Former Nebraska U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse announced Thursday he was stepping down as president of the University of Florida to help his family cope with his wife’s worsening health.
Sasse, in a statement from the University of Florida, said he was no longer able to meet the time demands of leading a top national university and be there for his family.
His wife, Melissa, has been dealing with the after-effects of strokes suffered in 2007. She was recently diagnosed with epilepsy and has struggled with memory problems, Sasse said.
He said he and his wife have been spending a lot of late nights discussing “what matters most,” with two daughters in college and a son “just turning 13.” They decided he should step back.
“Gator Nation needs a president who can keep charging hard,” he said. “Melissa deserves a husband who can pull his weight, and my kids need a dad who can be home many more nights.”
Sasse’s Nebraska roots
Sasse, who previously led Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska, resigned his post as Nebraska’s junior U.S. senator in January 2023 to take the position at Florida, which he said could revolutionize one of his pet projects, the “future of work.”
Sasse rose to national prominence as a Senate candidate by criticizing fellow conservatives for talking about repealing Obamacare without specifying how they would replace it.
He kept that willingness to buck the GOP at several moments, although his votes typically sided with his party. He got crosswise at times with former President Donald Trump.
But Sasse won re-election to the Senate by a larger margin than Trump.
Pushback on campus
In Florida, Sasse has survived pushback from parts of his campus resistant to a conservative senator leading the flagship university in the nation’s third most populous state.
His wife’s health was part of why some of his supporters pressed the University of Nebraska to consider him when NU had an open presidency, with some hinting he might want to return home.
Sasse said he and his family will stay in Gainesville, where he says he will serve as a professor and president emeritus.
Mori Hosseini, who chairs Florida’s Board of Trustees, credited Sasse for his leadership on the national and international stage. Hosseini said Sasse’s work benefited Florida students and the state.
The board announced that it would work quickly to hire an interim president and begin another search for Sasse’s permanent replacement. A majority of the university’s trustees have been appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Sasse thanked the university community for embracing his family. He said he needed to step back for a bit to “walk arm-in-arm with my dearest friend more hours of every week.”
“She kept our family grounded while I missed too many family dinners, little league games, hugs, and tears,” he said of his wife. “She’s the strongest person I know.”