The chancellor of Florida’s state university system is leaving the Sunshine State for the Keystone State.
Frank Brogan says his decision to head Pennsylvania’s higher education system comes because his contract is soon up in Florida, and so is his time in the state’s retirement system.
In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Brogan called his departure "bittersweet".
“As it relates to leaving not only my job here as of Oct. 1 as Chancellor of our wonderful state university system, but also leaving the Sunshine State for the first time in 36 years. I’ve been in public service almost all my adult life," he said.
Brogan has been a principal, superintendent, Commissioner of Education, lieutenant governor, university president and most recently, head of Florida’s public universities.
He's entering the final year of a five-year contract with the state, and he’s also two years away from retirement.
During his time as Chancellor, Brogan helped negotiate a deal between the legislature and the Florida Board of Governors which saw the Board exit a tuition authority lawsuit against the state.
“I made it clear that if I were lucky enough to be selected, the board would need to agree to vacate that lawsuit, because that acrimony was having a negative affect on higher education in Florida," he said.
The BOG is now exercising more of its authority over universities, including its option to weigh in on the appointments of university presidents.
As chancellor, Brogan works with the 17-member BOG to oversee Florida's public universities and their more than 340,000 students. In Pennsylvania, he’ll oversee a shrinking system that’s about half the size of Florida’s.
