Presidential Communication

July 15, 2025

I want to take this opportunity for you to learn something about me on my first day as the President of The University of Toledo, particularly about my values and beliefs concerning the important project of higher education.

As I see it, The University of Toledo is a place of service through discovery. We pursue this service for the benefit of Toledo and the northwest Ohio region, and also for the people of the state, the nation and the world. This is more than the “promoting of knowledge,” the purpose of which Jesup Scott wrote in establishing our University.

Discovery is both an individual pursuit — our students discover knowledge, ideas, methods and modes of expression that are new to them, even if already known to others — and discovery is also a collective and social pursuit by which the store of human capacities is expanded.

Teaching and research, we sometimes say, to describe what we do. Learning and innovating, we might instead say, to describe our impact on individuals and the societies of the world. We seek to learn and innovate in all that we do: from the study of human societies to the explication of natural law; in the development and control of our physical abilities on the stage or the athletic field; through the creation of new clinical treatments or the development of new technologies. And this we do because it is in service to our city and our region and beyond.

Through this service, we strive to improve the health and well-being of all people with whom we engage. Our mission to heal and to promote healthy life is central to our work, as is our mission to improve the lives of learners through the transformative power of education and to advance the strength of society through the expansion of human capabilities and through contributions to culture.

All that we do is ultimately for others. We exist to serve the people of Toledo and our region, and through this, also our state, nation and world. That’s what I believe.