Trustees Sign President Glidden Through
University's Bicentennial in 2004
Contact: Assistant Vice President for Communications Leesa Brown, (740) 593-1043 or 290-3329 (pager)
Editors: A photo of President Glidden may be downloaded from the Web at www.ohiou.edu/news/pix/GLIDDEN1.JPG
ATHENS, Ohio (June 30, 2000) -- President Robert Glidden will continue to lead Ohio University through its upcoming bicentennial celebration in 2004, trustees announced today.
Glidden received a 5.2 percent annual raise and a strong statement of support from trustees during their fiscal-year-end meeting. Glidden's annual salary is now $255,000. Glidden, 63, will serve through spring of 2004.
"Bob Glidden has proven that he is the right man for the right time for Ohio University," said Patricia A. Ackerman, chair of the Ohio University Board of Trustees Administration Committee. "He is an outstanding leader who has a rare and remarkable grasp of what's happening in the 'real world' as well as on campus. As a result, our graduates are extraordinarily well-prepared to enter the workforce of the 21st century."
Trustees said they are confident that, under Glidden's leadership, the university will continue to be a nationally recognized top value in higher education.
"Ohio University has built upon its solid foundation as a unique residential learning community that prizes excellent teaching," Ackerman said. "At the same time, and without compromising its commitment to highly personalized quality learning, the university has been able to attract significant funding for research and sponsored programs and to take advantage of technology. As a result, students have the best of most worlds." Ackerman noted that, since Glidden became president on July 1, 1994, funding for research and sponsored programs has increased more than 30 percent to more than $40 million. Total private giving commitments have increased almost 100 percent during Glidden's tenure, growing from $17.8 million his first year to more than $35 million this year.
Ohio University continues to garner national recognition for its academic and student programs, Ackerman added. It is the only state university in Ohio to be listed in the prestigious "Templeton Guide to Colleges that Encourage Character Development" in multiple categories, and Glidden was one of 50 college presidents singled out nationally for his leadership in character development education.
Other recent achievements include:
- New computers and laser printers were placed in the residence hall rooms of all incoming freshmen last summer. Ohio University was the first public institution in the nation to provide computers to its students on such a wide scale. By this fall, every student room in the university's 40 residence halls will be equipped with a computer, printer, software and high-speed Internet connection.
- Ohio University became the only Research II university in the nation to be designated as a National Resource Center for two programs: African Studies and Southeast Asian Studies.
- The College of Communication's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism was cited as one of the top five programs in the country by Writer's Digest magazine.
- Ohio University opened its Ohio-Leipzig European Center this spring, bringing to 156 the number of academic and research agreements the university has with colleges and universities throughout the world. _ Ohio University's College of Osteopathic Medicine entered into a partnership with eight Chinese medical schools to co-sponsor the world's only joint medical school research and instruction in traditional Chinese medicine.
- The Sporting News rated the university ninth in the nation for fairness and 13th in graduation rates among the 112 institutions that competed in Division I-A football and Division I basketball in 1998.
"Ohio University is functioning extraordinarily well across the board," Ackerman said. "In so many ways it appears that great things are in store for the university as it enters its third century of service."
Glidden is the 19th president of Ohio University. He earned his academic degrees, all in music, from the University of Iowa: a bachelor of arts in 1958, a master of arts in 1960 and a doctorate in 1966. Before joining Ohio University, he was at Florida State University for 15 years, first as professor and dean of the School of Music and then as provost and vice president for academic affairs. During his career, he also has been a member of the faculties at Wright State University, Indiana University and the University of Oklahoma, and he was dean of the School of Music at Bowling Green State University in the late 1970s. He served from 1972 to 1975 as executive director of the National Association of Schools of Music in Washington, D.C.
Glidden has been president of the National Association of Schools of Music, president of the National Honor Society in Music and chair of the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation. More recently, he was founding chair of the Council on Higher Education Accreditation, which coordinates accreditation in all fields in the United States. He chairs both the Ohio Aerospace Institute and the American Council on Education's Commission on Leadership and Institutional Effectiveness.
In other business at Friday's meeting, trustees approved more than $7.9 million in basic renovation projects on the Athens campus and the five regional campuses in St. Clairsville, Chillicothe, Ironton, Lancaster and Zanesville. Trustees also gave university officials the authority to move forward on preparing building sites for construction of a research facility, a human resources and training office, and additional graduate student and family housing.
Trustees changed the name of the School of Hearing and Speech Sciences to the School of Hearing, Speech and Language Sciences, and approved a School of Music Performance Certificate Program, making Ohio University one of 21 institutions nationally to offer a certificate or diploma in graduate performance.
Trustees and university officers thanked outgoing Board of Trustees Chair N. Victor Goodman for his dedication and service. Ackerman, a graduate of Ohio University and board member from Bedford Heights, Ohio, was elected board chair, becoming the first African-American woman to hold that position. M. Lee Ong of Hudson, Ohio, became vice chair, marking the first time the chairmanship and vice chairmanship of the university's Board of Trustees have simultaneously been held by women.Trustees authorized President Glidden's salary recommendations for the university's executive officers and approved promotion and tenure awards for 55 faculty members in the following colleges: Arts and Sciences (22); Business (1); Communication (7); Education (2); Engineering (5); Fine Arts (4); Health and Human Services (3); and Osteopathic Medicine (4). On the regional campuses, tenure and promotion awards were granted at Chillicothe (3); Eastern (2); Lancaster (1); and Zanesville (1).
