Drew Wilson
University of Florida President Ben Sasse on Tuesday appointed Dr. J. Scott Angle as provost of the state’s flagship university. Angle had previously held the title on an interim basis.
“Many of the folks on our excellent search committee recommended that we take the ‘interim’ out of his title. Effective immediately, we’re doing just that,” Sasse said.
“We had some extraordinary semi-finalists and finalists, but we decided not to make an offer when Scott is doing such excellent work. Scott has earned the trust and admiration of his colleagues in each of UF’s 16 colleges. We are grateful for his servant leadership and his commitment to this land-grant university’s world-changing mission.”
Angle took over the role from Joseph Glover, who served as UF’s Provost for 15 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and a master’s degree in soil microbiology and chemistry from the University of Maryland. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri with an emphasis on soil microbiology, and he is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
“Serving UF is a great honor, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to continue this important work,” Dr. Angle said. “We are going to accomplish extraordinary things together.”
Sasse said search committee co-chairs, Dr. Saby Mitra and Dr. Duane Mitchell, will continue to serve as advisers on UF’s academic excellence initiative, helping advise him and Angle on important reforms within the Provost’s Office.
“Over the last five months, Scott has broken down bureaucratic silos. This is critical work that enables the provost to focus on the core mission of serving as UF’s chief academic officer,” Sasse said. “Reaching our 10x10x10 objective — 10 top 10 programs in the next 10 years — depends on a new structure that allows the provost to execute our bold mission rather than exclusively tending to the operations of every bureaucratic process. Whether it’s harmonizing our academic budget with the CFO’s office or leveraging data to improve student outcomes, we’ve got a lot of work ahead, and Scott has rolled up his sleeves.”
Mitra added, “Dr. Angle will bring incredible expertise and leadership to the role of Provost. He is the absolute right person for the job, and his commitment to UF is evident in everything he does. I look forward to all the outstanding work I know he will do for the university.”
