The Future of The Ohio State University

Colleges and Universities A-Z Ohio State University
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<p>2011 Person of the Year by Ray Paprocki</p>

<p>Columbus’s most powerful man isn’t ready to wax poetic about his legacy. Instead, Les Wexner remains as focused as ever on the nuts and bolts of improving his hometown—a quest, as his record-setting $100 million donation to Ohio State highlights, that revolves around the transformation of his alma mater into a world-class institution.</p>

<p>Excerpt:</p>

<p>OSU’s future</p>

<p>As board chair, Wexner is Gee’s boss. But their relationship runs much deeper. They have been close friends since 1990, when Gee began his first tenure as OSU president (he left for Brown in 1997). And Wexner played a big role in 2007 in recruiting Gee back to lead Ohio State once more. In Gee’s office is a framed handwritten note from Wexner that reads: “Dear Gordon ‘But for’—Gordon Gee—The Ohio State University would not have received its first $100 million gift.”</p>

<p>Wexner served on the board during all of Gee’s first tenure at OSU. Gee says during that time, Wexner was more of a “house critic.” Now, he says, “He is a thoughtful, engaged leader.” (On the role of a board member, Wexner says, “You should not be a cheerleader.”)</p>

<p>They talk regularly, either by phone or during their standing personal appointment every other week. “We have a nice balance, a mutual respect,” Gee says. “We make good music.” But he adds: “He’s a force of nature. Not easy to disagree with him. Strong personality. So damn smart. He plants seeds. Asks probing questions.” Gee then begins to impersonate Wexner, waving one hand then tapping the tips of his fingers together while using a common Wexner phrase: “Now the way I would think about things. . . .”</p>

<p>Leadership and style are popular topics. Another is the future of Ohio State, which has embarked on several grand, transformative projects, including the
$1 billion medical center expansion, that $2.5 billion fundraising campaign and a comprehensive master plan.</p>

<p>In addition, OSU is trying to find ways to seek financial stability in an era of state and federal budget cutbacks and fierce global competition. It’s time to get creative. For example, Ohio State is looking to lease its parking operation to a private operator for at least $375 million to hire faculty, build facilities and fund scholarships. And this past fall it became the first public university to sell 100-year bonds, which raised $500 million to help finance building projects.</p>

<p>Wexner also talks about connecting the university to the business world—and not thinking about commercialization as a dirty word. “The best universities are really connected to world issues. The faculty wants to work with businesses. Students want to go to school where the best faculty are and want practical application,” he says. “The university is not a business, but they do run on money. Faculty members don’t get paid on thought.”</p>

<p>So, he says, why not focus on your strengths—medicine, research, engineering, agriculture, among others—to make money off royalties, joint ventures and such. Like others, he’s pushing for even more collaboration between OSU and its next door neighbor, Battelle, the world’s largest private research and development institution. “Every university would die to have” that kind of relationship, he says. He adds that he called Battelle CEO Jeff Wadsworth, who also sits on the OSU board of trustees, and suggested that the university’s school of engineering should bear the name of his institution. In an e-mail, Wadsworth writes, “We are actively exploring a number of joint initiatives, including a new joint OSU-Battelle innovation center. There are great opportunities between our institutions in engineering, health care, agriculture, and energy—and the education of the next generation of scientists and engineers in these fields.” </p>

<p>Wexner also responds to critics who think OSU is becoming too exclusive for a public college: It should be even more so. “In competing with other universities, we need to keep the best and brightest in the state, and attract the best and brightest to come here. And then keep them here when they graduate. It is not an elitist idea. Is [OSU’s] role to educate everybody? It can, but that’s not its role. Are we underserving the average student? Come to grips with that. Average students should go to an average school. It’s very important that Ohio State get better, not bigger, because that serves the needs of Ohio.”</p>

<p>Source: [2011</a> Person of the Year - Columbus Monthly - January 2012 - Columbus, Ohio](<a href=“http://www.columbusmonthly.com/January-2012/2011-Person-of-the-Year/]2011”>http://www.columbusmonthly.com/January-2012/2011-Person-of-the-Year/)</p>

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<p>Large gifts quickly add up in Ohio University fundraising by By Encarnacion Pyle</p>

<p>Excerpt:</p>

<p>"Officials say they feel good about the prospects of reaching their goal, given that President E. Gordon Gee helped to raise $1.5 billion from fall 2007 to spring 2012 without an official public campaign.</p>

<p>“It helps when you have the world’s best fundraiser,” said Jeff Kaplan, OSU’s senior vice president for advancement.</p>

<p>Last year alone, a record 177,322 donors gave an unprecedented $259 million in private gifts and grants. Including pledges, Ohio State’s fundraising total was a record $407.6 million, an increase of nearly $282million from the year before. The growth was fueled largely by a $100 million gift from Limited Brands founder and past OSU board Chairman Leslie H. Wexner, his wife and the Limited Brands Foundation.</p>

<p>Ohio State also completed its “Students First, Students Now” financial-aid initiative last summer, raising $116 million — $16 million more than its goal.</p>

<p>And the school has switched gears on its fundraising approach for the Wexner Medical Center. Previous efforts focused on raising $75 million by 2014 toward the $1.1 billion expansion of the hospital, Kaplan said. The school has raised $56million, about 75 percent of goal.</p>

<p>Now, the university has set its sights on raising $800million to $1 billion by 2016 for all projects at the medical center, to appeal to donors who want to give to research and other health initiatives, not just the building."</p>

<p>Source: [Large</a> gifts quickly add up in Ohio University fundraising | The Columbus Dispatch](<a href=“http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/05/07/large-gifts-quickly-add-up-in-ohio-university-fundraising.html]Large”>http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/05/07/large-gifts-quickly-add-up-in-ohio-university-fundraising.html)</p>