Ohio State trustees appoint Chase Center academic council

The Ohio State University Board of Trustees approved the appointment of seven members of the inaugural Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society academic council. Members of the academic council will be charged with conducting the national search for an executive director for the center.

The seven scholars of the academic council are noted for their national reputations for academic excellence and come from Ohio and universities across the nation. Their appointment is subject to the advice and consent of the Ohio Senate. Three members of the council will serve initial two-year terms and four will serve four-year terms.

The Ohio General Assembly selected Ohio State and four other state universities to establish academic centers for teaching and researching the foundation and growth of the American constitutional order and society. At Ohio State, the Chase Center will be an independent academic center physically housed in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs.

“We are excited to create an academic center of the highest caliber in teaching, research and engagement on U.S. civics, culture and society. The first members of the Chase Center academic council are academic leaders of the highest caliber in research and scholarship,” said Trevor Brown, dean of the Glenn College. “Ohio State is committed to free speech, civil discourse, critical thinking and intellectual diversity on our campuses. The Chase Center will be a focal point for advancing these values and our land-grant educational mission.”

The seven members of the academic council are:

• Robert George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He has served as chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), as a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics and as a presidential appointee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. 
• Vladimir Kogan, professor of political science at Ohio State. Kogan serves on the editorial board of Urban Affairs Review and is affiliated with the university’s Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability, the Education Governance and Accountability Project and the Translational Data Analytics Institute.
• Lucas Morel, John K. Boardman, Jr. Professor of Politics and Head of the Politics Department at Washington and Lee University. Morel is a trustee of the Supreme Court Historical Society, former president of the Abraham Lincoln Institute, a consultant on Library of Congress exhibits on Lincoln and the Civil War, and was a member of the scholarly board of advisers for the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. 
• Colleen Sheehan, professor, Arizona State University School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership. Sheehan is the author of The Mind of James Madison: The Legacy of Classical Republicanism, James Madison and the Spirit of Republican Self-Government and other works. She is a senior contributing editor and adviser to the Classics of Strategy and Diplomacy project.
• Bradley Smith, Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nauly Professor of Law at Capital University Law School. Smith is the author or co-author of three books on election law and voting rights, and his articles have appeared in academic publications including the Yale Law Journal and Georgetown Law Journal. He served as the commissioner of the Federal Election Commission, including as vice chairman in 2003 and chairman in 2004. 
• David Van Slyke, dean, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and the Louis A. Bantle Chair in Business-Government Policy at Syracuse University. Van Slyke is a leading international expert on public-private partnerships, public sector contracting and contract management, public and nonprofit management, and policy implementation. 
• Jean Yarbrough, Gary M. Pendy Sr. Professor of Social Sciences at Bowdoin University. She is the author of numerous articles and essays on American political thought and public policy, as well as other topics in political philosophy. In 2021, Yarbrough was awarded the Henry Salvatori Prize for her scholarly work and public service in upholding the principles of the American founding.

The academic council members are responsible for performing a nationwide search for the executive director of the Chase Center. They will recommend finalists for the position to the president of the university for selection and appointment, subject to final approval by the Board of Trustees.

The executive director will be responsible for the operational structure of the center, overseeing hiring and appointment of faculty to the center and other details. When it is fully operational, the center will have at least 15 faculty members and provide a variety of innovative educational and collaboration opportunities for students and faculty from across the university.