Good morning ladies and gentlemen! I also extend my congratulations to our student and faculty honorees and my welcome to members of our Board of Trustees, to administrative and academic leadership, to members of our faculty, to the leaders of our University's Senates, to our students, and to our staff.

As we gather we are saddened at the devastating loss of a member of our university community – Andrea Robinson. Our thoughts and prayers go to Andrea’s family at this time of tragic loss.

As we celebrate Founders Day, we honor our founders’ spirit of innovation and celebrate their vision for Ohio University. Their legacy teaches us that transformation is necessary to create the future – a future that is relevant and meets the needs of our ever-changing world.

Recently, I was reminded of two unexpected guests who walked into Cutler Hall two years ago. These visitors were two sisters on a trip crisscrossing the eastern part of the country. When one of the women told her son they were driving through Ohio, he encouraged them to stop and visit Athens, specifically Ohio University, which had some connection to one of their ancestors – Manasseh Cutler.

Little did they know that they were the descendants of a man who transformed the Northwest Territory and played a significant role in establishing the first university in the new territory. Astounded as they walked the corridors of Cutler Hall, they learned that their ancestor – whom David McCullough described as a university unto himself – was a famous figure – practically a celebrity – in our neck of the Appalachian woods.

Manasseh Cutler is very deserving of this celebrity status. He understood that education – particularly a higher education – was the foundation upon which to build a new nation. He knew that higher education would lift our country to new heights. It is because of his passion, commitment, and vision that Ohio University came to be. 

I often wonder what our founders would think of the progress that we have made today. What would Manasseh Cutler or Rufus Putnam’s reaction be strolling the pathways of our campuses, observing our outstanding students, faculty, and staff hard at work creating, developing, and innovating?

I believe their reaction would be that Ohio University has contributed mightily to the advancement and transformation of our nation. And they would be correct.

Our students, faculty, and staff are steadfast in preserving our university’s heritage, pursuing excellence, and transforming to meet the changing needs of our region, state, and world. You have made creative contributions and scholarly discoveries that were unimaginable 206 years ago. 

Who would have thought urine could be converted to clean energy? Who could imagine that Ohio University students would bring Russell Bank’s book Trailerpark to life as a feature-length film? Could Manasseh Cutler have dreamed that Ohio University students would be showcased on a world stage from Pasadena, California?

What seemed impossible now is a reality because of Ohio University’s faculty, who ignite curiosity in our students and challenge colleagues to ask the next question; our students, who are fearless in their pursuit of their passions and unwavering in their quest; and our staff, who ensure that we have the tools and the resources to make it all happen.

Because of your hard work, dedication, and ingenuity, the state of our university is strong. 

Let me take a moment to share a few examples of how you are transforming our university, region, state, and nation:

Thanks to the work of our faculty, deans, and enrollment management team, we received a record number 14,200 applications for the 2009 Fall Quarter. Our ACT mean score for incoming freshman increased one-tenth of a point to 23.8. With our freshman class of 4,075 students, our enrollment for all six campuses stands at more than 31,000 students.

But your hard work does not stop there. U.S. News and World Report ranked Ohio University as a top national university placing us 57^th among ranked public universities and 115^th overall.Our College of Business ranked 47^th in BusinessWeek magazine’s Top 50 Best Business Schools in the nation.

Ohio University’s ties to significant awards seized national and international headlines with such announcements as that of Ohio University alumnus Dr. Venki Ramakrishnan, who received the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his collaborative work on understanding the structure and function of ribosomes.

Governor Ted Strickland named Ohio University a center of excellence for energy and the environment. This designation recognizes our state and national reputation for energy and pollution research, as well as our potential to create jobs in this field.

This morning, the Governor is in Cleveland announcing the next round of Centers of Excellence. I am pleased to share with you that we are one of 12 universities selected for the biomedical sciences cluster. Congratulations to our faculty and staff involved in this Center of Excellence on our campus.

Our faculty’s work in the lab and in the classroom garnered significant awards and grants including a National Institutes of Health (NIH) award to work on a drug to treat pancreatic cancer and autoimmune diseases; an NIH grant to learn more about the science of why we age; and two federal grants to help children with serious behavioral disorders succeed in school.

Our students, faculty, and staff joined together to find ways to green our university and help us do our part to contribute to worldwide sustainability efforts. The President's Advisory Council for Sustainability Planning is one example. Working collaboratively with the Ecology and Energy Conservation committee, this council of students, faculty, and staff are charged with developing a comprehensive sustainability plan by this fall in alignment with Vision OHIO and the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment.

The generosity of our alumni – a group that now totals more than 200,000 – continues to elevate our institution through transformational gifts.

Recently, we announced two gifts totaling more than $41 million from Violet Patton, a 1938 alumna. Her first gift of $13.3 million was for the establishment of a new community arts education center. This center will be a collaborative initiative between the College of Fine Arts and the College of Education.

Ms. Patton's second gift of $28 million was given to our College of Education in honor of her parents, David and Gladys Patton, both educators. Pending approval by the Board of Trustees, the College of Education will be named The Gladys W. and David H. Patton College. The college will be only the third named college of education in the state of Ohio.

