Born in 1962, Santa Ono is the son of mathematician Takashi Ono, who immigrated to the United States from Japan in the late 1950s. Ono was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where his father worked as an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of British Columbia from 1961 to 1964. As a result, Ono acquired United States citizenship by jus sanguinis and Canadian citizenship by jus soli.[1]
Ono completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University supported by the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation.[8] Ono's research reported that immune-related genes are more active in insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, which could affect diabetes risk.[9] His lab showed that specific DNA elements and transcription factors are key in regulating these immune genes.[10] They proposed that the protein NFX1, important in nerve cell development, may influence diseases like Parkinson's and Huntington's.[11] The lab also identified potential biomarkers for tracking age-related macular degeneration and studied how HMGA protein mutations could lead to fat tumors and obesity in mice.[12]
While at University College London, Ono served as associate dean of students and as a member of the University College London Council.[13] From 2006 to 2010, Ono served as senior vice provost for undergraduate education and academic affairs at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.[14][15]
University of Cincinnati
In June 2010, Ono was named senior vice president for academic affairs and university provost at the University of Cincinnati, with oversight of budgets, personnel, and planning.[16][17]
In 2012, Ono was named the 28th president of the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, becoming the first Asian-American president of that university.[13] U Square at the Loop, a $78 million mixed use development, was opened during his presidency.[18]
In January 2015, Inside Higher Education named Ono as "the nation's most notable college president for 2015".[19] In December 2015, an article on Upworthy profiled Ono as sixth in the list of "9 high-profile CEOs who did positive things in 2015".[20]
In February 2017, Ono reinstated John Furlong as keynote speaker for a university fundraiser despite allegations of Furlong's abuse of Indigenous children during his time as a teacher in a remote community.[23][24][25] Furlong's participation sparked protests from UBC students and activists, including some of his alleged victims.[23] This incident led to the resignation of the only Indigenous member of UBC's Sexual Assault Policy Committee.[26] Ono's decision to reinvite Furlong followed reported pressure from wealthy donors.[24]
In July 2019, Amazon announced plans to establish Canada's first "Cloud Innovation Centre" at UBC.[27] The project proceeded without community consultation.[28] Contract details were withheld until a student group obtained them through a freedom of information request. The documents showed that the Ono administration followed Amazon's directive to keep $3 million in funding confidential.[29]
In October 2019, at least six students were given medical attention for suspected drugging incidents at a fraternity party.[30] Following this, a female professor faced online abuse after criticizing the fraternities involvement in Remembrance Day ceremonies.[31] However, the university administration, under the Ono presidency, responded and emphasized freedom of expression rather than condemning the harassment against the professor, affirming its "commitment to freedom of expression and academic freedom".[32]
During Ono's tenure, the university hosted multiple controversial speakers promoting white supremacist, Islamophobic, and neo-Nazi movements, often invited by student groups with extreme views.[33] Ono inaccurately claimed equal community support for an anti-trans speaker event,[34] leading to the Vancouver Pride Society's decision in July 2019 to ban UBC's participation in the Vancouver Pride parade.[35]
University of Michigan
On July 13, 2022, Ono was named as the 15th president of the University of Michigan, with his term beginning on October 13, 2022.[36][37] He became the first Asian American to lead the university.[2] In October 2023, Ono received a 4% raise in base salary, increasing it from US$975,000 to US$1,014,000 annually.[38]
On October 17, 2024, the university's Board of Regents voted unanimously to extend Ono's contract by an additional eight years, through October 1, 2032.[39][40] The extension also increased Ono's base salary to US$1.3 million per year, marking a 33% rise since he started his tenure two years ago in 2022.[41]
Response to labor union protest
Ono's inauguration ceremony on March 7, 2023 as president of the University of Michigan,[42] was marked both by protests from the Graduate Employees' Organization [43] and administrators' insistence that students write and perform poetry praising his leadership style.[44] The Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO) is a labor union that represents about 2,300 graduate student instructors and graduate assistants. On March 29, 2023 — 22 days into his presidency — Ono led the University of Michigan into what became the longest labor strike in the institution's history. A majority of instructors in GEO went on strike because their 24,000 dollar compensation package was not adjusted for the 38,000 dollar cost of living in Ann Arbor.[45]
Ono responded to the strike by seeking but failing to win an injunction against GEO membership,[46] with his administrators claiming in court that strikers were causing "irreparable harm to the university."[47] When Ono was challenged by union members in a downtown restaurant on April 20, he called police to arrest and handcuff the protesters — off campus.[48] In response, Ono pursued felony charges against the protestors, but the Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney declined to press charges for lack of evidence that strike actions violated protected speech. Footage of the detentions racked up over 1.4 million views on social media.[49] Ono further withheld hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation from strikers, directed leadership to hire other students as strikebreakers, and caused administrators to invent the final grades of students they had not taught. These actions and others prompted the Higher Learning Commission to announce an investigation into possible academic misconduct by university leadership,[50] which was later dropped. As the strike extended into the spring, Ono cancelled attendance at scheduled campus events, became less visible around campus in casual settings, and posted less to social media.[51]
The strike officially ended five months later in August 25, 2023 when the university agreed to almost all of the strikers' demands, and a 97 percent majority of GEO members ratified the contract.[52]
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
On October 10, 2023, Santa Ono condemned "Hamas terrorists" through a university statement.[53] On October 13 afternoon, around 300 University of Michigan students and community members protested outside the President’s House, objecting Ono’s statement and criticizing Ono's ignorance in Palestinian people, casualties, and forced displacement.[54][55] Ono responded with an additional statement to the university community on the same day, reaffirming his stance.[56][55] In December, Ono canceled the central student government's voting on two resolutions related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[57][58][59]
On January 23, 2017, Ono was appointed chief advisor of the British Columbia Innovation Network and a member of the British Columbia Technology Council.[68] Ono served on the Medical & Scientific Advisory Board of the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society,[69] as well as on the Medical Advisory Board and College of Experts of the Medical Research Council in the United Kingdom.[70] He has been a member of the Faculty of 1000 since 2003.[71]
Ono speaking at a public event in 2018
Ono wrote articles on research and innovation,[72] college rankings,[73] healthcare,[74] STEM education,[75] diversity,[75] social media,[76] and more.[76] He spoke and wrote about the issue of mental health in adolescents and young adults, advocating for increased funding to identify at-risk youth and support early mental health interventions.[77][78]
Santa Ono was named after Santaro, a Japanese folk story character.[84] Ono, a practicing Anglican, is a member of the Anglican Communion Science Commission and served as a lay Eucharistic minister.[85][86][87]
Ono met Gwendolyn "Wendy" Yip at McGill University in 1985; Yip was in her undergraduate senior year when Ono came to the university to complete his PhD work.[88] The pair married in 1989 and have two daughters together.[89]
^Jarvis, Kay (October 10, 2024). "Regents extend President Ono's contract until 2032". record.umich.edu. The University Record. Retrieved October 24, 2024. (UPDATE: The Board of Regents unanimously voted to ratify the contract extension Oct. 17.)
^"Inauguration Address". University of Michigan. Office of the President. March 7, 2023. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
^"Living Wage Calculation for Ann Arbor, MI". MIT Living Wage Calculator. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Department of Urban Studies and Planning. March 29, 2023. Archived from the original on April 2, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
^General, Office of the Secretary to the Governor. "Ms. Alice Mannor Chan-Yip". The Governor General of Canada. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
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