TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez is expected to resign this week to be named interim president of Florida International University, according to three people aware of the school’s plans but not authorized to discuss them publicly.
The imminent departure of Nuñez would give Gov. Ron DeSantis yet another high-profile position to fill in the top ranks of state government amid a monumental reshuffling of Florida politics after President Donald Trump’s election win.
It also could give DeSantis a chance to find a lieutenant governor who could be auditioning as a potential replacement. The popular conservative governor is term-limited and cannot run again in 2026. He recently announced plans to raise money to help a potential successor.
DeSantis recently appointed Ashley Moody, who had been the state’s attorney general, to the U.S. Senate after Trump named Marco Rubio secretary of State. He still needs to fill the attorney general position, as well as the job of chief financial officer, as current CFO Jimmy Patronis is expected to win the congressional seat that had been held by former Rep. Matt Gaetz. DeSantis has already said he intends to appoint James Uthmeier, his chief of staff, as Moody’s replacement.
FIU’s Board of Trustees is expected to hold a meeting Friday, when it will name Nuñez as interim president. The school’s current president, Kenneth Jessell, has a contract that doesn’t expire until later this year. CBS Miami first reported the news that Nuñez will be stepping down to accept the FIU position.
Nuñez, a Miami Republican and former state legislator, was picked by DeSantis as his running mate in 2018 with the encouragement of many in the GOP, including Rubio. One of her signature legislative achievements was her backing of a bill that allowed the children of those who entered the country illegally to qualify for in-state tuition rates at Florida colleges and universities.
But DeSantis has called for the repeal of that law, and Nuñez last month publicly endorsed the move. The Legislature passed a bill last week that would end the in-state tuition break, but DeSantis has sharply criticized other provisions in the legislation and said he plans to veto it.
Reports recently surfaced about FIU’s potential leadership shift and rapidly evolved into reality Wednesday, when a special board of trustees meeting was suddenly called for Friday.
Notably, the upcoming agenda has a lone item that includes not just a presidential search, but also the “selection” of a new leader.
The school’s current president has been in charge since 2022 and long served as FIU’s CFO before being chosen to replace Mark Rosenberg, who abruptly resigned amid allegations he harassed a university employee.
While Jessell’s contract expires Nov. 9, there had been no public indication that FIU was looking for a new president, and no search committee had been formed to find a new leader. Typically, university presidential searches can take months to unfold.
The path for Nuñez — and other politicians like former Sen. Ben Sasse — to land top jobs at Florida universities was paved in part by a 2021 law passed by the GOP-dominated Legislature that shielded presidential searches from many public records laws.
Universities are only required to reveal presidential finalists to the public, not who applied, and schools can name a sole finalist at the end of a search. That was the case when the University of Florida chose Sasse as president in 2022, shockingly announcing the Nebraska senator as the only finalist and detailing no other candidates who applied.
DeSantis, in recent years, has steered significant reforms to Florida’s higher education system by remaking trustee boards and through policies like banning diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. The GOP governor spurred an overhaul at New College of Florida by appointing new conservative trustees to focus the school on “classical” education, and recently named several new trustees at University of West Florida.
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