Meet Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro

Background

Jim Petro served as chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents. In that role, he was responsible for overseeing Ohio’s state university system.

As of 2011, the system enrolled more than 500,000 students.

Petro was appointed by Gov. John Kasich to his post in March 2011. Petro previously served as state attorney general, state auditor, a state representative and in other elected and appointed public positions.

Under Petro’s leadership, the Board of Regents focused on increasing commercialization of university research, evaluating and improving Ohio’s teacher preparation programs, and consolidating the technology resources overseen by the board.

Petro retired on Feb. 1, 2013.

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February 8, 2013

Key Ohio Education Agencies Now Without Permanent Leaders

Thomas Hawk / Flickr The state agencies that oversee Ohio K-12 and higher education are now without permanent leaders. The Ohio Department of Education has been without a permanent state superintendent of public instruction since former state superintendent Stan Heffner resigned in August. His deputy, Michael Sawyers, now serves as acting state superintendent. But Sawyers has applied [...]

February 1, 2013

Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro Retires Today

Courtesy of Kent State University Today was Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro’s last day on the job. Petro, 64, is retiring after decades of public service. “I expect he’ll be working right up to the end of the day,” Board of Regents spokesperson Jeff Robinson said earlier today in an email.

December 31, 2012

Retiring Higher Ed Chief Jim Petro Says Greatest Accomplishment was Collaboration With Department of Education

The retiring chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, Jim Petro, says his greatest accomplishment while heading up the state’s higher education initiatives was to foster greater collaboration with the Ohio Department of Education. Petro reflected on his 29 year career in Ohio government and politics with statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen. “Many people will remember several years [...]

December 17, 2012

Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro to Retire

Chancellor Jim Petro leads Ohio's state university system.

Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro will retire from public service next year. In an announcement today, Petro set a “tentative” retirement date of Feb. 1. Petro was appointed by Gov. John Kasich in March 2011 to oversee Ohio’s state university system. Petro previously served as state attorney general and state auditor, among other [...]

August 31, 2012

What Google and Viagra Have to Do With Funding Colleges and Universities

Research at American universities helped give us radar, the computer, jet propulsion and the atomic bomb, even Viagra and the algorithm for Google searches, according to the National Academies. Falling federal and state funding and the dismantling of big corporate research labs mean that we’re less likely to see those kinds of useful — and highly profitable [...]

May 8, 2012

Plan to Have State Universities Trade Flexibility for Funding Not Going Anywhere

Ignasi Tudela / Flickr Several years ago, Jim Petro first pitched the idea of allowing Ohio’s public colleges and universities to get freedom from some regulations in exchange for giving up some of their state funding. Then last year, Petro, now chancellor of Ohio’s Board of Regents, formally pitched a legislative plan to create so-called [...]

March 8, 2012

Ohio Board of Regents Recommends New Funding Model for Remedial College Courses, Then Thinks Better

Four months ago, Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro was slated to release a report about how to increase the number of Ohio high school graduates who were actually ready to take freshman-level college courses. At the last minute, the Board of Regents cancelled the report’s release. They had to “check the numbers,” Board [...]

February 22, 2012

Ohio Board of Regents “Dropped the Ball” On Public Records Requests

Nearly two months ago, we asked the Ohio Board of Regents for some information about rates at which Ohio high school graduates have to take remedial courses in college and Chancellor Jim Petro’s recommendations for improving those rates. We’re still waiting. On Dec. 28, we emailed Board of Regents Communications Director Kim Norris a public [...]