Walter “Ted” Carter Jr. was appointed as the 17th president of The Ohio State University by the Board of Trustees on August 22, 2023, and began his tenure on January 1, 2024. As president, Carter leads Ohio’s flagship public research university, which comprises six campuses and a student body of more than 65,000. Ohio State’s largest campus is in Columbus, the state capital and one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Additionally, the university has campuses in Lima, Mansfield, Marion, Newark, and Wooster, as well as the nationally recognized Wexner Medical Center, a global research enterprise, and a leading athletics program.
Formerly, Carter served as president of the University of Nebraska System, where he focused on greater access and opportunities for the state’s students and families. He launched the Nebraska Promise, a financial aid program guaranteeing full tuition coverage for low- and middle-income students, and implemented a budget plan that included a two-year tuition freeze. Under his leadership, Nebraska saw system-wide growth in enrollment, including record-setting gains among underrepresented students. The university was also ranked among the world’s top 100 institutions for earning research patents and launched significant expansions at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Prior to his role at the University of Nebraska, Carter led the U.S. Naval Academy as its longest continuously serving superintendent since the Civil War. During his tenure, the Naval Academy achieved multiple top national rankings while setting institutional records for student success. He also served as president of the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, overseeing 1,600 resident and 100,000 distance education students pursuing graduate-level education.
A retired vice admiral with 38 years of service, Carter has logged more than 6,300 flying hours and flew 125 combat missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Bosnia, and Kosovo. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross with combat distinction for valor and is a recipient of the Bronze Star. Carter holds the national record for carrier-arrested landings, with over 2,000 mishap-free landings.
In 2022, Carter received the U.S. Naval Academy Distinguished Graduate Award, the highest honor bestowed upon academy graduates. He currently serves on the boards of the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, and the American Council on Education. He is also a member of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities’ Council of Presidents, the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors, and the U.S. Council on Competitiveness. At the request of the Secretary of the Navy, he served on the 2023 Naval Education Task Force, delivering a strategic vision for the future of higher education in the naval service, including advancing the country’s leadership in cybersecurity.
Carter earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and oceanography from the U.S. Naval Academy, where he played ice hockey for four years and served as team captain. He met his wife, Lynda, at a hockey game while she was a student at the University of Maryland, where she graduated with a degree in sociology and statistics. Lynda received the Distinguished Public Service Award from the Secretary of the Navy in 2019 for decades of outstanding contributions. The couple has been married for 42 years and have two adult children, Brittany and Christopher, and one grandchild.
