OFIC selects Spiker as next president

Bill Spiker

After an extensive nationwide search, Bill Spiker has been named the seventh president of The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges (OFIC). Spiker will succeed Gordon R. Brollier, who earlier this year announced his plan to retire after 25 years of service.

“Bill’s knowledge of higher education, extensive and successful fundraising experience, and passion for the values found on the campuses of our 34 member colleges and universities, make him the ideal choice as our next president,” said Todd Clossin, President & CEO of WesBanco Inc. and Chair of OFIC's Board of Trustees. OFIC was founded in 1950 as a non-profit organization and is the national leader in providing unrestricted gifts and student scholarships to independent colleges and universities in Ohio. OFIC member campuses represent over 95,000 students and over 800,000 alumni. Over $150 million has been raised through OFIC efforts from corporate Ohio since the organization’s inception.

With an emphasis on fundraising, Spiker’s career spans over three decades and has included additional work in alumni relations, marketing, and admission responsibilities at Baldwin Wallace University, Cleveland State University, Kent State University, University of Mount Union, The Ohio State University, and Ohio Northern University. Most recently, he led the development efforts for Cleveland Sight Center located in Cleveland’s University Circle. While at Baldwin Wallace and Cleveland State, he served as Vice President of Advancement and was the Executive Director of the CSU Foundation.

Mr. Spiker holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mount Union (Alliance) and a juris doctorate from Ohio Northern University (Ada). He is a founding member of the Northern Ohio Planned Giving Council, a 27-year member of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, and a member of the Cleveland chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Spiker grew up in the Eastern Ohio community of Cadiz and presently resides in Stow with his wife, Karen, and their son, Robby, a rising senior at Stow-Munroe Falls High School. They have two older daughters, Sarah Hance of Wadsworth and, Rachel, who will be a third-year law student at OSU’s Moritz College of Law in Columbus.

Spiker takes the helm of the Columbus-based non-profit following the retirement of Gordon Brollier on June 30. “Under Gordon’s 25 years of service to OFIC, the annual campaign raised over $90 million. Support for OFIC from Ohio businesses and foundations is an investment in the future of corporate Ohio,” said Michael Hilton, President & CEO of Nordson Corporation in Westlake, who serves as OFIC’s statewide chair of the 2016 campaign. “When compared to Ohio’s public universities, independent college students simply outperform on measures including higher four-year graduation rates, lower student debt, larger percentage of first-generation students, a shorter time to complete degrees, higher graduation rates for minority students, and a focus on critical thinking and the liberal arts,” said Hilton.