http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/AC...Award.aspx

Quote:ACE to Honor University of Cincinnati President Santa J. Ono With 2016 Reginald Wilson Diversity Leadership Award
March 02, 2016

ACE announced today that Santa J. Ono, president of the University of Cincinnati, will receive the 2016 Reginald Wilson Diversity Leadership Award.

The award is named in honor of Reginald Wilson, senior scholar emeritus at ACE and founding director of the Council's Office of Minority Concerns (now part of the ACE Inclusive Excellence Group), and is presented annually to an individual who has made outstanding contributions and demonstrated sustained commitment to diversity in higher education.

The award will be presented during the closing plenary of ACE2016, ACE's 98th Annual Meeting, on March 15 in San Francisco.

"Santa Ono is an engaged diversity leader with a tenacity of spirit and conviction who consistently provides opportunities f​or access and advancement in higher education," said ACE President Molly Corbett Broad. "I am honored to add his name to the list of Wilson Award winners who have honored Reginald Wilson's legacy and commitment to ensuring inclusion for all students."

Ono has served as the 28th president of the University of Cincinnati (UC) since 2012. He is the first Asian American president of the university and in the state of Ohio.

During his tenure at UC, Ono has been an outspoken advocate of increasing diversity and inclusion at all levels of the university. He has created the most diverse executive team in the institution's history, with nearly 40 percent of its members African American and women. He appointed the institution's first full-time chief diversity officer.

He worked with the chief diversity officer to launch the university's Diversity Plan and designed a mechanism to monitor progress toward goals annually. Additionally, he encouraged the sale of UC's presidential residence to create the equivalent of a $3 million endowment for student scholarships supporting underrepresented minorities and those with financial need.

He has utilized his social media expertise to connect directly with students and community members about a range of diversity issues in personal and meaningful ways. He also convened a forum to discuss equity in our criminal justice system and announced that his office will provide seed funding for faculty, staff and students to conduct research, develop new courses or host speakers related to ensuring equity within our criminal justice system. He has also implemented a new safety and reform initiative and has met with African American student activists, including a group called The Irate 8, to take steps to help the university become more inclusive.

Ono also serves as chair of the Urban Serving Universities Health Strand. Under his leadership, senior leaders in UC's College of Nursing led a landmark survey of holistic review in the admissions process to increase diversity in the health professions.

An avid cellist, he has teamed with MYCincinnati, an urban-based string ensemble for Cincinnati youth, to perform together at a variety of public events.

Previously, he served as UC's provost and senior vice president for academic affairs from June 2010 until his appointment as president in 2012.

Ono served as senior vice provost and deputy to the provost at Emory University (GA) prior to arriving at the University of Cincinnati. While at Emory University, Ono served as a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Posse Foundation-Atlanta, introduced the Questbridge program into the university and helped launch the Emory Advantage program that has significantly diversified the student population at that university.

Born in Vancouver, Canada, Ono earned his Ph.D. at McGill University in Montreal and his B.A. at the University of Chicago.

MEDIA CONTACT: Kelli Meyer 202-939-9328 kmeyer@acenet.edu​​

As an Aside, did anyone know that Ono was a Canuck?

He has been fairly open about his shared heritage since he started here. His parents were Canadian immigrants after The War and lived on the West Coast (I believe they still may). I think he still holds three passports (USA, Canada, Japan).

Wonder if the Cincy media will pick this up as a story? Prob not, since it is a positive UC story.

(03-03-2016 12:41 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  He has been fairly open about his shared heritage since he started here. His parents were Canadian immigrants after The War and lived on the West Coast (I believe they still may). I think he still holds three passports (USA, Canada, Japan).

i didn't mean to imply that he had concealed it. This actually makes me like him more. i lived five years in Vancouver (as a child). i don't remember much about it except playing a lot of street hockey. This is the first i've heard of his Canadian heritage.

(03-03-2016 12:39 PM)eroc Wrote:  As an Aside, did anyone know that Ono was a Canuck?

Haha this guy did! If any have you haven't had the opportunity get yourselves to Vancouver/Whister and Montreal, two of the best cities in the world.

I was hoping he was recognized as the newest B12 University President.

How long can UC hang on to him?

(03-03-2016 01:21 PM)chatcat Wrote:  How long can UC hang on to him?

I believethat he will be around long enough for UC to move to a P5 conference (whichever that might be). After that, I presume he has much bigger fish to fry.

