Briefing: University of South Florida

Updated June 12, 2025

The purpose of the HEA Briefing is to give administrators an understanding of the political landscape of the institution and its location to help them improve their political IQ and awareness. This information was collected manually and no AI was used in this HEA briefing.

The HEA Brief includes:

Situational Summary
Location
2024 Election Results
Institutional Profile
USF Leadership Bios + Recent News
Political Leadership
- Federal
- State + Local
Resource Publications

Situational Summary

USF is searching for its next president. No updates on the search since a late February 2025 letter in which the Board of Trustees Chair wrote to the search committee that USF is once again utilizing SP&A executive search firm to find its next president.

Outgoing president is Rhea Law who has been president since March 2022 and is the first USF alum to serve as USF president. She will remain in the position until a successor is named, but no indication yet on if that will delay the AD search. She was previously a USF trustee. Several USF trustees will be up for re-appointment or new appointees, mostly by the government, in the next two years.

There will be a new Florida Governor during the 2026 gubernatorial election as Governor DeSantis finishes his second term. State law doesn’t have a specific term limit but does stipulate the Governor cannot serve more than six years in two consecutive terms.

USF broke ground in November 2024 for its new on-campus football stadium after receiving BOT approval in September 2023. Anticipated cost is $348.5 million with a 2027 completion date.

USF generates a $6.02 billion economic impact, per Economic Impact Report

Location

Tampa, FL – Hillsborough County
Campus Address: 4202 East Fowler Avenue
Distance to State Capital (Tallahassee): 270 miles
Distance to Tampa International Airport: 16 miles
Population:
- City of Tampa: 384,959
- Tampa Bay Area (Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater): 3,175,275

2024 General Election Voting

Hillsbourough County Election Results
Typically a Blue-leaning city in a swing county in a Red state
79% voter turnout in 2024 general election
Presidential (State + County Voted Republican)
- State: Republican 56.1%; Democrat 43%
- County: Republican 50.68%; Democrat 47.63%
US Senator (State + County Voted Republican)
- State: Republican 55.6%; Democrat 42.8%
- County: Republican 50.51%; Democrat 47.49%
US House – District 14
- County: Democrat 54.55%; Republican 44.05%
US House – District 15
- County: Republican 53.55%; Democrat 46.45%
US House – District 16
- County: Republican 54.31%; Democrat 45.69%

2022 Governor Election Votes (State + County Voted Republican)
- State: Republican 59.37%; Democrat 39.7%
- County: Republican 54.17%; Democrat 44.95%

Institutional Profile

Founded in 1956
Urban university located 10 miles from downtown Tampa
- Main Campus: Tampa
- Other campuses: Sarasota-Manatee; St. Petersburg
University-Wide Fall 2024 Enrollment: 37,338 Undergrad; 10,666 Graduate
Designated as R1 – Very High Research Activity
Joined AAU in 2023 – Association of American Universities
Designated by Florida Board of Governors as 1 of 3 preeminent state research universities (UF + FSU)
Ranked 91st in National Universities and 45th in Top Public Schools, per US News & World Report

USF Leadership

Below are relevant names and, when possible, linked biographies of institutional and area leaders, including Board of Trustees, President, President’s Cabinet, and President Search Committee.

