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Florida’s star president, Ben Sasse, was among the best paid university presidents ever. He promised a conservative overhaul, but then he resigned, leaving controversy and an embarrassing drop in the U.S. News rankings.
Nov. 17, 2024, 3:00 a.m. ET
Ben Sasse, the Nebraska senator, arrived in Florida in February 2023 to help cement a conservative makeover of one of the nation’s top five public universities.
The University of Florida had lured the senator with an unusual $10 million, five-year contract, possibly the most lucrative ever for a public university president. Gov. Ron DeSantis applauded the selection of a fellow Republican, calling Dr. Sasse a “deep thinker on education policy.”
Then, in July, just 17 months into his contract at the Gainesville university, Dr. Sasse resigned, sparking a host of questions about what went wrong.
Dr. Sasse cited his wife’s deteriorating health as the reason for his departure. But observers of the university knew there were a number of other possible factors.
The former senator had never quite won over many professors or students. After he announced his resignation, there were revelations about questionable hiring practices and spending.
There were also signs that Dr. Sasse faced another problem that has haunted college leaders everywhere: the school’s U.S. News & World Report rankings.
