From the corporate world to Wittenberg’s newest board chair, businessman and alumnus David L.
Boyle ’69 takes time for an old-fashioned Q&A.
Mr. Boyle, you have a longstanding connection to Wittenberg, having graduated in 1969 and having served on the university’s Board of Directors for eight years. From your vantage point as the Board’s new chair, why should prospective students and their families consider Wittenberg
Throughout its history, Wittenberg has provided a high-quality education for students, both in and outside the classroom. Wittenberg is genuinely committed to developing the whole person and offers a learning environment where students can discover their passions and develop skills and capabilities that will serve them well in meeting the challenges and opportunities that life presents. While learning is largely an individual matter, the environment provided is critical to stimulate one’s interests and motivate them to pursue a lifetime of learning. Wittenberg has always been blessed by having outstanding faculty, coaches and staff who truly take an interest in students, as individuals, and teach lifelong lessons. One cannot place a value on that, and it is one of the factors that truly distinguishes Wittenberg from many other colleges.
Wittenberg professors have earned more “Ohio Professor of the Year” awards than any other four-year school in the state. That is a remarkable achievement considering all the good private and public schools in Ohio and speaks volumes about the quality of our faculty. Similarly, Wittenberg has three football coaches and one basketball coach in the National College Hall of Fame. No other Division III school comes close, and most have none. Suffice it to say that Wittenberg’s teachers, both in the classroom and athletic venues, continue to be among the finest in the country.
Our alumni magazine often includes profiles of distinguished Wittenberg alumni across all generations and career fields. Can you briefly share a little bit about yourself – why you chose Wittenberg as an undergraduate, what your major was and why, what activities had the most impact on you as a student, and what effect has your Wittenberg education had on you personally and professionally?
I chose Wittenberg because of its storied athletics tradition, excellent academic reputation and beautiful campus. I grew up in Louisville, Ohio, a small town near Canton. One of my high school football coaches was a Wittenberg grad and former Tiger football player, and all he talked about was Wittenberg and Bull Edwards. When I visited the campus and spoke with people, I fell in love with the place.
What was there not to like? The only other school I seriously considered was Davidson. I wanted to go to a liberal arts college to receive a good education and be able to continue to participate in sports. At that time, I had no idea what I wanted to pursue in terms of a career. My father wanted me to major in math, but I was not sure that I wanted to become a teacher, even though both of my parents were educators as well as many of my aunts and uncles.
During my sophomore year, I took a money and banking course from Robert Shultz and found it fascinating. The first term of my junior year, I took an accounting course from Woody Wilson and liked it, which prompted me to take his advanced course. Next, I took an investments course from Ray Diggle, despite many people telling me that I was crazy because he was one of the most demanding professors on campus. They were right! After his first class, only six of us had the courage to show up for his second class from an original group of about 15. However, I persevered and learned much from him, not only in that class but several others in marketing and corporate finance. So, I discovered my passion for business through Robert Shultz, Woody Wilson and Raymond Diggle, and graduated with a B.S. in business administration, much to my father’s consternation!
I also have very fond memories of my time playing basketball and being a member of Phi Mu Delta fraternity. My basketball career was cut short by a recurring knee injury suffered in high school, but I learned a lot from Coach Bobby Hamilton. The same is true of my Phi Mu brothers, many of whom I have remained in contact with over the years. There were lifelong lessons learned in that fraternity house, and some that best be forgotten! Wittenberg helped prepare me for the rigors of the MBA program at Ohio State and eventually a career in finance and business in New York .
From a personal standpoint, I developed many wonderful and lasting friendships at Wittenberg, the most significant of which is my wife, Susan, whom I met during my sophomore year. The fact that she has been able to put up with me for over 40 years says a lot about Wittenberg’s ability to prepare its students to meet life’s many challenges! Susan also benefited significantly from her Wittenberg education and enjoyed a very successful career as a management consultant with McKinsey and later as an executive with Xerox.
