An Ohio State professor is providing students with a special and exciting internship experience.
Kenneth Kolson is the director of the Washington Academic Internship Program in Washington, D.C. The program is through the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at OSU.
Kolson began his career teaching at Hiram College in northeast Ohio. In 1985 Kolson left Ohio to pursue a job at the National Endowment for the Humanities in D.C. He worked his way up to becoming a deputy director for research before retiring in 2007.
Shortly after in 2008, Kolson began working at OSU.
“I have had basically two career paths,” Kolson said. “This job combines my two career paths.”
The Washington Academic Internship Program places students in internships in D.C. and gives them an opportunity to live and work in the nation’s capital.
“When I signed on to this job I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting into,” Kolson said.
“I knew I would have contact with the Glenn School on a regular basis, but what I didn’t expect was the other people who would take an interest in our program,” Kolson said.
He said influential people from OSU come to D.C. and meet with the fellows on a regular basis, including OSU President E. Gordon Gee, Archie Griffin and former Sen. John Glenn.
Kolson said he spent most of the morning with the fellows on Capitol Hill in a caucus room listening to Gee address members of Congress.
Sen. Glenn and his wife come to meet with the fellows every quarter. Kolson, program coordinator Laura Allen and the Glenn School put together a meet-and-greet for the fellows followed by a reception featuring other Ohio congressman. Past attendees have included Rep. Pat Tiberi and Sen. Sherrod Brown.
The fellows participating in the program attend a weekly public policy class taught by Kolson. Kolson also sets up tours of important and historic places around the city and organizes weekly “policy salons.”
The policy salons consist of guest speakers who talk to students about topics important to young people trying to live and work in D.C.
Kolson said the most recent speaker was a retired diplomat, Henry Precht, who talked to the fellows about his time in the State Department and his role as the Iran desk officer when the Ayatollahs came to power.
The Internship program offers students an opportunity to meet and form connections with influential and important people. Students also can learn a lot from Kolson.
Before retiring from public service and working for the Glenn School, Kolson briefly worked for the State Department in the World Heritage Program. Kolson was working on protecting the Everglades when Sen. Ben Nelson for Florida called him to testify before a Senate committee about his conservation efforts.
He said his experience taught him that “you never know what you’re getting into and you never know when you’re stepping on toes.”
Kolson has lived and worked in Washington, D.C., for 25 years but said he still finds the city exciting.
“When I drive into town there is a point near the national airport where you are slightly on a hill and the city is laid out in front of you. I can see the capitol and the old postal building where I worked for 22 years and my heart goes pitter-patter,” Kolson said.
