Months after the state Board of Governors snubbed the University of Florida’s sole pick to become its next president, that candidate has landed a new gig.
Santa Ono, the former president of the University of Michigan, accepted a job with the Ellison Institute of Technology, a research and development initiative funded by billionaire Larry Ellison in partnership with Oxford University in England. Ono will become president of EIT Global, which will conduct research in a range of fields, from health and medicine to clean energy and artificial intelligence.
Ono was denied UF’s top job after state board members questioned his record on diversity initiatives and opinions on gender. For the first time in history, they did not approve a university’s pick.
In a statement Monday, John Bell, the president of Ellison Institute of Technology Oxford, said he was “a great admirer of (Ono’s) leadership abilities at major universities.”
UF, meanwhile, continues its search for its next president. At a board meeting Monday, Chairperson Mori Hosseini said the university was still hunting for a longer-term interim after extending the contract of interim president Kent Fuchs until Sept. 1.
Fuchs credited the board for their approach to the search, which is anticipated to resume in full next spring.
“I know that you all are not settling for just anyone that wants the position or that might be recommended,” he said. “You want the very best for the institution. And those of us that are faculty and staff and students are just so grateful for all the time that you put in.”