Herschede Honored For Commitment To Community

Joan “Joni” Herschede is one of UC's most visible and vibrant benefactors.  She can be seen at various functions at the University, especially football and basketball events, because she is one of the Cats' biggest fans.  Joni is also one of their most generous supporters.

She was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, and still maintains her roots in this rural area.  Even though she is a long-time Cincinnati resident and spokesperson, she has a second home and many interests in the Adams County area.  This is part of the dichotomy which makes her such a unique woman.  She loves the city and the arts and is one of Cincinnati’s “best dressed” women, but she is equally at home digging in the dirt and hiking the backwoods of her property near Georgetown, Ohio.

Joni and her late husband, Mark Herschede, were huge supporters of UC Athletics, and donated generously to scholarships and the UCATS Club.  The Sixth Floor Lounge bears the Herschede name.  Mrs. Herschede has given in excess of one million dollars to endow women’s rowing scholarships.  She has donated well over a half a million dollars toward football scholarships.  She contributed another million dollars to the Athletics Facilities Renovation Fund, which provided for the restoration of Nippert Stadium.  The pavilion of the stadium displays the Herschede name also, in honor of Joni’s overwhelming generosity.

In addition to her interest in athletics, Joni is an avid patron of the arts, both here at the University and throughout the city.  She has made many contributions of time and financial support to CCM and DAAP, the Aronoff Center for the Arts, The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the Cincinnati Ballet, the Cincinnati Museum Center, WCET, and the annual Antiques Festival, to name just some of her varied artistic interests. 

She is also an astute and respected businesswoman, having taken over her husband’s downtown business after his untimely death in 1976.  She became president and CEO of Herschede Jewelers, and worked tirelessly for the preservation of downtown Cincinnati.  She has served on many boards and councils, including the Fifth Third Bank, PNC, the United Way Campaign, the Red Cross, the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, and Xavier University Business Advisory Council. 

Joni has been recognized throughout her career with several awards and distinctions.  She was the 1992 Distinguished Business Woman of the Year; One of the Ten 1991 Enquirer Women of the Year; the University of Cincinnati Award for Excellence in 1985, and a member of the inaugural class of the Order of the Black Blazer in 1994, the highest honor presented by the Department of Athletics to supporters of the program.