It was a one-day, prominent-headline story. USF President Judy Genshaft re-ups with a pay hike and added incentives.
The next day it was back to USF-in-the-news-as-usual. Medical-school-funding updates for the Jeff Vinik-enabled, downtown relocation. Further reassessment of CAMLS’ robotic charge. The latest in USF’s catalytic role in the Tampa Innovation Alliance. Confirmation of an on-campus Publix supermarket in the works. Plans for a modern housing village. And maybe something about USF athletics still shy of a mega conference.
But Genshaft is no one-and-done news item.
In an era when major university presidents have to be fund-raisers, political insiders, community leaders and campus-friendly icons, she is a multi-tasking, central casting composite. As news-worthy as noteworthy.
With a maxed-out performance bonus, she could make more than $800,000. Good for her. It makes her one of the highest paid public university presidents in the country. For societal context, the minimum salary in the National Basketball Association is $525,000. She’s a bargain.
Genshaft was hired by USF in 2000 as the successor to Frank Borkowski and Betty Castor. Borkowski was more of an avuncular, old-school academic and Castor was a savvy, political player–and exactly what USF, often a step-child of a UF, FSU-dominated system, needed.
Genshaft, with roots in academe (former provost at the University of Albany, SUNY) is a higher-ed hybrid–with an overriding priority for community partnerships. She has held leadership roles in both the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce and the Tampa Bay Partnership. She’s an inductee in the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame.
Genshaft knows the societal, synergistic role of a major urban research university that also plays a significant day-to-day role in its community. USF’s regional economic impact is $4.4 billion annually.
Judy Genshaft is no John Thrasher, which is good. She’s a career educator who happens to have the vision and skill set necessary for a 21st century university president. She connects with students as well as business leaders and government officials.
Genshaft, 68, has political instincts, a salesman’s work ethic, a creative aptitude and pragmatic good sense. She has been exactly what USF has needed–and continues to need and value in the marketplace.
Perhaps no comment was more indicative of what the longest-serving president in USF history means today than that of Jozef Gherman, the USF Board of Trustees’ student member. “Thank you, President Genshaft, for always having the students in your heart and being one of our biggest allies,” said Gherman. “We do love you.”