Board of Trustees

Board of Trustees consists of 13 members, 6 appointed by Governor and 5 appointed by Florida Board of Governors and confirmed by Florida Senate for five years. Elected Faculty Senate President and Student Government President both serve as trustees, too.
Archived Meeting Information
William “Will” Weatherford, Chair (term expires 2026)
- Managing Partner of Weatherford Capital
- Previously served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives
- Co-chaired the Super Bowl LV Host Committee
- Recruited to play football at Jacksonville University
Michael E. Griffin, Vice Chair (term expires 2025)
- Vice Chairman and Co-Head of Florida Region for Savills (commercial real estate services)
- Served as Student Body President and charter student member of the Board of Trustees as a USF student
Charbel J. Barakat (appointed in February 2025)
- Vice President and Counsel for Public Policy for D.R. Horton (national homebuilder)
- Served as Vice Chair of the Board of Supervisors for the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (special district governing Walt Disney World Resort)
- Alumnus of NYU School of Law; and Johns Hopkins University
Sandra “Sandy” Callahan (term expires 2025)
- Served as CFO of TECO Energy Inc. until retiring in 2016
- Serves on the boards of Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo and the Tampa Club
- Alumnus of University of Baltimore and a licensed CPA
Michael Carrere (term expires 2026)
- Former CEO of Lykes Brothers Inc. and still serves on its Board of Directors (Agribusiness that manages large acreage of land for cattle ranching, farming, forestry, hunting, land/water resource management)
- Alumnus of Washington and Lee University; and Duke University
N. Rogan Donelly (term expires 2026)
- President/CEO of Tervis (drinkware tumblers)
- Passionate about diving and helping reduce waste in oceans and restoring coral reefs
- Served on the Governor’s Industry Working Group Task Force for COVID-19 pandemic
- Alumnus of Bowdoin College; and USF’s Muma College of Business
Oscar Horton (term expires 2028)
- President/CEO of Sun State International (commercial truck transportation)
- Alumnus of University of Arkansas
Sumit Jadhav (represents as Student Government President)
- Current USF student body president and previous roles for USF student body as VP and Senate President Pro-Tempore
Lauran Monbarren (term expires 2025)
- CFO/VP of Simpson Environmental Services and Simpson Farms (environmental remediation firm)
- Previous administrator at Pasco-Hernando State College (FL) and a teacher at Pasco County Schools
- Alumnus (x2) of Saint Leo University
- Appointed by Governor DeSantis, she is the daughter of then Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson (R)
Shilden Patel (term expires 2026)
- CEO/Founder of HealthAxis (Healthcare IT)
- Co-Founder and Chairman of the TiE Tampa Bay Angel Fund to help support Florida startups
- Alumnus of University of Columbia’s EMBA-Global MBA degree between Columbia’s business school and the London Business School; and Babson College
Fredrick Piccolo (term expires in 2026)
- President/CEO of Sarasota Bradenton International Airport after starting his aviation career as a janitor at the Buffalo International Airport and working up through facilities/property management
- Served as Chairman on the Board of Directors of Airports Council International, which brings all airports in the world into one organization
- Alumnus of SUNY Buffalo
Melissa Seixas (term expires in 2026)
- President of Duke Energy Florida with mostly a background at the company in customer service and community engagement
- Serves as the Chairwoman of the Board for the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership
- Alumnus of Eckerd College; and USF’s master’s degree in American History
David Simmons (represents as Faculty Senate President, term expires in 2026)
- President of the USF Faculty Senate
- Professor of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering at USF
- Spent 6 years as a professor at University of Akron
- Alumnus of University of Texas; and University of Florida
Recent BOT + President Search News

President

President: Rhea F. Law

Retiring but remaining on until successor is selected
8^th president and first alumnus to serve as president
Academic Discipline: Law
Founding member of the USF Board of Trustees
Prior to USF presidency, served as former CEO and Chair of the board of Fowler White Boggs (Law firm) in her 35+ year legal career

President’s Cabinet

Outgoing AD Michael Kelly was on cabinet and held VP title
Dr. Prasant Mohapatra, Provost + Executive VP for Academic Affairs
Dr. Charles J. Lockwood, Executive VP for USF Health + Dean
Eric Eisenberg, Senior VP for University-Community Partnerships
Angie Sklenka, Senior VP + Chief Human Resources and Administrative Officer
Gerard D. Solis, Senior VP for Legal Affairs + General Counsel
Jay Stroman, Senior VP for Advancement and Alumni Affairs
Paige Beles Geers, VP + Chief of Staff
- Previously served in former Governor (current US senator) Rick Scott’s administration. Also worked in the State University System Board of Governors.
Christian E. Hardigree, Regional Chancellor of USF St. Petersburg campus
Brett E. Kemker, Interim Regional Chancellor of USF Sarasota-Manatee campus
Dan Caterinicchia, VP for Communications and Marketing + Chief Marketing Officer
Jennifer Condon, VP + Chief Financial Officer
Dr. Synthia DeLuca, VP for Student Success
Sidney Fernandes, VP for Digital Experiences + Chief Information Officer
Sylvia Wilson Thomas, VP for Research and Innovation
Mark Walsh, Assistant VP for Government Relations
Frank McKenzie, Executive Director of the Global and National Security Institute and Florida Center for Cybersecurity
Darren Schumacher, Special Advisor to the President

Presidential Search Committee

The task of this advisory committee is to bring a short list of candidates to the USF Board of Trustees. Being asked to be on the presidential search committee is an indication of institutional importance and internal/external stakeholders, which is why this was included.

