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President's Blog: From the Heart

New Times, New Methods

By Eric Spina

When a search firm called me last year about applying for the University of Dayton’s presidency, I immediately clicked on the university’s website to learn more.

What I discovered amazed me: GE Aviation had recently built a $53 million R&D lab on campus, Midmark Corp. moved its world headquarters here, and construction workers were putting the finishing touches on Emerson’s new $35 million global R&D lab, the Helix Innovation Center

This was not the narrative I expected at a Catholic, Marianist university located in the heart of the Rust Belt. On land that once housed NCR’s manufacturing facilities and corporate headquarters — not far from where the Wright brothers’ innovation helped bring forth the American century — high-tech companies and a private research university are reimagining and shaping the future with support from the broader Dayton community and the state of Ohio. 

To read more of my op-ed, visit today's Huffington Post and Dayton Daily News.

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