Ohio State president is building new pathways for business partnerships

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Ohio State president is building new pathways for business partnerships

Bellamkonda: Aspiration is to be the most business-friendly university in the nation

The Ohio State University is committed to working with the state's business community to bring excellence at scale to research partnerships, student entrepreneurship and workforce development.

That message was part of a conversation on leadership and other topics hosted by the Columbus Chamber of Commerce this week between Ohio State President Ravi V. Bellamkonda and Chamber President and CEO Derrick R. Clay at the Athletic Club of Columbus.

"Excellence is a way of behaving, thinking, and really a way of being, much more than a state," Bellamkonda said. "So, to me, the conversation we are having within Ohio State is, do we have this confidence to behave as a leader, a true leader? Because we are a great university in a great state, and we are positioned to do amazing things because of the people who went before."

Bellamkonda said his aspiration is to be the most business-friendly university in the nation. He offered several examples of where Ohio State is leading or planning to expand opportunities in consequential ways to be among the best in the nation.

Ohio State has extended research and development opportunities for local businesses to partner with the university to improve their innovation while protecting intellectual property. Bellamkonda also pointed to executive training opportunities at Fisher College of Business and online courses for small business leaders to improve their knowledge of artificial intelligence.

Supporting state and local businesses is only part of the goal to help the university and the state succeed. Bellamkonda said it is also important for Ohio State to add new businesses to the region.

"We'll be announcing a program where by 2029-2030, I'd like 100 investable startups to be coming out of Ohio State every year," he said. "One hundred startups that are not paper startups, not projects for education, but investment-worthy startups every year. This is entirely doable."

Ohio State's new president also discussed the efforts to prepare students for the workforce of the future. He pointed to Ohio State's AI Fluency initiative, the unique, groundbreaking initiative to prepare students to be "bilingual" in the use of AI: fluent in both their discipline and the responsible, intuitive use of AI.

"So we have students at Ohio State that are not just good at solving textbook problems, but [at solving] the complexity of real-world problems, communication skills, the ethic of working hard," Bellamkonda said. "Combine that with AI fluency. … An Ohio State grad, when you hire them, brings that skill to you automatically because of AI fluency. No matter what major, they're going to be fluent in the application of AI, and those are the people that will transform your businesses, right?"

Bellamkonda said the region is primed for greater success through partnership.

"The Midwest, I think, has an opportunity with places like Ohio State, the Chamber and all of us working together to reaffirm the narrative of this country and what we're about: decency, civility, prosperity, hard work. This is not old-fashioned stuff," he said. "This is the magic through which enduring success is built. And I feel fortunate that we, all of us, get to be part of this community where we can create that."

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