Citizens Insurance CEO, health care CEO reappointed to new terms on the Board of Governors overseeing State University System of Florida

A health care executive and an insurance executive were reappointed to seats on the Board of Governors (BOG) of the State University System that they’ve held since 2017.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the reappointments of Timothy Cerio, President/CEO and Executive Director of the Citizens Property Insurance Corp., and Alan Levine, Chairman and CEO of Ballad Health, just prior to their terms’ expiration next month.

It’s coming just as those seats are due to get hotter than in years past. The BOG is in the midst of implementing controversial rules at the state’s 12 institutions, including a new prohibition against the state-run universities using federal or state dollars for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Also, the BOG recently approved rules that will make it so that tenured faculty at these state-run institutions will have to undergo performance reviews every five years. It’s the result of 2022 legislation seen as advancing DeSantis’ wish to change the culture of higher education. Critics, however, see the policy leading to tenured faculty fleeing to institutions that don’t have that policy.

These two policies, in addition to another which requires people to use the restroom that corresponds to their sex assigned at birth, have transformed BOG meetings from sleepy affairs to more contentious forums.

Cerio came to Citizens from GrayRobinson law firm and had previously served as General Counsel to former Gov. Rick Scott. He started leading Citizens just as the Legislature directed the government entity to resume its role as the state’s insurer of last resort.

Levine, who donated $13,200 to Ron DeSantis for President this year, is the Vice Chair of the BOG. In his career, he now leads an integrated health system that operates 21 hospitals, home health services, pharmacies, skilled nursing facilities, rehabilitation services and behavioral health services.

His company serves a region of Appalachia that covers northeast Tennessee, southwest Virginia, eastern Kentucky and western North Carolina, according to the biography on the BOG website.

He’s informed health policies and led health policy for various Governors’ administrations, including Jeb Bush, DeSantis, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Tennessee Gov. Bob Lee and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Both men received their undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Florida.