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John A. Roush took office on July 1, 1998, as the 20th President of Centre College. Since 1998, the College has:
- added 15 new endowed professorships;
- instituted a Centre Scholars Program to honor outstanding work at the junior faculty rank;
- successfully revised its curriculum;
- finished work on the College Centre, a $24-million expansion and renovation of Crounse Hall, the College's primary academic space and library, and Sutcliffe Hall, the fitness and recreation facility at Centre;
- started construction on Pearl Hall, a $15-million student residence to open in 2008;
- initiated a $45-million Trustee Challenge building project to include a science center, a campus center, and a renovation of the College's Norton Center for the Arts, all to be completed by 2010;
- launched, in January, 2004, the Campaign for A More Perfect Centre, a $120-million capital campaign focused on endowment for student financial aid, scholarships and academic program enhancements.
The campaign, to be concluded in January of '08, is currently at $161 million-40 million over the established goal. Most recently, Centre initiated an institutional planning process that holds the promise of setting a new standard for national liberal arts colleges.
Growing up in Ohio, Roush graduated from Kettering Fairmont High
School, where he was active in athletics, music, and theatre. He
earned a bachelor's degree in English from Ohio University's Honors
College in 1972, where he graduated summa cum laude.
Active in college athletics, Roush was Ohio University's Scholar
Athlete of the Year and was a three-time Academic All-American in
football. He completed his formal education at Miami University,
earning the Master's degree in 1973 and the Ph.D. in spring,
1979.
Roush began his career in higher education in 1972 at Miami
University as an assistant football coach, and then transitioned to
administration in 1976, completing his work there in January, 1982
as Executive Assistant to the President.
He joined the University of Richmond in 1982 as Executive
Assistant to the President and was made Vice President for
Planning, Executive Assistant to the President, and Secretary to
the Board of Trustees in 1990. In the late 1980s, he was identified
as the intellectual "architect" of the Jepson School of Leadership
Studies, a multi-disciplinary, undergraduate degree program at the
University.
In addition to his work in higher education, Roush was a Captain
in the U.S. Army. He is a regular contributor to professional
journals in the areas of leadership, governance, and finance in
higher education, and intercollegiate sport. A member of several
professional boards and organizations, Roush has been active in the
Association of Governing Boards, the National Collegiate Athletic
Association, the National Association of Independent Colleges and
Universities, the Association of Presbyterian Colleges, the
Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities, and
the American Council on Education. He also remains active in civic
and community affairs and in the Presbyterian Church.
He and his wife, Susie Miller Roush, are the parents of two sons.
Luke Roush, 30, is a 2000 graduate of Duke and his wife, Brooke
Olsen Roush, is a 2000 graduate of Montana State University. They
reside in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with their son, Samuel Olsen
Roush, born September 6, 2003, and their daughter, Molly Olsen
Roush, born March 26, 2006. Mark Roush, 27, is a 2003 graduate of
Northwestern University. Mark and his wife, Natalie Crable
Roush, a 2005 graduate of the University of Alabama, Birmingham,
reside in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho.
Mrs. Roush, a native of Dover, Ohio, earned a bachelor's degree
from Ohio University and a master's degree from Miami University.
In addition to her work as a civic leader in Virginia and
Kentucky, she is an accomplished
photographer.
