Exit interview: Key moments in 30-year transformation of University of Tampa

In a career full of accolades and accomplishments that runs deep into the dozens, University of Tampa President Ronald Vaughn’s most impressive feat might be something most college students detest: he wrecked the curve. 

Not within any classes at his beloved UT, a private college on 100 acres on the riverfront in downtown Tampa. Instead, it’s Vaughn’s tenure as president. When Vaughn, 77, officially retires May 31, he will have been at the helm for 29 years, since January 1995. That’s roughly five times longer than the average college president's tenure of 5.9 years, according to a 2023 survey from the American Council of Education. And that average tenure is shrinking, ACE reports, from 6.5 years in 2016 and 8.5 years in 2006.