University president to step down — eventually

University of Tampa President Ronald L. Vaughn is stepping down in 2024 after leading the school for nearly 30 years.

According to a statement from the university, his final day will be May 31, 2024. Vaughn, 76, will stay on as the board of trustees holds a nationwide search for his replacement. The search is to begin immediately, according to a statement. 

Courtesy photo

Vaughn came to the University of Tampa in August 1984 from Bradley University in Illinois. He was hired as coordinator of the marketing department and holder of the Max H. Hollingsworth Endowed Chair of American Enterprise. Over the years, he also worked as director of the MBA program, dean of the college of business and graduate studies and as co-chief academic officer.

In January 1995, Vaughn took over as president of the university. This was a time when the University of Tampa “was languishing both financially and academically,” the university says. As anyone who lived in Tampa those days knows, the university’s campus back then was a shell of what it is today and Kennedy Boulevard was a run down thoroughfare — where students shouldn’t have ventured out on — leading to a downtown that mostly closed when the sun went down.

But Vaughn, during his tenure, was able to help elevate the school, both expanding its physical form and its reputation as an educational facility, university officials say.

“Ron Vaughn started out with a handful of old hand-me-down buildings, and transformed the campus into a dynamic, cutting-edge community that has some of the most innovative learning and living spaces in the country,” James Eyer, vice chair of the board of trustees, says in the statement, adding Vaughn was the “right person at the right time to transform the university into a model, metropolitan institution with a high-quality academic experience that is very appealing to prospective students.”

Among his successes, the university says, are:

• Annual operating revenue has risen to $400 million in the fall of 2023 from $28 million in fall 1994.
• Full-time enrollment has "quadrupled," growing to nearly 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students.
• Full time faculty has grown from 150 to about 900, with similar growth in staff and vendor employees.
• More than 70 on-campus projects have been completed, or are near completion, since 1997, totaling nearly $1 billion in value.

“lt’s been the greatest honor of my life to lead this incredible university,” Vaughn says in the statement. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with so many dedicated and engaged people. We’ve made an impact on hundreds of thousands of students over the years.

“I believe it’s a good time for the next leader to take over at this great university.”