Dear BW Friend and Supporter,

I want you to be among the first to know that Lee Fisher, Dean of the Cleveland State University College of Law and former Ohio Lt. Governor, will be joining Baldwin Wallace University as our 10th President! His remarkable track record of leadership makes him an ideal choice to guide Baldwin Wallace on a transformative journey that takes the University into its next chapter. A public announcement will be made later today.

While we're sharing this news with you now through email, we will follow up in the next few days to schedule a one-on-one conversation to hear your thoughts on this announcement.

The future President brings to BW a wealth of leadership experience in public service, innovation, and collaboration, as well as a strong commitment to higher education – all of which will help us to navigate the exciting opportunities ahead.

Dean Fisher has served as dean of the Cleveland State University College of Law for the past nine years and is a prominent and widely respected Ohio leader whose accomplished career spans the public, private, nonprofit, and academic sectors. In 2022, Dean Fisher was inducted in the Cleveland Magazine Business Hall of Fame for his decades-long work on Ohio regional and state economic development.

From 1981 to 1990, he served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate, and he also served as Chair of the Cuyahoga County legislative delegation. He was Ohio’s 44th Attorney General from 1991 to 1995 and the 64th Lieutenant Governor from 2007 to 2011. 

Dean Fisher is a graduate of Oberlin College and served on Oberlin’s Board of Trustees for 12 years. He earned a law degree from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Law and received the law school’s first-ever Distinguished Recent Graduate Award. He later added a Master of Nonprofit Organization from the CWRU Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations. 

In 2021, he and his wife Peggy Zone Fisher, who served for 18 years as President and CEO of the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio until her retirement in August 2024, won the highest award of the Cleveland Bar Association Foundation, the Richard W. Pogue Award for Excellence in Community and Engagement, the first couple to ever receive the award.  

Dean Fisher’s appointment follows a comprehensive national search and supports the strategic vision for the university's continued growth and innovation. He will officially take the helm at BW July 1.

This is an exciting time for our university. Please stay tuned for more updates and opportunities to meet our next president as we begin a new chapter in BW's history!

As always, thank you for your generosity and your support of Baldwin Wallace University.



Lee Thomas
Chair, Board of Trustees
Baldwin Wallace University