The Ohio State University at Marion will welcome Ohio Governor Ted Strickland to campus, Thursday, March 26, in Maynard Hall’s Guthery Community Room.

Gov. Strickland will discuss the value of regional campuses and their importance in his administration’s continued commitment to quality, affordable higher education.

The governor’s visit is open to the general public, beginning at approximately 12:45 p.m.

While on campus, the governor will meet with a number of constituencies including local politicians, business leaders, media, students, and the community at large. He also plans to visit the Alber Enterprise Center, a workforce training and development located at Ohio State Marion. The governor is expected to discuss the importance of a highly trained Ohio workforce in the 21st century.

Ted Strickland was elected governor of Ohio on November 7, 2006, and was sworn into office on January 8, 2007. Since taking office, Gov. Strickland has made education a priority in his administration. Understanding that nothing will ensure Ohio’s future prosperity more than creating a world class education system, he won the legislature’s support for new funding for early care and learning, primary and secondary education, and Ohio’s public colleges and universities.

In the decade before Gov. Strickland came into office, tuition at Ohio’s public colleges and universities had increased an average of 9 percent every year. To make it easier for more Ohioans to afford college, the governor and the legislature have now frozen tuition for two years at all of Ohio’s public colleges and universities.

Gov. Strickland is married to Frances Strickland, who is an educational psychologist and author of a widely-used screening test for kindergarten-age children. As First Lady, she has also enjoyed the opportunity to meet with students and educators in schools across Ohio.

In addition to his service in public office, Gov. Strickland has served as a minister, a psychologist, and a college professor. He was an administrator at a Methodist children’s home, an assistant professor of psychology at Shawnee State University, and a consulting psychologist at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF).