Business and Community Leader Otto M. Budig Jr. to Receive Honorary Doctorate from the University of Cincinnati

Entrepreneur and philanthropist Otto M. Budig Jr. will receive an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at the University of Cincinnati Commencement Ceremony at 9 a.m., Saturday, June 13, in Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center. The honorary degree represents the highest award given by the University of Cincinnati.

Budig is president and owner of Budco Group, Inc., an organization with multiple interests in the transportation industry. The company has operations in more than 30 locations throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Budig graduated from the UC College of Business with a BBA in accounting in 1956, and served as a U.S. Air Force pilot from 1956-1963 with the Tactical and Strategic Air Commands before starting his career with Budco Group in 1963. He has been president of the company since 1982.

He is praised as one of the most loyal university alumni, as well as an outstanding supporter of the community. He is founder, president and trustee of the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation, named for his father. The foundation supports an array of philanthropies in Greater Cincinnati, primarily the arts.

His civic affiliations include serving as chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Cincinnati Ballet and establishing the ballet’s Otto M. Budig Academy in 2002. He serves or has served on the following boards: Cincinnati Parks Foundation, Cincinnati Arts Association, Cincinnati Museum Center, Ensemble Theater, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, the Hamilton County Economic Development Task Force, the Fine Arts Fund, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati Arts Museum, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center, Riverfront Advisory Commission, Cincinnati Port Authority and the SPCA. He is chairman of the Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission.

Budig is a trustee for the University of Cincinnati Foundation and is co-chair of the university’s $1 billion Proudly Cincinnati capital campaign, the largest fund raising campaign in the university’s history. He is a lifetime member of the UC Alumni Association.

In 2001, Budig was awarded the UC College of Business Carl H. Lindner Medal for Outstanding Business Achievement. The medal is awarded to those who represent outstanding achievement in the field of business in regard to their entrepreneurial spirit, commitment to business and community, and achievement of success. Budig is also a 2004 recipient of the UC Foundation Chairman’s Award and the 2004 Alumni Masters Series Award.

He is a 2006 inductee in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Business Hall of Fame.

UC Commencement Information