University of South Florida leaders select Rhea Law as next president
TAMPA, Fla. - After interviewing two candidates, one has been selected to become the eighth president of the University of South Florida: Rhea Law.
Law is a USF alum and is one of the founding members of the USF Board of Trustees. She spent five years as vice-chair and four years as the first and only female chair.
Among her long list of accolades at the university: in 2018, she was inducted as an honorary member of the USF Chapter of the National Academy of Inventors in recognition of her support of research and innovation at USF. The now president-elect also has a background in environmental law.
The Florida Board of Governors will still need to confirm the board's selection. Once confirmed, she will be the first USF alumnus to serve as the school's president.
Law said she wants to lift USF into the top 25 universities in the nation. It’s currently ranked 46th. She also supports what she calls "a bold plan" to build an on-campus football stadium.
"It’s bold because it's putting a stake in the ground on doing something we’ve talked about for decades but were unwilling to pull the trigger on," said Law.
READ: USF committee narrows down site for on-campus football stadium
The second candidate was Lt. General Jeffrey Talley. Talley has a background in environmental engineering. He currently serves as a member of the U.S. global leadership coalition in DC, an organization that works to strengthen tools of national security. He also serves as the president and CEO of a consulting firm.
Talley retired from the military in 2016 and has been received numerous medals and awards, including two army distinguished medals and three bronze star medals.
On Monday, both candidates spent an hour at each of USF’s three campuses answering questions from the community. They talked about their philosophies on several issues.
Law talked about how she went from being the only female attorney at her law firm to help it become one of the most diverse law firms in the state. She said one of her focuses is balancing the university’s budget.
Talley addressed the importance of diversity and sustainability. He also talked about how he promoted women and others in minority groups to leadership positions while in the military.
Talley also said he wants to work on more competitive salaries for faculty and staff.
Both candidates said they'd work on dedicating more resources to research, enhancing the student experience, and building support for a new on-campus stadium.
Law’s salary will be between $700,000 and $1 million, still to be negotiated. That would put her around the middle in the range of salaries earned by Florida’s state university presidents.