Updated: 7:17 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015 | Posted: 4:18 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015

O’dell Owens leaving Cincinnati State

By Ed Richter

Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN — 

Dr. O’dell Owens is leaving his job as president of Cincinnati State, which operates a branch campus in Middletown.

Owens was hired Tuesday as the medical director for the Cincinnati Health Department, according to Jean Gould, Cincinnati State’s vice president of marketing and communication.

Wednesday marked Owens’ last day as president at the university, she said.

“I’ve decided, after devoting five great years to Cincinnati State, it was time for me to move on,” Owens said in a press release. “The Board of Trustees is moving in a new direction that would not require all the talents and expertise that I have used for the past five years. It is time to bring in someone who can take Cincinnati State to the next level.”

Provost Monica Posey will serve as interim president, according to Cathy Crain, the college’s board chairwoman.

Crain said a national search will be launched to find a permanent successor to Owens.

“The Board would like to thank Dr. Owens for the contributions he has made, raising the stature of the institution and bringing all of our political and corporate friends to campus making them aware of the college’s initiatives and achievements,” Crain said.

Dr. Owens was named the fifth president of Cincinnati State in August 2010. At that time he was serving a second term as Hamilton County Coroner.

T. Duane Gordon, executive director of the Middletown Community Foundation and a member of the Cincinnati State Middletown Advisory Committee, said at their meeting last week, Owens asked everyone to keep the news private until it was announced.

“Dr. Owens had worked quite diligently developing a relationship with local leaders in the Middletown area as he led the creation and growth of the Middletown campus of Cincinnati State,” Gordon said. “He was a true champion of the idea of the Middletown campus after it was handed over to him by his predecessor and his board. He was an innovator, as evidenced by the unique business partnership that made the campus possible with no financial risk to Cincinnati State.”

Gordon said Owens’ personal story, which he shared so eloquently at various meetings and banquets throughout Middletown the past several years, of being told as a child that he was too stupid for college really informed his passion for helping those who did not see themselves as “college material” to take a chance and further their education.

“I think over the past several years of his tenure there, he really helped shape the college – and especially the Middletown campus – into a place where the people who were not comfortable in a traditional college environment could find that they did belong,” Gordon said.

Sam Ison, Middletown City Schools superintendent, said the district enjoyed working with Owens over the past few years.

“He understood what we were trying to do with our students after they graduate and while they were in school,” Ison said. “The Midd State Academy program was developed and has been very positive experience… He was able to connect his story of his life with our students here and served as a role model for us.”

Ison said he anticipates the partnership between Cincinnati State and the school district to continue to grow and continue to be a positive relationship as it has been.

“Dr. Owens made a huge impact for us – he drove the new campus in Middletown forward,” said Denise Hamet, Middletown’s economic development director. “He gave confidence to all of us that we could do this. We value the Cincinnati State team, and we continue to enjoy a great relationship with them. The campus is creating unique partnerships and programs that continue to benefit Middletown.”

Hamet said the city is focusing its economic development efforts on workforce development as a top priority and that the city’s our access to two higher educational institutions as well as two joint vocational schools really gives the community an advantage.