Gwendolyn (“Wendy”) Yip is the wife of President Santa Ono. She volunteers her time to build community within U-M and beyond, to promote good will for the university and to encourage the efforts of faculty, staff, and students and alumni at U-M.

Before coming to U-M, Wendy served as University Ambassador for the University of British Columbia, in addition to President of the Board of the Pacific Canada Heritage Centre / Museum of Migration. She also served on the Advisory Board of the Chinatown Storytelling Centre, a project of the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation.

Wendy trained as an immunologist at McGill University and as a lawyer at Boston University. She practiced law for a decade in the US, primarily in patent law, but with some experience in poverty and family law, health law, and criminal prosecution. Wendy also served as a Legal Fellow at what is now the Asian American Justice Center in Washington, DC, where she championed affirmative action and co-authored a report on Asian American business participation in public contracts. She taught patent law as a visiting fellow at the London School for Economics 2001-02. From 2012-2016, Wendy was First Lady of the University of Cincinnati and helped to fundraise for UC, Cincinnati Zoo, and the Seven Hills Neighborhood House, an inner-city community center where she remains a board member. She is married to President Santa J. Ono, 15th President of U-M, with whom she is trying to raise two independent, resilient and compassionate daughters.