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Category: People (page 27 of 52)

Alutto fills role as interim president, for second time

July 5, 2013 / drobik.5@osu.edu / Comments Off

Joe Alutto, 2004

This week, Joseph A. Alutto begins his second term as interim president of OSU, the fifth person to fill this role for the University between administrations.

Alutto has actually worn many hats at OSU since he first arrived in 1991 as Dean of the Fisher College of Business. He came to Ohio State after spending 14 years serving as dean of the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Management. He had earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Manhattan College, a master’s degree in industrial relations from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. in organizational behavior from Cornell University.

When Alutto arrived as dean, it was known simply as the College of Business and was just starting to formulate a plan to implement a major restructuring of the college.

Early in Alutto’s tenure, the College’s name changed, after securing a $20 million gift in 1993 from OSU alumnus Max M. Fisher to help fund a $67 million, six-building complex for the College. It is now named the Max M. Fisher College of Business.

Alutto talks with Max Fisher, 1998

Roughly a year later, the restructuring plan was in place, calling for, among other things, new facilities, more faculty development and support, and a new emphasis on executive education.

Alutto spent the next 16 years implementing those changes, helping lift the college from a spot that was nowhere near the top 25 in national rankings, to 25^th in the nation this year, according to U.S. News and World Report. Along the way, in 1998, Alutto was named Executive Dean of the professional colleges, coordinating the activities of the Colleges of Engineering; Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences; Education and Human Ecology; Law, and Social Work.

In July 2007, when then-President Karen Holbrook left OSU, Alutto took over as interim president for three months until E. Gordon Gee came on board for his second term as president, in October of that year. Shortly after, Gee tapped Alutto as Executive Vice President and Provost. Alutto served in that position until last week, when he was supposed to retire, but agreed to serve as interim president until a replacement for Gee is found.

Fisher College of Business Dedication, 1999

Alutto is actually the fifth person in University history to serve as interim president. In 1925, George Rightmire was interim president for a year before the Board of Trustees made him president in his own right. Following Rightmire’s presidency (1926-1938), William McPherson was interim president for nearly two years. McPherson was Dean of the Graduate School at the time and had actually been acting president in 1924 when President William Oxley Thompson was ill for several months.

The next interim president was J. Richard “Dick” Sisson, who held the position for six months after Gordon Gee resigned in 1997 to be president at Brown University. Sisson was Vice President and Provost from 1993 until 1998. Former president Edward Jennings took over for two months in 2002 between Presidents Kirwan and Holbrook.

Finally, Joseph Alutto has been interim president twice – in 2007 before Gordon Gee’s second administration and now following it. Three interim presidents, McPherson (1887), Rightmire (1895, 1898, 1926), and Sisson (1958, 1960), were also alumni of Ohio State University.

Gee had rock-star status among students

June 28, 2013 / drobik.5@osu.edu / Comments Off

President Gee poses with a student for a photo at the Iced Tea with President Gee event, 2012

President Gee poses for a photo at the University Founder’s Day event, hosted by the Archives and Ohio Staters, 2012

It is rare for a president of a University – let alone one who leads one of the largest in the country – to have such a close relationship to the student body. Yet E. Gordon Gee, who officially leaves office today, made such a connection. He was a rock star of sorts for students, who often asked for photos with him as he made his rounds around campus. And he was willing to do so; in fact, he began a tradition of taking photos with new graduates and their families after Commencement ceremonies.

During his first term, the annual convocation ceremony for incoming students was started, as was his annual State Tour, in which he traveled to individual counties to meet with prospective students, current students and former students where they lived.

Throughout both terms, Gee could be spotted in some of the most unexpected places for a University president to be: mingling with partygoers at a fraternity, serving as a partner for a student in a dance class, leading a flash mob to celebrate the opening of the Ohio Union, or – our favorite – talking to students about University history at the annual Founder’s Day Tea that the Archives and Ohio Staters, Inc. host.

To mark his last day as OSU president, we present below a photo gallery to show how it was so easy for students to love him, and why we’ll all miss him.

Gee helping students move into their dorm, 1992

Gee helps students move into the dorms, 1992

Gee hitting a pinata during a student celebration, 1993

Gee hits a pinata during a student celebration, 1993

Gee at the Velcro wall event on the Oval, 1993

Commencement, 1996

Gee working with students in a glassblowing class, 1997

Gee works with students in a glassblowing class, 1997

Gee with students, 2010

Gee speaking at Founder's Day event, 2012

Gee speaks at the University Founder’s Day event, 2012

2 X Gee = many firsts for OSU

June 21, 2013 / drobik.5@osu.edu / Comments Off

President Gee, 1990

On September 1, 1990 – E. Gordon Gee’s first day as president of OSU – there was no such thing as a Pelotonia to raise money for the James (the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital) since the hospital was only two months old. Back then, the Stadium had about 15,000 fewer seats (86,000), and the plans to renovate the Thompson Library, then known as the Main Library, were nearly 10 years away from being approved. Meanwhile, High Street on the south side of campus was still just one long row of broken-down bars.

When E. Gordon Gee became president that day, he began what would become his first term, and he accomplished much during those seven years:

· The University renamed the College of Business after Max M. Fisher, a 1930 alumnus whose generous contribution helped build a new business school.

· The University’s community development arm, Campus Partners, was founded to help redevelop the University District, particularly south end of campus along High Street.

· Designed by Philip Johnson, known as the father of modern architecture in the United States, the Science and Engineering Library opened. (It is now known as the 18^th Avenue Library.)

· The University Staff Advisory Council, an advocacy group for OSU staff, was established.

· Gee appointed a task force to create an advocacy group for women faculty and staff, eventually known as The Women’s Place.

· The annual State of Ohio Tour – a week-long bus tour in which the OSU President visits various counties to connect the University to past alumni and future Buckeyes where they live – was created.

President Gee, 2007

On October 1, 2007 – ten years after leaving office – Gee started his second term, and there were more milestones:

· At a cost of about $120 million, a newly renovated Main Library – now known as the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library – re-opened.

· A new Ohio Union, the campus’ third student union since 1912 and its largest, opened.

· The OSU Medical Center was renamed the Wexner Medical Center and began a $1 billion expansion project for the James Cancer Hospital and Solve Research Institute. Meanwhile, the Pelotonia, an annual bike ride through which all proceeds go to OSU cancer research, was established.

· The University opened International Gateway offices in China and Brazil, to better handle the transition of international students from their home countries to the Ohio State campus.

· A $2.5 billion fund-raising campaign, “But for Ohio State,” began.

· Campus Partners opened the South Campus Gateway, a $152-million mixed-use project with retail, entertainment, apartments, office space along High Street.

· The University signed a $483 million parking lease with CampusParc, a private vendor, in order to raise money to fund academic programs, student scholarships and bus service.

Like everyone else on campus, we will miss President Gee. We’re lucky, though, because the presidential papers from his first term are here, and we expect a collection from his second term to arrive sometime in the future. The first-term collection is available to the public, and if you’re interested in seeing any of the materials, please contact us. (http://library.osu.edu/find/collections/the-ohio-state-university-archives