Attorney General James Uthmeier wants the agency overseeing the state’s public university to confirm Dr. Stuart Bell as president of the University of Florida.
State University System Board of Governors Chairman Alan Levine wrote to Chancellor Ray Rodrigues outlining “governance issues” at UF concerning the school’s board’s deferral to chairman Mori Hosseini on key decisions. That held up the BOG’s confirmation of Bell, who was unanimously approved by the UF Board of Trustees earlier this month.
In a letter sent Friday and addressed to BOG member Nicholas Sinatra and written on behalf of Uthmeier, general counsel Greg Slemp stated the university's board is "not out of compliance," and Levine is "incorrect to withhold consideration of the Trustees' nomination on that basis."
"Chairman Levine's assertions are not a legally correct basis on which to withhold consideration of the Board of Trustees' nomination of Dr. Stuart Bell to be the president of the University of Florida," the letter reads.
Uthmeier is a UF graduate who teaches at the school, a role that pays him $100,000 per year.
Trustees unanimously approved Bell as the school’s 14th president, and Bell was set to be confirmed by the BOG at its next meeting until Levine removed the item from the agenda, saying he was concerned about the “sweeping authority” granted to Hosseini.
In his letter to Rodrigues, Levine alleged Hosseini has been granted “financial, contractual and other delegations that I feel are problematic, inconsistent with best practices in governance,” and run afoul of state regulations.
“One board member may not substitute his or her judgment for that of the other duly appointed board members,” Levine wrote.
Uthmeier’s office, however, said Florida law "provides broad discretion for a university board of trustees to require university presidents to perform various duties, including obtaining approval of the board chair for the hiring and compensation of university personnel or for any other lawful purpose."
Rahul Patel, vice chair of UF’s board, called Levine’s letter “unfair” and said Bell's candidacy was being dragged into a dispute “unrelated to his candidacy.”
“Delaying consideration of the unanimously approved president designate of Florida’s flagship university is a consequential action that should be decided by the Board of Governors as a body, not by a single individual acting alone," Patel said.
UF has been searching for a president for two years after former president Ben Sasse resigned in 2024. Initially, former UF president Kent Fuchs took over on an interim basis, then Donald Landry took over the job – also on an interim basis – on Sept. 1, 2025.
In its search for a permanent president, the university approved former University of Michigan president Santa Ono in 2025, but the BOG rejected their pick with a 10-6 vote.
BOG members questioned Ono’s avowed reversal on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which he embraced at UM when he was president.
Bell has been criticized for the same thing by online activists, who say he backed DEI initiatives during his 10-year tenure as president of the University of Alabama.
In his meeting with UF leaders last week, Bell assured the board he would not enact DEI programs as president.
“Let me be clear. I am not coming to Florida to bring DEI or ‘woke’ back, period,” he said.
Before serving as president of the University of Alabama, Bell served as provost and professor of engineering at Louisiana State University and as dean of the School of Engineering and professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Kansas.
