Fulbright Canada would like to congratulate Dr. Santa Ono for being named the president-elect of the University of Michigan. After six highly positive years at the University of British Columbia, he will be taking up his new role as the President of the University of Michigan in October 2022.
As a Canadian-American biomedical researcher and university executive serving on several boards and committees, Dr. Santa Ono demonstrates his commitment to positive change through his capacity to listen to individual perspectives and find ways to facilitate mutual understanding in the communities he serves. In the words of Michael Hawes, President and CEO at Fulbright Canada,
“Dr. Ono is a truly exceptional leader who has brought a deep commitment to social justice, accessibility, and affordability to his role as a university leader. He has defined what a public university can and should be and, in my view, is an inspired choice to lead another great public university.”
He compassionately led the University of British Columbia through a challenging global pandemic. He supported the community as the institution took meaningful action on Truth and Reconciliation, Anti-Racism, and Climate Change. All of this while seeing the university further enhance its reputation as a world-class institution through historic research investments, record recruitment levels and student success, and the building of state-of-the-art facilities that helped to advance UBC’s teaching and research priorities.
Speaking at a Fulbright Canada Board event on May 4, 2022, Dr. Ono explained that “[a university] is a place to expand your mind and meet people that are different so that you will have the ability to appreciate different cultures and points of view and make decisions that have the well-being of the entire human race in mind.” With the support of an incredible community, Dr. Ono led the university in a way that delivered on these values.
Fulbright Canada is grateful to have a leader like Dr. Ono on our board. We wish the absolute best for him at the University of Michigan. Go Wolverines!
More information can be found here: president.umich.edu / president.ubc.ca/homepage-feature/2022/07/13/statement-to-the-ubc-community