Alumni show the impact involved graduates can have on OHIO’s future
Dell Robinson, BSPE ’88, (left) and David Pidwell, BSEE ’69, MS ’70, each pursued their passions and developed their purpose while getting involved in OHIO’s classrooms and serving on its governing boards.
No matter how far away life’s journey takes alumni from Ohio University, there are countless ways for them to stay engaged with and involved in their alma mater.
From keeping their information up to date and getting involved with alumni chapters and societies to attending Ohio University events and connecting with current students through the Bobcat Mentorship Network, a graduate’s OHIO experience need not end at graduation.
Ohio Today News recently caught up with two Bobcat alumni whose involvement in the University has also helped to shape its future.
David Pidwell, BSEE ’69, MS ’70, and Dell Robinson, BSPE ’88, each pursued their passions and developed their purpose while getting involved in OHIO’s classrooms and serving on its governing boards. Both recently completed their terms on OHIO’s Board of Trustees with Pidwell also having previously served on The Ohio University Foundation Board of Trustees and Robinson on the Ohio University Alumni Association Board of Directors.
Here’s what these alumni had to say about their days on campus, reengaging with OHIO and advice they have for their fellow Bobcats about getting involved with their alma mater:
What stands out to you most about your experience as an Ohio University student?
A two-time graduate of the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ College of Engineering and Technology, Pidwell earned his master’s degree in 1970 and headed from the Ohio Valley to the West Coast area that became Silicon Valley.
(From left) Ohio University Executive Vice President and Provost Chaden Djalali, President M. Duane Nellis, alumnus David Pidwell and Chair of the OHIO Board of Trustees David Scholl cut the ribbon at the October 2018 grand opening of CoLab. Photo by Stephen Zenner/Ohio University Libraries
“I spent five years on campus. It was a great program and a great learning experience – and an opportunity to mature and grow up and become professionally prepared for a career,” he said. “At the same time, I developed good social skills and really learned how to live on my own and make wise decisions. It really was a well-rounded education. I made many friends, many memories, plus received a quality education.”
As an undergraduate, Robinson had fond memories of serving as a peer advisor for Precollege, known today as Bobcat Student Orientation. That experience, he said, was instrumental in inspiring his future involvement with Ohio University and his desire to connect with students.
“I think I looked at that as me reaching back to help younger students and give them a better transition to college than I had,” he said. “Not that my transition was bad, but that was the first time I wanted to combine leadership and giving back. That made me want to continue to be involved in some way or another.”
How have you stayed connected to and engaged with Ohio University since graduation?
Almost a decade after graduating, Robinson was invited back to Ohio University to deliver a guest lecture to students in the sports management program, which he said reignited his desire to stay connected.
Dell Robinson accepts the Sports Management Undergraduate 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award during the Darren Butler Sports Business Forum. Photo courtesy of University Communications and Marketing
In 1999, Robinson returned to Ohio to become associate commissioner of legislation and governance for the Mid-American Conference and was recruited by a fellow Bobcat and friend, Kimberly King, BSC ’87, MA ’03, to take over chaperoning OHIO’s Multicultural Visit Program. The program provides college-bound high school seniors a one-day visit to the Athens Campus where they have the opportunity to speak with faculty, staff and students about their plans for college and beyond.
“That program was bringing students of color and diverse backgrounds to Ohio University to visit the campus and have an overnight stay,” he said. “There was a bus that ran from Cleveland to Athens to bring these students, most of whom were from the greater Cleveland area, to campus, so it gave them the chance to have an experience at Ohio University.”
Robinson chaperoned that program for a couple years while also being encouraged by King, who was serving on the Ohio University Alumni Association Board of Directors, to attend alumni events.
“Every time they had an event in or around Cleveland, she invited me to come,” Robinson said. “More times than not, I was able to come. Whether it was a downtown watch party, a Taste of Athens event, anything – I was there.”
His increased OHIO involvement and a little more nudging from King led Robison to eventually seek appointment to the Alumni Association Board of Directors, on which he served for six years.
After graduation, Pidwell embarked on a roughly 2,500-mile journey from Athens to San Francisco in his Volkswagen bug.
“Everything I owned in my life was in the backseat of that little car,” he said.
Pidwell attended Stanford University and then spent roughly 50 years working at the forefront of technology, innovation and corporate enterprise as an entrepreneur who built two successful companies and later became a venture capitalist, investing in startup high-tech businesses. The distance and the demands found him out of touch with OHIO for many years, but, more than 35 years after leaving Athens, Pidwell was presented an opportunity to reengage with his alma mater using the legacy he had established in Silicon Valley.
