New UCF president prepares to guide university through coronavirus pandemic

ORLANDO, Fla. — The new president of University of Central Florida said in a remote interview Tuesday that it's hard to say what the long term impact of the coronavirus will be on the university.

But Dr. Alexander Cartwright said he wants to use the opportunity to see how the school can do things differently.

“I’d love for us to be thinking about innovation and how we then become the leaders and help society deal with this pandemic,” Cartwright said.

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Right now, the campus is quiet as classes have moved online-only due to concerns over the coronavirus.

Cartwright, who most recently served as the chancellor of the University of Missouri, said he wants UCF’s scientists and engineers to think about ways they can help health care workers who are on the front lines.

“We need to figure out better ways to protect them and that should be part of what we should be thinking about,” he said.

Cartwright is moving into the president's office after former president Dale Whittaker stepped down last year.

Whittaker resigned after the university came under scrutiny for its spending on construction projects.

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Cartwright didn't spend much time discussing UCF’s past on Tuesday, instead highlighting ways he thinks the university can help in the present.

“We have scientists. We have engineers,” he said. “We have others who could be thinking about ‘how do you test? How do you diagnose? How do you cure?”

Video: UCF designs app to help VA employees better sanitize rooms A University of Central Florida school, known for video game production, has designed an app being used by the Veterans Administration to teach employees how to sanitize rooms.

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