Florida Poly trustee resigns after casting losing vote on choice of next president
The contentious vote on the next leader of Florida Polytechnic University has already produced fallout.
Hours after the board of trustees voted 7-6 to hire G. Devin Stephenson as the school’s next president, one of the dissenting trustees resigned. David B. Williams, who strongly advocated for the trustees’ second choice, H. Keith Moo-Young, submitted his resignation in a terse email Monday night.
“It is no longer an honor to serve on the Board of Trustees of Florida Polytechnic University so I resign, effective immediately,” Williams wrote.
Williams’ photo and biography had been removed from the Florida Poly website by Thursday morning.
Williams, appointed to the board in 2022, is a professor of materials science and engineering at Ohio State University. He served as dean of the College of Engineering from 2011-2021. His term on the board of trustees was scheduled to end on July 15.
Williams could not be reached for further comment.
The 13-person board held a virtual meeting Monday to consider five finalists for president of Florida Poly. In addition to Stephenson and Moo-Young, the finalists were David P. Norton, Daniel W. O’ Sullivan and Bjong Wolf Yeigh.
During a lengthy discussion before the vote, Stephenson and Moo-Young quickly emerged as the two favorites. Stephenson is president of Northwest Florida State College in Niceville and previously served in community college executive administration roles for more than 15 years in Alabama, Missouri and Kentucky.
Moo-Young is vice provost and dean of undergraduate education at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
While a majority of trustees expressed a preference for Stephenson in an informal roll call before the vote, Williams and others emphasized that he was the only finalist with no background in STEM — science, technology, engineering and math. Florida Poly is the only state university that specializes in STEM curriculum.
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In Monday’s meeting, Williams forcefully urged the selection of Moo-Young rather than Stephenson. He described Rensselaer Polytechnic as the best polytechnic university in the country.
“Dr. Moo-Young is one of the only two candidates to have led a university,” Williams said in his British accent. “In that university, he accomplished all the objectives that we look for in our president. And he does not need to tell us what he plans to do, because he's done it. And his accomplishments are clearly presented in his CV (resume) and application that we all read, and they spanned decades of senior university leadership.”
Williams noted that he was taking part in his 10th search for a president of a college or university. As the discussion continued, he made slighting references to Stephenson’s current school as a “community college.” Northwest Florida State College is part of a network of state schools that originated as community colleges and now offer some bachelor’s degrees.
“I think that we need, again, to look at what we're trying to accomplish here, and we are trying to do things at a university – and a STEM university,” Williams said. “And so, I believe, as I said right at the start, we need somebody who's done it, not somebody who says they can do it.”
Later, Williams shared details about the relatively low graduation rate at Northwest Florida State College, which is typical for such schools. He suggested that STEM institutions fall into two categories — those focused on engineering, such as Rensselaer Polytechnic, and those focused on technology, such as Purdue Polytechnic Institute in Indiana.
“And picking him (Stephenson), I think, will take us down that path rather than take us along the path to RPI and ultimately to MIT of the South,” Williams said.
Several trustees mentioned an aspiration for Florida Poly to become a southern version of MIT, considered the nation’s premiere school for science and technology.
Williams was not the only trustee who vigorously opposed the hiring of Stephenson. Mark Bostick, a business executive from Winter Haven, employed strong language in arguing that Moo-Young was the better choice.
Before the vote, Bostick described the process as being “somewhat railroaded.” He suggested that hiring Stephenson would be “a disaster,” given his background, and warned that Florida Poly would become “a laughingstock.”
Bostick added: “Everybody needs to vote their conscience on what's best for the future of Florida Poly, and I'm not going to sell my soul to a guy from a community college with no STEM background.”
The Ledger sent an email to Bostick requesting an interview. In a reply, he shared a note from Corporate Secretary Kristen Wharton to the trustees, reminding them that under their bylaws the chair serves as the spokesperson for the board.
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Cliff Otto, the board chair, did not respond to an email sent Wednesday.
The trustees voting for the motion to offer Stephenson the job were Vice Chair Beth Kigel, Dorian Abbot, Patrick Hagen, Jesse Panuccio, Ilya Shapiro, Sidney W. Theis and Otto. Those voting no were Ajeet Kaushik, Laine Powell, Melia Rodriguez, Lyn Stanfield, Bostick and Williams.
Abbot, Hagen, Panuccio, Shapiro and Theis were all appointed to the board last year by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Kaushik is a Florida Poly faculty member, and Rodriguez is the student representative.
Florida Poly President Randy K. Avent, who has led the school since it opened in 2014, announced last summer that he would retire at the end of this academic year.
After Monday’s vote, the trustees directed General Counsel David Fugett to negotiate a contract with Stephenson. His appointment requires approval by the Board of Governors of the State University System.
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 trustee resigns over board's choice of next president
