Alumni Association hires Senior Vice President - 08/25/04

COLUMBUS - Ohio State University Alumni Association President/CEO Archie Griffin announced today the appointment of longtime Ohio State general counsel Virginia M. Trethewey as the association’s senior vice president, effective Oct. 1.

Trethewey has served as executive assistant to the president/general counsel at Ohio State since 1998. She came to the university in 1995 as vice president for legal affairs/general counsel. Before coming to Ohio State, Trethewey was a partner with the Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease law firm.

“Ginny has all the qualities we wanted in our senior vice president,” Griffin said. “She has a wealth of knowledge and experience, a love for Ohio State, and a passion for helping make Ohio State an even greater university. I am excited she will be a big part of our team.”

Ohio State President Karen A. Holbrook said Trethewey’s valuable contributions to the university’s leadership team and her years of policy experience will be missed. “At the same time, the Alumni Association is such an important University partner, and Ginny’s in-depth knowledge of the University community will forge an even stronger relationship with the Alumni Association in the years ahead.”

Holbrook will appoint Deputy General Counsel Christopher M. Culley as interim general counsel, subject to Board of Trustees approval.

The Ohio State University Alumni Association is a dues-supported organization of graduates, former students, and friends of Ohio State with 125,090 members. Its senior vice president position has been open since July 1, when Ron Hopper retired after a 35-year career at the Alumni Association - 23 as senior vice president.

Trethewey will take office at the alumni association on Oct. 1. She admitted that the decision to leave the university administration was a difficult one, but was excited about the opportunity to work with the alumni association’s leadership and supporters.

“I look forward to working closely with Archie Griffin to improve upon an already great product,” she said. “I am nearing the end of 10 years at the university where I have enjoyed broad and deep responsibilities. The chance to change course somewhat, while using all that I have learned, was very appealing to me personally and professionally.”

As the university’s general counsel, Trethewey is responsible for coordinating and supervising all legal matters at the university. Her position also brings her in contact with the Alumni Association and its Alumni Advisory Council, which advises the president of the university.
“It was very important for me to stay in the Ohio State family,” she said.

“One of the things I have learned over the past 10 years is how much Ohio State means to the community and how much Ohio State means to me.

The opportunity to do something creative to really advance the university has a lot of charm to me.”

Trethewey received her J.D. cum laude from Ohio State\'s College of Law in 1977. She had received her B.A. in political science from the University of Washington.

Trethewey served on the board of the Columbus Speech and Hearing Center, instituted its Great Communicator\'s annual luncheon, and was board president in 1986-87. She is a former trustee of the Ohioana Library Association, and is a trustee and co-chair of the capital campaign of The Wellington School. She is also a trustee of CAPA, and is in the middle of her second term on the National Council of the Moritz College of Law.
Trethewey has two children. Her older son, Kyle Trethewey, is a 2002 graduate of Northwestern University and currently works for AuctionGenie in Columbus. Her younger son, John McCorkle, is a freshman at The Wellington School.
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