New endowment to aid Ohio high-school graduates

A new $1 million endowed fund at The Ohio State University will help Ohio high school graduates with financial need attend the university's Columbus campus.

G. Gilbert Cloyd of Cincinnati, chairman of Ohio State's Board of Trustees, along with his wife, Susan, has pledged $1 million to endow The Cloyd Family Scholarship Fund supporting the Office of Enrollment Services and Undergraduate Education.

“I am deeply grateful to Gil and Susan for their remarkable commitment to Ohio State. By creating an endowed scholarship, they are assuring that future generations of Ohioans are able to attend and graduate from the University, regardless of their families' financial circumstances,” said E. Gordon Gee, president of The Ohio State University. “I can think of no act more optimistic and no investment more profound.”

“This gift reflects our strong belief in the importance of higher education and in helping young people reach their full potential. Ohio State was the doorway to my future, and we hope these scholarships will help open doors for even more deserving Ohio students,” said Cloyd, who received his doctor of veterinary medicine degree from Ohio State in 1969.

“I don't believe there should be any trade-off between the highest quality education and affordability. Ohio State, as the nation's largest public campus, can lead the way,” said Cloyd.

During the 2007-2008 academic year, Ohio State provided 59 percent of Columbus undergraduate students with some degree of need-based financial aid, amounting to more than $56 million in scholarship funding.

The annual income from The Cloyd Family Scholarship Fund will provide renewable scholarships toward the cost of tuition, room and board and books and supplies for first-year Columbus campus undergraduate students from Ohio high schools.

Cloyd, a university trustee since 2005, recently retired as chief technology officer of Procter & Gamble.