Candidates For USF President To Be Interviewed By Trustees

TAMPA, FL — The two candidates for president of the University of South Florida visited several campuses Monday to talk with students and answer questions.

Interim USF President Rhea Law and Jeffrey Talley are the finalists for the post. They spent Monday at the Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota campuses.

On Tuesday, they will hold formal interviews with the board of trustees in Traditional Hall at the Gibbons Alumni Center on the Tampa campus. Once the candidates have been evaluated by the trustees, they will name the next president, subject to confirmation by the Florida Board of Governors.

Law, 72, is a USF alumna and former chief executive officer of chairwoman of the board of Fowler White Boggs law firm. Law was named USF's interim president in July following former President Steven Currall's resignation.

Talley, 62, held adjunct, full-time faculty and department chairman positions at several universities including the University of Notre Dame, Southern Methodist University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Southern California. A former chief of U.S. Army Reserve, he also served as vice president of IBM.

The two candidates spoke at town hall events at the campuses, talking leadership styles, diversity and academic freedom.

Law describes her leadership style as one of collaboration and empowerment, favoring the creation of task forces to look at issues and solve controversies.

Talley said the most important aspect of being a leader is the ability to create more leaders and surround yourself with people of differing backgrounds and opinions.

They also discussed their philosophies on a range of issues, such as dedicating more resources to research, enhancing the student experience and building support for a new on-campus stadium. They discussed consolidation and the need for each campus to have its own identity.

Talley and Law were chosen from a field of 11 candidates for the position of eighth president of USF.