Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel visits Wright State, highlighting workforce development and student opportunities

Ohio Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel visited Wright State University as part of a statewide tour focused on workforce development and educational partnerships, meeting with President Sue Edwards and regional partner institutions to learn how the university is preparing students for in-demand careers and supporting economic growth across the Miami Valley.

Tressel’s visit included tours of Wright State’s state-of-the-art labs, meetings with students and faculty and conversations with community and industry partners.

The goal of the visit was to better understand how institutions like Wright State are preparing students to help increase workforce participation and grow Ohio’s economy.

“The governor believes that every Ohioan is important, that every Ohioan needs to have the opportunity to reach their God-given potential,” Tressel said of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine.

Wright State’s partnerships with area institutions were a major focus of the visit, including its collaborations with Premier Health, Dayton Children’s Hospital, the Dayton Development Coalition and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Tressel also learned about how innovative endeavors at Wright State — from the new aviation program to the Rural Family Medicine Residency Program to on-campus job opportunities with Winsupply — are helping bolster the region’s economy.

“We have been very focused in the last five years on developing significant partnerships with businesses in the region,” Edwards said. “It actually is a whole community that works together.”

Noting that more than 80% of Wright State graduates remain in the region, Edwards highlighted the university’s mission as an access institution that provides students a chance to earn a high-quality, affordable degree.

“I’m a first-generation student. Neither of my parents finished high school,” she said. “Regardless of where you live, what your background is, I want every single person to have the opportunity, if they want to, to get a four-year degree.

During his Wright State visit, Tressel also toured innovative labs where students are trained on state-of-the-art technology and equipment.

For instance, he met with engineering students learning to create microchips and circuit boards in the Microelectronics Fabrication Teaching and Research Lab, which is supported by a $14.5 million Assured Digital Microelectronics Education and Training Ecosystem (ADMETE) contract from the Air Force.

Tressel also met with students who designed turbine engines in the Additive Manufacturing Lab using equipment purchased from funds from Ohio’s RAPIDS workforce development program.

He learned about Wright State’s state-of-the-art MRI scanner dedicated exclusively to research. The MRI scanner is operated by Wright State’s Center of Neuroimaging and Neuro-Evaluation of Cognitive Technologies, which fosters a collaborative environment for the Defense Department and academic neuroscience research in the Miami Valley.

“Every lab I went into here at Wright State, every faculty member I talked to, every student that I talked to, they were benefitting from the opportunities that the state budget helped create, that the base helped create, that the federal government helped create,” Tressel said.

Tressel said his Wright State visit exceeded his expectations.

“The sun is shining here in Dayton,” Tressel said, “and the future is bright.”