From student to chair of Alumni Association Board of Directors: Alumna’s Bobcat spirit spans OHIO experience

Casey Christopher, BSC ’02, is pictured with Ohio University President Emeritus Robert Glidden and fellow Bobcat Michael Murphy, BSJ, BA ’02. Christopher and Murphy served on Senior Class Council together as treasurer and president, respectively.

As a student, Casey Christopher, BSC ’02, was an involved member of the Ohio University community. In fact, it was the wide range of student activities that drew her to OHIO.

As an alumna, Christopher continues to immerse herself in the Bobcat community, currently serving as chair of the OHIO Alumni Association Board of Directors.

Christopher juggles her time between New York City, where she is the first vice president of business development at CenterState Bank, and Ohio, where she is wrapping up a 10-year term on the OHIO Alumni Association Board of Directors.

“My experience on the board has been life-altering,” Christopher said. “The skills that I have learned and the networking experiences that I have had have completely transformed my leadership skills, and I’ve developed them at a pace much faster than I would have in any other professional setting.”

Christopher’s passion for service to Ohio University stemmed from her early experiences as a student. She held positions on both the University’s Student Senate and Senior Class Council and worked as a student employee for the OHIO Alumni Association.

Casey Christopher was nominated to the OHIO Alumni Association Board of Directors in 2009 and became chair of the board in 2018.

Following graduation, Christopher became an account executive for National City Bank in northeastern Ohio before transferring, in 2007, to Tampa. In 2009, she joined CenterState Bank where she manages a client portfolio of over 100 community banks and markets correspondent products and services throughout the Northeast and Florida. Christopher was named a Tampa Bay Business Buddies’ “Young Professional of the Year” in 2010, earned her certificate in banking from the Florida School of Banking in 2012, graduated from the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University in 2015, and was a finalist for the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s “Up and Comer Award” in 2016. In February, she was named president of the New York League of Independent Bankers.

Active in the community, Christopher is a member of the Financial Women’s Association of NY, the Junior League of Bergen County and the New Jersey Bankers Association.

Noticing soon after moving to Tampa that it lacked an organized OHIO alumni presence, Christopher helped to establish a small Bobcat alumni network in the community. Through that experience, Christopher learned more about the OHIO Alumni Association Board of Directors, its work with the Student Alumni Board and how it supports the University’s alumni chapters and societies.

In 2009, Christopher was nominated to the OHIO Alumni Association Board of Directors, and, in 2018, she was named chair of the board.

“To an extent, work-life balance is kind of myth,” Christopher said when asked how she meets the demands of professional, personal and OHIO obligations. “Work-life balance is about balancing each area of your life to what matters to you at that particular time. I had to prioritize what was most important to me, and right now my leadership role on the alumni board is what I prioritize and make my major focus.”

Entering her last year of service on the Board of Directors, Christopher is proud of the progress she and her colleagues have made, particularly when it comes to the hiring of Erin Essak Kopp, the new assistant vice president of alumni relations and executive director of the OHIO Alumni Association.

“She’s amazing,” Christopher said of Essak Kopp, “and I think that she is going to take the Alumni Association to the next level.”

When asked about any unfinished business she’d like to accomplish before leaving the board, Christopher noted the desire to build a new alumni center on the Athens campus.

“Coming back to campus as an alumnus and having a place to go to learn more about what is happening on campus is important,” Christopher said. “It is so important to stay connected, so people understand what is going on at the University and what has changed. Students stand on the shoulders of the alumni before them. So many of the donations from alumni go to academic programs, student scholarships, infrastructure and more. It’s important to connect alumni back to the University to understand what a difference they make.”

Christopher encouraged her fellow Bobcat alumni to consider serving on the OHIO Alumni Association Board of Directors.

“We’re always looking for great people who want to give back,” she said.