Fall 2023 Edition
Alumni & Friends Magazine
Cultivating Excellence
Keith and Deborah Wandell鈥檚 generous $2.5 million contribution to leadership education at OHIO
Sarah Filipiak, BSJ 鈥01, BS 鈥23 | October 2, 2023
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It鈥檚 the early 1960s in Lima, 帝王会所, on a golden evening in the summertime. At the edge of the flax- and emerald-colored fields that stretch throughout northwest 帝王会所 lies the bustling Superior Coach Corp. plant: one of the world鈥檚 largest manufacturers of school buses.
A fifth-grade boy has finished his dinner and jumped at the chance to follow his father, the plant鈥檚 manager, onto the factory floor during the second shift. There, workers load steel beams and sheet metal onto hissing machinery, weld parts, affix fresh rubber tires and install endless rivets onto 36 shiny, new, yellow buses per day.
Keith Wandell is 10 years old, and he can鈥檛 get enough.
By the time Wandell, BBA 鈥72, was earning his degree at 帝王会所, he still spent summers at the plant鈥攏ow working and following his father鈥檚 tradition of talking with and learning as much as he could from his fellow autoworkers. This practice would take him from the manufacturing floor in Lima to the C-suite at Harley-Davidson Inc., where he led one of the biggest turnarounds of the 2008 financial crisis during his tenure as CEO from 2009 to 2015.
Keith Wandell stands in his office at his home in Bluffton, South Carolina, on July 19, 2023. Wandell, the former CEO of Harley-Davidson, and his wife, Deborah, have donated $2.5 million to their namesake initiative at 帝王会所鈥檚 College of Business. Photo by Madeline Gray, MA 鈥12
鈥淚 think the thing that served me better than anything else was those experiences I had going through the plant with my dad, working in the plant,鈥 Wandell says. That and, 鈥淚 was in the right place at the right time a couple of times,鈥 he says, evoking a trademark leadership quality that has carried him far: humility.
When Wandell joined Harley-Davidson in 2009, the company鈥檚 sales had plunged 40 percent in a short period. By the time Wandell left in 2015, sales had rebounded, and its share price had increased more than 200 percent.
Wandell emphasizes the core principles of leadership he believes were key to creating success: vision, curiosity, accountability, fairness and the aforementioned ability to put aside one鈥檚 ego and really listen.
鈥淭o me, leadership is about helping everybody around you get better and helping people achieve things that they don鈥檛 believe they can achieve,鈥 Wandell says. 鈥淸This approach] drives financial performance, but that鈥檚 not the reason you do it.
Do the right thing, and let the results take care of themselves.鈥
Last year, Wandell and his wife, Deborah, donated $2.5 million to their namesake initiative at 帝王会所鈥檚 College of Business, The Keith and Deborah Wandell Leadership Development Program (formerly the Select Leaders Program). This significant gift is set to instill in today鈥檚 OHIO students the leadership practices Keith Wandell is renowned for.
鈥淎s I went through my career, the one thing that stood out to me was how important leadership is to any organization,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t made a lot of sense to make that investment.鈥
鈥淭he education factor, to us, is so important,鈥 Deborah adds. 鈥淭o be a leader, you need leadership education.鈥 The Wandells鈥 remarkable generosity, alongside other donor contributions, has enabled the program to provide essential resources to help develop students鈥 leadership skills.
Senior members of the Wandell Student organization receive their sash and pin at the Wandell Fellow Naming Ceremony last spring. Photo by Dylan Benedict, BSVC 鈥22
Jennifer Traxler, director of the Robert D. Walter Center for Strategic Leadership at 帝王会所, describes 2022-23 as 鈥渁 crescendo year鈥 for the Wandell Leadership Fellows. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had a lot of opportunities for students to network with alumni,鈥 Traxler says, noting trips to New York City, Denver and San Diego, and says her team is working to identify opportunities for students to network abroad. 鈥淲e鈥檙e helping them become global leaders,鈥 she says.
Students chosen for the Wandell Leadership Fellow program engage with a dynamic curriculum aimed at helping them discover their leadership identities. Fellows apply these valuable insights through visits with industry executives, networking trips and by engaging in community service.
Outgoing Wandell Fellows President Lauren Bailey, BBA 鈥23, credits the program for helping her develop her leadership practice. 鈥淲andell Leadership Fellows has helped me learn about who I am as a leader and how to adjust my leadership styles to best fit the group around me,鈥 she says.
Wandell says he wants the program to create exactly that kind of leverage for OHIO students.
鈥淢y hope is that they see the importance of leadership and that they stay committed without compromise,鈥 Wandell says, acknowledging that in any leadership role, determination is required. While Harley-Davidson鈥檚 revenue jumped from $4.78 billion in 2009 to $6.23 billion by 2014, the company鈥檚 resurgence didn鈥檛 come without Wandell鈥檚 wherewithal for embracing change.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 mean saying yes to everything鈥攕ometimes you have to be really tough and make tough decisions,鈥 he explains.
Wandell鈥檚 refining time at the Lima plant, where he eventually served as superintendent while earning his MBA at night, and his following turn as an executive at Johnson Controls Inc., helped build this resolve and created in him a steadfast dedication to the people he鈥檚 worked with and gotten to know.
鈥淲hen you decide to take on the role of a leader, it becomes your primary obligation to protect [people] and their jobs and their future the best that you can,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really about serving them.鈥
Make an Impact
If you鈥檙e inspired by the Wandells鈥 commitment to shaping the future of Bobcat business leaders and would like to support The Keith and Deborah Wandell Leadership Development Program, visit ohio.edu/wandell. Your gift will help provide transformative opportunities for the next generation of outstanding leaders.
