Advisory Committee

Eric D. Fingerhut, a nationally recognized leader in education and economic development policy, is the Vice President for Education and STEM Learning at the Battelle Memorial Institute, the largest non-profit research and development organization in the world.  Fingerhut previously served as the Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, as an Ohio State Senator and as a member of the United States House of Representatives. 

At Battelle, Chancellor Fingerhut leads the organization’s efforts to inspire and train the next generation of America’s science and technology leaders.  Under Chancellor Fingerhut’s leadership, Battelle is helping lead the campaign for globally competitive science standards for primary and secondary schools, to increase the number of college students earning STEM degrees, and to support and connect schools and educators who are demonstrating excellence in STEM education. 

As Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, the state agency responsible for leading the University System of Ohio, Fingerhut led a system consisting of fourteen universities, twenty three community colleges and dozens of career technical education and adult literacy programs serving over 600,000 students per year.  Chancellor Fingerhut was also responsible for the state’s broadband, supercomputing and on-line education and library systems, and chaired the Ohio Third Frontier Commission, one of the nation’s best funded state efforts to promote innovation and entrepreneurship through research and development partnerships between business and industry.  Chancellor Fingerhut’s 10-year Strategic Plan for Higher Education provided the state with a measurable blueprint to make higher education more efficient while expanding educational opportunities to students, and to reframe the relationship between business and higher education to create new jobs and a highly skilled, globally competitive workforce.  When he stepped down from his position, the Columbus Dispatch said that Fingerhut had “shaped and improved Ohio’s universities” and “set a high bar for those who will follow him.”

In addition to his work at Battelle, Chancellor Fingerhut currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Jobs For the Future, a nonprofit organization operating in 41 states that develops education and workforce strategies for lower skilled children and adults, as a consultant on adult education to the American Council on Education, and as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Wright State University, as well as serving on numerous advisory boards to nationally recognized education and scientific organizations and businesses.

Chancellor Fingerhut’s career in elected office includes ten years in the Ohio Senate and two years in the United States House of Representatives.  Chancellor Fingerhut has also served as the Director of Economic Development Education and Entrepreneurship at Baldwin-Wallace College, as a Senior Lecturer in political science, law, and management at Case Western Reserve University, has practiced law privately and as an attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, and has worked for non-profit organizations focused on welfare-to-work programming and advocacy on health and human services issues.  In 2008, he was the recipient of the “Outstanding Public Service Award” from The Ohio State University John Glenn School of Public Affairs.   

Chancellor Fingerhut earned a Bachelor of Science degree with highest honors from Northwestern University in 1981 and received a law degree from the Stanford University School of Law in 1984.

Chancellor Fingerhut resides in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, Amy and their two sons, Sam and Charlie.