Former University of Florida president will return on an interim basis after Ben Sasse’s resignation

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A former University of Florida president will take back the role on an interim basis following ex-U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse’s unexpected announcement last week that he was stepping down from the job after his wife was diagnosed with epilepsy.

The school’s Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to bring back Kent Fuchs, who had served as president before Sasse from 2015 to last year. Since leaving the president’s office, Fuchs has been teaching an electrical engineering class. He assumes the president’s job at the beginning of next month.

“My wish is only to be of service to the university,” Fuchs said in a statement.

The board said it planned to launch a nationwide search in coming weeks for a permanent successor.

Sasse left the U.S. Senate, where he represented Nebraska, to become the university’s president last year. He announced last week his plans to leave the post at the end of the month to focus on taking care of his family after his wife’s diagnosis.

“I need to step back for a time and focus more on the needs of my family while we rebuild more stable household systems,” Sasse said, adding that he would continue to teach at the university in Gainesville.

Sasse’s wife, Melissa, who had an aneurysm and a series of strokes in 2007, was recently diagnosed with epilepsy and has been having “a new batch of memory issues,” he said.