Henry Steele Commager

Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow Disney Enterprises, Inc., All rights reserved.

Herman Schneider

Bella Lewitzky

"If man is to survive, he will have learned to take a delight in the essential differences between men and between cultures. He will learn that differences in ideas and attitudes are a delight, part of life's exciting variety, not something to fear."

         — Gene Roddenberry, 1921-91, screenwriter, producer, "Star Trek" creator

"You are not here merely to make a living. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand."

         — Woodrow Wilson

"Comming to the University of Cincinnati was the best thing that ever happened to me. I always felt it was very important to be able to give back to someone who's given something to you and create a better quality of life for those following you."

         — Brig Owens, Ed '65, HonDoc '08, former All-American football player for UC, 13-year NFL veteran

"For a community to be whole and healthy, it must be based on people's love and concern for each other."

         — Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity

"A scientist who is also a human being cannot rest while knowledge which might reduce suffering rests on the shelf."

         — Albert Sabin (1906-93)

"We shape our buildings; thereafter, they shape us."

— Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"To fulfill a dream, to be allowed to sweat over lonely labor, to be given the chance to create is the meat and potatoes of life. The money is the gravy."

— Bette Davis (1908-89)

"One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who teached our human feeling. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for growing."

— Carl Jung (1875-1961)

"Change does not necessarily assure progress, but progress implacably requires change. Education is essential to change, for education creates both new wants and the ability to satisfy them."

— Henry Steele Commager, historian, author (1902-98)

"Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill."

— Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

"To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society."

— Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919

"To change and to change for the better are two different things."

— German proverb

"Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate."

— Johnny Depp, "Pirates of the Caribbean"

"Our newly modernized Tangeman University Center represents a bridging of the past to the future. Tangeman's cupola and clock tower, which date back to 1937, still chime above us as we walk across the campus. Historic and graceful pillars continue to mark its front entrance. Yet inside, the center offers modern amenities that a new century not only desires, but also in many cases, requires."

— President Nancy Zimpher at her inauguration

"Evolution goes on — sometimes slowly, as in geological changes, sometimes rapidly, as in upsets of our social order. And when it comes rapidly, some of us get a sense of uncertainty, of groping and of fear, and others of us hail the new day with gusto."

— Herman Schneider, 1932, dean of UC College of Engineering, later UC president

"America thinks lists are tops. No one, it seems, is immune to countdown fever."

— Cincinnati Enquirer

"Leading a complex university is challenging. It involves managing details while giving people leadership. It involves knowing the difference between honored principles and outdated methods. This is the kind of leadership Dr. Steger has given since 1984."

— Dale McGirr, UC's former vice president of finance

"In times of crisis, it's to the art that one can turn to find the center of society. Societies are not remembered by their battlements, but by their art."

— Bella Lewitzky, artistic director, principal choreographer, Lewitzky Dance Co.

"It is a very humbling experience. Anyone who has ever dipped a toe in that fire can tell you it is incredibly easy to start a business on one hand, and incredibly frustrating on the other."

— Associate professor Charles Matthews, executive director, UC Center for Entrepreneurship Education and Research

"An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his subject and how to avoid them."

— Werner Karl Heisenberg, founder of quantum mechanics and 1932 winner of the Nobel Prize in physics

"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil."

— C.S. Lewis, 1898-1963

Theodore Roosevelt

Justice Felix Frankfurter

"Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity."

— Aristotle, 384-322 B.C.

"But if you ask what is the good of education in general, the answer is easy: that education makes good men and that good men act nobly."

— Plato, 428-347 B.C.

"There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance."

— Socrates, 469-399 B.C.

"The 'wall of separation between church and state' is a metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging. It should be frankly and explicitly abandoned."

— Justice William Rehnquist

"Separation means separation, not something less. Jefferson's metaphor ... speaks of a 'wall of separation,' not of a fine line easily overstepped."

— Justice Felix Frankfurter, 1948

"Religion is essentially distinct from civil government and exempt from its cognizance; ... a connection between them is injurious to both."

— James Madison, 1823

"When a religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and when it cannot support itself, and God does not take care to support it, so that its professors are obliged to call for help of the civil power, it is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one."

— Benjamin Franklin, 1780

"People think our ethical principles come from religion, but ethics are much longer standing."

— Psychology professor Hal Fishbein, 1938-2005

"Condemn no man for not thinking as you think. Let everyone enjoy the full and free liberty of thinking for himself. ... If you cannot reason or persuade a man unto the truth, never attempt to force him into it. If love will not compel him to come in, leave him to God, the judge of all."

—John Wesley, 1872

Linda Pryzybyszewski

"It certainly makes it easier to explain the universe: If you just have one giant shadowy enemy then, you can explain everything."

— Associate professor Linda Przybyszewski, 2003

""I have learned that vision trumps everything."

— UC president Nancy Zimpher, 2004

"The Bible tells us to love our neighbours, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people."

— G. K. Chesterton, 1874-1936

"The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil."

— Hannah Arendt, political theorist, 1906-75

"When you deal with human rights you are not dealing with something clearly defined in the Constitution. They are rights that are clearly defined by the mandates of a humanitarian concern."

— Martin Luther King Jr., 1929-68

"New York influences my work — . Not more than a hundred steps from my door, I see things that you might have to drive considerable distances for in less dense environments."

— Alumnus artist David FeBland

Bruce Eichner

"I think I realized a long time ago that there's only one thing that's in my control: my level of effort."

— Alumnus entrepreneur Bruce Eichner

"I was green as grass when I arrived at UC."

— Alumnus David Canary, holder of the most Daytime Emmys for a male actor

"You cannot be a specialist anymore. You have to have a lot of irons in the fires to hit that home run."

— Alumnus Larry Patterson, independent film producer

"Joe Steger has done more to improve the university than anyone in its history. Period. He has improved the quality of education, the appearance of the campus and engaged the surrounding neighborhood to improve the communities around UC. His calm and focused approach has produced great results. We all owe Joe a huge debt of gratitude. On top of it all, he is a nice guy."

— Former Cincinnati mayor Charlie Luken, JD '76

Henry R. Winkler

"Joe Steger is the quintessential honest man, who sees major projects through to completion, even when opposed by others. He has a magnificent vision of what higher education encompasses and knows that issues have many sides. His willingness to compromise, his genuine care of people and his ability to focus on an issue's potential have made him a special person."

— Al DiUlio, SJ, former president, Xavier University,'86-90; current president, Department of Catholic Schools, Los Angeles Archdiocese

"In large part, Conference USA came into being because of Joe's leadership skills. He effectively communicated the vision for the conference, successfully attracted other presidents and chancellors to that vision, then led the board during the early years of the conference. Joe Steger is the 'father' of Conference USA."

— Jim Woodward, chancellor, University of North Carolina, Charlotte; chair, Conference USA Board of Director

"Joe Steger has had to contend with the steady erosion of state support while attempting to continue the process of upgrading the university in its various facets. He has been an efficient custodian of the university financial resources, and has, over the years, strengthened our bonds with the community."

— Henry R. Winkler, UC president emeritus, 1977-84