(03-03-2016 12:59 PM)eroc Wrote:  

(03-03-2016 12:41 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  He has been fairly open about his shared heritage since he started here. His parents were Canadian immigrants after The War and lived on the West Coast (I believe they still may). I think he still holds three passports (USA, Canada, Japan).

i didn't mean to imply that he had concealed it. This actually makes me like him more. i lived five years in Vancouver (as a child). i don't remember much about it except playing a lot of street hockey. This is the first i've heard of his Canadian heritage.

If you followed Ono's tweets you would have known about him being born in Canada. He brings it up from time to time.

i almost smoked crack in an alley in gastown. one of my few regrets

In the past, he said he saw his accepting the UC presidency as a 10 year commitment, based on his 10 year contract. I think we are OK with keeping him for now.

(03-03-2016 01:28 PM)ctipton Wrote:  

(03-03-2016 01:21 PM)chatcat Wrote:  How long can UC hang on to him?

I believethat he will be around long enough for UC to move to a P5 conference (whichever that might be). After that, I presume he has much bigger fish to fry.

He has said on several occasions he has given UC a 10 year commitment. If you count his tenure as provost we are in year 5.

(03-03-2016 01:28 PM)ctipton Wrote:  

(03-03-2016 01:21 PM)chatcat Wrote:  How long can UC hang on to him?

I believethat he will be around long enough for UC to move to a P5 conference (whichever that might be). After that, I presume he has much bigger fish to fry.

I'm grateful for the attention he's paid to the conference issue, but I would guess that the president of a major research university wouldn't consider a P5 move his crowning achievement.

(03-03-2016 02:02 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(03-03-2016 01:28 PM)ctipton Wrote:  

(03-03-2016 01:21 PM)chatcat Wrote:  How long can UC hang on to him?

I believethat he will be around long enough for UC to move to a P5 conference (whichever that might be). After that, I presume he has much bigger fish to fry.

He has said on several occasions he has given UC a 10 year commitment. If you count his tenure as provost we are in year 5.

The 10-year commitment he references is his contract as President which went into effect in 2012. I would assume after that 10-year he would move onto one of the top level institutions considering his enormous retinue of educational experience at the best of the best as a student, faculty member, researcher, and administrator at the likes of Harvard, McGill, UofC, UCL, Oxford, and Emory. He will be a hot commodity as he is generally very well perceived and with respected in the Higher Education community and his multiple commendations. I would assume that given his background in medicine a school like Johns Hopkins, Duke, or UCLA would be a likely landing ground if he chose to leave after 10 (which is fairly likely). That being said, when he leaves (as long as his current tenure is par for the course for the remainder of his term) he would deserve nothing but our utmost thanks and congratulations.

(03-03-2016 02:49 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(03-03-2016 02:02 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(03-03-2016 01:28 PM)ctipton Wrote:  

(03-03-2016 01:21 PM)chatcat Wrote:  How long can UC hang on to him?

I believethat he will be around long enough for UC to move to a P5 conference (whichever that might be). After that, I presume he has much bigger fish to fry.

He has said on several occasions he has given UC a 10 year commitment. If you count his tenure as provost we are in year 5.

The 10-year commitment he references is his contract as President which went into effect in 2012. I would assume after that 10-year he would move onto one of the top level institutions considering his enormous retinue of educational experience at the best of the best as a student, faculty member, researcher, and administrator at the likes of Harvard, McGill, UofC, UCL, Oxford, and Emory. He will be a hot commodity as he is generally very well perceived and with respected in the Higher Education community and his multiple commendations. I would assume that given his background in medicine a school like Johns Hopkins, Duke, or UCLA would be a likely landing ground if he chose to leave after 10 (which is fairly likely). That being said, when he leaves (as long as his current tenure is par for the course for the remainder of his term) he would deserve nothing but our utmost thanks and congratulations.

Excellent post!

And leave it to us UC fans to start worrying about loosing something good that we have! :) His hire as provost could possibly be one of the best hires in the history of this institution.

(03-03-2016 03:47 PM)bearcatdp Wrote:  And leave it to us UC fans to start worrying about loosing something good that we have! :) His hire as provost could possibly be one of the best hires in the history of this institution.

I'm not worrying, that's the state of Higher Education...people want new challenges. He has been wonderful for us, and if the past is any indication we will continue to see a prosperous remainder of the (at least) decade that he is in charge/