If there is anybody who should be thrilled about Santa Ono becoming the University of Florida’s unanimous choice as the new school president, it is Florida football coach Billy Napier.
As long as Napier wins at a high level — either by hook or by crook — Ono will have his back.
If we’ve learned anything about Ono from his tenure as the president of the University of Michigan, it is that he loves a winning football team.
At all costs.
When the University of Florida announced a few days ago that Ono was the sole finalist to replace Ben Sasse as the next president, the news rippled far beyond Gainesville.
Ono, who has served as president of the University of Michigan since 2022, is a respected academic leader with a reputation for energy, charisma and a strong belief in the power of higher education.
His academic credentials are impeccable:
World-renowned researcher. Ph.D. in experimental medicine from McGill University and a B.A. in biological sciences from the University of Chicago. Been on the faculty at Harvard and Johns Hopkins. Been elected to National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts & Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Academy of Inventors, the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the Royal Society of Chemistry.
However, not listed on his long list of scholarly achievements is his most notable accomplishment at the University of Michigan:
Provost Emeritus of Plausible Deniability during the Wolverines’ march to the national championship two seasons ago.
Ono’s defining moment at Michigan didn’t take place in a lab or a lecture hall, it came amid the most high-profile college football scandal in a decade — the infamous sign-stealing operation that implicated Jim Harbaugh and his staff in a sophisticated and systematic scheme to illegally…
Source link : https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/05/10/gators-president-santa-ono-michigan-jim-harbaurgh-conor-stalions-mike-bianchi-commentary/
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Publish date : 2025-05-10 17:49:00
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