Florida Poly in Lakeland picks five finalists for successor to President Randy K. Avent

Florida Polytechnic University is closer to naming a successor to President Randy K. Avent.

The Lakeland school released a list of five finalists for the position on Monday, less than a week after a search committee interviewed applicants. The finalists are H. Keith Moo-Young, David P. Norton, Daniel W. O’ Sullivan, G. Devin Stephenson and Bjong Wolf Yeigh.

Moo-Young is vice provost and dean of undergraduate education at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. Norton is vice president for research and a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Florida. He also serves as president of the school’s Florida Research Foundation.

O’ Sullivan is vice provost and a professor of chemistry at the U.S. Naval Academy. Stephenson is president of Northwest Florida State College in Niceville. Yeigh is the former chancellor and a professor of engineering at the University of Washington-Bothell.

The presidential search committee announced the list of finalists after holding a vote on Thursday. The names will be presented to the university’s board of trustees for consideration. The final choice must be approved by the State University System's Board of Governors.

“Our search committee thoroughly reviewed, vetted, and interviewed a vast pool of exceptionally qualified candidates to identify and recommend these finalists,” Beth Kigel, vice-chair of the Florida Poly board of trustees and chair of the Presidential Search Committee, said in a news release. “I extend my gratitude to the members of the search committee for their time and commitment to ensuring a successful process and to the candidates engaged in the application and interview process for their enthusiasm and desire to help shape the future of Florida Poly.”

The finalists will next face in-person interviews with the university board of trustees, as well as campus forums with stakeholders such as students, faculty and staff, the release said. The schedule of interviews and campus visits will be available soon on the presidential search website.

H. Keith Moo-Young

Moo-Young holds a master’s degree and doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and an executive master’s in technology management from the University of Pennsylvania. He previously served as chancellor at Washington State University Tri-Cities from 2013-2018, and dean of the College of Engineering at California State University, Los Angeles from 2006-2013.

Earlier in his career, Moo-Young was associate dean for research and graduate studies at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where he also served as interim dean, and was a tenured professor in civil and environmental engineering at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society of Civil Engineers, American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists and National Academy of Inventors.

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David P. Norton

Norton earned his bachelor and doctorate degrees at Louisiana State University. He became vice president for research at the University of Florida in 2012 and oversees a research enterprise of $1.25 billion per year, the release said.

Previously, he was as associate dean for research in the UF College of Engineering from 2009 to 2012 and a faculty member in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering since joining UF in 2000.

Before joining UF, Norton worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for 11 years. He has published more than 370 refereed journal articles with over 17,000 citations, and is an inventor on 10 patents and has presented more than 70 invited presentations at national and international presentations.

Daniel W. O’ Sullivan

O’ Sullivan has served the Naval Academy in its Division of Mathematics and Science curriculum and assessment committees, as chair of the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee, vice president of the Faculty Senate, chairman of the Chemistry Department, and senior professor for the Division of Mathematics and Science. He also became vice academic dean in 2017.

He is an associate editor for the journal Marine Chemistry and has published numerous research articles. He has been recognized for his research contributions with two NASA Group Achievement Awards and the USNA Civilian Faculty Research Excellence Award.

O’Sullivan graduated magna cum laude from Millersville University with degrees in chemistry and earth science. He performed his graduate work at the University of Rhode Island, earning a doctorate in Chemical Oceanography, and received a Rosenstiel Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami.

G. Devin Stephenson

Stephenson has extensive experience in community college executive administration, having served in president/CEO positions in Alabama, Missouri and Kentucky for more than 15 years, the release said. He holds a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Alabama.

He served on the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools board of trustees and chaired its Compliance and Reports Committee, currently serving as a visiting committee chair.

Stephenson is Florida’s representative on the Southern Regional Education Board’s executive council. He is a speaker on leadership, organizational change and professional and personal development, the release said.

During Stephenson’s tenure at Northwest Florida State College, the foundation’s assets have increased to over $63 million, grant acquisitions have surpassed $66 million and enhanced legislative appropriations have exceeded $40 million, the release said.

Bjong Wolf Yeigh

Yeigh served as chancellor at the University of Washington-Bothell from 2013 to 2021 and oversaw the doubling of student enrollment, the release said.

Previously, he was a professor and president of the State University of New York Institute of Technology from 2008 to 2013. Yeigh also was vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont; engineering dean at Saint Louis University, in St. Louis, Missouri; and assistant provost for science and technology at Yale University.

Yeigh is an elected fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and serves on several national and state boards for engineering, economic development, public policy and education, including the ASME Board of Governors as an elected at-large member.

He earned his undergraduate degree in engineering science from Dartmouth College, a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and a master’s and doctorate in civil engineering and operations research from Princeton University. Yeigh is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and served as a tactical intelligence officer during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Avent's departure

Avent announced last summer that he would retire at the end of the spring semester and return as a professor following a sabbatical. He is the only president Florida Poly has had since it began holding classes in 2014.

Avent, 65, recently received a Fulbright-Schuman Innovation Award and will spend a year conducting research at the University of Barcelona, Florida Poly announced. He will study the role of academic research in driving economic development, with a special emphasis on the contrast between the current European and American models.

Florida Poly, the newest state university, specializes in STEM subjects — science, technology, engineering and math. It is the second-smallest member of Florida’s State University System, with about 1,540 students, but is rapidly growing.

A 15-member committee led by Kigel is conducting the search for a new president.

The Florida Legislature passed laws in recent years making the search for university presidents a largely secret process. The names of applicants are concealed, and schools are only required to disclose their finalists.

The search committee included four trustees: Mark Bostick, a Winter Haven business owner; Lyn Stanfield, who leads the global inclusion and diversity external relations team at Apple; Gary C. Wendt, chair of Deerpath Capital Management and of its investment committee; and David Williams, former dean of the College of Engineering at Ohio State University.

Two faculty members, Sanna Siddiqui and Matt Bohm, serve on the committee, along with Melia Rodriguez, president of the Florida Poly Student Government Association.

The panel also includes Lakeland City Commissioner Stephanie Madden; Wesley Barnett of Winter Haven, a community and business leader and grandson of Publix Super Markets Founder George W. Jenkins; Bud Strang of Winter Haven, president and CEO of Six/Ten LLC; Jack Harrell III, COO of a fertilizer company and chair of the Florida Poly Foundation board; and Donald H. Wilson Jr., a Bartow lawyer and a founding member of the Florida Poly board of trustees.

Florida Poly originated as a satellite campus of the University of South Florida. Former Florida Sen. J.D. Alexander, a Lake Wales Republican, engineered legislation in 2012 to establish Florida Poly instead as a standalone university.

The school has 73 professors and a staff of 154, according to a fact sheet on its website. The average entering freshman has an SAT score of 1342 and a high school grade-point average of 4.25, the school reports.

The school offers undergraduate degrees in such subjects as applied mathematics, computer science, cybersecurity engineering and data science. It also has graduate programs in four areas.

Avent has presided over the growth of the student population, which numbered just 540 in the school’s first year. Florida Poly opened its second academic building, the Applied Research Center, last year. The school has built two student residences on campus, and a third is now under construction.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Florida Poly picks five finalists for successor to President Avent