Ransier Awarded The Ohio State University’s Distinguished Service Award

Vorys is pleased to announce that Fred Ransier, a retired partner in the Columbus office, received The Ohio State University’s Distinguished Service Award during OSU’s spring commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 9, 2021. 

“This is an extraordinary honor.  I know I can speak for all of us at Vorys when I say that we are so proud of Fred and offer him our most sincere congratulations,” said Michael Martz, Vorys’ managing partner. “Fred has served the community in numerous board and board chair roles.  In addition, he served as the chair of the Vorys Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee for many years and has been and continues to be a passionate advocate on DE&I initiatives at the firm and throughout our community.”

The Distinguished Service Award, established in 1952, recognizes extraordinary service to Ohio State that is distinguished by its profound and lasting impact.  University President Kristina M. Johnson told Ransier that he was selected for the award because his “passion and dedication throughout his career of service in our community have brought our University's land-grant mission to life and personified our motto, ‘Education for Citizenship.’”

Ransier and his wife Kathy Ransier, is also a retired Vorys partner, joined the firm in 2001 after managing their own law practice, Ransier & Ransier, for several decades.  During his time at Vorys, Ransier practiced in both the bankruptcy and government affairs groups.  Throughout his career practicing law, he was extremely active in the central Ohio community. 

While his contributions to our community and our firm are so numerous that we cannot list all of them, we do want to highlight a few:  Ransier served on Columbus City Council in 2000.  Prior to serving on City Council, he served on the Columbus Municipal Civil Service Commission for 13 years.  He also served on the boards of the Legal Aid Society of Columbus, Experience Columbus, the Franklin Park Conservatory, Central State University, KidsOhio.org, the Columbus College of Art and Design, the United Way of Central Ohio, and the Central Ohio Community Improvement Corporation (COCIC-Franklin County Land Bank), among many others.

As an alumni of OSU’s Michael E. Moritz College of Law, Ransier took on leadership roles directly related to the University.  He served as the vice chair of the board of trustees of The Ohio State University Medical Center University Hospital East from 2006-2013.  From 2011-2019, he served as the chair of Partners Achieving Community Transformation (PACT), which is a partnership between The Ohio State University, the City of Columbus, the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority and Columbus Near Eastside Stakeholders.  PACT’s vision is to create a healthy, financially and environmentally sustainable community where residents have access to safe and affordable housing, quality healthcare and education, and employment opportunities on the Near East Side of Columbus. Ransier’s leadership of PACT was specifically highlighted during the award ceremony.

To learn more about the Distinguished Service Award, click here.