UF names first vice president for human resources

March 1, 2005

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Kyle Cavanaugh, associate vice president for human resources at the University of Texas at Austin, has been named the University of Florida’s first vice president for human resources, UF President Bernie Machen announced today. Cavanaugh will assume the position May 1.

“Kyle Cavanaugh’s background and experience are just stellar. He’s known across the country for his human resources expertise,” Machen said. “With more than 23,000 people employed here at the university, it’s clear why this position is so important. We’re fortunate to have someone like Kyle to fill it.”

“I am deeply honored to have been asked to join the University of Florida in this new capacity and look forward to working with and serving both faculty and staff in such a critical role,” Cavanaugh said.

As vice president for human resources, Cavanaugh will be responsible for overseeing faculty and staff training, employee and labor relations, compensation and benefits, recruitment, employment, classification, wage and benefits, retirement, employment and disciplinary action, complaints, transfers, leaves and workers compensation. The annual salary for the position is $220,000.

Cavanaugh, 46, has been at UT Austin since 2000. Before that, he spent two years as associate vice president for human resources at Rice University in Houston. From 1990 to 1998, he was employed at Vanderbilt University as the director of human resources. Before entering academia, Cavanaugh worked for AT&T human resources from 1985 to 1990.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in special, elementary and early childhood education from Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tenn., in 1980, and his master’s degree in special education from the University of Illinois in 1982. He received a second master’s in health promotion and exercise science from Vanderbilt in 1985, and a master’s in business administration from Belmont University in Nashville in 1994.

Cavanaugh has conducted numerous presentations on human resources, including an ongoing series for the Southern Association of College and Business Officers College Business Management Institute at the University of Kentucky.