House of Hope, Inc.

Cheri L. Walter has provided more than 25 years of diversified, progressive leadership and management within non-profit organizations, association and large state departments in Ohio.  Ms. Walter holds a Master of Administration from Tiffin University and is a Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor.  She currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of The Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities (OACBHA), representing all 56 county Alcohol, Drug Addiction Services and/or Mental Health Boards.  OACBHA functions as the statewide unifying voice for quality and cost effective treatment and prevention services in Ohio.  For the past 6 years 100% of all County ADAMH/ADAS/CMH Boards have been members of the Association.  

bio

Biographical Information: Appointed in 1996 by President Clinton.

Education: Brown Univ., A.B., with honors, 1975; Case Western Reserve Univ. School of Law, J.D., 1978

Private Practice: Associate, Cinque, Banker, Linch, Gromen & White, 1978-79; Associate, Stanley G. Burech, 1980-83; Partner, Burech & Sargus, 1983-93

Government Positions: Special Counsel, Ohio Attorney General, 1979-93; St. Clairsville City Council, 1988-91; Law Director, City of Bellaire, 1991-93; U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Ohio, 1993-96

Professional Associations: Ohio State Bar Assn., Negligence Committee Delegate, 1978-1983; Belmont County Bar Assn., 1978-Present.

Judicial Committees and Activities: Security Committee, Judicial Conference of the United States, 2002-2009

Academic Positions: Adjunct Professor of Law, the Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University, 2005-Present

Honors & Awards: Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Muskingum College, 2006; Ohio Crime Prevention, Executive Director’s Award, 1995; Annual President’s Award, Franklin County-Columbus Domestic Violence Shelter, 1998; Annual Public Service Award, Ohio State Univ. Criminal Justice Research Center, 1999; Peacemaker Award, Tri-County Domestic Violence Shelter, 2006

Roger A. Wilson, former Board Chair

Mr. Wilson has 35 years of experience in the hospitality industry with 27 years in various accounting roles.  Prior to joining The Blackwell Hotel and Conference Center in 2004, Roger was a Vice President Asset Management with RockBridge Capital, LLC a leading hotel capital provider for six years and has 21 years additional experience in the hotel industry as an auditor and controller at the property and corporate levels including 7 years of international experience in the Caribbean.

Roger received a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from Franklin University graduating cum laude.

Why I am involved

I have been involved with the House of Hope as a board member since 2001.  I am currently the Board Chair after serving as Board President for two years and Board Treasurer for two years. 

In 2001 I met Tom Ramseyer while donating some used furniture to the House of Hope.  At this same time, I was at a point in my life where I was searching for a way to make a contribution towards the betterment of the community.  Having experience in how alcohol and drug addictions impact people’s lives and the lives of their loved ones, I asked Tom how I could get involved.  Tom gave me the opportunity to join the board, which was the beginning of my association with the House of Hope for Alcoholics, Inc.

I told Tom once that I am most proud of the fact that my involvement does not go unnoticed by my family and especially my son.  Tom told me of an old Quaker saying, “Let your life speak.”   This made so much sense, as it is not accolades that I seek, however it is the example I can set and how my son understands at an early age the rewards of giving. 

Don Ruben is a lawyer who has practiced criminal law for more than 30 years in state and federal courts. He was recruited to the House of Hope Board by the late Tom Ramseyer, a longtime friend and fellow Grandview Heights resident. Don has served on the Ethics and Discipline Committee of the Columbus Bar Association and is a board member of Citizens for a Better Skyline and the Florence Melton Communiteen Program. An active citizen, Don served on the 2008 Grandview Heights Charter Review Commission and volunteers for many worthy community projects and events.

Don graduated from Middlebury College and the University of Cincinnati College of Law. Before he entered private practice he served as an assistant attorney general and an assistant county prosecutor.

He has served on the House of Hope Board since 2004.

