Allison Thigpen and Michael Carrell Women's Leadership Fund

"Throughout my life, I have had strong female role models - from my mother and sister to teachers and professors, while growing up. This continued with my time in the military with commanders and peers, and now in academia with administrators and community leaders. There has also been one constant great influence - my wife and partner, Ruth. I have benefitted from all their expertise and knowledge, often without realizing it until later. Each time, however, they left an important mark on who I would become as a father and husband, as well as a military and academic leader. I count Allison as one of those special, influential women.

I've also learned that an unusually high number of Fortune 500/nonprofit senior executives have military experience. I don't believe this is by accident - what the military teaches at ROTC, and the experiences it offers later is very valuable.

When I came to Ohio State, I had a goal to increase women's participation in ROTC and started that by appointing the first-ever female commandant of cadets at the university, Major Allison Thigpen. As many of you know, my tenure there was cut severely short due to the Air Force wanting me to move again. While I made the decision then to retire for family reasons, I never lost sight of this goal. I have remained involved with our ROTC here at Ohio State ever since. To this end, Ruth and I have started an endowed fund to provide scholarships for women to attend Ohio State, its ROTC, and become officers. I've named it the Thigpen/Carrell Women's Leadership Fund and, while it has her name, she represents all of the great women who have influenced my life and career. It also allows me to celebrate my military service to our great nation that has benefitted our family in many ways.

As I just finished my 50th year on this great planet, I'd like to celebrate that by raising $50,000 so this fund will live forever - continually providing scholarships for young women to receive this great training and allow them to serve their country along the way. Ruth and I have pledged the first $10,000 and have also been funding the current year scholarships until our goal is met - we didn't want to wait until this was complete for some of these great young women to benefit."

Give online here or contact Amber Diglaw at diglaw.1@osu.edu or 614-292-9443