DeSantis appoints five to board of trustees for Florida Polytechnic in Lakeland

The board of trustees at Florida Polytechnic University now has a more national orientation.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the appointment of five new members late Tuesday afternoon, and at least three appear to live in other states: Texas, Illinois and New York.

DeSantis’ appointments are Dorian Abbot, David Clark, Cliff Otto, Ilya Shapiro and Sidney Theis. Otto is a current board member, while the other four would be newcomers.

All of the new trustees’ terms began with Tuesday’s announcement, although the news release said that the appointments require approval by the Florida Senate.

The board had three vacant seats because members’ terms had expired, Florida Poly spokesperson Lydia Guzman said. One of the appointments will replace Gary Wendt, whose term expired in August and who was not reappointed, Guzman said.

Among the 10 current trustees, only one — David Williams — lives out of state, Guzman said.

Shapiro is a Senior Fellow and Director of Constitutional Studies for the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. DeSantis previously appointed a senior fellow from the Institute, Christopher Rufo, to the Board of Trustees at New College of Florida as part of an effort to remake the Sarasota school on the model of Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian school in Michigan.

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Shapiro previously served as vice president of the Cato Institute, a Libertarian advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. He has written often about the federal government and legal issues and is the author of the forthcoming book, “Canceling Justice: The Illiberal Takeover of Legal Education.”

He has testified many times before Congress and state legislatures and has filed more than 500 briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to his biography on the Manhattan Institute’s website.

In 2022, as President Joe Biden prepared to fill an opening on the Supreme Court, Shapiro tweeted that federal judge Sri Srinivasan would be Biden’s best choice but that he “doesn’t fit into latest intersectionality hierarchy so we’ll get lesser black woman.”

Georgetown Law School had recently appointed Shapiro as a senior lecturer but suspended his hiring amid an investigation into his comments. Georgetown eventually reinstated Shapiro, saying he could not be punished for a tweet made before his employment began, but he promptly resigned.

Shapiro holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, a master’s degree in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a law degree from the University of Chicago.

Abbot is an associate professor at the University of Chicago’s Department of Geophysical Sciences and a member of the American Geophysical Union. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and master’s and doctoral degrees in applied mathematics from Harvard University.

Abbot has been critical of some elements of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, which the Florida Legislature banned this year in public universities, at DeSantis’ urging. MIT canceled a speaking invitation issued to Abbott in 2021 after complaints about a Newsweek essay he co-authored arguing against DEI programs, a move that drew criticism from free speech organizations and dozens of MIT faculty members.

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Clark is CEO of MyGovGuide, a business and data intelligence subscription service, and Managing Partner of Allegiant Strategies Group, a consulting and government relations firm based in Tallahassee. He previously served as DeSantis’ Deputy Chief of Staff.

Clark, a U.S. Army veteran, holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business management from Flagler College in St. Augustine and a master’s in business administration from Cornell University.

Theis is the owner of RDRTec Inc., a Texas company that performs radar research and development for the federal government and contractors. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Theis earned a bachelor’s degree in physics, a master’s in meteorology and a doctorate in agricultural engineering from Texas A&M University.

Otto is the retired CEO of Saddle Creek Logistics Services in Lakeland. He is the former national president of the Warehousing Education and Research Council and chairman of the Warehouse Logistics Association.

Otto, the current chair of the Board of Trustees, has served since 2016.

Abbott and Shapiro’s terms run through next June, Florida Poly said. Theis’ term continues until 2027, and Clark will serve until 2028, the school said.

Florida Polytechnic, the newest member of the State University System, is searching for a successor to President Randy K. Avent, who has announced that he will retire next summer. The school has formed a 15-person search committee, which includes trustees Beth Kigel, Mark Bostick, Lyn Stanfield, Wendt and Williams.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: DeSantis names five trustees for Florida Polytechnic in Lakeland