Walter Carter Jr., standing with his wife Lynda, was named Ohio State’s 17th president at Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting. Photo courtesy Ohio State.

Ohio State’s Board of Trustees named Walter Carter Jr. as the university’s new president nearly six months after its presidential search committee initially formed.   

Carter will officially begin his role as Ohio State’s president on Jan 1, 2024. In the meantime, he is the eighth president at the University of Nebraska system and its four campuses, a position he has held since January 2020. In his first year during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Carter’s focus on opportunity for students resulted in the Nebraska Promise, a financial aid program that guarantees free tuition for low- and middle-income residents of Nebraska. 

Throughout his tenure, the University of Nebraska system was ranked among the world’s top 100 institutions for earning research patents. He additionally serves as the chair of the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute’s board of directors and is a board member for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, according to the University of Nebraska system.

His extensive 38-year military career began with a bachelor’s degree in physics and oceanography from the U.S. Naval Academy, where he lettered in ice hockey while also graduating from the Navy Fighter Weapons School, Top Gun. 

Carter then went on to fly 125 combat missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Bosnia and Kosovo. In recognition of his military service and leadership, Carter received the U.S. Naval Academy’s Distinguished Graduate Award in 2022. 

Prior to his tenure in Nebraska, Carter served as the 54th president of the U.S. Naval War College located in Newport, Rhode Island, from June 2013 to July 2014, according to the U.S. Naval War College website. Carter then led the U.S. Naval Academy as its longest continuously serving superintendent since the Civil War. During that time, the Naval Academy achieved multiple top national rankings and set institutional records for student success, according to Ohio State’s release. 

Carter is also a member of the American Council on Education Board, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities’ Council of Presidents and the Council on Competitiveness, according to the University of Nebraska system.

A Burrillville, Rhode Island, native, Carter said he is grateful for the opportunity to serve as Ohio State’s next president in the release.

“The work being done across Ohio and beyond to shape the future of research and innovation, workforce development, the arts, health care, college affordability and college athletics is remarkable, Carter said. “These are areas of particular passion for me, and I can’t wait to begin my journey as a Buckeye.”