President, Office of: Annual Reports

For more information about materials in the University Archives, please contact Bill Kimok, university archivist.

About the Records

Note: In 1827 the Ohio Legislature passed a resolution requiring the president and trustees of the Ohio University to submit an annual report to the General Assembly. This report was to be “a statement of the situation” of the University. Apparently, the reports were not submitted for several years so in 1837 a resolution was passed to reinforce the resolution of 1827.

The Ohio University Archives has Annual Reports of the Office of the President back to the 1839-1840 year. The annual reports up until the 1875-1876 year have been photocopied from the Ohio Executive Documents for various years. The succeeding years are published. Many are bound into sets of 2 to 10 years. However from the mid-1920’s to the early-1930’s most of the reports are in typescript only. The report was discontinued in its customary fashion after John C. Baker’s tenure. From 1961 to the beginning of Charles Ping’s tenure the reports are less formal than those preceding.

The report then took on an entirely new form during the tenure of Dr. Charles Ping, by which his annual Fall Convocation address has served as a report of the state of the university. These were issued separately each year from 1988-1993. The addresses for all the years from 1975-1993 were collected in two volumes under the title Ohio University in Perspective (Ohio University Press, 1985, and 1994); a copy of each book is included in the list below.

[Inventory prepared in Spring 1994 by Kevin D. Craig with the assistance of George W. Bain; updated Winter 1995.]

Container List

Box 1

• Folder 1 – Annual Report, 1839-40
• Folder 2 – Annual Report, 1840-41
• Folder 3 – Annual Report, 1842-43
• Folder 4 – Annual Report, 1844-45
• Folder 5 – Annual Report, 1845-46
• Folder 6 – Annual Report, 1846-47
• Folder 7 – Annual Report, 1847-48
• Folder 8 – Annual Report, 1849-50
• Folder 9 – Annual Report, 1868-69
• Folder 10 – Annual Report, 1875-76
• Folder 11 – Annual Report, 1880-92
• Folder 12 – Annual Report, 1892-97

Box 2

• Folder 1 – Annual Report, 1897-1906
• Folder 2 – Annual Report, 1906-10
• Folder 3 – Annual Report, 1910-12
• Folder 4 – Annual Report, 1912-13
• Folder 5 – Annual Report, 1913-14
• Folder 5 – Annual Report, 1914-16
• Folder 6 – Annual Report, 1916-17
• Folder 7 – Annual Report, 1919-20
• Folder 8 – Annual Report, 1920-21
• Folder 9 – Annual Report, 1921-22

Box 3

• Folder 1 – Annual Report, 1922-23
• Folder 2 – Annual Report, 1923-24
• Folder 3 – Annual Report, 1924-23
• Folder 4 – Annual Report, 1925-26
• Folder 5 – Annual Report, 1926-27
• Folder 6 – Annual Report, 1927-28
• Folder 7 – Annual Report, 1928-29
• Folder 8 – Annual Report, 1929-30
• Folder 9 – Annual Report, 1930-31
• Folder 10 – Annual Report, 1931-32
• Folder 11 – Annual Report, 1932-33
• Folder 12 – Annual Report, 1933-34
• Folder 13 – Annual Report, 1934-35
• Folder 14 – Annual Report, 1935-39
• Folder 15 – Annual Report, 1939-45
• Folder 16 – Annual Report, 1945-47
• Folder 17 – Annual Report, 1947-48
• Folder 18 – Annual Report, 1948-49
• Folder 19 – Annual Report, 1949-50
• Folder 20 – Annual Report, 1950-51
• Folder 21 – Annual Report, 1951-52

Box 4

• Folder 1 – Annual Report, 1952-53
• Folder 2 – Annual Report, 1953-54
• Folder 3 – Annual Report, 1954-55
• Folder 4 – Annual Report, 1955-56
• Folder 5 – Annual Report, 1956-57
• Folder 6 – Annual Report, 1957-59
• Folder 7 – Annual Report, 1959-61
• Folder 8 – Annual Report, 1962-63
• Folder 9 – Annual Report, 1965-66
• Folder 10 – Annual Report, 1968-69
• Folder 11 – Annual Report, 1969-71
• Folder 12 – Annual Report, 1971-73
• Folder 13 – Annual Report, 1975-84 Ohio University in Perspective(vol. 1)
• Folder 14 – Annual Report, 1987-88
• Folder 15 – Annual Report, 1988-89

Box 5

• Folder 1 – Annual Report, 1989-90
• Folder 2 – Annual Report, 1990-91
• Folder 3 – Annual Report, 1991-92
• Folder 4 – Annual Report, 1992-93
• Folder 5 – Annual Report, 1985-93 Ohio University in Perspective(vol. 2)