CRETE, NE — Doane University’s new president hasn’t lived in the Cornhusker state for quite a while, but now Dr. Roger Hughes is home.

"It's good to be close to family for awhile," Hughes said. "I guess we're all a bit like salmon. We kind of go home at the end of the life cycle."

The Crawford native and Doane alum will be inaugurated as his alma mater’s 13th President on Saturday, April 30. He’s just the second former student to hold the position. The other was Frederic Brown who served as Doane's 10th President from 1987-2005.

"It was hard to give up what I did because coaching kind of gets in your blood," Hughes said. "I just felt like I was being called to come back here and this is where I'm supposed to be right now."

He applied for the job 10 years ago but didn’t get it. Instead Hughes ended up at Stetson University as head football coach to resurrect the school’s football program. Prior to Hughes' arrival, Stetson had not had a team since the 1950s. 

"I had to work with all the different parts of the university, you know, student help, financial aid, admissions, sports medicine," Hughes said. 

He says that experience made him a better candidate this time around.

"It really gave me a better understanding of how a university works," he said. "Leadership is leadership. You're still trying to take care of your team and make sure we're all going the same direction."

Hughes has about 40 years total of coaching experience. Among other stops, that includes a graduate assistant position at Nebraska under Tom Osborne and a 10-year-long head coaching stint at Princeton. He says Doane helped him along the way, well beyond graduation.

Now he wants to do the same for current students.

"Everywhere along in my career, a Doane influence helped me either get the interview or get the job," Hughes said. "My goal is to be able to create that same type of college experience I had for our students."

And to build a framework for that to continue on once he’s gone.

"If I do my job really well, no one will miss me when I'm gone because I will have developed the leaders in their areas and the organization will run by itself because of the fundamentals we put into place," Hughes said.