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A search committee of the State University System’s Board of Governors decided Wednesday to interview two candidates, including Sen. Ray Rodrigues, to succeed outgoing Chancellor Marshall Criser.
The committee on Aug. 26 will interview Rodrigues, R-Estero, and Lori Cromwell, chief business officer for Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in Atlanta.
Criser announced in June that he would step down at the end of the year, and candidates to replace him faced a deadline last week to apply.
“These are big, big shoes to fill,” search committee member Eric Silagy said of Criser’s departure.
Rodrigues, who has served in the Florida Senate since 2020 after eight years in the House, is not seeking re-election to his Southwest Florida seat this year and works at Florida Gulf Coast University. Search committee members pointed to issues such as Rodrigues’ experience with the university system and Cromwell’s financial background in selecting them for interviews.
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