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Former University of Florida President and U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, 53, has been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer, he revealed in a social media post Wednesday.The diagnosis, a notably aggressive form of the disease, comes after a relatively short and challenging period in his recent roles, and he intends to pursue available treatments.
A Public Battle with a Formidable Foe
The former senator shared his diagnosis openly, acknowledging the gravity of the situation while expressing hope for advancements in medical science.
- Sasse announced his diagnosis on his X account,stating plainly,”I’m gonna die.”
- Despite the grim prognosis, Sasse emphasized his intention to fight the cancer and highlighted progress in immunotherapy.
- The diagnosis comes after a relatively short tenure as UF’s president, cut short by his wife’s health challenges.
- Sasse previously served as a U.S. Senator from Nebraska, where he was a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump.
“Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentance,” Sasse wrote. “But I already had a death sentence before last week too – we all do.” He quickly added, however, that he wasn’t “going down without a fight.”
Sasse expressed optimism about the potential of modern medicine, stating, “One sub-part of God’s grace is found in the jaw-dropping advances science has made the past few years in immunotherapy and more.” He further reflected on the nature of mortality, adding, “death and dying aren’t the same – the process of dying is still something to be lived.”
Messages of support quickly followed his announcement. Vice President JD Vance, who was first sworn into the Senate the same year Sasse resigned from the position to become UF’s president, posted on X, “May God bless you and your family.”
Sasse was initially elected to the Senate in 2014 and won reelection in 2020. He resigned in 2023 to assume the presidency of the University of florida, a move that followed a contentious approval process.He stepped down from that role the following year after his wife received a diagnosis of epilepsy.
His departure from UF was accompanied by reports, including those from the Self-reliant Florida Alligator, the university’s student newspaper, detailing significant spending on consulting contracts during his tenure. The Alligator reported that Sasse spent $7.2 million on consulting in a single year, with nearly two-thirds of that amount going to McKinsey and Company, a firm where he had previously worked as an advisor.
This expenditure was more than 40 times the amount spent on consulting contracts by the university’s previous president over an eight-year period. Sasse, upon returning to Gainesville earlier this year to co-teach a class at UF’s Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education, defended the spending as necessary to implement his “go bigger” vision for the university.
“We also cut spending and consulting expenses in some areas,” Sasse wrote in 2024. “But countervailing accounting realities aren’t sexy amid breathless social media.”
Throughout his career, Sasse established himself as a prominent Republican voice, often critical of former President Donald Trump. He was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump of “incitement of insurrection” following the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
