New trustees begin Ohio State University board terms

COLUMBUS – Two new members of The Ohio State University Board of Trustees – Brian K. Hicks and Chad A. Endsley – were introduced at the board’s meeting Friday (6/4).

Hicks, a Columbus resident, was appointed to the board by Gov. Bob Taft for a nine-year term ending 2013. He replaces Columbus investment banker Zuheir Sofia, whose term ended on May 13.

Hicks is president and CEO of Hicks Partners, a public affairs firm, and former chief of staff for Taft. Hicks previously served as chairman of Taft’s transition committee, as Ohio deputy secretary of state and as senior legislative assistant to U.S. Congressman Michael G. Oxley. He has played key roles in a number of statewide candidate, judicial and issue campaigns, including Taft\'s 1994 campaign for secretary of state, Taft’s 1998 and 2002 gubernatorial campaigns, and the successful Ohio Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign.

He is a 1987 graduate of The Ohio State University, where he served as president of the Undergraduate Student Government.

Taft appointed Endsley, from Coshocton, as the graduate/professional student trustee to The Ohio State University Board of Trustees for a two-year term, replacing Paula Habib, whose term has expired. He is a second year law student at the Moritz College of Law. Endsley serves on the board’s Academic and Student Affairs, Facility Planning, and Agricultural Affairs committees.