track. This past fall, we had the largest freshman class and the largest overall enrollment the institution has ever had. ... o get to that 3,000, we need to increase by 10% every fall. One way we do that is by expanding academic programs. You’re going to see a new master’s degree in engineering management come alive this fall. We now are accredited to offer online programming, and we’re going to start in our master’s program and then our bachelor’s program.
I’m not a DEI fan. I never have been. I’m really about MEI, and that’s merit, excellence and intelligence. ... However, I think it is important that we create a culture at the institution where everybody feels welcome. Engineering programs have been traditionally male. But this fall, we got (the most women we’ve ever enrolled) at 20%. So, while we’re not targeting a specific gender, race, ethnicity or philosophy, we have to open that funnel up at the very top of our recruiting.
Graduation rates are abysmal at about 41%. We’ve got to stabilize the curriculum. We put in place better advising and academic support services. We brought a company on board that utilizes peer tutoring to help students. In the fall, we will have what we call retreat pathways, (where students have alternatives if they’re struggling in their chosen major).
MOEZ LIMAYEM
University of North Florida, Jacksonville Began presidency August 2022
Before Moez Limayem became the University of North Florida’s seventh president in 2022, he served a decade as dean of the Muma College of Business at the University of South Florida. The Tunisia native also previously served as the associate dean for research and graduate programs at the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business.
IN HIS WORDS ...
Retention is the foundation of everything we do. Churn is the evil of student success. If you’re losing a big portion of your students, you cannot talk about their success, right? The tactic is changing the mindset. Retention is a team play — everyone’s job is retaining our students. ... We broke the all-time UNF record for retention from fall 2024 to spring 2025 at 95.7%. That is amazing. The thing that was one of our biggest challenges is now one of the highest in the country. Our retention was always in the 70s.
In the last two years, we (received) $30 million in recurring funding (from the Florida Legislature) and much more for improving our infrastructure. That is the highest we’ve ever had. We’re very grateful. That gives us a good, reasonable baseline. We are in the middle of the pack in terms of funding. But as we grow, we’re going to fall even more behind. I would say that is our biggest challenge: How do we bring resources that will help us grow strategically to our goal? Yes, we have a record increase in salaries, but it took us many decades to fall behind. It’s really hard to solve that problem in two or three years.
We need to tell our story better than ever before, so people understand we are providing close to 5,000 graduates every year to this region. Better social media presence, more communication. When I landed here, the one thing I heard the most was ‘UNF is the best-kept secret.’ I don’t like that. I don’t like ‘secret.’ We need to communicate in different channels the great things happening at UNF and also have compelling, audacious slogans and brands that go with it.
We welcome the University of Florida here. (UF is opening a new graduate campus in Jacksonville, which will include the Florida Semiconductor Institute.) We’re working with them on different collaborations that will lead to one plus one equals five. We’ve been making progress with UF, and I think hopefully that collaboration will come to fruition. At UNF, we have open arms with sister institutions, and we’re going to work with them for the good of our students and community.
ADAM HASNER
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton Presidency began March 2025
Adam Hasner, raised in Palm Beach County, calls Florida Atlantic University his “hometown university.” Before he became the school’s eighth president, he was a Republican state representative for the region from 2002 to 2010, including two terms as House Majority Leader. He championed FAU’s college of medicine and ocean energy initiative during his legislative career and secured funding for a building for the school’s college of engineering. Hasner won out over two academics for the role. Most recently, he was an executive at the GEO Group, a private prison contractor. He also served for a decade on the FAU College of Business Dean’s Advisory Board.
IN HIS WORDS ...
We’re at $100 million in funded research. We have the potential to double that and be part of innovation in the state university system and more regionally on the Treasure Coast. ... We’re going to compete on differences. No one else has six campuses that stretch the coastline from Fort Lauderdale to Fort Pierce. We have a really unique advantage to secure more research funding in areas unique to our geographic location. Whether it’s ocean energy, innovative marine research or Department of Defense naval research, I think that sets us apart from a lot of folks.
The flip side of being in one of the most dynamic regions of Florida is the fact that we have cost-of-living challenges. We also have an inadequate amount of on-campus housing. And when you move from on-campus to off-campus, you’re now competing in a marketplace with people from all over the world, which makes housing very expensive. That’s adding to retention challenges for incoming sophomores when they move off campus, or graduate students. Another is recruiting and retaining high-quality faculty and staff because of how expensive the region has become. ... Being able to secure resources from Tallahassee and philanthropically — that becomes a big part of attracting and retaining students and then high-quality faculty.
We’re well poised to capitalize on the political changes taking place. We’re able to make this a welcoming campus — I would say, personally, the most welcoming campus for Jewish life in the country. While there are a lot of people on the receiving end of changes and can’t adapt, I think we’re well-positioned in a state university system that has been ahead of the curve on changes coming out of the federal government. When it comes to fiscal accountability, responsibility and transparency, I think Florida is a leader.
TOREY ALSTON
Broward College, Fort Lauderdale Presidency began February 2025
Torey Alston, Broward College’s newest president, comes off several stints in local and state government. He was previously chief of staff at the Florida Department of Transportation and sat on the Board of Trustees for FAMU. More recently, Gov. DeSantis tapped Alston to serve on the Broward County Commission in 2021 and the Broward County School Board in 2022. (Alston lost a 2024 re-election bid for the school board.) Alston follows two acting presidents at Broward College, with former President Gregory Haile’s 2023 resignation catalyzing a frenzy of leadership changes.
IN HIS WORDS ...
The Board has tasked me with securing funding from our Legislature, state agencies and other partners specifically around our STEM, health sciences and nursing areas. That is a major priority for me and for the college.
One secret ingredient (for boosting enrollment): communication and direct engagement. That is getting directly into all high schools. That’s directly engaging families from the ninth grade, so by the time a junior or senior is making that college decision, Broward College is No. 1. That’s engaging adult learners regularly via different marketing avenues, so when they are looking to add a new credential, Broward College is top of mind. I’m excited that we’re putting some initiatives in place, and I think that we’ll begin to see enrollment go north. Enrollment is already up 8% compared to the last two years, so I think we’re in a really good spot.