Machen named to lead U. of Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida on Wednesday named James "Bernie" Machen, the president of the University of Utah, to become its next president and the leader of the state's flagship university.

Machen was selected by the university's Board of Trustees over finalists William Jenkins, president of the Louisiana State University System; and Richard Herman, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The selection ends a nine-month process to replace Charles Young, who is retiring after four years as president.

The three, pulled from an 11-member list of candidates interviewed earlier in the week by a selection committee, were interviewed individually Wednesday by the Board of Trustees. The trio also met individually and in separate forums with faculty, students and alumni.

Machen, 59, who drives a red Harley-Davidson motorcyle and often wears blue jeans to work, has been leader of the Salt Lake City university for six years. A dentist by trade, Machen was dean of the University of Michigan and then became provost and academic vice president.

Machen told the trustees two factors attracted him to the UF president's job — the faculty and students and the strive toward excellence.

"At most universities the search for excellence has gone, it has turned into a search for survival," he said.

"I don't think there is a job better than a university president's job in the country today," Machen said.

Jenkins, 66, a native of South Africa, was trained as a veterinarian. As president of the Louisiana State University System, he oversees nine universities and 10 public hospitals.

Herman, 62, held administrative positions at the University of Maryland and Pennsylvania State University before becoming assuming his current post.

Manny Fernandez, chairman of the search committee, said the new president will earn between $400,000 and $700,000 a year and will probably begin work Jan. 4.

Young, who served for almost three decades as chancellor of the University of California at Los Angeles, took over the reins of the university on an interim level in 1999 when John Lombardi stepped down. When an earlier search failed, Young agreed to stay on as the president.