Alumnus returns to OHIO classroom, shares his journey to Fortune Global 500 company

Ohio University alumnus Michael Gorshe, BBA ’70, talks to College of Business students about his educational journey and his position as managing director at Accenture, a global management consulting and professional services firm. Photo by Austin Janning

When Michael Gorshe, BBA ’70, stepped back onto the bricks of Athens, the alumnus couldn’t help but reflect on his educational journey—one that began in a small town steeped in Ohio’s coal mining industry, continued at two OHIO campuses and landed him at a Fortune Global 500 company.

The managing director of Accenture, a global management consulting and professional services firm, returned to OHIO’s College of Business in September, sharing his career journey and business knowledge with Bobcats following in his footsteps. The trip to Athens marked Gorshe’s first academic-based visit to his alma mater.

“My recent travels back to Athens reinforced my early memories of the genuine interest and commitment of the administration and professors to the quality of the academic programs across Ohio University,” Gorshe said.

While on campus, Gorshe met with OHIO administrators and faculty members and made several classroom visits. Gorshe spoke about his role at Accenture, where he works with clients around the world, supporting retailers, manufacturers, food agents and wholesalers, and emphasized the hard work and dedication that put him on the path to success.

Gorshe’s road to an OHIO education began inside a coal mine near his hometown of Bellaire in eastern Ohio. His father took him to his underground place of employment. That experience, coupled with his father’s insistence that his son earn a college degree, put Gorshe on the path to OHIO while he was still in high school.

Throughout his high school years, Gorshe worked long hours at Kroger, saving his money with that college degree in mind. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at Ohio University’s Eastern Campus, which at the time was located in the old St. Clairsville High School.

Gorshe spent the next three years living at home, working long hours at Kroger and taking college courses at night. Though his days were exhausting, he never strayed from his commitment to earn his college degree.

Thanks to his hard work both inside and outside of the classroom, Gorshe was able to transfer to OHIO’s Athens Campus for his final year of college. Ready for that traditional college experience, he moved into a house on North Congress Street with 15 complete strangers who would soon become his Bobcat family.

Gorshe graduated from Ohio University in June 1970 and once again reaped the benefits of his hard work. His Kroger managers and co-workers recognized Gorshe’s work ethic and his steadfast commitment to earning his college degree, and he was offered employment in the company’s corporate office. In 1991, he joined Accenture’s Chicago office, and today Gorshe is a partner in the firm’s Consumer Products and Services Practice, engaging with clients around the world.

Gorshe’s story resonated with the students in the College of Business.

“(They) could start to self-identify and connect with what Mike was saying,” Linsey Hugo, director of employer relations and strategic outreach at the College of Business, said of Gorshe’s visit with students. “They could see all of the opportunity that Mike created for himself by networking and putting himself out there, being involved and giving back. … It’s really helpful for someone like Mike to come and paint the full picture start to finish.”

Hugo noted that Gorshe’s story helps to reinforce one of the messages OHIO’s academic units stress to students every day—to be thoughtful about the decisions they are making today and to take advantage of as many of the opportunities offered to them as possible.

During his campus visit, Gorshe also had the chance to reconnect with his personal OHIO experience. He was treated to an impromptu tour of his old North Congress Street home thanks to the gracious Bobcats who live there now and met with Bobcats involved in Enactus, a student organization that he participated in while a student.

“I’m so impressed with the continued commitment and how the University has designed and implemented educational programs to develop tomorrow’s leaders,” Gorshe said. “I’m proud to be a Bobcat.”

And OHIO’s College of Business is proud to call Gorshe a Bobcat.

“I think that the more we bring alumni back to share their stories, the more students will start to see themselves in those alumni,” Hugo said. “They will really think about all of the possibilities that are in front of them by making the most of the time that they have here in school.”