[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 5751]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      RECOGNIZING KENT STATE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT CAROL CARTWRIGHT

 Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, I rise today to commend and 
congratulate Dr. Carol Cartwright who, after 15 outstanding years, is 
set to retire as president of Kent State University in Kent, OH.
  Kent State was originally founded in 1910 as a teacher-training 
school. It has a proud history of meeting the evolving needs of 
northeast Ohio and the Nation, and throughout her time on campus, 
President Cartwright worked hard to ensure that this commitment to 
history was preserved.
  I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate President 
Cartwright on successfully overseeing one of the Nation's largest 
university systems with an annual budget of more than $416.1 million 
and eight campuses serving about 34,000 students from throughout Ohio 
and the Nation, and from more than 90 countries.
  Dr. Cartwright has earned many distinctions in her tenure at Kent 
State University--she was the first female president of a State 
university in Ohio when she took the helm in 1991 as the university's 
10th president. Her presidency has been marked by innovations that have 
fostered economic growth on the campus and in the community. I am 
especially thankful for her work to train students for careers in 
underpopulated fields, and focus on unique courses of study to 
accommodate all students.
  As a member of the Greater Akron Chamber and the Northeast Ohio 
Council on Higher Education; a cochair of the Ohio Technology in 
Education Committee; the Governor's Commission on Higher Education and 
the Economy; and the Ohio Business Development Coalition, President 
Cartwright worked to ensure that a cooperative relationship between 
students and industry was strong on her campus. In fact, she welcomed 
the Northeast Ohio Trade & Economic Consortium, NEOTEC, an economic 
development partnership that promotes trade, business, and economic 
opportunities for northeast Ohio to Kent State University's campus to 
further students' connection to future employment opportunities.
  In 2004, the Kent Campus also became the site for NEOTEC's new 
regional International Trade Assistance Center, providing free 
information, resources, referrals, and counseling to small businesses, 
and expanded services such as market research. Also, in 2004, a new, 
market-driven Division of Regional Development was created to allow 
Kent State to serve a much wider constituency, develop mutually 
beneficial partnerships, and do an even better job of matching faculty 
and staff expertise with northeast Ohio's educational and economic 
needs. Further, working with the local Small Business Development 
Center, headquartered in Kent State's College of Business 
Administration, students are now exposed to real-world experiences 
while providing business and industry with essential new ideas and out-
of-the-box thinking.
  These kinds of partnerships and innovations will carry Ohio into the 
next era of progress and development, and Kent State will be an 
important part of that success. Already, 10 start-up companies have 
been created in the last 6 years to capitalize on Kent State faculty 
research and add to the economic growth in the region. This is real-
world research that benefits society, consumers, and the university.
  Under Carol Cartwright's leadership, Kent State was named by the 
Association of University Technology Managers as fourth in the Nation 
for the number of start-up companies formed per $10 million in research 
spending. Kent State also plays an important leadership role in 
JumpStart Inc., a new organization to help advance technology 
commercialization and foster economic development in Ohio.
  Overall, President Cartwright's presidency has been marked by a 
commitment to developing students who are leaders and experts in 
innovation and service. Kent State has launched degree programs in 
high-demand and emerging fields, including an interdisciplinary 
undergraduate program in biotechnology that is unique in the State of 
Ohio; an interdisciplinary bachelor's program in American Sign 
Language; a baccalaureate program in paralegal studies; and the first 
graduate programs in Russian and Japanese at a public university in 
northeast Ohio. The revolutionary joint doctoral program in biomedicine 
with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation matches some of America's best and 
brightest students with world-class medical training opportunities, and 
Kent State is a partner in the Nation's only joint, 4-year doctoral 
program in audiology.
  Her commitment to preparing students for the future and working with 
regional economic growth initiatives should be a model for colleges and 
universities across the country to emulate.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing and commending 
President Cartwright on an excellent job of leading Kent State through 
an age of innovation and extraordinary achievement during her tenure. I 
wish her well on her upcoming retirement.

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