UBC hires new president with Vancouver roots

Santa Ono, a leading researcher in experimental medicine, was a popular Twitter-savvy president of University of Cincinnati

A Vancouver-born, renowned biomedical researcher is leaving his post as president of the University of Cincinnati to take the top position at UBC.
 
After his appointment as president and vice-chancellor of UBC, Santa Ono told a press conference on Monday morning that he was proud to say he was born at St. Paul’s Hospital in 1962. His parents were Japanese immigrants, and his father, Takashi Ono, was a mathematics professor at UBC.  “UBC is that very special, once-in-a-lifetime place that I could not pass up the opportunity to lead,” he said. “What attracted me is the quality of the people and the outstanding research occurring here.”
 
Ono is a pioneer in the field of experimental medicine, and his popularity as president of UC was reflected in his Twitter following of almost 73,000. Ono served as provost at UC for two years before becoming president in 2012.
 
The board of governors of UBC was on a fast-track to hire a new president following the abrupt and controversial departure of prior president Arvind Gupta in August 2015. Ono was the unanimous choice of the board, following an international search by a 21-member committee composed of faculty, staff, students, alumni, senate and board members from UBC’s Vancouver and Okanagan campuses. He was hired as president on a five-year term which will begin on August 15.

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