W.C. Benton, Jr. is the Edwin D. Dodd Professor of Management and Distinguished Research Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management in the Max M. Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University where he teaches courses in the Business of Healthcare to undergraduates, MBAs and doctoral candidates, Purchasing/Supply Management Manufacturing Planning and Control, Operations Analysis, and Facility Design.  Dr. Benton resides in Columbus, Ohio and received his doctorate in both Operations and Systems Management and Quantitative Business Analysis from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

Ranked number one out of 753 operations management researchers in terms of quality and quantity, Dr. Benton’s vast research and writing accomplishments include more than one-hundred twenty articles in the areas of health care performance issues, economics of cardiovascular surgery, purchasing management, inventory control, supply chain management, quality assurance, and materials management that have appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine, Annals of Thoracic Surgery, American College of Physician Executives, Decision Sciences, Journal of Operations Management, Naval Research Logistics, IEE Transactions, European Journal of Operational Research, Quality Progress, Naval Research Logistics, The Journal of Business Logistics, The Journal of Purchasing and Supply Chain Management, Production and Operations Management, Interfaces, Journal of Supply Chain Management, Production and Operations Management.  Forthcoming summer 2009 is the book Construction Supply Chain Management with co-author Linda McHenry.  Dr. Benton’s textbook entitled Purchasing and Supply Management was released in June 2006 and he authored "Bargaining, Negotiations, and Personal Selling" for the Handbook of Economic Psychology.  He currently serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Operations Management, Decision Sciences, Production and Operations Management, Journal of Supply Chain Management and as a Special Issue Editor forthe European Journal of Operational Research.  For the Engineer and Manufacturing and Service Enterprise Systems Divisions at the National Science Foundation, he is a research panel member. 

Professor Benton’s expert contribution to the business and governmental arena includes consultancy for Grant Hospital, Ashland, IBM, RCA, Frigidaire, The Ohio Department of Transportation, The Florida Department of Transportation, The Indiana Department of Transportation, The South Carolina Department of Transportation, The Alabama Department of Transportation, The Kentucky Department of Transportation, The Federal Highway Administration, Battelle Institute, The United States Air Force, Gelzer Automated Assembly Systems, Bitronics, Inc., The Ohio Bureau of Disability Determination, Bio-Ohio, The Carter Group Canada and others.

He serves on the board of directors for the Healthcare Accreditation Colloquium, Inc., The Sleep Medicine Foundation, The House of Hope and The Supply Chain Research Group and is a member of the Decision Sciences Institute, The Institute of Management Sciences, The Institute of Supply Management, The Production and Inventory Control Society, the Operations Management Association, American Society for Quality Control, Society of Logistics Engineers, The Mathematical Association of America and others.

Carolyn J. Givens is the Executive Director of the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation (OSPF) She oversees and is responsible for providing strategic leadership, financial development, building statewide alliances with legislative, policy and business leaders, as well as day to day operations of the foundation.

The Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation was launched in 2005 and is headquartered in the College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University. The Foundation is a catalyst to bring about change in attitudes and perceptions regarding the stigma attached to suicide, mental illness and alcohol and drug abuse and addiction.

Prior to joining OSPF, Givens, was the Director of the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, where she served the cabinet level department in a number of leadership roles throughout her 16 years of public service.

Givens is a graduate of Ohio Dominican University and Harvard University’s Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government.

Dr. Lander is the Clinical Director at Talbot Hall at University Hospital East and the Clinical Director at OSU Dept. of Addiction Medicine - Talbot Hall.

I enjoy my time serving the House as I have had many friends go through the House and have meaningful lives today. I am a quiet "behind the scenes" person, and know the importance the House serves for helping men get back on their feet to become useful members of society again.

I have lived in Columbus the majority of my life. I have been married to my wife Katie for going on ten years, and we have a five year old son named Dominic.

I have been a Golf Professional in the Columbus area for the last 10 years.

I had the pleasure of getting to know Tom Ramseyer by just hanging out at Stauf's coffeeshop in Grandview. He took an interest in getting to know my wife and me, and found out how important recovery is in my life, and that I have a willingness to give back. He then asked me if I was willing to give a little more. It has been a great learning experience and honor serving on the board since 2004 and I hope I can contribute my time for many more years to come.