You are taking on the leadership of the Board at an interesting and challenging time in the university’s history. In your mind, what are the most important issues the Board must focus on during your tenure as chair?
These are interesting and challenging times not only at Wittenberg but at many liberal arts colleges, especially in Ohio and the Midwest. Clearly, the most important issue facing Wittenberg relates to our financial well-being. We also need to strengthen the board’s governance and stewardship of the university, create a differentiated and valued brand in the marketplace, increase our enrollment, expand and grow our fundraising capabilities, and reengage alumni and friends of the university. Finally, we need to successfully complete the search for a new president.
Much has been accomplished during President Erickson’s tenure, and we need to build on those successes to take Wittenberg to the next level.
We have a presidential search committee in place that is working with a top search firm to identify suitable candidates. The committee is comprised of members of the board, faculty, students, staff and alumni, and also has representation from the Lutheran Church and Springfield community. It is a great group of people that I am confident will do an excellent job of sorting through the candidates to identify those individuals who have the requisite skills and experience to move Wittenberg forward.
While there has been considerable improvement in board governance and stewardship over the years, more needs to be done to ensure that the board is focused on key issues and working with administration and faculty to successfully resolve them. The roots of our governance issues go back many years to when the board was comprised of more than 70 directors. Today, we have 26 members, which is a much more manageable size to get things done effectively and efficiently, especially with our new committee structure. Herding cats is probably easier than trying to lead a board of 70-plus individuals!
In terms of branding, Wittenberg’s brand is not well-defined or highly recognized. We compete against schools with much stronger brands, even though the quality of a Wittenberg education is on a par with theirs. We have to change that and be able to clearly and succinctly answer the question “Why Wittenberg?” to prospective students, their parents, coaches, college guidance counselors and the media. It is more of a marketing challenge than a product issue, although we also have to ensure that our curriculum is responsive to the changing needs of today’s students. The lifeblood of any college is enrollment and fundraising. Without the resources provided by both, Wittenberg cannot compete effectively and do the things necessary to ensure that future generations of students receive the same opportunity that I and others had.
As for our alumni base, we need to “relight the Torch” in the hearts and minds of so many who benefited from their Wittenberg experience. It is about giving back so others will have the same opportunities to discover their passions at this special place. We need to identify meaningful ways to reengage them, and while financial contributions are critical to our future success, there are many other ways to give back. Some of these include recruiting students, hosting alumni gatherings, serving as ambassadors to the university, sharing stories about our rich heritage and traditions, teaching a seminar or serving on one of our boards. It is time to “Tiger Up” for many generations of Wittenberg grads who owe so much to this place.
A number of our faculty and staff members are currently reading Liberal Arts at the Brink by Victor E. Ferrall Jr., president emeritus of Beloit College who was trained in economics and law. Amazon describes the book as a “wake- up call for everyone who values liberal arts.” What are the challenges for liberal arts colleges today and what do those challenges mean for Wittenberg?
I have read the book and believe Ferrall accurately describes the collective challenges facing liberal arts colleges today. When I went to college, the prevailing wisdom was that to receive a good education, one had to attend a private liberal arts college rather than a state school. That is no longer the case, as there are outstanding public universities in Ohio and elsewhere. In effect, liberal arts colleges charge a premium for a product the public perceives to be available elsewhere at significantly reduced prices. The situation has been exacerbated by a peaking in the number of college-age students following the “Baby Boom” generation and a difficult job market where employers place a premium on vocational skills.
Large companies use to hire thousands of talented liberal arts graduates each year, put them through extensive training programs and then assign them to a functional area to develop specialized skills and knowledge. This is how I and many others moved up the organizational ladder. However, that is no longer the situation as companies have learned that it often does not pay to invest in training freshly minted liberal arts graduates, only to see them leave in a year or two for graduate school or another job. As a result, the demand for a liberal arts education is not as great as it once was as many employers have adopted short-term mindsets and are seeking graduates with specific knowledge bases in engineering, math, science or technology.
What that means for Wittenberg and schools like us is that we have to do a much better job of demonstrating to current and prospective students and their parents the value of a liberal arts education in terms of developing strong comprehension, problem-solving and communications skills. These skills are still in high demand by employers, and we simply have to do a better job of presenting our case.
I believe strongly in the benefits of a liberal arts education and feel it is even more important today given the rapidly changing global world in which we live. I still remember sitting in Eugene Swanger’s East Asian religion class my freshman year wondering why I was there and how I would ever benefit from what was being taught. Little did I know that much of what I learned in that class would benefit me in future business dealings in Asia, which goes to the heart of the value of liberal arts education.
Vocational training prepares one to perform jobs that exist today, ones that will not necessarily be around 5-10 years from now. And, there will be new jobs created in the future that do not exist today, which should increase the value of a liberal arts education. There should be a premium placed on reasoning, problem analysis and communications skills because of the increasingly rapid pace of technological and social change. However, the sad reality is that many people have difficulty looking very far into the future and therefore are not willing to make a longer-term investment.
The challenge for Wittenberg is to accelerate the work already started to develop a curriculum that provides students with the solid underpinnings of a liberal arts education, while at the same time enables them to concentrate in fields of study that are in demand by the marketplace. However, I do not view this as a radical departure from what Wittenberg has always done, but rather adapting to changes in demand and increasing the interdisciplinary structure of our curriculum. Wittenberg has produced many outstanding education and business majors over the years, but those fields of study are not considered liberal arts in a traditional sense. We must continue to evolve or Wittenberg will not be around in 15-20 years.
In addition to serving as chair of the Board, you are also leading the search for Wittenberg’s 14th president. What are yours and the search committee’s expectations of the candidates and campus community as the search process unfolds?
The search committee is looking for candidates with proven leadership skills, relevant experience and business acumen, as well as an appreciation for the value of a liberal arts-based education and a firm understanding of Wittenberg’s traditions, heritage and culture. The latter can be acquired, but the leadership skills, relevant experience and business acumen have to be proven. In addition to sitting college presidents, we will also consider provosts, deans of colleges and others with proven management experience who have a strong interest in the educational field. Based upon campus interviews conducted by our search firm this summer with various constituencies, I believe the campus community understands the challenges facing us and the need to make changes, and will be highly supportive of our new president.
Mr. Boyle, our motto, as you know, is “Having light we pass it on to others.” What does that mean to you, and how do you hope the campus community, our alumni and our friends embody it even more in the coming years?
I love our motto because it captures the essence of Wittenberg. Learning is about sharing what one knows in ways that will help others to grow and develop. The light, as exemplified by the torch, gets passed on in many ways at Wittenberg. Light gets passed on by faculty, coaches, staff, students, alumni, friends and occasionally even by board members! Similar to many other schools, Wittenberg is facing serious challenges, but I am confident that by working together as a community and passing on whatever light we have to others, the torch will not only continue to glow but burn ever more brightly for all Wittenbergers.
Everyone needs to contribute to the effort ahead, however best they can. For those alumni of my generation, I ask that they reflect on all that Wittenberg did for them and then think about what they have done in return for Wittenberg.
There is too much history and tradition, too many accomplishments, too many dedicated and wonderful people who influenced our lives in positive ways to turn our backs or simply look the other way. Now is the time to step up and pass on the light by giving back to that “school up on the hill.”
Members of the university’s Board can serve up to a maximum of four 3-year terms or a total of 12 years of consecutive service. Looking ahead, your service will conclude in 2015. If you could write the chapter on Wittenberg from 2011-2015, how do you hope it will read?
I would hope it would read that this was the period when the entire Wittenberg community came together to enthusiastically address our issues and put into place the foundations to move us forward with clarity and purpose. It was a period when we clarified our mission, developed and executed a successful strategy, stabilized our finances, reengaged and reenergized our alumni base, and began to realize our potential as a great liberal arts institution. As for me personally, my only wish is that the chapter will read David Boyle made a difference and inspired many others to also make a difference.