Mechanical Engineering Student Appointed to Role as Student Trustee

Mechanical Engineering Student Appointed to Role as Student Trustee

For Nathan Zickes, choosing The University of Toledo was as much about family as it was about the future.

Zickes, 20, grew up in Toledo and attended Saint Francis de Sales High School - a five-minute walk down Bancroft Street from Main Campus - where he watched grandparents, aunts, uncles, his mom and his siblings all become Rockets before him.

"Seeing how well my family has done, and how much they enjoyed their time at the University, spoke volumes and factored heavily into my decision," said Zickes, who will be the 10th member of his family to attend UToledo. He also was drawn by the College of Engineering's mandatory co-op program - one of only eight in the nation that requires the paid work experience of every engineering student.

That mix of family legacy and hands-on ambition is now shaping a new chapter for Zickes: student trustee.

Gov. Mike DeWine announced Zickes' appointment to the UToledo Board of Trustees on July 10, one of several state board appointments made that day. Zickes, a junior mechanical engineering student, will serve a two-year term through July 1, 2028. The appointment followed a written application and multiple rounds of interviews with current student leaders, University administrators and the governor's Boards and Commissions Office, before confirmation by the Ohio Senate. Zickes succeeds Nate Boley, who graduated in May, and joins Ashton Widenhoefer on the board.

Zickes completed his first co-op this year with Owens Corning, working as a manufacturing engineering intern at the company's Fort Smith, Arkansas, facility. Guided by the company's mission of building a sustainable future through material innovation, he helped divert thousands of tons of waste from landfills alongside plant leadership.

"My biggest takeaways, outside of technical manufacturing knowledge, have been the interpersonal connections and relationships I formed with operators, engineers and plant leadership," he said.

Zickes also serves on the executive boards of the Roy and Marcia Arms Engineering Leadership Institute, Camp Kesem - a UToledo student organization that sends children affected by a parent's cancer to a free summer camp - Theta Tau, a professional co-ed engineering fraternity, and Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society. He's also a member of the University of Toledo Triathlon Club.

"These organizations have strengthened my leadership abilities, expanded my campus community and helped shape me into a more well-rounded Rocket," he said.

The idea to apply for student trustee came from a fellow Camp Kesem board member. Conversations with current and former trustees followed, including one with Boley, whose words stuck with him.

"Your impact will outlive you," Boley told him - a reminder, Zickes said, that the work of the board carries forward for generations of Rockets, and a major reason he pursued the role.

As trustee, Zickes said he hopes to bring an engineering student's perspective to the board's work on ASCEND Toledo, a University initiative aimed at giving every undergraduate hands-on experience in their field before graduation.

"This perspective has not previously been represented on the board," he said. "I believe it is beneficial to provide a real, practical understanding of how such initiatives would impact the student experience."

Zickes credited his time as student body president at Saint Francis de Sales, where he helped organize a schoolwide day centered on the student experience, along with a lesson he picked up at an Engineering Leadership Institute event - "progress only moves as fast as relationships" - with shaping how he plans to approach the role.

He encouraged students curious about serving as trustee to reach out to him or Widenhoefer directly.

"I am the 10th Rocket in my family to attend The University of Toledo," Zickes said, "and I look forward to making my mark before my departure."