University of Florida President Ben Sasse is resigning on July 31, in a surprise move announced Thursday evening by the former Republican senator from Nebraska.
Sasse, who has led UF for nearly two years as a highly touted hire heralded by the university and state, is stepping down to spend more time with his family. In a message to UF, Sasse said that his wife, Melissa, was recently diagnosed with epilepsy and has been “struggling with a new batch of memory issues” that made him reconsider his position atop Florida’s flagship university.
"Gator Nation needs a president who can keep charging hard, Melissa deserves a husband who can pull his weight, and my kids need a dad who can be home many more nights,” Sasse said in a statement. “I need to step back and rebuild more stable household systems for a time.”
UF hired Sasse in November 2022 after a nationwide search, drawing criticism from students and faculty at the time who urged the school to choose an academic, not a politician, for the role. But the choice was seen as a boon by UF officials for illustrating that the school could attract a sitting U.S. senator to be its president.
Sasse gave the University of Florida a new conservative leader as the state GOP took up a fight against the perceived liberal bias in higher education. He joined several other former Republican lawmakers to take on leadership roles in Florida’s public higher education system, including former state Senate President John Thrasher, who led Florida State University before retiring in 2021, and former state Sen. Ray Rodrigues, who is currently serving as chancellor of the state university system.
Earlier this year, UF under Sasse closed the Chief Diversity Officer’s office, scrapped other jobs and “halted DEI-focused” vendor contracts in a wave of actions responding to higher education reforms backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republicans in the state who are targeting “wokeness” and liberal “indoctrination” in Florida’s university system.