COLUMBUS, Ohio – The new president of Ohio State University has been praised as a leader and says he wants to help Ohio’s largest land-grant institution maintain its leadership role in higher education.
The university’s trustees ended a six-month search by approving the selection of Michael Drake as OSU’s 15th president. Drake will begin work as president on June 30.
“The university embodies and defines the mission of a modern land-grant institution. In every sense one can imagine, the university is demonstrating national leadership in developing the model for public higher education,” Drake said in a statement announcing his hiring.
Chancellor of the University of California, Irvine since 2005, Drake succeeds former president Gordon Gee, who retired in July after remarks he made jabbing Roman Catholics and Southeastern Conference schools were made public.
The head of the 18-member search committee that recommended Drake’s hiring said he embodied the traits the panel was looking for. Panel chair Jeffrey Wadsworth says Drake is “forward-thinking leader” who will guide the university’s progress in academics, innovation and research, fundraising and community involvement.
Drake will help guide Ohio State’s ongoing $2.5 billion “But for Ohio State” campaign to provide scholarships and financial aid opportunities for students. Drake participated in a similar campaign at UC Irvine, university officials said.
Drake is an ophthalmology professor who also is a published textbook author.