Columbia’s Donald Landry, Medical Researcher, Named University of Florida Interim President

The University of Florida Board of Trustees unanimously approved Donald Landry, a Columbia University medical researcher and professor, as its interim president Monday.

During a special meeting in Gainesville, Landry committed to uphold state laws relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion and to condemn antisemitism.

“The decision to come to the University of Florida was very simple. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. A preeminent university in what one could argue is the preeminent state in this nation at this moment in time,” Landry said.

Until 2023, Landry was chair of Columbia’s Department of Medicine.

“This is the culmination of my career of four decades at Columbia and my years with the American Academy of Sciences and Letters,” Landry said.

Landry is president of the American Academy of Sciences and Letters. The organization focuses on “truth-seeking” and science, arts, and “learned professions” by awarding scholars for intellectual freedom, distinction, and scholarly integrity.

Landry continued to serve as a professor at Columbia, and said that during his time there he’s  been “watching in awe at the way the University of Florida has handled this difficult moment.”

“The chance to come here and to live the mission that we’ve been lauding and rewarding through our prizes at the academy is another great opportunity,” Landry said.

A neutral institution, Landry said, is conservative.

“Not espousing conservative values, certainly not indoctrinating in conservatism. It would be neutral. It wouldn’t choose sides. There wouldn’t be constant pronouncements that divide the faculty into those who are aligned and those who are not, dividing the students among those who are aligned, those who are not,” Landry said.

Landry hold a Presidential Citizens Medal, awarded by former President George W. Bush in 2008.

Landry, who has a doctorate in organic chemistry from Harvard University and a medical degree from Columbia, is director of the Columbia Center for Human Longevity and a professor at New York Presbyterian/Columbia Medical Center.

Inclusion

The search for an official president at UF took an unprecedented turn earlier this year.

UF trustees in May unanimously approved former University of Michigan President Santa Ono to be the next leader of the institution. However, final approval by the Board of Governors of the State University System proved a problem.

Following a long interview in which governors grilled Ono about his past support for diversity, equity, and inclusion, among other topics, they rejected him in June, sending UF trustees back to the beginning.

The topic surfaced during Landy’s interview with trustees Monday.

“When DEI first emerged, it was a bit vague what it actually meant, and you could define the words to be many things. By the time it crystalized, it was clear it had gone too far, and I think we can all be thankful that government has intervened and returned us to a rational meritocracy,” Landry said.

The Florida Legislature has passed laws prohibiting spending state funds on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“I would absolutely uphold the position of the university, complying with the laws of the state,” Landry said.

Kent Fuchs, president of the flagship university from 2015-2023, agreed to serve as interim president on Aug. 1, 2024, after former President Ben Sasse unexpectedly left the post last summer.

A year elapsed, and Fuchs agreed to extend his one-year agreement for another month, until Sept. 1.

Landry will start next week and final approval for his interim presidency is expected to be taken up by the Board of Governors in two weeks.

–Jay Waagmeester, Florida Phoenix