Ohio State names new Chief Risk Officer

The Ohio State University names a new Chief Risk Officer Fitzroy ("Fitz") Smith, effective September 13, 2021. Fitz will lead the Office of Enterprise Risk Management, overseeing the university's operational and strategic risk management, international risk management, business continuity and insurance.

Fitz joins the university with notable expertise, most recently serving as Assistant Vice President of Risk Management & Insurance with the George Washington University & Medical Faculty Associates in Washington, DC. As head of the university's global insurance portfolio, he led general liability, cyber risk, international exposure, medical malpractice, student health insurance and workers' compensation. Fitz previously served as the Director of Risk Management for the Arlington County Government in Virginia, where he launched the county's first Enterprise Risk Management program and mitigated risks spanning natural hazard, financial, operational, technology and legal.

Fitz earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from St. Johns University and a Master of Science in Risk Management & Insurance from Florida State University. Fitz and his family will be relocating from Washington, DC.

"In this current landscape, we are fortunate to have the extensive experience and global perspective that Fitz brings to Ohio State," said Mike Papadakis, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. "He has decades of public and private sector industry knowledge that will safeguard the university's assets and ability to fulfill our land-grant mission."

Reporting to the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Risk Officer advises the Board of Trustees, University President, President's Cabinet, the Risk Committee, and other stakeholders related to the university's risk environment, insurance needs and business continuity processes.