Biography

Curriculum Vita

William E. Kirwan
President
The Ohio State University

William English Kirwan, who became the 12th president of The Ohio State University in July 1998, is leading an effort to make the university one of the nation's top public teaching and research institutions.

A widely respected academic leader, Dr. Kirwan has identified four values that guide his presidency: pursuing academic excellence; enhancing the student experience; making diversity an institutional reality; and expanding the university's outreach efforts to benefit the people of Ohio and beyond.

From the President's values have sprung a strategic plan aimed at advancing The Ohio State University to the top tier of the nation's public teaching and research universities. As part of his vision to redefine land-grant universities for the 21st century, he is leading an effort to expand the universities contributions to the larger community, including innovative partnerships with primary and secondary schools, the redevelopment of urban areas near the campus, and the development of a university-based science and technology park to spur growth of the state's economy. Under his leadership, the university recently completed a $1.23 billion capital campaign, becoming only the third public university in history to raise in excess of a billion dollars in a single campaign.

Dr. Kirwan previously served for nine years as president of the University of Maryland, College Park, where he was a faculty member for 34 years. He received his bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of Kentucky and his master's and doctoral degrees in mathematics from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in 1962 and 1964. He is a member of several honorary and professional societies, including Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, the American Mathematical Society, and the Mathematical Association of America. A prolific scholar, he is co-editor of the book Advances in Complex Analysis and has published many articles on mathematical research.

A national leader in higher education, Dr. Kirwan serves on the boards of directors of the American Council on Education (ACE), the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), the Business-Higher Education Forum, the National Visiting Committee for the National Science Digital Library, and the Blue Ribbon Panel of the National Dialogue on Student Financial Aid. He was recently elected to join the 2002 class of Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he was appointed by President Bush to the Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. His leadership roles include chair-elect of NASULGC'S Commission on International Affairs and chair of its Council of Presidents and as chair of the Commission on Human Resources and Social Change, chair of the NCAA board of directors, and member of the board of directors of the Business-Higher Education Forum and co-chair of that organization's Diversity Initiative Task Force.

He was appointed by President Clinton to serve as a member of the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century and chaired the National Research Council's Commission on the Mathematical Sciences in the Year 2000, which produced the report, Moving Beyond Myths: Revitalizing Undergraduate Mathematics, National Academy Press (1991).

In Ohio, Dr. Kirwan was the founding chair of the Columbus Technology Leadership Council, a consortium of major private sector firms and public institutions interested in advancing Central Ohio as a leader in the knowledge economy. He was appointed by Governor Taft to co-chair the Joint Council of the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Board of Regents and to serve on the Governor's Commission for Student Success. He also serves on the boards of directors of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce and its Workforce Leadership Council, and The Battelle Technology Fund. Dr. Kirwan is a member of the advisory committee of the Central Ohio United Negro College Fund and sits on the boards of Children's Hospital, Columbus School for Girls, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, and United Way of Franklin County.

As Ohio State's chief executive officer, Dr. Kirwan leads one of the nation's largest and most distinguished universities dedicated to teaching, research, and service. The university's Columbus campus includes medical, cancer, heart and lung, and veterinary hospitals; dental and optometry clinics; and specialized research centers. A land-grant university, Ohio State has 19 colleges, a graduate school, four regional campuses, and is home to a statewide agricultural research and cooperative extension system. As the state's flagship institution, it has 55,000 students, nearly 19,000 faculty and staff, an annual budget of $2.1 billion, and nearly 310,000 alumni around the world.

Dr. Kirwan is married to Patricia Harper Kirwan, also a graduate of the University of Kentucky and a classmate since seventh grade. They have two children, both University of Maryland alums: William E. Kirwan III and Ann Kirwan Horton; and three grandchildren, Daly Elizabeth, Kyle, and Andrew.

Patricia Harper Kirwan biography

5/1/02

back to top