Vanderbilt Chancellor Gordon Gee Returning To Ohio State

Vanderbilt's Gee Leaving To Become Ohio State President

Vanderbilt Univ. (VU) Chancellor GORDON GEE will return to Ohio State Univ. (OSU) as President, a position he held at the school from ’90-97, according to Loos & Cass of the Nashville TENNESSEAN.  Gee “drew national attention to [VU’s] athletic program by eliminating the position of athletics director and putting athletics under Student Life and University Affairs.”  He was also named one of the “25 Best Brains in Sports” by SI.com.  Seven of Vanderbilt’s teams were ranked in the top 25 during the spring ’07 season.  Reports put Gee’s original compensation package offer from OSU at around $1M, which he turned down last month.  A media conference today will "reveal whether that amount rose in negotiations."  Gee earned about $1.2M in salary and benefits at Vanderbilt, “making him the highest-paid university leader in the nation” (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 7/12).  In Columbus, Ken Gordon notes the situations at VU and OSU are “vastly different.”  VU is a private school with about 6,400 undergraduates, while OSU is a public school with “six times that number.”  Former OSU AD ANDY GEIGER, who was hired by Gee in '94, “does not predict Gee will undertake a massive overhaul of the Buckeyes’ sports program.”  Gee said in '03, when he made the change at Vanderbilt, “If I were to try to do this at Ohio State, I would end up pumping gas.”  VU Vice Chancellor DAVID WILLIAMS, who oversees athletics, added, “ I don’t think [OSU] needs to worry about Gordon and what he’s going to do. He may want to do some things differently, but he won’t hurt things in the least” (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 7/12).  Gee will replace Karen Holbrook, who stepped down June 30 (BIZJOURNALS.com, 7/11).