U.S. Senator Ben Sasse has been named the sole finalist for the role of president of the University of Florida, the school announced Thursday.

What You Need To Know

  • U.S. Senator Ben Sasse has been named the sole finalist for the role of president of the University of Florida, the school announced Thursday

  • In a news release issued by the university, Sasse was unanimously recommended as the "sole finalist" for the role by the university’s 15-member presidential search committee

  • If Sasse does accept the position, he would resign just two years into his second term in the U.S. Senate

  • Sasse previously served as president of Midland University, a small private university in Fremont, Nebraska

If he accepts the role, he could resign from the Senate in the coming weeks.

In a news release issued by the university, Sasse was unanimously recommended as the "sole finalist" for the role by the university’s 15-member presidential search committee out of a pool of hundreds of applicants.

“This is right for the University of Florida, right for the state of Florida and right for the Sasse family,” Rahul Patel, who chared the search panel, said in a release. “Ben brings intellectual curiosity, a belief in the power and potential of American universities, and an unmatched track record of leadership spanning higher education, government and the private sector.”

Sasse previously served as president of Midland University, a small private university in Fremont, Nebraska. Sasse stepped down in 2014, one month after winning the contest for Nebraska’s U.S. Senate seat

In a Twitter post, Sasse wrote that he has been pursued for leadership at various institutions over the past two years, but that he has “resisted” being named as a finalist. 

This time, he said, is different.

 

“I think Florida is the most interesting University in America right now,” Sasse wrote. He went on to note that Washington partisanship isn’t going to solve technological workforce challenges — that “institutions and entrepreneural communities” will have to take the lead.

“I’m delighted to be in conversation with the leadership of this special community about how we might build a vision for UF to be the nation’s most dynamic, bold, future-oriented university.”

“The University of Florida is the most interesting university in America right now,” Sasse wrote in a separate release. "It’s the most important institution in the nation’s most economically dynamic state — and its board, faculty and graduates are uniquely positioned to lead this country through an era of disruption. The caliber of teaching and research at UF is unmistakable, carried out through the core principles of shared governance and academic freedom. I’m thrilled about the opportunity to work alongside one of the nation’s most outstanding faculties."

If Sasse does accept the position, he would resign just two years into his second term in the U.S. Senate. Under Nebraska law, Gov. Pete Ricketts, a Republican, would choose his successor.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Sasse was selected from a pool of more than 700 potential candidates, which was then narrowed to a dozen finalists — including nine sitting presidents from other major universities. None of the other finalists have been named.

Throughout his career in the Senate, Sasse has cast criticism of former President Donald Trump, acknowledging that he wrote in votes for former Vice President Mike Pence in both the 2016 and 2020 elections. Sasse was one of just seven Republicans in the Senate to vote to convict former President Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

When he wsa censured by the Lincoln County Republican Party, Sasse responded in a video by saying that “politics isn’t about the weird worship of one dude.”

Sasse will visit the university campus on Monday, to meet with faculty, staff, students and stakeholders. The University of Florida board of trustees will then meet on Nov. 1 to consider the committee’s recommendation.