Drake Aims To Meet Budget Challenges As New Ohio State President

Ohio State’s new president Michael Drake started his job Monday. Drake becomes the 15th president of the university. He first met with faculty and staff. OSU president Michael Drake faced reporters’ cameras and microphones as he arrived on campus to meet and greet university faculty and staff members. “It feels wonderful to be here it’s a great day and I’m really looking forward to it," says Drake. Inside Bricker Hall, the 63 year old professor, physician-scientist, and longtime university leader told a crowd that he is ready to meet the challenges Ohio State faces. Drake says working with tight budgets will be one of those. “This is an expensive enterprise for everyone, and we want to continue to improve the quality of what we do and do a better job for our students and for the people who work with us and to do that within reasonable means, and that’s always a challenge,â€? says Drake. Drake says other challenges include staying competitive with other universities in a worldwide economy and helping families to afford a college education. “My life has been focused on education and health care and those are two very important things to Central Ohio and the rest of the country at a time when both are under great stress and so it’s a very exciting time to be involved," Drake says. OSU picked the former University of California-Irvine chancellor for the job in January. Drake is the first African-American president at OSU. When not on the job Drake enjoys cycling and playing guitar. “What they should know is that I look a lot better playing guitar than I sound," jokes Drake. Drake is scheduled to make about $1 million a year in total compensation, about half of what Ohio State paid former president Gordon Gee.