The Ohio State University’s Kirwan Institute for Race and Ethnicity marks its 20th anniversary this year. Building on its work over the past two decades, the Kirwan Institute will embark on a strategic visioning process this spring that is scheduled to be completed this fall, said Executive Director Ange-Marie Hancock.  

Hancock unveiled the strategic visioning process during a March 9 forum, “Embracing the Past and Future of the Kirwan Institute.”  

Ange-Marie Hancock

“When we’re drawing boundaries two or three years from now around what Kirwan does do and what Kirwan does not have the capacity to do, it will have been the product of a collaborative process,” she said. “Key stakeholders, community partners, faculty and staff and students, we’re all going to talk about it and ask these questions. It’s going to be community-engaged.” 

Established in 2003, the Kirwan Institute is an interdisciplinary research institute named for former Ohio State President William E. “Brit” Kirwan in recognition of his efforts to champion diversity at Ohio State. The Kirwan Institute researchers, affiliated faculty, collaborators and community partners conduct research to inform policies and practices that help create a just and inclusive society.  

Hancock said becoming the Kirwan Institute’s executive director on Jan. 1 was a homecoming. A Columbus native and Thomas Worthington High School alumna, Hancock has a family connection to Ohio State. 

“My first home was on this campus,” she said, “and it is such a pleasure to be back.”