A few hours after the university introduced Amos as its new executive director of alumni relations April 2 4, board members were altering Amos' Ohio State University vanity license plates to read "OU4x4" and resemble an Ohio University plate.

"I didn't know they had done it and I drove all the way back home to Columbus that night with the plates like that. I didn't even notice it until the next day," Amos says.

Alumni board member Bill Righter, BSC '77, remodels Amos' Ohio State vanity plate soon after Amos arrived on campus. Photos: Rick Fatica

Amos, 35, most recently an assistant vice president of the Ohio State Alumni Association Inc., began his new job by attending the Black Alumni Reunion on the Athens campus in early June. Amos' top priority will be filling three vacant positions in the Office of Alumni Relations, including a newly created associate director post.

Two openings came about when assistant directors Pam Vander Ark and Dexter Bailey took new jobs on campus as director of purchasing and assistant dean for development and alumni affairs in the College of Education, respectively.

"I want the new people we hire to be incredibly capable, dynamic people. I want to create synergy within the alumni staff," Amos says. "From the time they call the Alumni Association or double click on that Web page, I want people to feel that energy about who we are and what we're trying to do for the institution. And that's exciti ng to me."

Energetic and excited would be two ways to describe how Amos approaches his new assignment. University President Robert Glidden dismisses the fact that Amos is not an OU alum, saying: "We had to go find the very best professional in this field that we could and that was Ralph.

"The fact of the matter is that Ohio State has one of the best alumni programs in the country, and (OSU Alumni Association CEO) Dan Heinlen is one of the most respected guys in the country," Glidden says. "We need to bring our alumni activities up to date, raise the level in both intensity and quality of activities.

"It was amazing how much support and outreach people have for this community and this university. That's exciting to me. It's very positive. It's like magic." -Ralph Amos

"Not that we haven't done good things in the past, but we need to raise our alumni pro file for the sake of the whole university. And I think that takes the imaginative, creative leadership and energy that Ralph brings to the table."

Amos replaces Associate Vice President for University Relations Hub Burton, who served as interim director of alumni relations for one year.

With a background in sales, Amos joined the Ohio State Alumni Association in 1990 as director of constituent societies, a post he held for three years. In 1993, he became assistant vice president-constitue nt societies, coordinating 49 alumni organizations from academic units to the marching band and directing a publication design and production team.

Amos had been assistant vice president of marketing and alumni societies since late 1994, overseeing the OSU Alumni Association's marketing and membership services and, until a recent reorganization, supervising a seven-person staff.

At one time, Amos helped staff international alumni tours to more than 18 countries, experience that fits nice ly with OU's goal of increasing connections with international alumni. The university's first European chapter was created last year in Germany, and 10 other international alumni chapters are located in Japan, Korea, Nigeria, Thailand and elsewhere. Amos earned a bachelor's degree in international studies from Ohio State in 1986 and he speaks fluent French.

"We want to make sure we keep those chapters active and, as time permits, we will probably add more chapters as the need arises," says Leonar d Raley, vice president for alumni relations and development. "Toward that end, we wanted someone who had an appreciation for and an understanding of cultural differences that exist in other parts of the world."

Amos expects to spend much of the next two years surveying alumni, developing a strategic plan, and following Glidden's mandate of improving the quality of alumni programming. Amos says he also would like to enhance the Alumni Association's role in student recruitment. Programs sponsore d by Ohio State's Alumni Association initiated campus contact with 20,000 prospective students over the past two years.

"What you have to remember is that Ohio University already is a prestigious institution, and the support of its alumni, the people, the community is there," Amos says. "And there's already a decent foundation for the Alumni Association, although I think there are some things that could be tweaked to push us and make us better.

"I believe every alumni program should be an event, so that when people leave they know what they have to do and they had the best time learning about that mission and task.

"I think each event needs to be a positive experience. People's time is so valuable, even more than money. The most valuable commodity now is time, or lack of it, with your family."

Amos says university alumni officials across the country are examining why alumni chapter involvement appears to be on the decline. He says that's where marketing comes into play. < p> "To me, it's a no-brainer," Amos says. "We have to change, we have to evolve, we have to create something that is going get alums to an event. For umpteen years, we've been bringing people to an event to hear a speaker from the university. A dinner can be a very enjoyable experience, but you've likely seen many of the same people earlier at the Rotary meeting and it's the same chicken you've had at 18 other events throughout the month."

The well-documented loyalty of Ohio University's alumni didn't escape Amos when he took the job. He had a disfigured vanity license plate to prove it.

"I told people I interviewed with that I've never seen so much energy from so many people," Amos says. "It was amazing how much support and outreach people have for this community and this university. That's exciting to me. It's very positive. It's like magic."

By Bill Estep, editor of Ohio University Today.