Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis personally offered Princeton professor Robert P. George the presidency of the University of Florida; George declined and recommended Columbia’s Donald Landry, who later served as interim president. Sources who spoke with The Chronicle say DeSantis’s intervention signaled waning influence for Board of Trustees chair Morteza Hosseini and marked a high-profile instance of gubernatorial involvement in flagship presidential searches. The episode follows the rejection of Santa J. Ono by the Board of Governors and broad conservative efforts to reshape public higher education in Florida—targeting DEI and campus priorities. Administrators and trustees named in reporting include DeSantis, Hosseini, Ono, George, and Landry; The Chronicle is the reporting source. Why it matters: the interaction highlights direct political pressure on presidential selection at a public flagship, and shows how governors can short-circuit typical trustee-led searches—raising risks for campus governance, faculty confidence, and external relations as state officials weigh in on academic leadership choices.