School Spotlight

 

Oberlin College, founded in 1833, is an independent coeducational institution. It comprises two divisions, the College of Arts and Sciences and the Conservatory of Music. Oberlin offers Bachelor of Arts and bachelor of music degree programs, as well as a combined five-year program leading to both degrees. Oberlin College is highly selective and dedicated to recruiting students from diverse backgrounds. Oberlin was the first truly coeducational college in the United States, as well as an early leader in educating black students.

Read More!

 

Ann H. Womer Benjamin

Executive Director

Phone: 216.420.9200 x224
Email: awomerbenjamin@noche.org

Ann Womer Benjamin is the Executive Director of NOCHE, leading the organization in its mission to bring higher education and business together to advance economic development in the region. At NOCHE, Ms. Womer Benjamin has rebuilt the staff, stabilized funding, focused programming, raised the profile of NEOintern and launched a new college attainment initiative, the Talent Dividend.

Ms. Womer Benjamin came to NOCHE in 2007 following four years in the Governor’s Cabinet as Director of the Ohio Department of Insurance, a state agency with a $30 million annual budget and staff of 265. While there, she stabilized Ohio’s medical malpractice market, for which she received Ohio University’s Phillips Medal of Public Service in 2004 and a Special Recognition Award from The Academy of Medicine of Cleveland and Northern Ohio Medical Association in 2005. In addition, Ms. Womer Benjamin undertook a major investigation of broker misconduct in Ohio and achieved establishment of the national Interstate Compact for the life industry for which she was a member of the Compact Management Committee. Under her leadership, the Department also led implementation of Medicare Part D in Ohio, receiving a commendation from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2006. As a member of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Ms. Womer Benjamin served on the NAIC Executive Committee and as Vice Chair of the Government Affairs Task Force and chairman of the Industry Liaison Committee.

From 1995 through 2002, Ms. Womer Benjamin served in the Ohio House of Representatives, representing most of Portage County, and saw twenty of her bills become law. During her entire tenure she was a member of the House Finance and Appropriations Committee and chaired the Criminal Justice Committee for more than four years.

Ms. Womer Benjamin received her Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and received her Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where she taught Research, Advocacy and Writing. Practicing law for more than 20 years with law firms in Canton and Cleveland, she specialized in estate planning, probate and probate litigation and was elected a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel in 2000.

Other honors include induction into the Shaker Heights High School Hall of Fame in 1997 and her law school honorary, Society of Benchers, in 2003; receipt of the Ohio Nurses Association Legislator of the Year award in 2001; and being named Aurora Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year in 2001.

A resident of Aurora, Ohio, Ms. Womer Benjamin has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and Hiram College. She was appointed to the State Board of Education as an at-large member by the Governor in December 2006 for a four-year term, and served as its Vice President.