As students returned for the start of classes at one of the biggest colleges in the country on Tuesday, Ohio State University filled its leadership vacancy with a senior higher education executive with substantial military experience.
The president of the University of Nebraska system at the moment is Walter “Ted” Carter Jr. Executive Vice President Peter Mohler will function in his place until Jan. 1, when he will start in his new position at Ohio State.
At Nebraska, enrollment has increased under Carter’s leadership, with record-breaking gains among students from underrepresented groups. He implemented a budget that froze tuition for two years and introduced the Nebraska Promise, a financial aid program that ensures complete tuition coverage for low- and middle-income students.
Carter served as the U.S. Naval Academy’s longest-serving superintendent since the Civil War before managing the 70,000 students, teachers, and staff of another Midwestern land-grant university with a sizable medical center. The retired vice admiral holds the record for carrier-arrested landings with more than 2,000 accident-free landings and graduated from the Navy Fighter Weapons School, also known as Top Gun.
He fills the position created at Ohio State by President Kristina Johnson’s unexpected retirement in the middle of her contract in November 2022. Prior to becoming president of the Buckeyes in 2020, the engineer and former undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Energy served as chancellor of the public university system of New York. She was employed till the end of the previous academic year.
Tuesday, the university’s trustees voted to elect Carter as its new president. School officials praised Carter for his reputation for strategic brilliance and his collaborative leadership style.
Hiroyuki Fujita, PhD, the board’s chair and the head of the Presidential Selection Subcommittee, stated of President Carter, “President Carter brings an unparalleled blend of strategic leadership and true service, which is why we could not be more thrilled to welcome him along with his family to Ohio State.”
According to Carter, Ohio State is renowned throughout the world for its research, teaching, and dedication to service.
“The work being done across Ohio as well as globally to shape the future of research and innovation, employment opportunities, the arts, health care, affordability of college, and college athletics is remarkable,” he said. I’m especially passionate about these things, and I’m eager to start my Buckeye journey.
Carter served for 38 years and received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Bronze Star while earning a bachelor’s degree in physics and oceanography from the Naval Academy. In addition to 125 combat missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Bosnia, and Kosovo, he accumulated more than 6,300 flying hours.
He has two adult children and has been married to Lynda for 41 years.