Florida CFO Jeff Atwater Running for FAU President

Jeff Atwater, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, is one of the 10 top candidates for president of Florida Atlantic University (FAU). The winning candidate is expected to be named by January 17, 2014.

As readers of this blog know, Atwater, 55, oversees Florida’s risk management and insurance programs. His office is responsible for the licensing and oversight of insurance agents and agencies, as well as insurance fraud investigations. Workers’ compensation is also managed by the CFO’s office.

Atwater was elected to the House of Representatives in 2000 and the Florida Senate in 2002. In 2008 he was selected by his fellow senators to serve as Senate President. He was elected Florida’s Chief Financial Officer on November 2, 2010, and sworn into office on January 4, 2011. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and an MBA from the University of Florida.

He is viewed as a leading contender, along with former U.S. senator George LeMieux, who now serves as Board Chairman at law firm Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart, P.A. The two candidates are among 10 who will be interviewed in greater depth by the search committee this week. Eight additional candidates come from the academic community in states outside of Florida.

If Atwater is selected, his Florida Cabinet seat as CFO opens up.

Former FAU President Mary Jane Saunders resigned in May 2013 following several months of controversy. She returned to a faculty position and was assigned a special research project to assess the feasibility of developing a physician’s assistant program at FAU.