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One candidate remains for FGCU president, two others drop out; trustees set to meet Thursday

WGCU | By WGCU Staff
Published November 15, 2022 at 10:01 AM EST
Photo: Florida Gulf Coast University

And then there was one.

The Florida Gulf Coast University board of trustees announced Monday that a second candidate for president of the university had withdrawn his name for consideration.

A notice sent on behalf of Blake Gable, chair of FGCU’s Board of Trustees, said Tod A. Laursen, Ph.D., one of the two remaining candidates for president and the acting president of SUNY Polytechnic Institute, announced his withdrawal from consideration.

Gable said Laursen had finalized another opportunity that he said was a better fit for him and his family.

Laursen's withdrawal came just a week after another finalist, Susana Rivera-Mills, Ph.D., decided to withdraw from consideration. Rivera-Mills opted to remain at Ball State University in Indiana, where she serves as provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs.

Robert G. Gregerson
FGCU
/
Special to WGCU
Robert G. Gregerson

The withdrawals leaves a single finalist, Robert G. Gregerson, Ph.D., who has experience at FGCU as a dean at the College of Arts and Sciences, a professor of biology and as an acting provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

Gable said the Board of Trustees will meet as planned for final deliberations and the selection of FGCU’s fifth president during an emergency meeting at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

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