Sasse recruits from Midland, Senate

A majority of Sasse’s transition team were affiliated with UF prior to his nomination by the Board of Trustees and several are active members of the presidential cabinet.

Amy Hass Hass currently serves as the UF vice president and general counsel.

Chris Cowen

Last month, it was announced Cowen would step down as senior vice president and chief financial officer to take a position at Cornell University on July 1.

Mary Parker Parker currently serves as the UF vice president for enrollment management and associate provost.

Scott Stricklin Stricklin currently serves as the UF athletic director.

Heather White White holds the position of UF vice president of student life.

Melissa Curry

Curry has served as the interim vice president for Human Resources since July 2022.

Melissa Orth

Orth holds a position on the presidential staff as director for presidential athletics. She oversees all aspects of the football President’s Suite as well as tickets and special events for other Gator sports, according to the official UF Presidential staff website. Additionally, Orth has acted as associate secretary to the UF Board of Trustees since 2016. Her responsibilities in the role include identifying and managing board operations, strategy and long-range planning.

Lauren Lemasters Lemasters acted as the 2022-2023 student body president, which granted her a seat on the UF Board of Trustees. The board voted unanimously in favor of Sasse’s confirmation in November 2022. In response to Lemasters’ vote in favor of Sasse’s confirmation, the Student Senate Change Caucus submitted a resolution to impeach her on charges of malfeasance. The Student Government Judiciary Committee postponed the resolution indefinitely, which allowed Lemasters to finish her term.

Amanda Phalin

Phalin presided as the 2022-2023 faculty senate chair. She faced a failed vote of no confidence in her vote in favor of Sasse’s confirmation due to the Faculty Senate’s previous resolution of no confidence in the presidential search process. Danaya Wright will replace Phalin as faculty senate chair on June 1.

The role of some members in Sasse’s transition team, including Saby Mitra, Duane Mitchell and Lynda Tealer remains unclear.

Duane Mitchell

Mitchell occupies several positions within the university administration, including assistant vice president for research, associate dean for clinical and translational sciences at the UF College of Medicine and director for the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute.