E. Gordon Gee — the bow tie-wearing, two-time former president of Ohio State University — is returning this fall for a third stint on campus.
He won't be taking residence in the president's office though. Rather, Gee will take on a one-year consulting role, mainly working with the leaders of the new Salmon P. Chase Center, the John Glenn College of Public Affairs and Moritz College of Law, the university announced earlier this month.
It's been more than a decade since Gee left Ohio State. Here's what to know about who he is, why he left and what his role will be at Ohio State.
A record-setting five university presidencies
Gee has likely signed more diplomas than any other university president in America. That's because Gee is the only person to have served as president of five universities: Ohio State, West Virginia University, Vanderbilt University, Brown University and the University of Colorado. He did two stints as president at both Ohio State and WVU.
When he assumed the presidency at West Virginia University at 37, he was one of the youngest higher education executives at the time.
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Gee flirted with political ambitions in his younger years, but ultimately decided he could make a bigger impact as a university president, The Dispatch reported in 2013. He was also friendly to Ohio's governors, big-city mayors, members of Congress and others to promote the university and higher education at large.
His first time as Ohio State's president ran from 1990 to 1998. He returned almost a decade later in 2007 and left the university in 2013.
Under his leadership, Gee was intimately involved in elevating Ohio State's national profile and redesigning campus and its surrounding neighborhoods. He was affectionately known by students as the university president who frequented the Oval, campus bars and fraternity parties.
During Gee's tenure, Ohio State:
Renamed the College of Business after Max M. Fisher, a 1930 alumnus whose contribution helped build a new business school;
Created Campus Partners, a community development arm founded to help redevelop the University District;
Appointed a task force to create an advocacy group for women faculty and staff, eventually known as The Women’s Place;
Launched the annual State of Ohio bus tour;
Reopened the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library after a $120-million renovation;
Built a new Ohio Union, the university's third since 1912 and largest in Ohio State history;
Renamed the OSU Medical Center as the Wexner Medical Center, which began a $1 billion expansion project for the James Cancer Hospital and Solve Research Institute.
Gee was also president of the university during the latter part of Dr. Richard Strauss' time at Ohio State. Strauss, who died by suicide in 2005, was accused of abusing hundreds of former Ohio State students and athletes.
Ohio State has paid millions to settle lawsuits filed by some survivors, but continues to oppose others. The Strauss scandal is the subject of a recently released HBO documentary, "Surviving Ohio State."
Gee retired amidst controversy
Gee abruptly announced his retirement from Ohio State in June 2013, after coming under fire for making disparaging comments about Catholics, the B1G Ten, and other universities during an Ohio State Athletics Council meeting months earlier.
During that meeting, The Dispatch reported at the time that Gee joked that priests at the University of Notre Dame are holy on Sunday but "holy hell" the rest of the week, and referred to them as "those damn Catholics."
He also suggested that the University of Louisville has poor academic integrity and that members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) can't read or write. He also poked fun at schools such as the University of Cincinnati, which he said are unworthy of joining the B1G Ten. The conference, he said, was "worth more money than God."
Ohio State leadership at the time called his comments unacceptable and placed Gee on a "remediation plan" to address his behavior. Gee said then that his departure was not related to his verbal gaffes but rather his age and wanting to give the trustees a chance to set up a new five-year plan.
"I live in turbulent times and I've had a lot of headwinds, and so almost every occasion, I have just moved on," he said at the time. Gee explained the abrupt timing by saying he was "quirky as hell" and hated long transitions, according to the Associated Press.
Gee is also leaving West Virginia University after a tumultuous second presidency.
In 2023, WVU's faculty body voted 797 to 100 in favor of a no-confidence resolution in Gee over the administration's proposal to gut 28 academic programs and lay off 143 faculty positions across the Morgantown campus. The cuts were made to address a $45-million budget deficit, but marred his presidency as faculty and administrators left WVU.
Consultant, professor, 'wingman'
Gee is returning to campus to help advance one of the school's newest learning centers at the request of Ohio State President Ted Carter, who has called Gee a mentor of his.
Per his contract, Gee will work directly with Chase Center Director Lee Strang to hire faculty and spread awareness about the "intellectual diversity center" across campus and beyond.
"As I knew he was getting retired and seeing some of the legacy that he left here as a two-time president, I saw a lot of what I was trying to do in developing these standards of excellence here at Ohio State," Carter said at the Columbus Metropolitan Club on Aug. 20. "He's 81 years old, and he's still got it."
"He's gonna be something of an adjunct professor, but also, as Gordon and I agreed to, he's gonna be Ted Carter's wingman," Carter said to laughter from the crowd. "So, we're looking forward to having him."
Gee can make up to $150,000 in his OSU role, according to his contract. He and Provost Ravi Bellamkonda will mutually agree upon specific deliverables that must be accomplished throughout his one-year term, with three deadlines set for Oct. 31; Feb. 27, 2026 and July 31, 2026.
Gee will receive three installments of $50,000 each based on his on-time completion of these deliverables, the contract states.
Gee will also meet with students and faculty to offer "support, advice and perspectives on higher education," participate in classroom discussions and attend public university events, according to the university's press release.
Following his retirement from WVU, Gee continues to serve as a WVU employee in the roles of president emeritus and a professor of law.
According to his WVU contract, Gee receives an annual salary of $257,965.04. He was also granted a one-year sabbatical leave of absence from July 15, 2025, through June 30, 2026.
"Any outside opportunities that involve additional compensation must be undertaken when he is not working on University matters," WVU spokesperson Shauna Johnson said in an email.
To facilitate his consulting role with Ohio State, Johnson said Gee opted to reduce his WVU appointment to 0.66 or two-thirds full-time employment, and his salary is prorated accordingly to $170,256.93 annually.
Higher education reporter Sheridan Hendrix can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at @sheridan.120. You can follow her on Instagram at @sheridanwrites.
Reporter Emma Wozniak can be reached at [email protected] or @emma_wozniak_ on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: What to know about Gordon Gee, the bow tie-wearing Ohio State consultant
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