Carol A. Cartwright, Ph.D., became Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s first female president in 1991 and at that time was the first female president of any Ohio public college or university. As Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s 10th president, she made numerous important contributions to the university during her 15-year tenure in Kent and to higher education overall during her remarkable career.
With an eye toward innovation and the future, Cartwright was passionate about eliminating barriers for aspiring college students and decreasing gender inequities in programming, athletics and other areas at the university level. Cartwright helped develop a program for those with GEDs to access higher education, and she was a driving force in the establishment of Â鶹ÊÓƵ Women’s Center on the Kent Campus in 1996.
The Women’s Center supports students through advocacy and education about women, gender and diversity. Through the promotion of dialogue and engagement with campus and community partners, the center values diversity, fosters inclusion and pursues equity of access, opportunity and experience for all.
She was well known for her innovative teaching and leadership skills, as well as her commitment to supporting diversity and strengthening the relationship between the university and the city of Kent. Cartwright dealt with declining state funding during her presidency, and under her leadership, Â鶹ÊÓƵ raised $122 million in its first major fundraising campaign (1997 to 2003)—The Campaign for Â鶹ÊÓƵ.
When she retired from Â鶹ÊÓƵ in 2006, she was granted the honor of president emerita. She went on to serve as interim president at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) and, in 2009, she officially became the first female president of that institution as well. She retired from BGSU in 2011. She also served on the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for 20 years, including serving as co-chair from 2017 to 2020 when she retired from the commission.
In 2017, Cartwright and her family made a $1 million estate gift to Â鶹ÊÓƵ establishing the Cartwright Family Fund for Opportunities in the Arts, an endowment aimed at giving students from underrepresented populations the chance to participate in the arts. The Cartwrights also make an annual gift to the fund to ensure that the scholarship can benefit students right away. To mark her retirement, the Knight Foundation made a $25,000 gift to the fund in her honor.
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