In 2006, then-University President Roderick J. McDavis approached Pidwell about helping to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem for OHIO students, faculty and researchers.
“This was basically a program to prepare students to define and then launch new business enterprise, to bring new products or services forward to support customers with real-world needs, and then to take innovation and research work being done at OHIO and commercialize this technology,” he said. “This program broadly leveraged my business experiences and Silicon Valley work.”
For the past 13 years, Pidwell has been visiting OHIO about one week per month, developing and supporting the University’s Center for Entrepreneurship while also serving on the Board of Trustees, The Ohio University Foundation Board of Trustees and the Russ College Board of Visitors.
“When I would come to campus, I always taught an entrepreneurship class, I had a revolving group of students I mentored, and I helped students with their job placement decisions and actions as they prepared to graduate,” he said. “Plus, there was always Board meetings and entrepreneurship program work to be addressed.”
In addition to his work with the Center for Entrepreneurship, Pidwell helped launch TechGROWTH Ohio, a program sponsored by Ohio University and Ohio Third Frontier that provides business assistance and funding to entrepreneurs and technology start-ups, and was instrumental in launching the Ohio Innovation Fund, an Ohio-based early stage venture capitalist fund. He is also one of the visionaries and philanthropists behind CoLab, a physical hub for student innovation and entrepreneurship that opened in Alden Library last fall.
“Over the last 13 years, we’ve taken this idea of entrepreneurship and we’ve turned it into a reality at Ohio University,” Pidwell said. “It’s working and it’s very productive. There’s a purpose behind all of this, and real value is coming out of our work for the benefit of Ohio. It’s exciting. President Nellis has been most supportive and encouraging from his first day at OHIO.”
What are you most proud of in terms of your service to Ohio University as an alumnus?
In addition to receiving Ohio University’s 2017 Konneker Medal for Commercialization and Entrepreneurship, Pidwell said he is most proud of the work he has done in helping to build OHIO’s entrepreneurial program and culture.
Joseph Shields, vice president for research and creative activity and dean of the Graduate College, presents the 2017 Konneker Medal for Commercialization and Entrepreneurship to David Pidwell. Photo by Evan Leonard/University Communications and Marketing
“Overall, I’m most proud of what has been accomplished at Ohio University over the years in introducing the concept of entrepreneurship, building a program to enable its expansion and getting the University to embrace and support it,” he said. “Today, every college at Ohio University is actively involved, and students are eager to pursue this whole area of new business creation.”
For Robinson, his service as chair of the Alumni Association Board of Directors is a cherished and celebrated accomplishment, putting him in a leadership position that allowed him to bring a fresh perspective to the group and surround himself with Bobcats from backgrounds different than his own.
“It created a situation where people had faith in me to lead,” he said. “This was a group of Bobcats who were around me who were very different than the ones I was with day to day when I was a student, so that interaction and engagement I was really proud of and I really enjoyed. During that term we really pushed for diversity, and we made gains during that time period for people of color and women across majors, especially in the sciences.”
Robinson noted the pride he felt in being one of the first minorities to serve as chair of the Alumni Association Board of Directors.
“That was something that was really a proud moment for me – then later on being selected to be on the Board of Trustees meant a lot, especially from a diversity standpoint,” he said.
What advice would you give to your fellow Bobcat alumni about staying involved with their alma mater?
Robinson urged his fellow Bobcats to read the emails the University sends them about events and to attend them. He also suggested that the best way to get started in being involved as an OHIO graduate is to join an alumni chapter or society.
Dell Robinson joins fellow members of the 2019 Black Alumni Reunion planning committee in an impromptu “Electric Slide” dance during this year’s Black Alumni Reunion Gala.
“Find a cause you’re passionate about and want to push, like having more diverse boards,” he said. “Find where you can act out your advocacy. There are so many different areas, activities and groups people can reach prior to making any big step. You can really find individuals who share the same love for the University and who also support causes you’re close to.”
Pidwell called on his fellow Bobcats to help their alma mater as it navigates a challenging period ahead and transitions from a 20th century to a 21st century institution of higher education.
“OU alumni can use their professional knowledge and experience and really help Ohio University move forward,” he said. “We need to transition at Ohio University from the 20th century model of higher education to the new 21st century approach, which requires real academic change. OHIO alumni assistance is needed to define and implement this transition. There’s no shortage of ways and areas where alumni can get involved and help Ohio University in a very meaningful way.”
For more information on how alumni can get involved in Ohio University, click here.
Ohio University is accepting nominations for The Ohio University Foundation Board of Trustees, the Ohio University Alumni Association Board of Directors, and its 2020 Alumni Awards. For more information, click here.