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Ohio Northern University

Former names	Northwestern Ohio Normal School (1871–1885) Ohio Normal University (1885–1903)
Motto	Ex diversitate vires (Latin)
Motto in English	"Out of diversity strength"
Type	Private college
Established	1871; 153 years ago (1871)
Religious affiliation	United Methodist Church
Academic affiliations	Space-grant
Endowment	$160.3 million (2019)
President	Melissa J. Baumann
Provost	Juliet K. Hurtig
Academic staff	654
Students	3,088 (2017)
Undergraduates	2,900 (2017)
Location	Ada, Ohio, United States
Campus	Rural
Colors	Orange, Black, White
Nickname	Polar Bears
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division III – OAC
Mascot	Klondike
Website	www.onu.edu

Ohio Northern University (Ohio Northern or ONU) is a private college in Ada, Ohio, United States. Founded by Henry Solomon Lehr in 1871, ONU is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. It offers over 60 programs across five undergraduate and graduate colleges and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

History

Henry Solomon Lehr founded the Northwestern Ohio Normal School in August 1871. When the college's curriculum grew to include pharmacy, engineering, law and business programs, its name was changed to Ohio Normal University in 1885 and, eventually, in 1903, to Ohio Northern University. In 1899, it became affiliated with the United Methodist Church to reduce debt.

Before the Great Depression, more than one thousand students were typically enrolled at Ohio Northern every year. Both the Great Depression and the following World War II plunged the school into low enrollment, and the possibility of closure was considered. During World War II, enrollment reached a low of 156 students. Thanks to the G.I. Bill, Ohio Northern was able to bring enrollment back up to nine hundred students by 1946.

Throughout the 1960s, a number of ONU students and faculty/staff participated in the American Civil Rights Movement. ONU hosted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on January 11, 1968, four days before his 39th birthday and just three months before his assassination. During his visit at ONU, King famously spoke regarding the myth that many immigrant and/or ethnic groups successfully pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, whereas African Americans were incapable of doing so. ONU honored King and his speech on campus with the unveiling of a statue in his likeness on April 17, 2018.

Growth continued under DeBow Freed through the 1980s and 1990s with additions to the Taggart Law Library, Presser Hall, Dukes Memorial, Wilson Art Building, Biggs Engineering, Heterick Memorial Library, and Meyer Hall of Science, and the construction of the Freed Center for the Performing Arts and a new president's on-campus home. Under Kendall Baker, campus additions include Dicke Hall, an expansion of the Robertson-Evans Pharmacy building, the Dial-Roberson Stadium and the Mathile Center for the Natural Sciences. In 2008, Ohio Northern University built and opened The Inn at Ohio Northern University. A new engineering building was opened in October 2019.

Hill Memorial

Hill Memorial Building is a historic building on campus. The building was finished in 1879 and is the second structure built on the grounds. Initially, Hill held administrative offices and classrooms, though many University departments would enter and leave the building throughout its history. The building is currently the oldest on campus and one of the oldest standing structures in Ada. In July 2024, the administration of Ohio Northern announced the closure of Hill Building citing age and a need of extensive repairs.

Organization and administration

Melissa J. Baumann is Ohio Northern University’s 12th president, and first female to serve in the role.

• Henry Solomon Lehr (1871–1900)
• Leroy A. Belt (1900–1905)
• Albert Edwin Smith (1905–1930)
• Robert Williams (1929*–1943)
• Robert O. McClure (1943–1949)
• Frank Bringle McIntosh (1949–1965)
• Samuel Lewis Meyer (1965–1977)
• Ray B. Loeschner (1977–1979)
• Harold A. Bolz (1979, interim)
• DeBow Freed (1979–1999)
• Kendall L. Baker (1999–2011)
• Daniel A. DiBasio (2011–2022)

Academics

In the 2025 U.S. News & World Report college rankings, Ohio Northern University was ranked second out of 165 regional master's universities in the Midwest.

The institution comprises five colleges:

• Getty College of Arts and Sciences
• James F. Dicke College of Business Administration
• T.J. Smull College of Engineering
• Rudolph H. Raabe College of Pharmacy
• Claude W. Pettit College of Law

Founded in 1885, the Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law was named in honor of Claude W. Pettit, a judge and former dean of the college. ONU Law has been fully accredited by the American Bar Association since 1948 and a member of the Association of American Law Schools since 1965.

Athletics

ONU students participate in intercollegiate, intramural, and sports clubs in a variety of sports. The ONU Polar Bears compete in the NCAA Division III Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC). The men's volleyball team participates in the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association in the Great Midwest Men's Volleyball Conference. The school mascot is a polar bear named Klondike.

The ONU varsity football team defeated Mount Union College in 2005 to snap the Purple Raiders 110-game regular season winning streak. The ONU women's volleyball team had an NCAA All-Divisions record 36 consecutive winning seasons.

National honors

• 1993 Men's Basketball NCAA Division III Champions
• 1989 Women's Volleyball NCAA Division III Runners-up
• 2012 Men's Soccer NCAA Division III Runners-up
• 2001 Men's Basketball NCAA Division III Final Four
• 2008 Women's Volleyball NCAA Division III Final Four
• 2007 Men's Volleyball NIRSA Division II National Champions

Notable alumni

This article's list of alumni may not follow Misplaced Pages's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (January 2024)

• Anthony Alaimo, jurist
• Frank T. Bow, jurist and politician who was honored by naming the Frank T. Bow Federal Building in Canton, Ohio.
• James Cloyd Bowman, a children's book author who received a Newbery Honor in 1938 for Pecos Bill: The Greatest Cowboy of All Time.
• Benjamin Brafman, a prominent criminal defense attorney based in New York.
• William J. Brown, former Ohio Attorney General (1971–1983).
• Anthony J. Celebrezze, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, the 49th Mayor of Cleveland, and a Sixth Circuit Appellate Judge
• George Washington Crile, founder of the Cleveland Clinic and inventor of the system for blood transfusion
• Robert R. Cupp, former Ohio Supreme Court Justice and former Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives
• Mike DeWine, Governor of Ohio
• Simeon Davison Fess, a Republican politician a former president of Antioch College
• Amanda Everlove, two time Paralympian
• George Getty, American lawyer, father of industrialist J. Paul Getty and patriarch of the Getty family
• John W. Grabiel, Arkansas Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1922 and 1924; Ohio native, attorney in Fayetteville, Arkansas, until his death in 1928
• Stephanie L. Haines, United States federal judge
• Stacey Hairston, former Cleveland Browns player
• Thomas Hutson, doctor and medical researcher
• Robert Franklin Jones, served as Allen County (Ohio) prosecuting attorney, 1935–1939. Elected in 1938 to the Seventy-sixth U.S. Congress, and elected for three subsequent terms to Congress, serving from 1939 to 1947. Appointed commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, serving from 1947 to 1952
• Cassius Jackson Keyser, a mathematician
• George E. Killian, a sports administrator and a president of the International University Sports Federation
• Carla F. Kim, Associate Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Principal Investigator at the Stem Cell Program at Boston Children's Hospital
• Cheryl L. Mason, Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals, US Department of Veterans' Affairs (first woman appointed to the position)
• Clay Mathile, former owner of Iams pet food
• Harry McNeal, Major League baseball player
• Bill Peterson, former head football coach at Florida State, Rice University, and with the Houston Oilers
• Bob Peterson, story artist, animator and voice actor
• Tom Reed, United States Congressman from New York
• Joseph Banks Rhine, founder of the parapsychology lab at Duke University
• Nate Riles, retired CFL player
• Jamal Robertson, retired NFL football player
• Ralph L. Ropp (class of 1923), president of Louisiana Tech University from 1949 to 1962
• Joe Thomas (1921–1983), professional football coach and executive
• Jason Trusnik, retired NFL football player. Owner of Pro Sports Performance in Strongsville, OH
• Steve Vagedes, former Arena Football League player
• Baldemar Velasquez, is president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL–CIO
• Jim Wilson, Los Angeles city council member, studied pharmacy

