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> Ohle leaves ‘legacy to build on’
by Karris Golden ’98 The college is well respected academically throughout the region, and its faculty often receive national attention. Programs are strong. The students are among the nation’s finest. The college is now in the midst of great opportunity—an era of achievement in which Ohle can toss a perfect pass to his successor. On July 1, Ohle will assume the role of president of Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn. He succeeds James L. Peterson, who retired. Like Wartburg, Gustavus Adolphus is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. “The past 10 years have been the most fulfilling and rewarding in our career,” Ohle said. “This is the toughest decision my wife, Kris, and I have ever made; we would not be doing this if the college were not in a good place. The invitation to assume the presidency at Gustavus Adolphus College comes at an ideal time for a transition in leadership as Wartburg moves dramatically into its future.” Ohle added that he understands he will be remembered as “the president who built buildings,” and he accepts the label. During his tenure, Wartburg renovated the Science Center, Saemann Student Center and Vogel Library. The college also built Knights Village and Löhe Hall residence halls, a new campus entrance, Walston-Hoover Stadium and, most recently, the Wartburg-Waverly Sports & Wellness Center.
“Building buildings is fun, and it is good,” he said. “Infrastructure gives the college a base. Wartburg is in a very good place to take a position of prominence in the state and region—to be a driving force.” The Ohles helped make Wartburg one of the premier liberal arts colleges in the state and region, said Fred W. Hagemann ’67, chair of the Board of Regents. “Just as this is a new opportunity for Jack and Kris, Wartburg is poised for great things, thanks in large part to the dynamic leadership and vision they both brought to Wartburg,” said Hagemann. “We are grateful to President Ohle for leading the college through a 10-year period of unprecedented growth in enrollment and in the endowment, academic achievements and the rebuilding of the campus infrastructure. He leaves us with a solid foundation and a legacy to build on.” The Board of Regents appointed Ohle, 61, president of Wartburg College May 1, 1998. “I appreciate the opportunities I had to engage the Wartburg constituencies in the future of the college. These are exciting times at Wartburg College—a vital, dynamic and competitive institution in every sense. The future of the college is in the hands of the regents, alumni, faculty, staff and students, as it has always been.” During Opening Convocation in 2003, Ohle reflected on his roots and what brought him to Wartburg. “Two of the most important influences in my life were my mother and father,” he said during the ceremony. “Their insistence that I be everything I could be drove me to succeed. Mom would say when I left for school every day, ‘Jack, plug in.’ I didn’t know it then, but I know now that I was hearing the calling.”
Ohle’s parents were not able to attend college. Instead, they each had helped their parents through difficult financial times. At 18, Ohle’s father went to work in an Ohio steel mill, from which he retired 43 years later. As a boy, Ohle entertained what he perceived to be an unattainable dream: He wanted to play college football. That dream did become a reality when a friend of the family, Dr. Herb Leicy, took Ohle on a college visit to Ohio Northern University. Leicy was an Ohio Northern alumnus and served on its board. “Dr. Leicy told me, ‘Go to college here. And by the way, I talked to the football coach, and they have a scholarship for you to help you with your expenses.’ I now realize I was hearing another calling, and someone else saw something in me I had not seen in myself.” Dr. Samuel Meyer, then president of Ohio Northern, offered Ohle another glimpse of his future. He told the young man he would be a college president someday. “Little did I know or believe then that it was a call,” said Ohle, who received a bachelor’s degree in social work in 1969. He went on to earn a master’s degree in higher education administration from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and holds an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. Today, Ohle realizes part of his calling was to guide Wartburg through its most significant long-range planning effort. Commission Wartburg, based on a constituent-based planning model he developed, engaged 235 alumni and friends in examining the college’s strengths, needs and goals. Commission Wartburg became part of the Harvard University graduate school of Higher Education case study catalog for general instructional use. Ohle and Hagemann were invited to Harvard to present a seminar on Commission Wartburg. “My tenure here is inextricably linked to Commission Wartburg,” said Ohle. “Since the board published Priorities for the Future in October 2000, 97 percent of the 266 recommendations have been fulfilled.” One recommendation was to launch Campaign Wartburg, the college’s largest fundraising effort. In fall 2006, the college announced that Campaign Wartburg surpassed its goal of $88 million by raising $90.3 million. Enrollment increased from 1,400 to 1,800, and 21 new full-time faculty positions were created. New technology was integrated across the campus. The college also expanded its community outreach with programs that have gained a national reputation. A $2.5 million grant from the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation led to a vocational discernment program called Discovering and Claiming Our Callings, and the Center for Community Engagement was opened. At the close of Commission Wartburg in October 2007, the big question was “What’s next?” Ohle and the Board of Regents responded with Commission on Mission, the next phase in the college’s constituent-based strategic planning. “I have been very fortunate to serve Wartburg during a time when the college’s ethos has been highlighted so prominently. Many people at the college and associated with Wartburg can quote its mission: ‘Wartburg College is dedicated to challenging and nurturing students for lives of leadership and service as a spirited expression of their faith and learning.’ “Those words speak to everything Kris and I have tried to do during our tenure at Wartburg. We have both worked hard, because those words offer a strong call to action. We believe that statement says everything we need to say about the type of education Wartburg offers. As a result, our legacy can be seen in how we have tried to live that statement.” Golden edits Wartburg Magazine. | ||||
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