FIU to name Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez interim university president on Friday
Florida International University’s Board of Trustees is expected to name Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez interim president on Friday, according to two sources familiar with the school’s plans.
Nuñez will be appointed to FIU’s top leadership post during a special meeting announced Wednesday to discuss a “presidential search and selection,” according to the sources — among four who told the Herald/Times that the lieutenant governor will be picked to lead the largest university in South Florida.
Nuñez, a former healthcare lobbyist and FIU alum is expected to resign from her post in state government on Friday, one source told the Herald/Times. She has served as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ top lieutenant since January 2019.
A spokeswoman for Nuñez and representatives of the governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The university’s current president, Kenneth Jessell, has a three-year contract that is set to expire on Nov. 8. Jessell did not respond to a text message. A university spokeswoman declined to comment.
Jessell was named interim president in January of 2022 following the sudden exit of longtime president Mark Rosenberg. The Board of Trustees then gave Jessell the job officially in October of that year, signing him to a contract with an annual salary of $650,000, a $130,000 retirement supplement, a car allowance and other benefits.
Nuñez currently earns $135,515 as lieutenant governor.
Discussions about picking Nuñez — a former state representative from Miami-Dade County — have been ongoing, as the Herald/Times reported last month. As president of FIU, Nuñez would lead a university that boasts an enrollment of 58,000 students and an operating budget of $1.9 billion. She holds a master’s degree in public administration but does not have experience in academia or a PhD.
Nuñez’s move to FIU, however, would be the latest example of a politician being picked to helm a public university in Florida at a time when DeSantis has tried to remake the state’s higher education system by targeting what he has characterized as “woke indoctrination” on college campuses. It also comes amid an effort to recruit Donald Trump’s presidential library to the school’s Sweetwater campus. Nuñez, a Republican, was co-chair of Latinos for Trump in 2020.
An FIU insider said Nuñez’s quick appointment is being pitched as the best way for the state-funded school to score more dollars from the Florida legislative session that begins March 4.
“We’ve never gotten our fair share of dollars,” the insider said. “With Jeanette as president, we ought to do very well with the Legislature this year and next year” before DeSantis leaves office.
From DeSantis’ office to FIU president
Nuñez’s move creates a vacancy at the top levels of state government.
DeSantis, who must leave office in January of 2027, must now appoint a new lieutenant governor. He recently said he is looking for a conservative successor to support during the 2026 election season. The Florida Constitution requires there be a lieutenant governor but does not outline a timeline for how quickly one must be selected.
In Florida, a university’s board of trustees is required to conduct a search to select a presidential candidate. So, even if Nuñez is appointed on Friday, she would still have to go through a formal selection process. Candidates need to be confirmed by the state university system’s Board of Governors.
A 2022 Florida law allows universities to keep the names of presidential candidates secret until a final group of applicants is established — or 21 days before a candidate is chosen for the job.
Shortly after news came out Wednesday that Nuñez would be taking the helm at the university, faculty members sent a letter to the Board of Trustees saying they want the school to renew the current president’s contract, which is set to expire in November.
“His achievements during his first three years have been excellent, and he has navigated FIU through a difficult time,” Noël Barengo, the chair of the FIU Faculty Senate, wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the Herald/Times.
Barengo added that Jessell “fostered a culture of collaboration, transparency and shared governance.”
Under Jessell’s leadership, FIU became first in the nation for the success of low-income students. The university was recently named among the top 100 in the country by U.S. News & World Report.
Nuñez recently reversed course on her decade-long support for in-state tuition for undocumented students. In 2014, she helped enact the policy that allowed thousands of students to pay reduced rates on tuition. But as DeSantis pressures state lawmakers to repeal that policy, Nuñez conceded and said the policy had “served its purpose and run its course.”
This story was originally published February 5, 2025 at 3:14 PM.
