MHA alumna eager to support Ohio State growth
Janet Porter, left, and clinical professor Julie Robbins after Porter gave the pre-commencement address to Public Health graduates in 2022.
Janet Porter, ’75 BS, ’77 MHA, has been elected as a member of The Ohio State University Foundation Board. In this role, she will provide her experience and leadership to strengthen philanthropy at the university.
The Foundation Board is Ohio State’s primary fundraising organization that benefits students, faculty, programs and facilities. It leads major giving campaigns, including “But for Ohio State,” on which Porter served as a committee member. That effort raised $3 billion, the largest campaign in university history.
“Anything I can do to encourage people to give to (Ohio State) I want to do,” Porter said.
The appointment marks a dedicated history of service to Ohio State for Porter, who was on the university’s Board of Trustees from 2017-20, helped create the William O. Cleverly Scholarship for Master of Health Administration students in 2012 and served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors from 2012-17, among other service. Porter was awarded the 2010 Ralph Davenport Mershon Alumni Award for her leadership and service to Ohio State.
Porter has been a hospital administrator, health care professor, association executive, consultant and public health leader for more than 40 years. She taught at eight universities including Ohio State, Harvard and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She also was chief operating officer of Nationwide Children’s Hospital, chief operating officer of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and faculty at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
