Speaker

Eugene D. Smith
Senior Vice President and The Wolfe Foundation Endowed Athletics Director
The Ohio State University

Eugene D. "Gene" Smith, The Ohio State University’s senior vice president and Wolfe Foundation Endowed Athletics Director, will deliver the autumn commencement address.

In August, Mr. Smith announced he would retire in July 2024. He has spent the past 18 years at Ohio State leading one of the largest and most successful athletic programs in the country, and he has worked 38 years as an athletics director. 

Mr. Smith leads with a philosophy of developing the “total student-athlete,” supporting academic achievement with athletic success. In 2022-23 alone, Ohio State reported 765 scholar-athletes, 190 Big Ten Conference Distinguished Scholars and six Academic All-Americans. 

During Mr. Smith’s tenure, Ohio State has dominated Big Ten Conference play, with 115 team and 369 individual conference championships. Nationally, Ohio State teams have won 32 team and 117 individual national championships during Smith’s tenure.  

In addition to on-field accolades, Mr. Smith is renowned for preparing students for life after competition. He founded the Eugene D. Smith Leadership Institute (EDSLI) at Ohio State to provide leadership, character and career development for all Ohio State student-athletes to prepare them for life after graduation. 

EDLSI programs include Bucks Go Pro internships, job shadows/micro-internships, the Wolstein Leadership Academy, Buckeye road trips and more.  As a measure of the institute’s impact, in 2022-23 a record 95% of the department’s graduating seniors had job offers, were accepted into graduate school or were pursuing professional sports.

Mr. Smith grew up in Cleveland and attended the University of Notre Dame on a football scholarship. He played four years as a defensive end for the Irish and was a member of their 1973 Associated Press national championship team.

He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Notre Dame in 1977.