University of Florida President Kent Fuchs announces plan to step down after this year

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - University of Florida President Kent Fuchs announced he is stepping down from his position later this year.

Fuchs broke the news in a video released Wednesday morning, also saying that he plans to take a sabbatical after stepping down, before returning to teaching as a professor of electrical and computer engineering at UF.

Fuchs is expected to serve as university president through the fall 2022 semester, with a new president being appointed shortly after.

Kent Fuchs has been president at UF since January of 2015. He is the 12th president in University of Florida history.

His legacy includes realizing the school’s long-term goal of becoming a top-ten public university nationwide, and more recently also includes controversy about professors and academic freedom, which is still being played out in the legal system.

Fuchs was quick to embrace online interactions with students and faculty from his first day on the job, so it’s no surprise that he made this announcement in a video shared on social media.

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