Carol A. Cartwright is an American academic administrator who served as president of

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

and, later, of

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

Early life and career

Carol Cartwright was born in 1941. She earned her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater and her

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

and

doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

degrees from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

. She was a member of the faculty of

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

from 1967 through 1988, and later served as dean for undergraduate programs and vice provost at Penn State. She also served as vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of California at Davis.

Kent State

Cartwright served as the 10th president of

from March 1991 until July 2006, making her the first woman to serve as president of any Ohio public college or university. During her tenure at Kent State, she oversaw the establishment of new colleges and academic programs, the introduction of new technologies, and increases in enrollment; she also oversaw an extensive the extensive construction of new campus buildings, including the Centennial Court dormitories and a new honors college complex, and the renovation of several others. She also oversaw the completion of the university's first major fund-raising campaign. Upon retirement from Kent State, the auditorium building on the university’s Kent campus was renamed Cartwright Hall in her honor.

Bowling Green

Cartwright came out of retirement to serve as interim president at Bowling Green in July 2008, and was named president on January 6, 2009. She retired in June, 2011.

Other roles

Cartwright served on the Knight Commission beginning in 2000, and in 2010 she was elected as vice chair to

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

. Cartwright has served on the boards of directors of KeyCorp (retiring in 2012), Republic Engineered Steels, Inc. (1992-98) the Davey Tree Expert Company (2002-08), PolyOne Corporation, and

FirstEnergy FirstEnergy Corp. is an electric utility headquartered in Akron, Ohio. It was established when Ohio Edison merged with Centerior Energy in 1997. Its subsidiaries and affiliates are involved in distributing, transmitting, and generating electrici ...

Corporation. She currently sits on the Board of Trustees of

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

Awards and recognitions

The

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

established the Cartwright Award in her honor, given annually to the member university with the best overall record in athletic competition, academic achievement and public service. The scope of her contributions to higher education led to Dr. Cartwright’s induction into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility. She has also received numerous other awards, including the Clairol Mentor Award in Education, the northeast Ohio ATHENA Award, the

March of Dimes March of Dimes is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. The organization was founded by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to co ...

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Humanitarian Award for Excellence, and the American College of Education Mentor of the Year Award. She was made an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Heidelberg University in 2012.

Personal life

Cartwright is married to G. Phillip Cartwright. They have three children. She has resided in

Napa, California Napa is the largest city and county seat of Napa County, California, Napa County and a principal city of Wine Country in Northern California, United States. Located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the Bay Area, th ...

, since 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartwright, Carol 1941 births Living people Presidents of Kent State University Pennsylvania State University faculty University of California, Davis faculty University of Pittsburgh alumni University of Wisconsin–Whitewater alumni Bowling Green State University faculty