Voinovich School Advisory Board Chair Greg Browning’s OHIO ties run deep

The chair of the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service Advisory Board has been there from the beginning.

Greg Browning, a former state budget director during former Governor George Voinovich’s administration, was among the founding members of the panel, which formed in 2019. However, his involvements with OHIO and the Voinovich School are much, much deeper.

Browning earned his bachelor’s degree at the University (Class of 1972) – and then a doctorate in education from The Ohio State University. His love of public policy led him to a job as director of research for the Ohio House of Representatives.

Following his tenure (1991-98) as head of the state’s Office of Budget and Management, Browning founded his consulting firm, Capital Partners, and began a two-year senior policy fellowship at OHIO’s Center for Public and Environmental Affairs (a precursor to the Voinovich School).

He would eventually get a birds-eye view of OHIO activities as a member and chair of the Ohio University Board of Trustees, on which he served from 1999-2007.

From 2012-2025, Browning was an executive in residence at the Voinovich School.

The advisory board chair sees the panel’s mission as a way for the school’s leaders to gather input, insight and perspective from members as well as a constant connection and way to network on Voinovich School causes into the future.

“It’s good to get a perspective from folks you otherwise wouldn’t get perspective from,” he said.

The meetings are opportunities for Voinovich School leaders to give presentations and “think about who we are, what are the questions of the day,” Browning said. “I think it just helps organizationally to bring focus, and out of it usually comes one or more ideas that are helpful for people to think about.”

“We connect with the students and get presentations,” he added. “That can be helpful to the students as well.”

Browning said the Voinovich School “has a unique and positive history and profile at the University. In many ways it’s the public service arm of the University with what it does and its mission.”

The advisory board chair pointed to the PORTSfuture project, a multi-year initiative aimed at redeveloping the massive former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, as an example of the Voinovich School’s relatively unique mission to foster economic growth in the region through public-private partnerships.

“That’s one of the main themes of the school – how to we advance public policy-related goals and objectives” through those partnerships, he said, noting the feedback provided by the advisory board helps to further those efforts.

Browning is in the process of completing a history of the Voinovich School, which he said traces back over four decades and includes various iterations starting with the creation of the Institute for Local Government and Rural Development. He is targeting next spring for its publication.

“It’s a great story about how it evolved over time and the many contributions it has made and continues to make,” he said.

Along with his OHIO ties, Browning’s resume includes past service on the State Medical Board of Ohio, the Governor’s Commission on Student Success and the Ohio Commission to Reform Medicaid.

He continues consulting work and currently serves as chair of the Ohio Water Development Authority.