Mike Griffin – USF Board of Trustees vice chair, co-head of Florida Region and Vice Chairman of Savills
Charbel Barakat — USF Board of Trustees; general counsel, D.R. Horton, Inc.
Derrick Brooks — Board member, EVP Corporate and Community Development, Vinik Sports Group; motivational speaker; NFL Hall of Famer; board member, Kforce, Inc.; president and founder, Derrick Brooks Charities
Sandra “Sandy” Callahan — USF Board of Trustees; former chief financial officer, TECO Energy
John Couris — President and CEO, Tampa General Hospital
Alexa Grubbs — USF third-year student, Judy Genshaft Honors College
Oscar Horton — USF Board of Trustees; president and chief executive officer, Sun State International Trucks
Ken Jones — Florida Board of Governors; founder and managing partner, Third Lake Partners
Merritt Martin — USF Foundation Board of Directors; vice president, Public Affairs and Strategic Communications; chief of staff, External Affairs, Moffitt Cancer Center
Andrew “Andy” Mayts, Jr. — USF Financing Corp. and USF Property Corp; partner, Public Sector co-chair, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP
Harold “Hal” Mullis — Past chair, USF Board of Trustees; president, Trenam Law; Board of Governors designee
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider — Interim dean, USF College of Education; professor, USF College of Education Literacy Studies
Debbie Sembler — USF St. Petersburg Campus Board; vice chair, USF Foundation Board of Directors
Sylvia Wilson Thomas — USF vice president for Research & Innovation; president & CEO of the USF Research Foundation, Inc.; professor of engineering
Andrea Gonzmart Williams — USF Foundation Board of Directors; fifth-generation owner and operator, Columbia Restaurant Group

Politicians

Below are relevant names with linked biographies of federal, state and local politicians representing the area that includes University of South Florida.

Federal

US Representative: Laurel Lee (R)
- Sworn into office January 2023
- Previously served as FL Secretary of State in Governor DeSantis’ administration
- University of Florida (BA + JD)
US Senator: Ashley Moody (R)
- Sworn into office January 2025
- Previously served as FL Attorney General in Governor DeSantis’ administration
- University of Florida (BS + MA + JD); (Stetson University (LL.M.)
US Senator: Rick Scott (R)
- Previously served two terms as Governor and now is in his second term as US Senator
- Attended University of Missouri, Kansas City

State + Local

Governor: Ron DeSantis (R)
- Elected Governor in 2018 with a margin of .4% and won re-election in 2022 with a 19.4% margin
Lieutenant Governor: Vacant
- Previous Lt. Gov., Jeanette M. Nunez, was selected as FIU president in June 2025
Secretary of State: Cory Byrd (R)
- Appointed into office in May 2022 by Governor DeSantis after serving in the FL House of Representatives
- University of North Florida (BA); St. Thomas University (JD)
Attorney General: James Uthmeier (R)
- Previously served as Governor DeSantis Chief of Staff
- Helped win national championship as a member of the University of Florida T&F/CC teams
- University of Florida (BA, BS, MA); Georgetown (JD)
President Pro Tempore State Senator: Jason Brodeur (R)
- University of Florida (BS + MBA); Dartmouth (MPH)
House Speaker Pro Tempore: Wyman Duggan (R)
- The University of the South (BA); William & Mary (JD)
State Senator: Darryl Ervin Rouson (D)
- Xavier of New Orleans (BA); University of Florida (JD)
State Representative: Fentrice Driskell (D)
- Also serves as Minority Leader of FL House of Reps.
- Harvard (BA); Georgetown (JD)
Tampa Mayor: Jane Castor (D)
- Elected in 2019.
- 1,000+ point scorer for University of Tampa women’s basketball and played on the first volleyball team. She is in their Hall of Fame.
- Served as Tampa’s first female Chief of Police for six years.

Resource Publications

The publications below were vetted as helpful resources for someone wanting to know the institutional, business and political landscape at USF and in the Tampa Bay area.