Aiji Tanaka ‘81 ’85 PhD, president of Waseda University in Tokyo, recently returned to his alma mater to learn more about Ohio State’s global engagement as well as best practices in its teaching, research and engagement mission.  

The day-long visit on May 30 will help Tanaka prepare Waseda’s application for a significant multi-year grant offered by the Japanese Ministry of Education. Tanaka plans to designate Ohio State as one of Waseda’s three benchmark universities to include in its application, and each institution will represent a set of priority activities, an organizational structure and a strategic plan that Waseda hopes to emulate.  

Themes for discussion at Ohio State included the university’s strategies for the following: 

• Achieving carbon neutrality; development of Carmenton, the growing innovation district on west campus 

• Fundraising, particularly with the corporate sector, as well as endowment management 
• Role of university research, teaching and engagement on smart city design 

Highlights of activities included: 

• A meeting with Melissa Gilliam, executive vice president and provost, to discuss university strategies for the recruitment and retention of faculty, which aligns with Ohio State’s Academic Plan to advance faculty eminence.  
• A conversation with Peter Mohler, executive vice president for research, innovation and knowledge to share how the Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge supports university research and faculty innovation. 

• A tour of Carmenton, the university district that brings together innovators from the private, public and academic sectors to exchange knowledge, develop new technologies and create solutions to challenges on a local and global scale.   
• A discussion with Ryan Schmiesing, senior vice provost for external engagement, that focused on how Ohio State forges strong connections with communities near and far through strategies to increase the impact of the university’s academics, research, service and engagement in the state of Ohio and beyond. 
• An overview of the Sustainability Institute with Mike Shelton, associate director, to learn more about how Ohio State utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach to advance sustainability and resilience scholarship and activities. Caitlyn Holley, Engie (Ohio State’s energy partner) program manager, shared the university’s vision for energy planning for a carbon neutral future. The relationship between Ohio State and Engie has helped the university to make energy consumption more efficient and also reduced the university’s carbon footprint. Elena Irwin, faculty director of the Sustainability Institute, joined the conversation to talk about her efforts to build an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability studies as well as her work to underpin this approach through curriculum development.  
• A discussion with Molly Calhoun, senior vice president of alumni relations and president and CEO of The Ohio State University Alumni Association, about the relationship-driven focus of the Office of Advancement, which is comprised of alumni engagement, fundraising and strategy/administration.  
• A conversation with Yasuyuki Motoyama and Zhenhua Chen, associate professors in the Department of City and Regional Planning, provided guidance on short- and long-term opportunities and challenges associated with smart city design and implementation as well as the creation and sustainability of university-led innovation districts.