Ohio State President Ravi Bellamkonda gives his State of the University address on Thursday, highlighting university achievements and plans for the future. Credit: Reegan Davis | Managing Campus Editor
Ohio State could have a decision regarding multiple requests to remove billionaire donor Les Wexner’s name from campus buildings by the end of the year, university president Ravi Bellamkonda said.
Bellamkonda shared that information with reporters after delivering his first State of the University Address Thursday.
In a speech with few surprises, Bellamkonda highlighted Ohio State’s commitment to athletics, healthcare and academics, emphasized his desire to remain a “consequential university” and to pursue “operational excellence.” He also made a note to highlight the school’s entrepreneurship programs, research achievements and his efforts to continue the execution of former president Walter “Ted” Carter Jr.’s Education for Citizenship 2025 framework.?
“The way we lead and define what it means to be a great institution of higher ed is doing the things I suggest we do: embracing our identity, being mission focused, and pursuing excellence in all that we do,” Bellamkonda said. “I invite you to give yourself a gift of high expectations so that each of us does and write your chapter in the future of Ohio State. Let’s do this Carmen, Ohio style, lock our arms and go on this journey.”
Here are some of the biggest takeaways:?
Wexner comments
Bellamkonda said that the process to remove Les Wexner’s name off of campus buildings will hopefully be wrapped up by the end of the year.
Wexner, an Ohio billionaire, founder of L Brands, Inc. and major university donor, has faced public and judicial scrutiny regarding his ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. His name appears in the Epstein files over 1,000 times, per prior Lantern reporting.
The university has received over 500 requests to remove Wexner’s name from campus buildings.
“The process is going on, and as I’ve shared publicly, I’d like the process to not be very long, but still be a process that’s powerful,” Bellamkonda said. “I’m hoping by the end of the year or thereabouts, we are able to conclude that process.”
AI fluency and initiatives?
Bellamkonda shared that he has new ideas regarding artificial intelligence and technology advancement at the university.
There are 50 new courses in the works and being launched under the university’s AI Fluency program, Bellamkonda said.?
“We are making clarity with our students about when AI can be used, when it cannot be used, and to the faculty in the space,” Bellamkonda said.
Bellamkonda also touched on the university’s recent partnership with Google that will provide a dedicated Google space on campus and gives Ohio State researchers access to the company’s AI models and a direct line to its DeepMind lab.
“We were very happy to last week to announce a signature partnership with Google, ‘one of one,’ as they describe it, to have a presence for their engineers to be forward deployed, embedded with our graduate students and student researchers, our faculty and our staff to take on things that are mission-centric for us,” Bellamkonda said?
Foundry School
When asked about Ohio State’s recent partnership with the Trump administration and seven other universities — formally known as the Foundry School — Bellamkonda expressed his enthusiasm for joining the program.?
“It’s important for us to double down on the industrial resurgence… so we’re very delighted that Ohio State is particularly strong in the support of manufacturing, both in the workforce direction, for research, for new rails, for semiconductors,” Bellamkonda said during media availability. “Ohio State has an important role to play in our regional consciousness. Across the spectrum, we have strength to contribute to this manufacturing success, and I was delighted to be part of the Foundry program.”
The Foundry School is an initiative designed to fill over 3.8 million jobs by 2033 in the manufacturing sector to help boost the production of semiconductors, as well as boost employment in defense and energy industries, per prior Lantern reporting.?
Technology startups and new buildings
Bellamkonda advocated for student startup initiatives at the university, referencing new projects and funding for the entrepreneurial side of the school.?
“I always say an entrepreneurial mindset is the ability to imagine a process, a product, or a state that doesn’t yet exist and have the confidence to make that real,” Bellamkonda said. “And so this big idea: build that in the room and center critically as is the center of software innovation.”
This year alone, the university will be investing in 20 student startups, with the goal of investing in 100 each year, beginning in 2030, using a gift of $1 million dollars designated specifically for startup investment, Bellamkonda said.?
The university will be breaking ground on Oct. 20 for a new project on west campus: the Timashev Technology Tower. The building is designed to be eight stories exclusively for startups, with a focus on life sciences and technology.?
“It’s going to be a beautiful tower, complementing the healthcare tower, but much smaller on the other side of the highway,” Bellamkonda said. “I’d like the Block O to be visible from (state Route) 315, signifying the innovation ecosystem as a visible reminder.”?
