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Interview with Battelle’s President and CEO Carl F. Kohrt
For more than 50 years, The Ohio State University and Battelle have been strong partners in creating new opportunities for the community and the country. Battelle’s President and CEO Carl F. Kohrt recently shared his views about why this partnership is so long lasting and effective, as well as how Battelle combines the key areas of corporate strategy and philanthropic giving.
How does Battelle integrate the key areas of corporate strategy and philanthropic giving?
We tie all activities we do with two things: community need and corporate strategy. We feel very strongly that those two are intertwined and that helps us to be both analytical and complete in how we look at all areas we serve.
Battelle has a significant strategic focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) initiatives. Why is that important to your business and to our country?
About 42 percent of Battelle staff are five years from retirement. There’s the question of where’s the pipeline of outstanding and excellent people. That’s one aspect. This year, the United States will represent about 38 percent of the world’s R&D, and by 2030, it will be only 17 percent.
We are not stopping, but the rest of the world is catching up to us. So, we need to do whatever we can to fill that pipeline with talented people who are interested in the types of things that will make the world a better place. Doing so is tied to both a need at a national level and to our strategy, which is to apply knowledge from scientific discovery to useful application. So it’s a full circle really.
Battelle is doing many great things in the area of STEM programs, from helping to found the innovative Metro School, to Battelle for Kids and most recently direct work you are now doing with support from the Gates Foundation. How do all of these efforts tie together?
It’s not a random selection. We try to use engineering and business principles as we think about the opportunities. Leverage needs to be a catalyst for action to compel others to join us either in concert or afterward. So this is all about being a catalyst, scaling and then deriving impact.
For this to work, understanding, the dynamics is very important. We learned this just in the last 5 or 6 years because so many organizations do something once and then feel really good about it, but they don’t worry about whether it can be duplicated. I think that’s one of the contributions Battelle is making in trying to understand the characteristics of STEM programs and what it takes for them to be duplicated and scaled.
That’s really the basis of the Ohio STEM Learning Network (OSLN); to promulgate STEM learning centers like the Metro School.
So we go back to catalyst, scale and impact. Learning how to network and with whom to network is essential so it will be repeatable and transparent. One of the principles of the Ohio STEM Learning Network is exactly that. Our partners at Ohio State—from the College of Education and Human Ecology—are following at a detail level so we can map and record what’s worked and what has not worked. This allows others to duplicate what works and add to it where needed. Most programs don’t do it that way. They look for the result and, if they don’t have one and don’t know why, they go on to something else.
How would you describe the partnership between Battelle and Ohio State?
For any partnership, it’s essential to have a shared set of values and a relatively common view of what the opportunities are and how they fit strategically into the unique qualities of each institution.
There are many things that Ohio State would love to do, and the same is true for Battelle. But if these goals don’t overlap sufficiently, we can’t make them happen artificially. We should accept that and wish each other well, then find those areas that are characteristic of where we can, in fact, have compatibility. We should put our effort there, rather than where it probably isn’t meant to be.
Relationships need to be refreshed and reviewed on a periodic basis. I think this accounts for some of the reasons the relationship between Ohio State and Battelle has ebbed and flowed over the years. It starts at the top, which sets the tone for the relationship. If the tone is positive, then things happen.
In a macro way, that’s been one of the successes that has, in fact, already shown it can transcend changes in the administration. We’ve had three changes in the Ohio State administration since I’ve been here and the respect is strengthened with each one.
Another point is that Battelle doesn’t take products to market by ourselves, with very few exceptions. So we are naturally aligned to develop partnerships. We have found that to have relationships that can transcend changes in the organization, it’s useful to have things written down. Another more important characteristic is what I call understanding of the currency of the transactions. What I mean by that is that you and I may work a deal. You may want something from our relationship that is different than what I seek. It’s important that we both understand what that is. Because everything is subject to debate, you have to be sure your goals are understood.
What points of pride come to mind as you reflect on the partnership?
Our increasing portfolio of work together comes immediately to mind with a variety of programs centered on teacher education and science education. The one everyone talks about is Metro School, though there are others with a third party such as COSI.
What these programs do is get Ohio State downtown, providing graduate students and professors with subjects that they have to go find anyway. I’m quite pleased with that and think it will continue to grow over a period of time. I am pleased with this idea of a variation on the Metro School and taking what Ohio State and Battelle and others have done and expanding the concept statewide through the grant from the Gates Foundation.
What other key points reflect on the Battelle-Ohio State partnership?
The first point involves the downtown. I think the evolving vision for the center of Columbus must include both Ohio State and Battelle and make them an integral part of downtown. The issues around the opportunities for connecting the student body and faculty and Battelle in an easy and workable means is critical to the vitality of the community in which Ohio State and Battelle both have roles to play.
The second point is economic development. Ohio State has the ability, willingness and faculty to think about significance of economic gain. How can you have the two largest institutions of their respective types here and not see economic development to a greater degree? Ohio State is the primary exporter of talented people. Battelle has as many customers located outside of Columbus as in. We are doing a study now regarding Battelle’s impact on our community. Part of the study looks at the acquisition of talent for the community and the resultant ripple effect.
What do you see as the next big potential points of collaboration?
I talked with Kathryn Sullivan recently about the Battelle Center for Mathematics and Science Education Policy she directs within Ohio State’s John Glenn School of Public Affairs. The Battelle Center is gaining traction and addressing the country’s global competitiveness and need for STEM field education.
Energy may be the next big area where we collaborate. I say this for a couple of reasons. Battelle is responsible for nearly two of every three dollars the Department of Energy spends on energy research. Ohio State and Battelle, along with AEP, collectively sit in a state that is third nationally in terms of coal use. Of great interest are the issues of carbon management and carbon sequestration subset, and alternative energies, particularly fuels. It would seem that both institutions are sitting in the middle of these issues. Some states have one or the other, while we have all three. I do think we jointly have opportunities in these areas.
Battelle is the world’s largest non-profit independent research and development organization, providing innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing needs through its four global businesses: Laboratory Management, National Security, Energy Technology, and Health and Life Sciences. It advances scientific discovery and application by conducting $4 billion in global R&D annually through contract research, laboratory management and technology commercialization. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Battelle oversees 20,400 employees in more than 120 locations worldwide, including severn national laboratories that Battelle managers or co-manages for the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations
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Telephone: (614) 292-3058
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Email: cfr@osu.edu
