Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the reappointments of Mori Hosseini and Fred Ridley to the UF Board of Trustees, subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.
Both Hosseini and Ridley’s five-year terms are set to expire in January 2026.
Hosseini is the current chair of the Board of Trustees, which he joined in 2016, and he also serves as chairman of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Board of Trustees. He leads the Florida-based developer ICI Homes.
Hosseini has carved out a reputation as a very active board chair on a range of issues. He reportedly had a strained relationship with former UF President Ben Sasse, who resigned last summer citing his wife’s health challenges.
Ridley works as an attorney at Foley & Lardner, LLP. and started on the Board of Trustees in 2021. He is also chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament.
“Hosseini has carved out a reputation as a very active board chair on a range of issues.” That may take the prize as the understatement of the year!
There really ought to be provision for selection of trustees by sources other than the governor. Maybe faculty and graduates, or even the general public; any way that would reduce the number of gubernatorial donors and cronies calling the shots at state university system. Maybe then the universities could get back to being universities instead of would-be imitations of Hillsdale College.