{"id":703,"date":"2026-05-19T21:32:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T21:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=703"},"modified":"2026-05-19T21:32:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T21:32:03","slug":"university-of-florida-on-the-hook-for-2m-payout-after-snubbing-interim-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=703","title":{"rendered":"University of Florida on the hook for $2M payout after snubbing interim president"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not a finalist for the permanent University of Florida presidency, but getting snubbed isn\u2019t all that bad for Donald Landry.<\/p>\n

Read more A \u2018super\u2019 El Ni\u00f1o could form. What does that mean for South Florida?<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Thanks to an unusual clause in his one-year contract, UF owes Landry, the school\u2019s interim leader since September, a severance payment worth $2 million. That\u2019s on top of his $2 million base salary and up to $500,000 in performance bonuses, pushing the total maximum compensation for his eight-month tenure to $4.5 million \u2014 an extraordinary payout even by the standards of big-time university leadership.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

UF announced Monday that Landry, a 72-year-old biomedical scientist, was not a finalist in its latest presidential search. The lone candidate for the job is former University of Alabama President Stuart Bell<\/u>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

guaranteed the payout if he was not selected as the university\u2019s permanent president. According to the agreement, public money cannot fund the severance payment. Florida law caps the state-funded portion of college presidents\u2019 salaries at $200,000<\/u>; the remainder of the tab is typically picked up by donors.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Landry, reached through a university spokesperson, did not respond for comment. The spokesperson, Steve Orlando, could not immediately answer whether donor money would fund Landry\u2019s severance package.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The arrangement stands out even in an era of escalating compensation packages for top university executives, particularly because the $2 million separation payment is likely to be funded through private donations rather than state dollars.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Landry\u2019s substantial golden parachute is likely to draw scrutiny from lawmakers and higher education watchdogs as Florida Republicans continue to push universities to demonstrate tighter oversight of spending and administration costs.<\/p>\n

Read more A \u2018super\u2019 El Ni\u00f1o could form. What does that mean for South Florida?<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The highest-earning public college president is currently Renu Khator, who pulls down nearly $3.2 million annually at University of Houston, according to a recent analysis<\/u> by The Chronicle of Higher Education.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Landry, a former chair of Columbia University\u2019s Department of Medicine, stepped into the interim role during a politically turbulent period for Florida higher education, as Gov. Ron DeSantis and allies reshaped university governance and sought more ideological alignment from campus leaders. DeSantis personally recruited Landry as a stopgap president last summer.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

UF has not publicly detailed whether Landry met benchmarks that would qualify him for the additional $500,000 in bonuses. A university spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions Tuesday about how much of the compensation package will ultimately be paid.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

UF\u2019s Board of Trustees approved a $3 million annual pay package for the incoming president in February. Bell, the sole finalist, earned $775,842 at University of Alabama as of July 2024, according to AL.com<\/u>. He stepped down as Alabama\u2019s president last year after a decade in the position.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Bell is expected to participate in public forums on campus before UF trustees vote on whether to formally offer him the presidency. If trustees approve Bell\u2019s nomination, it heads to the State University System\u2019s Board of Governors for a final vote.<\/p>\n

Read more City of Miami to pay Joe Carollo $770K to settle decades-old pension dispute<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The University of Florida must pay interim president Donald Landry a $2M severance after not naming him finalist, likely funded by private donors rather than state dollars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education"],"yoast_head":"\nUniversity of Florida on the hook for $2M payout after snubbing interim president - Florida Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=703\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"University of Florida on the hook for $2M payout after snubbing interim president - 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