KAREN HENDRICKS NAMED TO OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
COLUMBUS -- After devoting years of service to alumni and fund-raising activities and student career development at The Ohio State University, Karen Lafferty Hendricks considers membership on the Board of Trustees the “crowning glory of my service to the university.”
Gov. Bob Taft on Tuesday (5/4) appointed Hendricks, a Cincinnati-area businesswoman, to the university’s Board of Trustees, effective May 14, 1999, through May 13, 2008.
Hendricks, a 1971 Ohio State graduate with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, is chair of the board, president and chief executive officer of Baldwin Piano & Organ Co. based in Mason, Ohio. She replaces Board of Trustees Chair Ted Celeste, whose term expires May 13.
“This is very meaningful to me. It’s one of the greatest honors ever bestowed upon me,” said Hendricks, a native of Shelby, Ohio. “I’m indebted to Ohio State for preparing me for such a stimulating professional life. When I was a student there, I just blossomed. The whole world opened up for me, and being in that intellectual environment set me on a course that really was life-changing for me.
“It’s also meaningful because Gov. Taft appointed me, and I have the utmost respect for him,” she said.
Hendricks was one of very few women studying engineering in the late 1960s, and she has been a trailblazer ever since in both engineering and business. Before joining Baldwin, the largest domestic manufacturer of keyboard musical instruments, in 1994, Hendricks was executive vice president and general manager of the skin care division of The Dial Corp. in Phoenix, Ariz.
She was employed from 1971 to 1992 by Procter & Gamble Co. in Cincinnati, where she was instrumental in the development of several personal care products. She also served as general manager of the subsidiary Vidal Sassoon Hair Care Co., and eventually became manager of worldwide strategic planning for Procter & Gamble’s expanding international hair-care business. While she was with Procter & Gamble, Hendricks oversaw its corporate recruitment at Ohio State.
Her current professional affiliations include membership on the boards of directors of ACNielsen Corp. and Columbia Energy Group. Hendricks also is a trustee for the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Cincinnati Business Committee, the Ohio Business Roundtable, and the Queen City Club and Commercial Club in Cincinnati.
Hendricks noted she brings a combination of experience in business, engineering and public board service to her role as an Ohio State trustee. She said her engineering background in particular will be helpful to the university as Ohio State intensifies its focus on technology partnerships and development of the Science and Technology Campus.
A member of the Max M. Fisher College of Business Advisory Council, Hendricks has been an active alumna of Ohio State and a strong supporter of fund-raising activities at the university. She was a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors from 1983-85, and was appointed in 1985 to the Alumni Association Advisory Council, serving for six years as alumni representative to The Ohio State University Research Foundation (OSURF).
In 1996, Hendricks received the association’s Ralph Davenport Mershon Award, which recognizes alumni who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and service to Ohio State. She also received a Distinguished Alumna Award in 1989.
Hendricks also served a three-year term on the executive committee of the university’s Presidents Club from 1990-93, and provides volunteer leadership for southwest Ohio’s participation in the university’s “Affirm Thy Friendship” $1 billion fund- raising campaign.
Contact:
Karen L. Hendricks, (513) 754-4693
William J. Napier, secretary of the Board of Trustees, (614) 292-2424