| Job Description: |
Key Responsibilities
This scholar-leader will combine distinguished academic credentials with exceptional institutional leadership in support of the following key responsibilities:
- Serve as the University’s chief academic officer and principal advisor to the President on academic matters.
- Develop, articulate, and execute a compelling academic vision aligned with UF’s mission, strategic priorities, and aspirations for national and international leadership.
- Work collaboratively with deans, faculty, academic leaders, students, and staff to establish university-wide academic priorities and translate them into measurable outcomes.
- Strengthen UF’s position as a premier public research university and enhance its academic reputation, impact, and competitiveness.
- Identify emerging opportunities for academic innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and institutional distinction.
- Recruit, retain, develop, and recognize a world-class faculty committed to excellence in teaching, research, and service. Champion excellence in teaching, research, scholarship, creative activity, clinical practice, and public service.
- Strengthen faculty development, mentoring, leadership development, and career advancement.
- Ensure that promotion, tenure, evaluation, compensation, and recognition systems support academic excellence and institutional priorities.
- Foster a culture characterized by intellectual vitality, academic freedom, professional respect, transparency, collegiality, and shared responsibility.
- Work with the Board of Trustees, Florida Board of Governors, and other governing bodies on academic matters and regulatory requirements.
Critical Leadership Capabilities
The next Provost should demonstrate exceptional capability in the following areas:
- Visionary Academic Leadership: The ability to articulate a bold, coherent academic vision and translate that vision into priorities, investments, structures, and measurable results.
- Institutional Scale and Complexity: The capacity to lead across a large, comprehensive research university with wide-ranging academic disciplines, professional schools, health sciences, research enterprises, and external constituencies.
- Faculty Credibility and Trust: The intellectual standing and authenticity to earn the respect of faculty while engaging constructively with differing perspectives and maintaining strong standards of academic excellence.
- Strategic Resource Allocation: The ability to make difficult choices about people, programs, facilities, and financial resources while protecting academic quality and investing strategically in areas of opportunity.
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Talent Leadership: A demonstrated ability to identify, recruit, develop, retain, and empower exceptional faculty, deans, and academic leaders.
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Collaboration Across Boundaries: The ability to break down institutional silos and create productive partnerships among colleges, disciplines, research centers, health sciences, students, industry, government, and communities.
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Change Leadership: Organizational skills to lead significant changes while maintaining institutional stability, engaging stakeholders, communicating clearly, and preserving trust.
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Student-Centered Leadership: A genuine commitment to ensuring that academic excellence translates into exceptional educational experiences and outcomes for students at every level.
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Research and Innovation Leadership: The ability to identify emerging opportunities, make strategic investments, and position UF for greater research impact, innovation, entrepreneurship, and national leadership.
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Public and Land Grant University Stewardship: An appreciation for the distinctive responsibilities of a public land-grant university and its obligations to students, the state of Florida, and society, including a commitment to connecting the University’s academic and research strengths with the needs of communities across the state.
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Governance and Political Acumen: The judgment to navigate effectively among faculty governance, university administration, trustees, state-level governance, government partners, and external stakeholders while maintaining the integrity of the academic mission.
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Communication and Relationship Building: The ability to communicate a compelling vision, listen deeply, explain difficult decisions, build coalitions, and represent the University with credibility and confidence.
Data-Informed and Technology-Enabled Leadership: The ability to use evidence, analytics, emerging technologies, and artificial intelligence thoughtfully to improve academic quality, institutional effectiveness, research productivity, and student success.
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Student Success and Educational Excellence: Advance an outstanding undergraduate, graduate, and professional educational experience.
Leadership Priorities
The successful candidate will be expected to work with the President and University community to:
- Define and execute a compelling next-generation academic strategy for UF.
- Further elevate UF’s standing among leading public research universities.
- Recruit and retain exceptional faculty and academic leaders.
- Strengthen research competitiveness and interdisciplinary collaboration.
- Advance educational innovation and student success.
- Identify strategic opportunities presented by artificial intelligence and other transformative technologies.
- Strengthen academic program quality, relevance, and sustainability.
- Build greater alignment among university-wide priorities, college strategies, and resource allocation.
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Foster a culture of academic excellence, innovation, intellectual openness, shared governance, and institutional trust.
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Advance UF's land-grant mission by strengthening the University's engagement and impact across the state of Florida, while extending its national and global reach.
Total Rewards
As one of the nation’s top public research universities, The University of Florida is dedicated to elevating benefits offerings that support the wellbeing of faculty and staff and to be responsive to a range of individual and family needs. The salary for this role will be commensurate with experience.
About the University of Florida
UF, the state’s flagship institution, is a top-ranked public research university located in Gainesville. With 16 colleges, a major academic health center, and championship-winning athletics, UF is a leader in education, research, and innovation. Its 2,000-acre campus integrates historic charm with state-of-the-art facilities and preserved natural spaces, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. Ranked 7th among U.S. public universities in the 2026 U.S. News Best Colleges rankings, UF continues to drive advancements across multiple fields.
As Florida’s land-grant university, UF has a distinctive responsibility to translate its strengths in education, research and innovation into meaningful impact for the people and communities of Florida. Through its statewide reach and partnerships, UF connects academic expertise and discovery with the needs and opportunities of a rapidly growing and changing state.
With over 62,000 students, 33,000 employees, and a $10 billion annual budget, UF is among the largest and most well-funded universities in the nation. A member of the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU), UF boasts 6,600+ faculty, including National Academy members and award-winning scholars. In 2026, UF research expenditure surpassed $1.34 billion, demonstrating a strong commitment to discovery and technological advancement. UF’s entering Class of 2030 is the largest and most academically qualified in the university’s history, with 7,725 students selected from 96,000 applicants. The university leads in artificial intelligence education, incorporating AI into 200+ courses taught by 300 AI-focused faculty, supported by HiPerGator, the most powerful university-owned supercomputer in the U.S.
UF’s strength lies in its comprehensive academic offerings, robust state support, and forward-thinking vision. With continuous growth and transformation, UF is dedicated to its mission “to be a premier university that the state, nation, and world look to for leadership.” For more information, visit www.ufl.edu.
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