The University of South Florida Board of Trustees on Thursday elected Mike Griffin as chairman.
He replaces Will Weatherford, who is stepping down from the role, but will remain on the board.
Griffin, a USF graduate, will serve a two-year term. A unanimous selection by trustees, he had been serving as acting chair since April, when Weatherford announced he would leave the position after five years.
The trustees also elected Oscar Horton to serve as vice chair for a two-year term.
Griffin, known as "Mr. USF," was the board's vice chair since 2021and led the school's two most recent presidential search committees, including the 2025 effort that led to the hiring of Moez Limayem.
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Griffin’s involvement with his alma mater dates to his time as a student leader. Before graduating in 2003 with a degree in business administration, he served two terms as student body president and was the first student representative on the original Board of Trustees.
“I am humbled to be elected chairman of the Board of Trustees for the University of South Florida, an institution that I have been deeply passionate about since I first stepped foot on campus as a freshman,” Griffin said in a statement.
He is the first former USF student body president to become chair of the Board of Trustees.
Griffin, 46, is vice chairman and co-head of the Florida region for the real estate firm Savills and previously served as chairman of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.
“I don’t know anyone who loves this university more than Mike Griffin," Weatherford said. "He bleeds green and gold. Just an incredible person, leader and a driving force for good at the university."
During Weatherford's term, USF achieved a record $750 million in research funding, joined the Association of American Universities and expanded support for athletics. He also helped guide USF's response to the state-mandated transfer of its Sarasota-Manatee campus to New College of Florida.
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Weatherford, a former speaker of the Florida House, is a managing partner of Weatherford Capital, a family-owned private investment firm. The firm recently became connected to an athletics business strategy to infuse up to $500 million in non-equity capital to the Big 12 Conference.
Horton, president and CEO of Sun State International, joined the USF board in 2018 and serves on several Tampa Bay area boards — including Tampa General Hospital, an academic partner of the university.
The USF board includes 13 members, six appointed by Florida's governor, five by the State University Board of Governors, plus the faculty senate president and student government president.
