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INDEX
Vol. CXXX, No. 86
©2022 The Michigan Daily
N E W S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
STATEMENT... . . . . . . . . . . . 3
MIC ........................4
O PIN IO N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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‘It’s a happy damn day’:
Dr. Santa Ono officially appointed as
15th president by Board of Regents
Ono will take office on Oct. 13 with a base salary of $975,000
The Board of Regents held a
special meeting on Wednesday to
officially appoint Dr. Santa J. Ono as
the 15th president of the University of
Michigan.
Ono, 59, will begin his initial
five-year tenure on Oct. 13 and will
succeed Interim President Mary
Sue Coleman, who was appointed
by the board in January following
the abrupt firing of former President
Mark
Schlissel.
Coleman
will
continue to serve as president until
Ono’s term begins. Ono is the current
president of the University of British
Columbia and has previously served
as the president of the University of
Cincinnati and senior vice provost
and vice provost at Emory University.
Article VIII § 5 of the Michigan
Constitution of 1963 states the
board of the University shall hold
responsibility for selecting a president
to be the principal executive member
of the institution and ex officio
member of the board.
“I’m thrilled to join in this
enthusiastic welcome for Dr. Santa
Ono as president of the University
of Michigan,” Coleman said. “From
academics and research to health
care, athletics and service to society,
the
University
is
dedicated
to
excellence. ‘Leaders and best’ is our
way of life on all three campuses.”
According to a statement by the
University on Wednesday, Ono’s
appointment followed a nationwide
search
of
potential
candidates
beginning in February, where the
Presidential
Search
Committee
hosted
seven
virtual
listening
sessions to hear community input on
candidates. Regent Denise Ilitch (D)
said in her statement at the meeting
that the committee noticed integrity,
communication and listening skills
were among the main qualities
community members were looking
for in a leader.
“It is readily apparent to me after
getting to know Dr. Ono and learning
about his experiences as a university
administrator that he is the right
ANNA FIFELSKI & GEORGE
WEYKAMP
Summer News Editor & Daily News
Editor
person to lead the University of
Michigan at this moment in time,”
Ilitch said. “His vision for our future
is exciting and we have a lot to look
forward to. I’m telling you that it’s a
happy damn day.”
Ono marks the first U-M president
of Japanese descent and will receive
a base salary of $975,000, which is
subject to annual increases at the
board’s discretion. Schlissel received
a salary of $927,000 at the time of his
termination. Ono is also entitled to
deferred compensation of $350,000
and residence in the President’s
House on South University Avenue.
“I am honored to serve what I think
is the greatest public university in the
world,” Ono said. “The University
of Michigan is known worldwide as
an exceptional place for learning,
teaching, healing and service across
this great state, across this great
nation and around the world, and
I am humbled and honored to be
named its 15th president.”
Daily
News
Editors
George
Weykamp and Anna Fifelski can be
reached at gweykamp@umich.edu and
afifelsk@umich.edu.
President-elect Santa Ono, Presidential Search Committee
chairs discuss priorities for new administration
ANNA FIFELSKI & GEORGE
WEYKAMP
Summer News Editor & Daily News
Editor
Following the Board of Regents’
approval of President-elect Santa Ono
on Wednesday, The Michigan Daily sat
down with Ono as well as the co-chairs
of the Presidential Search Committee,
Regents Sarah Hubbard (R) and Denise
Ilitch (D), to discuss Ono’s experience, the
presidential search process and more.
This article has been edited and
condensed for clarity.
Interview
with
Presidential
Search Committee
The Michigan Daily: When did you
first identify Ono as a candidate and how
long have you been considering him?
Sarah Hubbard: We worked with
a search firm — Isaacson, Miller —
and part of what they did is helped us
identify this big pool of candidates. So
they were going to look at every possible
candidate across the world. After the
listening sessions, we developed the job
description and Ono was in one of those
very early pools of 100 candidates when
we started the search in March.
TMD: What did you do with
the information gathered from the
Presidential Search Committee? Have
members of the committee met with
Ono?
Denise Ilitch: What we did is we
looked at all of the candidates that Sarah
talked about and then we started an
interview process that we did with the
Presidential Search Committee and we
narrowed down the candidates with the
committee.
TMD:
What
were
the
main
takeaways from the listening sessions?
How did that impact your decision to
select Ono?
SH: The takeaways from the listening
sessions were the main attributes we
wanted in a president, primarily someone
who could really build trust between the
broad University community and all its
different stakeholders.
The Michigan Daily sits down with Dr. Santa Ono, Sarah Hubbard and Denise Ilitch to talk about the future
Read more at michigandaily.com
BECCA MAHON/Daily