Meet OSU’s new president: EDWARD RAY By Patricia Filip

Edward John Ray, executive vice president and provost of The Ohio State University, was appointed the 14th president of Oregon State University on June 5.

After a 33 year-career at Ohio State, Ray could have easily retired. He said he found the thought of retirement terrifying and, instead, welcomes a new opportunity.

"I wanted to be somewhere where I could make a contribution and work with people with whom I can succeed," he said.

"As a land-grant institution, Oregon State has a culture I understand and a mission for which I have a great passion. We have great challenges facing us, and I like challenges when the goals are so worthwhile, and there are great colleagues to work with. I’m hoping the very good schooling I got at Ohio State will enable me to pitch in and be helpful."

Ray, 58, succeeds Tim White, who served as president since the departure of Paul Risser in January. Risser left to become chancellor of the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education.

Ray, a self-described workaholic, settled into his new position in August after he quickly wrapped things up in Ohio.

He refers to his priorities for his first 90 days as "not the kinds of thing that make the blood rush." He aims to get a feel for the OSU culture, programs and people. He intends to do a lot of listening and hopes to get to know internal and external constituents.

Within hours of his appointment, he met with OSU staff, the Faculty Senate, and OSU Foundation trustees. He and his wife, Beth, also stopped by the CH2M HILL Alumni Center that evening to visit with graduating seniors. In early July, he returned to Oregon for campus meetings and introductions to legislators in Salem. He has met with student leaders and is looking forward to meeting more students, whom he says are very important to him.

"Working with students is one of the perks of the position," he said.
He considers it important that he understand where the institution sees itself and how fast it can move.

"The university needs to move forward purposefully, develop a common agenda and stick to it," he said.

Ray believes more work needs to be done on the university strategic plan, OSU 2007, which has been under development for more than a year. He is impressed by the fact that despite trying economic times, the campus community is planning for the future and making difficult decisions.

In the longer term he hopes to spearhead a major capital campaign for the university. "This absolutely has to happen," he said. "In difficult budget times we must work on the revenue side to bring in more resources and to diversify their sources. We cannot simply put budget funding problems on the backs of students and their families. We have to be cost effective and creative in growing our resource base."

Ray, who describes himself as an "economist who knows budgets and how to make hard choices," also said that one can always look for further efficiencies on the cost side of the budget.

He believes Oregon State needs to continue to work with its constituents and the legislature to help diminish and one day reverse the decline in support for higher education. In addition, he considers collaboration with business partners to be essential.

He also wants to establish a good working relationship with alumni and encourage them to become actively involved with the university.
When he visited campus in July, Ray looked every part the president, wearing a crisp white shirt, dark suit and one very noticeable vestige of his years at Ohio State: a hefty gold national football championship ring.
Despite the gridiron success enjoyed by his former employer, Ray said athletics is not an end in itself but a vehicle through which the institution sends a message.

"I start from the premise that a university is an academic institution first, last and always and that everything needs to relate to that principal purpose. Athletics provides students the opportunity to participate in sports and can help bring the broader university community together. Athletics is not an end in itself, however, and ought to be looked as in terms of its plusses and minuses and whether the return is justified."

Ray has been a member of the economics faculty at Ohio State since 1970. When asked what has guided his career path, he said that he always has done the things he enjoys doing.

"I’m not the kind of person who believes you can chart your career or life," he said. "Life is too unorchestrated to do that. Circumstances determine what roles you play, and under those circumstances you do your best."
After working under three presidents and two interim presidents as senior vice provost and then provost at Ohio State, he decided he was ready to think about serving as president of a university.

Before a search committee contacted him about the Oregon State position, he had been a finalist for presidential searches at the University of Iowa and University of New Mexico.

He said that as he learned more about Oregon State, he sensed a comfortable fit and the same kind of vision and same kind of values that he had experienced in Columbus.

"I sensed a tremendous positive enthusiasm in the midst of what could be considered a challenging-at-best set of circumstances. There seems to be a bond between the people of this institution and the people of Oregon that is unique.

"Abraham Lincoln is reported to have said that land-grant universities aren’t simply public universities, they’re the public’s universities. The purpose of Oregon State University in the 21st century continues to be to serve as an engine for economic growth and social progress for the people of Oregon."

Richard Jarvis, chancellor of the Oregon University System, said Ray understands the unique mission of the state’s Land, Sea and Space Grant University and is strongly committed to its role in Oregon.
"He has the right skills to take OSU through this type of budget environment and into a future of new possibilities," said Jarvis.

Born in Jackson Heights, N.Y., the youngest of three brothers, Ray received his bachelor’s degree from Queens College (CUNY) in 1966. His father was a truck mechanic, and Ray said if it were not for public education he would not have been able to attend college. He went on to earn master’s and doctoral degrees in economics from Stanford University.

At Ohio State he was department chair from 1976 to 1992, associate provost from 1992 to 1993, senior vice provost and chief information officer from 1993 to 1998, and finally, executive vice president and provost.

He enjoys running every morning and playing tennis. He and his wife, Beth, have three children.
In addition to settling in and getting to know the campus, Ray said he has one more task: turning family members into fans of another OSU.

"I’ve got a couple of Buckeyes I need to convert to Beavers," he said. OSU