Over the past 150 years, land-grant universities—America’s first public institutions of higher learning—have had a profound impact on the well-being of our nation. Founded by the 1862 Morrill Land Grant Act and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln, land-grant universities were given a three-part mission: to teach, to conduct research, and to engage communities across each state in order to meet their localized needs.
Gathered in honor of The Ohio State University’s sesquicentennial celebration, this collection of essays highlights the significant contributions that Ohio State continues to make as part of its twenty-first-century land-grant mission. Authors from across the university—representing fields as various as agriculture, dance, English, engineering, family science, geography, medicine, social work, and veterinary science—provide contributions that highlight the preeminent status of The Ohio State University. In addition, the perspectives of alumni, staff members, and senior administrators (both present and former) round out the picture of Ohio State as the first among equals regarding its land-grant peers. Overall, contributors draw on rich and varied institutional backgrounds to offer invaluable insights for higher education administrators and scholars across the US.
 

Stephen M. Gavazzi is rofessor in the Human Development and Family Science program in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. He is the coauthor (with E. Gordon Gee) of Land-Grant Universities for the Future: Higher Education for the Public Good.

David J. Staley is Director of the Humanities Institute at The Ohio State University associate professor in the Department of History. He is the author most recently of Alternative Universities: Speculative Design for Innovation in Higher Education.

Contents

List of Illustrations

Editorial Preamble

1          The Prominence and Preeminence of The Ohio State University

            Stephen M. Gavazzi and David J. Staley

Setting the Stage

2          Defining the Modern Land-Grant University

            Michael V. Drake

3          Prima Inter Pares: Ohio State’s Position as the First among Equals within the US Public and Land-Grant University System

            Stephen M. Gavazzi

4          The History and Future of The Ohio State University

            David J. Staley

The Tripartite Mission

5          Teaching Excellence in the Twenty-First Century: Meeting the Mission, Extending the Vision

            Kay Halasek

6          Coming Full Circle: Research, Discovery, and Creative Inquiry at Ohio State

            Janet M. Weisenberger

7          Engagement: The Land-Grant Compact through Time and Change

            Stephen C. Myers

Manifestation of the Mission

8          Engaging Ohio’s Youth and Fulfilling the Land-Grant Mission through 4-H Youth Development

            Kirk Bloir and Scott D. Scheer

9          The “Flexner Effect”: Medical Educational Reform and the Land-Grant Universities

            E. Christopher Ellison

10        Social Impact and Inclusive Excellence

            Thomas K. Gregoire

11        Food and Nutritional Security: Still the Grand Challenge for Land-Grant Universities

            Casey Hoy and Brian Snyder

12        Reinventing the Regional Campus

            Norman W. Jones

13        The Science of Families: Work-Family Balance and the Twenty-First-Century Land-Grant Mission

            Claire Kamp Dush and Stephen M. Gavazzi

14        Agriculture as the Cornerstone College in the Twenty-First-Century Land-Grant Mission

            Cathann A. Kress and Graham R. Cochran

15        At the Intersection: The Birth of Ohio’s 1862 and 1890 Land-Grant Universities

            Laquore Meadows

16        Ohio State as a Twenty-First-Century Urban University

            Harvey J. Miller

17        Toward a Land-Grant Fierce Future: BE THE MODEL™ College of Veterinary Medicine in the Twenty-First Century

            Rustin M. Moore

18        Engineering at The Ohio State University: Driving the Economic Development of Ohio

            David B. Williams

19        Backstage at Ohio State’s The Arts Initiative: Defining a World of Arts Enterprise

            Valarie Williams

The Student Experience

20        Ohio State’s Second-Year Transformational Experience Program: Enriching Students’ Lives in the Modern Land-Grant Era

            David Isaacs, Anne McDaniel, Javaune Adams-Gaston, and M. Susie Whittington

21        I Had No Idea . . . but Now That I Do . . .

            Clark Kellogg

22        The Abiding Promise of a Land-Grant Education

            Matthew Mayhew and Eric McChesney

Insider Observations

23        The State of Ohio Leadership Institute

            Trevor L. Brown

24        Why We Count: Using Data to Be Our Best Selves

            Julia W. Carpenter-Hubin

25        The Model Land-Grant Library at Ohio State

            Damon E. Jaggars

26        Ohio State Leadership

            Rick Martin and Tayo Switzer

27        The Ethos of the Engaged Institution

            Roger A. Rennekamp

28        Responding to Student and Community Change through Academic Program Reviews

            Ryan J. Schmiesing

29        Building Generations of Leaders at The Ohio State University

            Donald A. Stenta

Outsider Observations

30        Adventures of Being a University President

            E. Gordon Gee

31        America’s Education Crisis: Can Land-Grant Values Be Our Salvation?

            William E. Kirwan

32        Leadership Lessons from The Ohio State University

            Ed Ray

33        Fostering Innovation and Collaboration within Land-Grant Universities

            Joseph Steinmetz

Conclusion

34        Parting Thoughts on Fulfilling the Twenty-First-Century Land-Grant Mission

            Stephen M. Gavazzi and David J. Staley