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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