References

1. "Ohio Northern University". www.hmdb.org. The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
2. As of June 30, 2019. "U.S. and Canadian 2019 NTSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2019 Endowment Market Value, and Percentage Change in Market Value from FY18 to FY19 (Revised)". National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
3. ^ "President". onu.edu. January 5, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
4. "Ohio Northern University". Ohio History Central. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
5. "Digital Repository of Dr. King's visit to ONU, including original audio file, press releases, and transcript of his speech". Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
6. Publications, Eight Cities Media &. "Dr King's Message for Today". Retrieved February 18, 2017.
7. "The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute |". Mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
8. "MLK statue to be dedicated at ONU - The Lima News". limaohio.com. April 13, 2018.
9. "Statue commemorates MLK's 1968 speech". Archived from the original on April 18, 2018.
10. "The Inn at Ohio Northern University". Retrieved July 6, 2010.
11. "dedication of new engineering building". Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
12. Francis, Matthew. "LibGuides: Campus Buildings: Hill Building". library.onu.edu. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
13. "14-33 Ohio Northern University". Remarkable Ohio. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
14. "Ohio Northern statement on the closing of Hill Memorial". Ada Icon. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
15. says, Hill Memorial as a Campus Icon-Northern Review (October 28, 2022). "Should We Tear Down Hill Memorial?". Northern Review. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
16. "Ohio Northern University". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
17. "History of the ONU Pettit College of Law". Archived from the original on September 2, 2006. Retrieved August 21, 2006.
18. "Home". Ohio Northern University. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
19. "USA Today.com: Mount Union's 110-game regular season winning streak snapped". October 24, 2005. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
20. "D3hoops.com: 1993 Men's NCAA Tournament Results". Archived from the original on October 30, 2006. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
21. "Athletics | Ohio Northern University" (PDF). onusports.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 17, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
22. "Season Review: Men's Soccer caps off record breaking season with run to NCAA III Tournament Championship". Onusports.com. January 16, 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
23. "The 2001 Division III men's tournament". Archived from the original on October 30, 2006. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
24. "Ohio Northern University". Retrieved February 18, 2017.
25. "Ohio Northern University | Ohio Northern University". www.onu.edu. Archived from the original on January 25, 2009.
26. "Little Big Man". January 12, 1998. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
27. "Benjamin Brafman - Tag Story Index - USATODAY.com". content.usatoday.com. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
28. "Ohio Attorney General - William J. Brown". Archived from the original on May 19, 2008. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
29. "John W. Grabiel". ebooksread.com. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
30. Ernie Accorsi (ed.), Baltimore Colts 1973. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Colts Football Club, 1975; p. 5.

External links

• Official website

v t e College sports teams in Ohio
NCAA Division I	Akron Zips Bowling Green Falcons Cincinnati Bearcats Cleveland State Vikings Dayton Flyers Kent State Golden Flashes Miami RedHawks Ohio Bobcats Ohio State Buckeyes Toledo Rockets Wright State Raiders Xavier Musketeers Youngstown State Penguins
NCAA Division II	Ashland Eagles Cedarville Yellow Jackets Central State Marauders Findlay Oilers Lake Erie Storm Malone Pioneers Ohio Dominican Panthers Tiffin Dragons Ursuline Arrows Walsh Cavaliers
NCAA Division III	Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets Bluffton Beavers Capital Crusaders Case Western Reserve Spartans Denison Big Red Franciscan Barons Heidelberg Student Princes John Carroll Blue Streaks Kenyon Lords and Ladies Marietta Pioneers Mount St. Joseph Lions Mount Union Purple Raiders Muskingum Fighting Muskies Oberlin Yeomen and Yeowomen Ohio Northern Polar Bears Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops Otterbein Cardinals Wilmington Quakers Wittenberg Tigers Wooster Fighting Scots
NAIA	Defiance Yellow Jackets Lourdes Gray Wolves Mount Vernon Nazarene Cougars Northwestern Ohio Racers Ohio Christian Trailblazers Rio Grande RedStorm Shawnee State Bears Wilberforce Bulldogs

40°46′01″N 83°49′30″W / 40.7669°N 83.8249°W / 40.7669; -83.8249

• Ohio Northern University
• Private universities and colleges in Ohio
• Education in Hardin County, Ohio
• Universities and colleges affiliated with the United Methodist Church
• Universities and colleges established in 1871
• Buildings and structures in Hardin County, Ohio
• Tourist attractions in Hardin County, Ohio
• 1871 establishments in Ohio
• Ada, Ohio