Tom Ash Named 2016-17 Hicks Executive in Residence
The Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools is pleased to announce the 2016-17 Hicks Executive in Residence, Mr. Thomas P. Ash. Mr. Ash currently serves as the Director of Governmental Relations for the Buckeye Association of School Administrators. In this capacity, he represents school district leaders from throughout Ohio before the Ohio General Assembly and various state agencies and organizations and provides technical assistance to BASA members. From this vantage point, he possesses a unique understanding of the current state of affairs of education in Ohio and across the country. Prior to this position, he completed thirty-five years in public education with 21 of those as a superintendent in two school districts.
A graduate of Bowling Green and Youngstown State Universities, Ash served as the 30th President of BASA in 1999-2000 and also is the editor of The Management Guide for School Leaders, an annual reference publication for superintendents and central office administrators.
As part of his recognition as the Hicks Executive in Residence, Mr. Ash will provide two presentations. One, “Witnessing the Death of a Profession?” will be held March 14 from 12:15 to 2:00 pm in room 105 in McCracken Hall on the Ohio University campus. This presentation is open to the public and a light lunch will be served. The second presentation, “The Budget and Other Alternate Realities,” will be presented at the March CORAS meeting to be held March 15 at the Ohio University Inn.
The Hicks Executive In Residence Award is named for Emeritus Professor Samuel Hicks who provided an endowment to Ohio University in order to attract outstanding educational executives and leaders to the Ohio University Campus each year. The program, a forum for recognizing and honoring outstanding leaders of America’s educational institutions, has been carried out annually in the spring of each year since its beginning in 1976. The 42 Executives in Residence have been leaders drawn from both the national scene and from Ohio. Among others, the list includes past graduates of the Ohio University program in educational administration, Ohio Superintendents of Public Instruction, Directors of National Administrator Associations, CEO’s of National Foundations, nationally prominent school superintendents, administrators in the US Office of Education and well known authors and educational researchers.