FPL IT chief Alan Gonzalez to serve on FIU board of trustees

A longtime Florida Power & Light (FPL) executive has been appointed to the Florida International University (FIU) board of trustees, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Office.

Alan Gonzalez of Miami Lakes is the principal information technology administrator for FPL. He’s worked for the state’s largest utility for the past 25 years, working as an information technology manager starting in 1998.

Gonzalez received both his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from the same 55,000-student institution he will be helping to guide from the boardroom. His bachelor’s degree from FIU is in finance and his master’s is in business administration. He’s also an IBM-certified associate and certified as an information system auditor by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association.

Trustees serve on FIU’s board without pay for staggered, 5-year terms, according to the institution’s bylaws.

FIU recently went through a presidential search after its longtime leader, President Mark Rosenberg, resigned under a cloud of scandal after 13 years at FIU’s helm after a female employee alleged that he asked her to be his lover.

Rosenberg’s right-hand man, Kenneth Jessell, the school’s longtime financial officer, was the only finalist announced to replace him. He is among the few new leaders at Florida’s state-run higher education institutions who is not a Republican politician.

Ray Rodrigues, who served four terms in the House and one in the Senate, became the Chancellor of the State University System of Florida last September. Ben Sasse was a U.S. Senator from Nebraska before becoming President of the University of Florida in February. Richard Corcoran, the former state Commissioner of Education and Speaker of the House, recently became president of New College in Sarasota. And recently, Republican Rep. Randy Fine of Brevard County disclosed that he was encouraged to apply to become President of Florida Atlantic University.

DeSantis has sought to change the priorities of the state’s higher education institutions to purge them of so-called “woke” policies, targeting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts for elimination.

Gonzalez’s appointment is subject to Senate approval.