Former Michigan President Santa Ono will not return to university faculty, officials say
Former University of Michigan President Santa Ono will not return to a faculty position after he pursued the presidential role at the University of Florida and was rejected.
A U of M spokesperson confirmed on Friday that Ono resigned from employment. The university did not provide any further details. Ono confirmed to The Detroit News that he informed the university he was not returning, but stopped short of sharing his future plans.
Ono was named Michigan's 15th president in 2022. He announced in May 2025 that he was stepping down to go for the same role at the University of Florida. He received initial approval from the university's Board of Trustees, but was rejected by the Florida Board of Governors a week later.
Before the Board of Governors' 10-6 vote, several prominent conservatives raised questions about Ono over pro-Palestinian protests, climate change efforts, gender ideology and DEI programs at the University of Michigan and his previous academic positions.
One of those conservatives was U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, who said that he had "serious concerns" about Ono potentially becoming president. Scott urged the Board of Governors to question the encampment that occurred on U of M's Diag last year and Ono's response to reports of anitsemitism on campus.
Before becoming Michigan's president, he served six years as president and vice-chancellor of the University of British Columbia and as president and provost of the University of Cincinnati. He was set to replace Kent Fuchs, who became the school's interim president last summer after ex-U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse stepped down. Sasse left the U.S. Senate, where he had represented Nebraska, to become the university's president in 2023.
According to the University of Florida's website, Fuchs remains the university's interim president.
