Florida Gulf Coast University is down to one candidate in the search for a successor to retiring President Mike Martin, after two finalists dropped out in the past week.

Robert Gregerson, president of the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg and a former dean of FGCU’s College of Arts and Sciences, will be the only finalist considered by the school’s Board of Trustees during a meeting Thursday.

FGCU on Monday announced that State University of New York Polytechnic Institute President Tod Laursen dropped his bid.

A post on the FGCU website said Laursen withdrew because he “finalized another opportunity that is a better fit for him and his family.”

Susana Rivera-Mills, provost and executive vice president at Ball State University, withdrew her candidacy Tuesday. FGCU said in a web post that Rivera-Mills decided to stay at Ball State.

The decisions by Laursen and Rivera-Mills came after FGCU trustees this month delayed the selection of a president.

It also came after the University of Florida had a sole finalist for its presidency, Republican U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska.

Sasse was confirmed as UF president last week.

Under a controversial new state law, universities can perform presidential searches largely in secret and only are required to disclose the names of finalists at the end of searches.