W. Kent Fuchs

W. Kent Fuchs (/fɒks/; born 1954) is an American university professor and academic administrator. He is the current president of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Upon taking office on January 1, 2015, he became the university's twelfth president.He previously served as the provost of Cornell University from 2009 through 2014.

Fuchs was the Joseph Silbert Dean of the Cornell University College of Engineering from 2002 to 2008.He also served as head of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, and Michael J. and Katherine R. Birck Distinguished Professor, from 1996 to 2002, and professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Coordinated Science Laboratory, University of Illinois, from 1985 to 1996.

On September 16, 2016 President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Fuchs as a member of the National Science Board.

Fuchs is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). He is also a member of Tau Beta Pi (engineering honorary society) and Eta Kappa Nu (electrical engineering honorary society).

He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Duke University Pratt School of Engineering, the Alumni Award for Distinguished Service from the University of Illinois College of Engineering, and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Illinois Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. While at Purdue University he was appointed as a distinguished professor.

Fuchs was named the fifteenth provost of Cornell University in October 2008. In 2011, he led in the team and strategy that resulted in the winning proposal, in partnership with the Technion and New York City, to create a new graduate applied sciences campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City. The Cornell Tech campus reported to him as provost. In 2009 Fuchs launched Cornell's re-imagining initiative that resulted in enhanced efficiency in administrative services. As Provost, Fuchs was also responsible for transforming Cornell's budget model. In 2010 he led the development of Cornell's Strategic Plan and the establishment of metrics for assessing Cornell's academic stature.

Fuchs holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.S.E.) from Duke University, a Master of Divinity (M. Div.) degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, a Master of Science (M.S.) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Fuchs is married to Linda Moskeland Fuchs, who previously taught at The King's Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida. They have four children, a daughter-in-law, and a grandson.