Cleveland State University law school dean Lee Fisher is set to become the next president of Baldwin Wallace University. 

He’ll take over an institution facing financial challenges. Fisher will begin his term as the university’s 10th president July 1. 

The university cut 10 academic programs late last year as it juggled with a projected $20 million deficit, the student news organization The Exponent reported. Nearly 50 faculty members also left via both buyout offers and cuts. Baldwin Wallace enrolled about 3,300 students total last fall, down about 12% from 2018. 

“This is a university poised to redefine what’s possible, and I’m honored to help lead that charge,” he said in a news release. 

In Fisher, officials at the Berea campus get a leader with a long resume. He was both a state senator and a state representative before going on to become state attorney general. He became Ohio’s lieutenant governor under Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in 2006. 

Baldwin Wallace’s board conducted national search for 10th president 

The university’s board of trustees conducted a national search that found Fisher, who’s led Cleveland State’s College of Law for nearly a decade. 

His roots in Northeast Ohio are deep. He attended Shaker Heights High School before earning degrees from Oberlin College and Case Western Reserve University.  

“Lee’s remarkable track record of leadership makes him an ideal choice to guide Baldwin Wallace on a transformative journey that takes the University into its next chapter,” Lee Thomas, the board’s chair, said in the news release.  “We could not be happier that our nationwide search led us to such a respected Ohioan.”

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