William C. (Wym) Portman Elected Chair of UC’s Board of Trustees

In his new role as chair, Portman will replace Thomas D. Cassady, who has completed two years’ of service as chair. During Cassady's tenure:

• UC welcomed campus’ 30th president, Neville Pinto, and launched the Next Lives Here strategic direction — leading urban, public universities into a new era of innovation and impact.

• Enjoyed record-setting enrollment, which now stands at 45,959.

• With an emphasis on access, affordability and accountability, UC's board consistently froze tuition costs for students and their families for five years in a row. In-state, undergraduate tution at UC stands at $11,000 per year and has been set at that level since the 2014-15 academic year. That means the undergraduate class that enrolled in fall 2015 and is set to graduate in spring 2019 has not experienced a tuition increase during their entire college careers at UC.

• Saw the launch of important student-centered design and construction projects, such as Kowalewski Hall (opened fall 2017); Marian Spencer Hall (opened in fall 2018); 1819 Innovation Hub (opened in fall 2018); Fifth Third Arena renovations (opened November 2018); the Gardner Neuroscience Institute; the Health Sciences Building (to open Fall 2019) and the groundbreaking for the new Health Sciences Building (February 2017) new Carl H. Lindner College of Business (May 2017).

• Opened the 1819 Innovation Hub – the nexus for business and industry to partner with faculty and students – and solidified plans for the Digital Futures Building. Both have or will have a  focus on early stage research and start-up companies, providing a key location amidst Cincinnati’s rising Innovation Corridor.

• Prepared for the launch of campus’ Bicentennial, the never-to-be-repeated moment to celebrate the university’s past, elevate its present and bend the future.

• Grew to have a regional economic impact of $4.2 billion and a statewide impact of $13.4 billion. This regional economic impact supports nearly 62,000 jobs.

William C. “Wym” Portman, III, is director of Pon North America, a Dutch family company. He is former president of Pon North America, and for over 20 years, CEO of Portman Equipment Company.

Portman is a 1977 graduate of Kenyon College and received his MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in 1981. He is a board member of Sims-Lohman, Mercury Museum Services, and Lebanon House, Inc., and a former board member of Xtek, Inc., the James N. Gray Company, Advanced Handling Systems, Scallan Supply Company, and Portman Equipment Company.

Portman’s community involvement includes serving as upcoming chair of the Board of Trustees of The University of Cincinnati, and on the boards of UC Health, UC Healthcare System, Ohio River Way, Inc., The Montana Nature Conservancy, The Queen City Club, and as a member of the Cincinnati Regional Business Committee (CRBC). He is a former board chair of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation and chair of Joy Outdoor Education Center, president of the Commonwealth Club, vice chair of Cincinnati Museum Center, vice chair of The Seven Hills School, vice president of the Board of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Cincinnati, Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, Inc., board member of the Children’s Home, and chairman of the Chamber’s Introducing Greater Cincinnati Program.

Portman, a graduate of Leadership Cincinnati Class X, is also a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO-Gold), the Queen City Club, and the Carmargo Club.

He began his term of service with UC’s Board of Trustees in 2011 and his term of service ends in 2020.

Ronald D. Brown is the retired chairman and chief executive officer of Milacron, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, a leading supplier of plastics processing and industrial fluids technologies with major manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and Asia.

He has also served as vice chairman and chief operating officer of The Armor Group, a certified woman-owned enterprise, with operations in North America and Asia.

He currently serves as director on two public company boards: A.O. Smith Corporation, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a global S&P manufacturing company of water treatment and heating products, and LSI Industries, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, a leading provider of lighting, graphics and technology, where he recently served as interim chief executive officer.

Brown also serves on the board of directors of two family-owned businesses: Clippard Instrument Laboratory, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, and Master Fluid Solutions, Perrysburg, Oio. In addition, he serves as an independent trustee for the James Advantage Funds Trust, Alpha, Ohio, a diverse group of mutual funds.

He currently serves on the advisory board of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and is treasurer of the Commercial Club of Cincinnati, a member of Legatus, the Queen City Optimists Club and the Management Executive Society.

Brown's past community service includes serving on the boards of United Way of Greater Cincinnati, the American Red Cross, Cincinnati Chapter, having served as its chairman, the Cincinnati Museum Center, the Cincinnati Business Committee, as well as chairman of the Steering Committee for Leadership Cincinnati, a development program for the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.

Brown received his Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from the University of Cincinnat, where he graduated magna cum laude. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Dayton School of Law.

He began his term of service with UC's Board in 2018, and his term of service will close in 2027.

Geraldine B. "Ginger" Warner was appointed to the UC Board of Trustees by Governor John R. Kasich on Feb. 21, 2012. 

Warner is a retired attorney having practiced private and corporate law in New York, Maryland, California, and the District of Columbia. She is now the government relations specialist for Hunt Development Corporation, a family business. She is a 1964 graduate of the New York University of Law and did her undergraduate work at Cornell University. 

Since moving to Ohio in 1983, Warner has devoted much of her free time to her passion for the arts. She currently serves on the Ohio Arts Council to which she has been appointed by Ohio's last four governors. Warner has served on the boards or been an active volunteer for many of Cincinnati's major institutions, such as The Cincinnati Symphony, Seven Hills School, Ensemble Theatre, May Festival, Cincinnati Opera, The Taft Museum of Art, Caracole, Friends of CCM, the Madisonville Education and Assistance League, and the Association of Volunteers, Children's Hospital Medical Center among others.  

In addition to the Ohio Arts Council, she is currently a member of the boards of The Cleveland Orchestra, The National First Ladies Library, Greenacres Foundation, Ohio Citizens for the Arts, and is a commissioner of the Hamilton County Park District. She is a founder of The Harmony Project at UC’s College-Conservatory of Music, and Books for Lunch at Seven Hills School. Several years ago, Warner established the Warner Fellowship in Law and Womens’ Studies at the University of Cincinnati. Recently, she established the May Festival Fellowship in Choral Conducting at CCM.

Warner has been recognized with Caracole’s Living Award, by the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education for her contribution to the arts in the State of Ohio, and by the Cincinnati Enquirer as a Woman of the Year.