The Founders Citation is the highest honor presented by the Board of Trustees. Recipients have distinguished themselves through exemplary service to Ohio University, whether as faculty or staff members, loyal alumni, devoted volunteers or generous philanthropists. The citation honors them for significant and singular contributions to excellence of Ohio's first university.
Charles "Chuck" Emrick Jr.
BSC '51, MS '52
Westlake, Ohio
Charles Emrick, a co-chair of Ohio University's Bicentennial Campaign, was an Ohio University Trustee, serving as chair in 1996-97. In 1979, he was elected to The Ohio University Foundation Board of Trustees and served until 2001. He currently is an active emeriti member of the Foundation board. During the University's Third Century Campaign, he was chair of the Cleveland regional committee. He also is a former trustee for the College of Osteopathic Medicine. He and his wife, Lizabeth, have designated gifts to the College of Communication as well as the Lizabeth and Charles R. Emrick Cutler Scholarship. They have established eight Cutler Scholarships as well as four other scholarships for Rocky River High School graduates who attend either the College of Communication or the College of Business. He received the Ohio University Alumni Association's Alumnus of the Year Award in 2000 and the Medal of Merit in 1993. He also received the College of Business Award for Achievement in Business.
Emrick is the owner, senior vice president and managing director of TransAction Group in Cleveland and retired senior partner of Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP law firm. A lecturer for the University Services Business Center at John Carroll University for many years, he has served on the advisory boards of Bil-Jac Foods, Manco Inc., Reliable Construction Heaters, Fairmont Minerals, Ken-Mac Metals Inc. and Lin-Cap Partners. He is a former trustee of Fairview General Hospital, Cleveland Zoological Society, American Cancer Society of Northern Ohio, Rocky River Public Library and Lake Ridge Academy. He received his law degree from Cleveland State University in 1958. He taught business law at Baldwin Wallace College for four years and was a guest lecturer at Case Western Reserve University.
Emrick and his wife, Lizabeth Keating Emrick, BSJ '52, have a daughter, Caroline Emrick Weingart, and son, Charles III. They have five grandchildren.
Joan "Jody" Galbreath Phillips
BSED '46
Columbus, Ohio
In 1974, Joan Galbreath Phillips became the first woman to chair the Ohio University Board of Trustees. When she started her 21 years of service on the board in 1973, she was the second woman to serve as a trustee. She also was a member of The Ohio University Foundation Board of Trustees and the College of Osteopathic Medicine Advisory Committee. Her gifts to the University have benefited intercollegiate athletics as well as the colleges of Fine Arts, Communication and Health and Human Services; libraries; and other areas. She is the daughter of the late John W. Galbreath, a 26-year trustee of Ohio University. Helen Mauck Galbreath Memorial Chapel was built in memory of Phillips' mother, a 1919 alumna.
During her career, she was a director of Galbreath-Ruffin Corp., a Trustee of Ohio University's Foundation Board and a volunteer teacher at Southside Settlement School. She also was a director for the Buckeye Financial Corp.
Phillips and her late husband, James Wallace "Wally" Phillips, HON '83, had three daughters, Dianne Albrecht, Cynthia Close and Deborah Phillips Bower, AB '73, and a son, John Wallace. She also has 12 grandchildren.
Daniel Kung-Chuen Shao
AB '72, HON '98
Hong Kong
Daniel Shao has been an Ohio University Foundation Board Trustee since 1995 and is an international consultant for the Bicentennial Campaign. He has been president of the Hong Kong chapter of Ohio University Alumni Association since 1984. He has directed gifts to the University's libraries, the Daniel K.C. Shao Internship and Study Abroad programs, the Scott & Fetzer Entrepreneurial Program and other areas. His Ohio University honors include the Ohio University Alumni Association Medal of Merit, an Award for Achievement in Business from the College of Business and an Outstanding Alumnus Award from the College of Arts and Sciences. Shao also is coordinator of the Ohio University/Hong Kong Baptist College program.
In Hong Kong, Shao is executive director of Van Yu Trading Co. Ltd. and has been executive director of more than 20 companies in various countries. He also commits his time to community service and higher education volunteerism.
He and his wife, Margaret Pui-Yee Chan, have two sons and a daughter.
