COLUMBUS -- Generous is one way to describe a recent gift to The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business.

Roger D. Blackwell, professor of marketing, and his wife Tina Blackwell recently gave the university $7 million -- the largest gift to date from a faculty member -- to name the Roger D. Blackwell Inn at Fisher College.  It will be called The Blackwell, for short.

The naming is subject to formal approval by the Ohio State Board of Trustees at its May 4^th meeting.  The gift commitment and naming were announced at a meeting of the Fisher College faculty and staff earlier this week.

The 151-bed upscale executive residence is the final building in the Fisher College complex, which was begun during the university's recently completed $1.23 billion “Affirm Thy Friendship” fund-raising campaign.  The executive residence is under construction and will accommodate participants in Fisher College executive education programs, other university programs and the community in general.  It is scheduled for completion in early 2002.“

Fisher College is distinguishing itself as a quality center for business education at all levels,” Blackwell said.  “We have a nationally recognized faculty, quality students and a dean with a pulse on the future of business education.  I am pleased to be able to help support the college in a way that will attract top business executives to Columbus as a city and help establish the Fisher College of Business as a premier institution for executive education.”

Joseph A. Alutto, dean of the Fisher College, said one indicator of the quality education that the college offers is its recent rise in U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking of business schools.“

Another is the commitment of so many individuals who have made possible not only our new business education complex, but also innovative programs and support for outstanding faculty,” Alutto said. “On behalf of the college and our students, I want to express my sincere appreciation to Roger and his wife Tina for this commitment and endorsement of the college vision, one that involves close interactions with the corporate community made easier with the Blackwell Inn at Fisher College.”

During the past 10 years, the Fisher College of Business, under Alutto’s leadership, has undergone what could be characterized as a “corporate turnaround.”  Redesigning efforts at all levels have been implemented.  Programs have been restructured, new programs created and significant numbers of  faculty have been recruited to the campus.  A $96 million-plus capital campaign made the college’s new, six-building integrated campus the largest multibuilding project ever undertaken in Ohio State’s history a reality. 

The college recently rose two points to 23rd place -- the top 7 percent -- in U.S. News & World Report's annual ranking of the nation's 341 accredited graduate business schools and has the sixth best MBA program found at public universities in the United States.

Blackwell has distinguished himself both in the classroom and in professional circles.  He launched his academic career in 1965 at Ohio State, where he teaches popular marketing courses at the undergraduate, graduate and executive education levels. 

Since 1980, he also has been president of Roger Blackwell Associates Inc., a consulting firm whose clients include many of America’s most successful companies.  He also serves on numerous boards of both privately and publicly held corporations, including Airnet Systems, Max & Erma’s Restaurants, Frontstep, Intimate Brands, Anthony and Sylvan Pools, and Applied Industrial Technologies.  He is a popular lecturer to national and international business groups.

He earned his bachelor's and master’s degrees from the University of Missouri and his Ph.D. from Northwestern University.  He has been recognized for his teaching with Ohio State’s Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award and was named “Outstanding Marketing Educator in America” by Sales and Marketing Executives International and “Marketer of the Year” by the American Marketing Association.  Tina Blackwell received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Fisher College of Business.

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(LO)