Santa Ono was appointed as Michigan University’s President on Wednesday. Ono is already clear on where he wants to take Michigan’s athletics per Aaron McMann of Mlive.

Ono will be the 15th president of the university after the departure of Mark Schlissel, who held the position from 2014-2022. He stressed just how important it is to how a balance between academics and athletics, especially at a college like Michigan. He stated that he is going to everything he can to make that happen.

“It knits the whole community together,” Ono told reporters. “I think that there’s tremendous synergy between academics and athletics, and I want to do everything I can to make sure Michigan competes at the highest level.”

He also had stops at Cincinnati (2012-2016) and the University of British Columbia (2016-2022) in similar roles before arriving at Michigan. Ono also made sure to mention how supportive he was of the athletics at those colleges as well. It looks like Ono could be a great fit in Ann Arbor.

“If you talk with the coaches and ADs at UBC and Cincinnati, they’ll tell you I’m passionate about it and supportive of them,” Ono said. “I’m even known to go in there during halftime and give the team a pep talk. Whatever I can do. These are difficult roles, to be a scholar athlete. You’re taking classes and you’re training. You’re traveling. I’m there for them.”