Former Colorado Governor Roy Romer will deliver autumn commencement address

COLUMBUS – Roy R. Romer, former three-term governor of Colorado and recently retired superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), will deliver Ohio State's autumn quarter commencement address on Sunday (12/10) at St. John Arena. Romer also will receive the honorary Doctor of Public Service degree during the ceremony.

Approximately 2,000 degrees will be awarded at the ceremony, which begins at 1 p.m. Graduates and guests can find complete information on the ceremony at http://www.osu.edu/commence/

Romer has long been an advocate for education reform at the local, state and national levels, and he has dedicated his career to public service.

After a lifetime of work in the public sector, Romer decided to become the superintendent for LAUSD because he "didn't know of any more important issue in national or local policy than finding ways to better educate our children."

As superintendent, he assumed the top leadership role in the nation's second largest public school system. During his tenure, he focused on improving instruction through rigorous curriculum, high expectations and professional development. As a result, student test scores have risen, surpassing the rate of improvement of school districts throughout California. He led the district's $19.3 billion voter-approved school construction and modernization program that will build more that 150 schools by 2012. The district's construction program is the largest public works program in the nation. Under Romer's leadership, more than 65 new neighborhood schools were opened.

He served as Colorado's 39th governor from 1986 to 1998, and during his tenure, became the nation's senior Democratic governor. He was also the general chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1997 to 2000, vice chair of the Democratic Leadership Council, and chair of the Educational Commission of the States and the National Education Goals Panel.

A Colorado native, Romer earned his bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from Colorado State University in 1950, his law degree from the University of Colorado in 1952, and studied ethics at Yale University.

Romer has also owned and operated a John Deere dealership and flight school, practiced law and managed a ski resort and family farm.