Nannette Maciejunes

Nannette Maciejunes was named Acting Executive Director of the Columbus Museum of Art in November 2002. Prior to that she was the Director of Collections and Exhibitions. In addition, she has been Senior Curator since 1994 with specific responsibility for the Museum's American collections.

Maciejunes has co-curated a number of exhibitons on American Art, including Triumph of Color and Light: Ohio Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, Elijah Pierce Woodcarver, and Weaving a Legacy: The Don and Jean Stuck Coverlet Collection. She has also organized three exhibitions to promote American art abroad: A Nation's Legacy: 150 Yeras of American Art from Ohio Collections, which toured to five venues in Japan, Visions of America: Urban Realism 1900-1945, which traveled to the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City, Mexico, and Illusions of Eden: Visions of the American Heartland, which toured to Vienna, Austria and Budapest, Hungary.

She has lectured and written extensively on American art, and in 1997, was awarded a major grant from the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation to write a biography of Charles Burchfield.

Dr. Gene Harris, Superintendent

The public school system is undertaking a major program to upgrade it's facilities, while attempting to improve educational results. Columbus has no bigger challenge!

Dr. Gene Harris is the 19th superintendent of the Columbus Public Schools. She's a Columbus native whose roots in Columbus go deep. A graduate of Linden-McKinley High School, Dr. Harris was admitted to Notre Dame as an upperclassman in the first year the school accepted women. After graduating from Notre Dame, she returned to the district to teach English and drama, gradually moving from the classroom to becoming a supervisor of principals and deputy superintendent. Her master's degree is from The Ohio State University and her doctorate is from Ohio University. She is a knowledgeable, articulate, and approachable educational leader who understands the importance of strong public schools to the future of our nation and is tireless in her efforts to support the academic achievement of all students in the Columbus Public Schools.

Ora E. Smith, President

An inside look at OSU's new affiliate in the hi tech arena. How will the Buckeyes compete in early stage technology with the Research Triangle and Silicon Valley?

Scitech was created in 1998 as the Ohio State University’s independent research park developer. The research park now consists of 430,000 square of feet of office and laboratory space housing 43 tenants with total employment of about 400. The space is a mix of inherited buildings, new construction, and rehabilitated warehouse space. Over $25 Million in new construction has been completed in the past two years. The research park, which occupies 53 leased acres (25 acres are undeveloped) in an urban setting on the west campus of the university, houses an incubator, a number of start-up companies at different stages of development, one large company unit, a corporate spin-out, and several university research organizations. Scitech also operates its own internal pre-seed venture capital operation and has invested in eight companies to date which have been able to attract an additional $16 million in outside investment.

A key development strategy has been to cluster and intermix academic and business tenants as a way to encourage partnerships. Scitech tenant companies sponsor over $1M/year of research at Ohio State and are involved in a wide range of collaborations with faculty, students, and staff.

Ora Smith is president of the Science and Technology Campus Corporation (Scitech). Scitech is the developer of The Ohio State University’s research park and also operates a venture capital fund and commercialization organization to accelerate technology business formation in Ohio. Before joining Scitech Ora was the founding CEO and chairman of Illinois Superconductor Corporation (now ISCO International), which he took public in 1993.

Previously, Ora was vice president and chief marketing officer of Conductus, Inc., of Sunnyvale, California, co-founder of a Washington, D.C. based consulting company, and spent ten years as a research executive at Rockwell International. He also served as a Fellow in the White House Science Office in 1984-85. Ora holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Robert H. Schottenstein

Since its founding by Chairman Irving E. Schottenstein and the late Melvin L. Schottenstein some 27 years ago, M / I Homes has done an outstanding job of balancing the demands of homeowners, shareholders and public bodies. In 2002, the Company passed the billion dollar revenue mark, with its 7th consecutive record year, and earnings per share up 20%.

With planned single family communities in Indiana, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, and Washington D.C., M/I Homes must be forward thinking, with a need for land inventory covering several years ahead. There is a balance of land development, research and design, finance, marketing, information systems and dedicated employees which has led to superior results. Is the well planned home a real estate bubble, or an outstanding value in today's markets?

How has M / I Homes' growth been achieved, and what factors will determine continued future progress?

Mr. Schottenstein currently serves as a Director of Huntington Bancshares Inc., a regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Mr Schottenstein also serves on the High Production Home Builders Council of the National Associations of Home Builders. In addition, Mr. Schottenstein is active in a number of civic and charitable organizations. He currently serves as chairman of the Board of The Columbus Jewish Federation and is a Board Member of The Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, Ohio Dominican College, and The Children's Hospital Foundation.