Fostering support for discoveries in the lab to the marketplace resulted in record-breaking royalty income. Last fiscal year, Ohio University's royalty income reached $6.9 million - its highest level to date. The university projects that this fiscal year total royalty income will top $8 million.

The Innovation Center continues to make a positive impact on the local economy. Three start-up firms in the small business incubator contributed 378 jobs, $16.9 million in labor income, and an estimated $1.5 million in local tax revenues in 2008, according to a study. Those figures have held steady for the past year.

The amount of labor income contributed directly or indirectly by Innovation Center firms rose over the past year, from $15.2 million in 2007 to $16.9 million in 2008, according to a study conducted by Ohio University's Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs.

These examples are just a small sample of how your hard work has lifted our university to greater heights and to international prominence.

It is you – the students, faculty, and staff of Ohio University – who have put life into our founders’ vision. You have ensured that the state of our university remains steadfast and strong.

“The history of any university is a drama colored by world events and conditions surrounding it, and the actors – its friends and enemies – who do not play parts rehearsed in advanced but parts determined by their backgrounds, their ambitions, and their ideals.” President Emeritus John Calhoun Baker’s words in 1953 are no less true today.

The tough economic times reverberating around the world have impacted our state, our region, and Ohio University.

Not a quarter goes by that I do not receive e-mails or visits from students sharing stories of the sacrifices they and their families are making to attend Ohio University. They are Attending Ohio University because they know that a degree from here will lift them up and make their dreams possible. Ohio University is the place where they have come to achieve their promise.

But what we know about the current economic challenges facing our state is that we do not anticipate an upturn in the economy any time soon. And we will continue to feel a negative impact on our university.

In 2010-11, we face a $10.4 million reduction in the state share of instruction to our Athens campus and $1.75 million to our regional campuses. With current assumptions and additional expenditures, our shortfall is $13.75 million. While we have known about these cuts since late summer and many people are working hard to thoughtfully plan and prepare, we still must make difficult decisions to meet this shortfall.

This past fall, we experienced record-breaking enrollment figures. But given the current state of the economy and its impact on hard-working students and their families, there is no guarantee that, despite our best efforts, those enrollment levels can be sustained.

We must be more efficient with our resources and talents. And we will continue to partner with government leaders and seek private support from the generosity of alumni and friends.

To date, we have surpassed our annual giving goal of $22 million and raised $46.9 million. We thank our alumni and friends for their support and for ensuring a bright future for our students by transforming our university through their generosity and leadership. Violet Patton’s gift is just one example of how such support has the potential to engage and improve the student learning experience.

Our partners in government, the people of the state of Ohio, and other leaders are turning to higher education to help transform our nation from a manufacturing economy to one built on new technology and renewable and advanced energy projects. They are turning to the academy because history has proven that higher education is at the forefront of new discoveries and scholarship. And Ohio University is no exception.

But we must make the most of this time in our history. We must refocus our institution and reflect on who we are and who we serve.

It is up to us to ensure Ohio University’s relevancy and secure our place as an institution focused on offering the best student-centered learning experience in America.

Our current and future students deserve that. And we must continue our work to prepare them to succeed in the world that awaits them.

The only way we will get there is by working together – efficiently using our resources and talents – to transform our university.

Now, more than ever, we need to reach across college, unit, department, and office boundaries. We must talk with one another, explore new ways to collaborate that will help us meet our challenges and benefit the education and growth of our students. And we must do so efficiently, making the best use of our limited funds and resources.

We are at a turning point for our university. For us, the success of Ohio University well into its Third Century will require nothing short of transformational change.

Thankfully, we have a strong history of success. And we are blessed to continue the journey begun by courageous, devoted, persevering individuals who sustained this amazing university.

These people – these leaders – faced daunting challenges and responded by transforming the university time and time again to meet the demands of the changing world around them.

In order to preserve their hard work, their vision, we must continue to build on their legacy. We must continue to transform Ohio University. And we do it to ensure a bright future for our beloved university and for our region.

Make no mistake; it won’t be easy. But we will rise to the challenge. We will answer the call. We will preserve our university’s legacy as a transformative learning community where students fulfill their promise, faculty become innovators, and alumni become global leaders.

We will support our Vision OHIO strategic priorities. We will refocus on who we are and who we serve. We will define those priorities that are necessary to our transformation through an inclusive process. 

Our transformation will be driven by discipline, determination, and focus on the very thing that is most important – our academic mission in service to our students.

On my first day of work at Ohio University, I walked from my home at 29 Park Place up the steps between Alden Library and Scripps Hall to Cutler Hall. As I approached the entrance of Cutler Hall, I took to heart the strong sense of responsibility that, as president, I was a caretaker for our founders’ vision. A vision our founders shaped at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern in Boston more than 206 years ago. 

The responsibility I felt my first day is no less significant to me on this Founders Day.  Despite our trying times, we still are here to achieve the vision of lifting up our nation through education. Together, we will shape the future of Ohio University – and in a greater sense – we will shape the future of our nation and our world.

With the faith of our founders and the extraordinary commitment of our faculty and staff, I am confident that we will emerge from these difficult economic times and continue building a world-class university with the best student-centered learning experience in America.