The University of South Florida Board of Trustees elected Mike Griffin as chairman Wednesday, placing the Tampa real-estate executive and longtime trustee in the board’s top leadership position.
Griffin, vice chairman and co-head of the Florida region for Savills, will serve a two-year term. He had served as acting chair since April, when former Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford stepped down from the role while remaining on the board.
Trustees also elected Oscar Horton, president and chief executive of commercial transportation company Sun State International, as vice chairman. Horton joined the board in 2018 and serves on the boards of Tampa General Hospital, Community Foundation Tampa Bay and the Bank of Tampa.
Griffin becomes the first former USF student body president to chair the university’s Board of Trustees. A graduate of USF’s business school, he served two terms as student body president before becoming the student representative on the university’s inaugural Board of Trustees in 2001.
In recent years, Griffin has played a central role in university leadership decisions. He has served as vice chair since 2021 and has chaired the university’s two most recent presidential search committees, including the search that led to Moez Limayem’s selection as USF’s ninth president in 2025.
“I am humbled to be elected chairman of the Board of Trustees for the University of South Florida,” Griffin said in a statement.
Beyond USF, Griffin previously chaired the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce and serves on several corporate and nonprofit boards, including Seacoast Banking Corp. and Lions World Vision.
During Wednesday’s meeting, trustees and President Moez Limayem recognized Weatherford for five years as chairman. Weatherford will remain a member of the board.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as chair,” Weatherford said. “I don’t know anyone who loves this university more than Mike Griffin.”
USF’s Board of Trustees consists of 13 members, including six appointed by the governor, five appointed by the Florida Board of Governors and the elected presidents of the Faculty Senate and Student Government.
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