One to One with Bill Goodman:
John Roush
aired January 12 and 14, 2007
John Roush, president of Centre College, is Bill Goodman’s guest on this edition of One to One.
Since taking office as the Danville college’s 20th president in 1998, Roush has overseen the creation of 15 new endowed professorships. He was instrumental in the creation of the Centre Scholars Program to honor outstanding work at the junior faculty rank and completed a $24 million addition to and renovation of Crounse Hall, Centre’s primary academic space. That focus on academics has helped Centre maintain its high national ranking among small liberal arts colleges and on “best value for the money” rankings.
Roush himself began his career in a different aspect of higher education, though, as an assistant football coach at Miami University in 1972. He entered administration there in 1976, becoming an executive assistant to the president, then went on to the University of Richmond as vice president for planning. He is also a former captain in U.S. Army Military Intelligence. He is a regular speaker and contributor to professional journals on the topics of leadership, governance, and finance in higher education and intercollegiate sports.
In the One to One conversation, Roush also talks about Centre’s hopes of hosting a presidential debate during the 2008 election campaign. The college was the site of a debate between vice presidential candidates Dick Cheney and Joseph Lieberman in 2000.
