TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Atlantic University on Monday picked a former Republican lawmaker as its leader in what is the latest example of a public university in the state picking someone with a political background for such high-paying posts over experienced academic leaders.
The board of trustees of the university in Boca Raton picked Adam Hasner to be the school’s next president, following a lengthy and controversial search process that resulted in FAU tossing out its initial slate of finalists.
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The announcement comes as Gov. Ron DeSantis works to expand his influence on education in the state.
State officials called off the school’s previous presidential search after a Republican state senator then-aligned with DeSantis was not named as a finalist.
After FAU relaunched the search, Hasner, a former Republican majority leader in the Florida House, emerged as a finalist. Now a vice president at Florida-based private prison company GEO Group, Hasner beat out two academics for the role: a dean at Florida State University and the provost of the University of Maine.
Hasner argued his experience representing Palm Beach County in the Capitol gives him an edge over the university administrators vying for the job, saying a president’s top responsibility is to be their school’s “top lobbyist.”
“If you’re coming from the outside and you’re trying to get to know the Florida legislative process or the regulatory process in Florida, it’s going to take somebody years to be able to do that,” Hasner said. “I can hit the ground running on Day One.”
Hasner’s appointment came over the concerns of some students and faculty members who questioned his political background, his lack of experience in higher education and his work for GEO Group, which stands to profit from President Donald Trump’s push for mass deportations.
FAU, which serves more than 31,000 students, has been without a permanent president for more than two years, after then-president John Kelly stepped down in December of 2022.
Hasner’s pick comes just days after Florida International University in Miami announced it’s tapping Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez — DeSantis’ second-in-command — to be that school’s interim president, without conducting a public search.
___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.