UBC is a huge presence in Vancouver: a university, a land developer, a research centre, a generator of start-up businesses, and a hotbed of intellectual ferment.
So it means a lot to the city what kind of leader is chosen.
The board’s decision to pick Santa Ono, then former president at the University of Cincinatti, was bold. I’ve interviewed a lot of CEOs, presidents, and executive directors. He’s unlike anyone I’ve profiled before, as I said to my editor at BCBusiness.
This is my portrait of this unusual man, who will be generating a lot of news, I’m sure.