The Florida A&M University Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved a contract for Dr. Timothy Beard as interim president, effective August 5, 2024, with an annual salary of $400,000.

The Florida A&M University (FAMU) Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved a contract for Dr. Timothy Beard to serve as the interim president.

The contract, effective August 5, 2024, includes an annual salary of $400,000. The university will cover approximately 30 percent of this amount, with the FAMU Foundation funding the remaining 60 percent. Performance goals, which will impact potential bonuses, are to be established by August 28. Dr. Beard could earn an additional incentive of up to 15 percent of his base salary based on these goals, according to the Trustees.

The contract also prohibits Dr. Beard from seeking a permanent position during his interim term and features a termination clause that allows the board to relieve him of his duties with pay during a 90-day notice period if he accepts full-time employment elsewhere.

“It is a great opportunity to make a difference,” Beard stated. “Florida A&M is an institution that we love very much, and we will certainly give it our all to do what we can to make a difference.”

The board also passed a banking resolution, designating the interim president, the chief financial officer, and the assistant vice president as authorized signatories for university checks.

Beard, who will commence his interim role on August 5, boasts a tenure at FAMU spanning 14 years, during which he held various faculty and administrative positions. He also served as president of Pasco-Hernando State College from 2015 until January 2024, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Earlier this month, Dr. Tim Robinson announced in a letter to the university’s Board of Trustees Chair that he would step down after nearly seven years in the role. After a year-long sabbatical, he stated that he plans to return to his former position as a Distinguished Professor in the FAMU School of the Environment. Robinson, who became FAMU’s 12th president in November 2017, led the university to a number one public historically Black college and university ranking (HBCU) for five consecutive years.

Robinson’s decision came just weeks after FAMU received a faulty $237 million donation from the Issac Batterson 7th Family Trust and its CEO Gregory Gerami during its spring graduation ceremony. The gift would have ranked among the largest single contributions to a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) and doubled FAMU’s current endowment.

The donation came under scrutiny when it was discovered that Gerami had a history of failed pledges. In 2020, he promised $95 million to Coastal Carolina University, but the deal fell through, leading the university to cut ties with him. Upon the discovery, it prompted FAMU’s Board of Trustees to pause the gift and initiate an investigation, culminating in an emergency Board of Trustees meeting that decided to hire an independent firm to determine the facts surrounding the donation, audit and analyze the university’s processes, policies, and financial controls, and provide recommendations in a written report.