During roll call, we learned the 15 members of the University of West Florida Presidential Search Committee:
Former Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward
Vice-Chair of the State University System of Florida Board of Governors Alan Levine
Trustee Ashley Ross
FPL External Affairs Manager David Peaden
UWF Reubin O’D. Askew Department of Government Chair Dr. David Ramsey
State Attorney Ginger Madden
UWF Faculty Senate President and Trustees Dr. Heather Riddell
IHMC founder Dr. Ken Ford
Okaloosa County Commissioner Paul Mixon
Trustee Rachel Moya
UWF alumna and former faculty member Sabrina McLaughlin
Former UWF Board Chair Collier Merrill
UWF SGA President and Trustee Trista Bennett
Ret. Captain Terrence “Village” Shashaty, Former Commanding Officer, Pensacola Naval Air Station
Trustee Zack Smith
Board of Trustees Chair Rebecca Matthews announced that Smith will serve as the Search Committee chair. As I reported today, Matthews cannot chair the search committee. Note: All trustees appointed to the committee have served less than one year on the Board of Trustees.
The full names and bios will be posted on https://uwf.edu/offices/board-of-trustees/presidential-search/ after today’s meeting. I will make spelling corrections after the names are posted.
Here is the official announcement:
Today, the University of West Florida launched a comprehensive national search for the University’s seventh president and announced the selection of individuals who will serve on the 15-member committee to guide the process. The committee will be responsible for collecting input from stakeholders, developing the presidential profile and position criteria, and recruiting and assessing candidates.
“As a regional University, UWF provides dynamic educational experiences to equip all students for success on campus and beyond, making it uniquely positioned to attract an exceptional leader who will usher the University into its next chapter of growth in terms of enrollment, academic and athletic programming, and continuing to be an economic powerhouse for Northwest Florida,” said Rebecca Matthews, chair of the UWF Board of Trustees. “As we embark on this important search, I express my gratitude to the presidential search committee for their dedication and willingness to serve.”
This presidential search comes at an exciting time for the University, as it has officially surpassed enrollment of 15,000 students – the University’s highest enrollment to date. The UWF Presidential Search Committee members represent UWF faculty and students, alumni, community and military, as well as the Board of Trustees and Florida’s State University System Board of Governors leadership. UWF Trustee Zack Smith will serve as chair.
The members of the presidential search committee are:
- Zack Smith – Chair, Presidential Search Committee; UWF Board of Trustees; Chair, UWF Student Affairs Committee; Senior Legal Fellow, The Heritage Foundation
- Trista Bennett – UWF Board of Trustees; President, UWF Student Government Association
- Ken Ford – Founder and Chief Executive Officer Emeritus, Institute for Human & Machine Cognition
- Ashton Hayward – President, Andrews Research & Education Foundation; Co-founder, Andrews Medicine; Principal at Shumaker; Former Pensacola Mayor (2011-2018)
- Alan Levine – Vice Chair, Florida Board of Governors; Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ballad Health
- Ginger Bowden Madden – State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit of Florida
- Sabrina “Saby” McLaughlin – Owner and Executive Creative Director, 3125 Communications
- Collier Merrill – President, Merrill Land Company; President and Owner, Great Southern Restaurants; Chair, UWF Historic Trust
- Paul Mixson – District 1 County Commissioner
- Rachel Moya – UWF Board of Trustees; Chair, UWF Finance and Facilities Committee; Chief Executive Officer, Scale Strategies Inc.
- David Peaden – External Affairs Manager (Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties), Florida Power & Light
- Dr. David Ramsey – Chair and Professor, UWF Reubin O’D. Askew Department of Government
- Dr. Heather Riddell – 2025-2026 Faculty Senate Representative, UWF Board of Trustees; Associate Professor, UWF Department of Communication
- Ashley Ross – UWF Board of Trustees; President, Ross Consulting
- Retired Captain Terrence “Village” Shashaty – President, American Heritage Financial; Former Commanding Officer, Pensacola Naval Air Station
“I am pleased to have support from a broad mix of individuals and echo the Chair’s appreciation for the presidential search committee’s service,” said Chris Young, vice chair of the UWF Board of Trustees. “UWF is an outstanding institution dedicated to supporting students and the community, and I am certain the committee will keep this top of mind throughout this important effort.”
To assist the committee, the UWF Board of Trustees has selected Funk Associates for consultation during the presidential search. Over the past 40 years, Funk Associates has conducted hundreds of university and college president and chancellor searches, the majority having been for public institutions. With a history of conducting searches in Florida, Funk Associates has completed searches at numerous Florida institutions including UWF, Florida International University and Florida State University, among others.
UWF will follow the process required by the State University System’s Board of Governors regulation for presidential searches. The committee is advisory and will be responsible for recommending qualified candidates to the UWF Board of Trustees, which will then interview the finalists and select the next president, pending final confirmation from the Board of Governors.
All members of the UWF community are invited to share feedback and comments on characteristics, qualifications and credentials they believe are essential for the next president. For more information and to stay up-to-date on the process, visit the UWF Presidential Search website at uwf.edu/presidentialsearch.