UF Board of Trustees unanimously selects Dr. Stuart R. Bell as the 14th president of the University of Florida
The University of Florida Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to select Dr. Stuart R. Bell as the University of Florida’s next president.
Dr. Bell will become UF’s 14th president, pending ratification by the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the State University System of Florida. The Board of Governors is expected to vote on Bell’s ratification at its next meeting on June 25.
“The Board of Trustees’ unanimous vote today is a resounding and undeniable show of support for Dr. Stuart Bell, who is exactly the right leader at the right time for the University of Florida,” said Mori Hosseini, UF Board of Trustees Chair. “Dr. Bell’s vast experience, solid character and strong leadership ability will be critical in taking UF to the very highest ranks of U.S. higher education.”
Prior to his tenure as president of the University of Alabama from 2015 to 2025, Dr. Bell served as provost and professor of engineering at Louisiana State University and as dean of the School of Engineering and professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Kansas. He is also widely recognized for his research and publications on natural gas and combustion engines and was inducted into the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 2023.
Dr. Bell earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and his B.S. in nuclear engineering from Texas A&M University. He has been elected to membership in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Automotive Engineers and the National Society of Professional Engineers.
“I am extremely honored and humbled by the Board of Trustees vote today, and I’m eager to join the Gator Nation and get to work. The University of Florida is exceptional in every respect, and I know there’s no limit to what we can all accomplish together.” —Dr. Stuart Bell
Rahul Patel, Board of Trustees vice chair and chair of UF’s Presidential Search Committee, said Dr. Bell was selected from among hundreds of potential candidates and quickly rose to the top as the best choice.
“I am grateful to the members of UF’s Presidential Search Advisory Committee for selecting Dr. Bell, who is eminently qualified to be UF’s 14th president,” Patel said. “I look forward to working with Dr. Bell as he guides the University of Florida to the next level.”
Among his leadership roles, Dr. Bell serves or has served on the Executive Committee for Academic Affairs of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, on the Board of Directors for the Center for Science Education at the University of Kansas, as the Chairman of the Academic Advisory Council for the NSF’s Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets based at the University of Kansas, and as a trustee of the ASME Foundation.
Dr. Bell is expected to succeed current Interim President Donald Landry. Dr. Bell was announced May 18 as the sole finalist selected by UF’s 15-member Presidential Search Committee. As required by Florida law, the Presidential Search Committee was responsible for designing the search criteria, identifying and vetting a broad pool of qualified candidates, and recommending finalists to the Board of Trustees.
