Goforth elected BOT vice chair
The USF Board of Trustees (BOT) on Tuesday appointed trustee Stephanie Goforth as the new vice chair, replacing Les Muma, who served in the position since April 2019.
Goforth’s appointment was made during a BOT conference call after Muma announced he would be stepping down as vice chair.
“Both Brian [Lamb] and Jordan [Zimmerman] came to me and said, ‘We’d love you to be the vice chairman and, eventually, chair,'” Muma said. “And I said, ‘I’ll do whatever I can to make this university better, I’ll be happy to be vice chair, but I don’t really see that I have a future being the chair because of my age.'”
At the end of his term as vice chair in June 2022, Muma would have been 78 years old and, by the time he retired as chairman, 82.
“I love this university,” Muma said. “Everything it is and everything I know it’s going to be, and so does Pam [Muma]. I will remain as a trustee until my term expires. And good Lord willing, I’m still somewhat functional over that three years, and I’ve enjoyed very much being vice chair working with chair Zimmerman and all the trustees, but I just think it’s better for me and for the university.”
Elected by unanimous vote, Goforth said the achievement is her “passion as a graduate.”
“I really look forward to it … I think we have done so many fabulous things, and I just look forward to our next project and the next few years,” Goforth said.
Goforth earned her bachelor’s degree in business management from USF. She is president of the West Florida Region for Northern Trust. Her term expires in 2021.
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