Former Mahomet resident W. Kent Fuchs appointed as the twelfth president of the University of Florida by the Florida Board of Governors last week.
Fuchs (pronounced fox) lived in Mahomet with his wife, Linda, from 1985 to 1996 when he worked as a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Coordinated Science Laboratory at the University of Illinois.
He then went on to Purdue University until 2002 when he was the Joseph Silbert Dean of Cornell University College of Engineering.From 2009 to 2014 Fuchs served as the provost of Cornell University.
At Cornell, Fuchs, 59, developed a strategic plan for achieving preeminence as one of the world’s top-10 universities and launched a university-wide initiative to enhance Cornell’s academic stature. Among his major accomplishments was his role in the university’s selection by New York City to build a graduate school of applied sciences on Roosevelt Island. Fuchs led the effort for Cornell, which in partnership with Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is building Cornell Tech on 12 acres the city provided.
Fuch’s experience overseeing a $2.2 billion operating budget and 6,600 full-time employees, and enhancing diversity through Cornell’s Toward New Destinations program made him attractive to the University of Florida.
Over his career, Fuchs was personally responsible for raising $1 billion in gifts, including donations of $130 million, $80 million and $50 million.
“With the great privilege and responsibility you have given me, I will devote all of my energies, talents and abilities to helping move the University of Florida toward its preeminence goals,” Fuchs said in a speech. “We won’t be complacent. We will focus on being an even greater institution than we are today.”
Fuchs, whose full-time duties will begin on January 1, will replace President Bernie Machen who will step down at the end of the year.
