The Ohio State Board of Trustees on Tuesday appointed current University of Nebraska president Walter “Ted” Carter Jr. as Ohio State’s 17th president, set to take over the role on Jan. 1, 2024.
Carter has served in his role at Nebraska since Jan. 1, 2020, and will replacing outgoing president Kristina M. Johnson, who stepped down as Ohio State’s president in May.
“I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to serve as president of Ohio State, an institution founded upon and well known across the globe for research, teaching and an enduring commitment to service,” Carter said. “The work being done across Ohio and beyond to shape the future of research and innovation, workforce development, the arts, health care, college affordability and college athletics is remarkable. These are areas of particular passion for me, and I can’t wait to begin my journey as a Buckeye.”
He arrived in education after a long military career, graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1981 and the Navy Fighter Weapons School – also known as Top Gun – in 1985. During his time at the USNA, he majored in oceanography and was a four-year letter winner in ice hockey. He has also served as the 62nd superintendent of the USNA and as the 54th president of the U.S. Naval War College.
As a flight officer, Carter had sea assignments on the USS Midway, USS Independence, USS Harry S. Truman, USS Camden and USS Carl Vinson, and has accumulated 6,150 flight hours in an F-4, F-14 and F/A-18 aircraft during his career, and he has safely accompanied pilots in 2,016 carrier-arrest landings, a record for active and retired U.S. Naval Aviation designators. He has also received the U.S. Naval Academy Distinguished Graduate Award, the highest honor that can be given to academy graduates.
During his time at Nebraska, Carter has overseen four campus with nearly 70,000 students, faculty and staff and has launched the Nebraska Promise, a financial aid program that guarantees full tuition coverage for low- and middle-income students.
“President Carter brings an unparalleled combination of strategic leadership and true service, and we could not be more thrilled to welcome him and his family to Ohio State,” said board chair Hiroyuki Fujita, PhD. “We were absolutely determined to find the next great leader for Ohio State in today’s highly complex and competitive higher-education environment. With input from our university community and the highest recommendations from those who have worked with President Carter during his extraordinary career, I believe we have done just that.”
Until Carter officially takes his post, Ohio State’s acting president will be Peter Mohler, vice president for research at Ohio State.
