Established in 1952, the Distinguished Service Award recognizes individuals who have served Ohio State in truly outstanding fashion. Historically, recipients of this award have provided a broad spectrum of service to the university in a variety of official and unofficial capacities, both on campus and off.
“I am delighted and honored to receive Ohio State’s Distinguished Service Award. I am delighted in large part because it is also a recognition of what robust and multifaceted service contributions Glenn College faculty, staff and students are making to local and state governments, and the federal government, as well as internationally and to nonprofits,” Wise said. “The college is developing an expanding service portfolio that demonstrates that public service is at the core of what the Glenn College is. I am proud to be part of the college’s outstanding service contributions.”
“Charles Wise has inspired so many of us with his pay-it-forward attitude, mentorship and leadership,” Michael Toman, past president of the John Glenn College of Public Affairs Alumni Society, wrote in his letter nominating Wise for the award. “His philanthropic actions include having started two scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students. He continues to pay it forward through teaching and giving.”
Wise’s philanthropic support provides generous scholarships for Glenn College MPA students to participate in the Washington, D.C., Graduate Fellow Program, combining coursework with hands-on policy internships in federal agencies, congressional committees and related organizations.
Prior to his service at Ohio State, Wise was associate dean of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs of Indiana University, where he earned master’s and doctoral degrees.
He served as director of the Parliamentary Development Project for Ukraine, which was headquartered at Ohio State and aided the Ukrainian Parliament in developing into a stronger and more democratic representative institution. He also served in the U.S. Department of Justice, first as special assistant for policy analysis and then as the first director of intergovernmental affairs for the department.
Wise was elected president of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration and selected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. Three times his research was awarded the Mosher Award for best academic article of the year published in Public Administration Review, public administration’s leading journal. He is the only scholar to have received the award three times.
He also served as managing editor of the Public Administration Review. His latest book, published by Cambridge University Press in 2024, is The Courts and the President: Judicial Review of Presidential Directed Action.
“Dr. Wise embodies the university’s motto of ‘disciplina en civitatem,’ Education for Citizenship, for his commitment to inspiring citizenship and developing leadership,” said Dean Trevor Brown. “He is the consummate Buckeye by continuing to pay it forward through his teaching and giving.”
