Recent News

September 1, 2006

Gene Smith to address Foundation at annual meeting

Columbus Bar Foundation President Doug Wrightsel announced that Gene Smith will speak at Foundation’s Annual Meeting on Oct. 20 at noon at the Hyatt on Capitol Square.

Gene Smith was named director of Athletics at The Ohio State University on March 5, 2005. He is the eighth person to hold the position at OSU and the first African-American. Before coming to OSU he spent five years as director of Athletics at Arizona State. He has also been the Director of Athletics at Iowa State and Eastern Michigan Universities. Smith oversees a program with 36 varsity sports, more than 900 student athletes on its rosters and an operating budget of $100 million. It is the largest Division 1-A athletics program and is completely self sufficient, receiving no tax dollars, university money or student fees.

The Columbus Bar Foundation was created by the Columbus Bar and is the philanthropic arm of the Columbus legal community. Although it is a small foundation with assets of only $2.6 million, it makes grants of approximately $200,000 per year to support access to justice, professionalism, public education about the law and law school scholarships. Some grants that the Foundation has made in recent years include $25,000 annually to female and minority law students from the Schermer Scholarship Fund; over $120,000 a year to the Legal Aid Society of Columbus to help children and victims of domestic violence with the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence; over $40,000 a year to operate Lawyers for Justice, the Bar’s pro bono program; the annual Chester Professionalism Institute; the program for Advanced Dispute Resolution Education at Capital Law School; and the Center for Child and Family Advocacy at Children’s Hospital.

In addition to President Wrightsel, the other Foundation trustees are Vice President Sandra Anderson, Secretary-Treasurer Charles Warner, David Alexander, Paul Giorgianni, Fordham Huffman, Reginald Jackson, Cynthia Lazarus, Robert Meyer, Frank Ray, Stanley Ross, Heather Sowald, Roger Sugarman, Joel Wesp, Benjamin Zox, Columbus Bar Liaison Nelson Genshaft, Columbus Bar Auxiliary Liaison Sharon Chappelear and Counsel Michael Mahoney.

Tickets to the annual meeting are $40 per person, $320 per table of eight and $400 for table of 10. Tickets may be purchased online at www.cbalaw.org or by contacting the Columbus Bar at 614/221.4112. For additional information call Marion Smithberger 614/340.2070.