Pictured above: Lauran Monbarren serves as the chief financial officer and vice president of Simpson Environmental Services and Simpson Farms.
Courtesy of Simpson Environmental Services.
By Michael Alden
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Lauran Monbarren, the daughter of Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, to the USF Board of Trustees on Friday.
Monbarren will be the fourth new appointment of the year to the 13-member board, continuing a shakeup that started in January. Her appointment follows the confirmation of former House Speaker Will Weatherford on June 8 as chairman of the board of trustees.
In the announcement from the governor’s office, Monbarren is cited as the chief financial officer and vice president of Simpson Environmental Services and Simpson Farms.
Previously, she was an administrator at Pasco-Hernando State College and taught in the Pasco County School District. Monbarren holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in education from Saint Leo University.
Her father, Wilton Simpson, is a Republican who has served in the Senate since 2012 and represents District 10, which includes Citrus, Hernando and part of Pasco County. He was elected Senate president on Nov. 12, 2020, for the 2020-2022 Legislature.
Monbarren replaces longtime trustee Jordan Zimmerman, effective immediately.
The governor appoints six of the USF trustees and the Board of Governors appoints five. The presidents of the USF Faculty Senate and Student Government are also trustees. All appointees must be approved by the Florida Senate.
In January, two other new members were approved to the board: Melissa Seixas, an executive at Duke Energy Florida, and Shilen Patel, the CEO and founder of a health care technology services firm.
The four new appointments and shakeup of the board come after grumbling by key Pinellas County elected officials about the way USF leaders have handled consolidation of USF’s three campuses.
State Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, has called out the leadership of USF and said its performance “calls for a deep dive” into the board.
