Ohio Department of Higher Education Leadership

Jim Bennett is a Founding Partner at Glengary Ventures, Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor at Ohio Department of Higher Education, and Industry Exerpience at Various companies and is based in Ohio. He has worked as Budget Section Chief at Ohio Office of Budget and Management, Vice Chancellor of Finance and Data Management and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Ohio Department of Higher Education, and Senior Vice President at Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. James studied at The Ohio State University, Cornell University between 1961 and 1965, and Phillips Exeter Academy between 1961 and 1961.

John Lapiana is the Deputy Under Secretary for Finance and Administration, responsible for overseeing the facilities, information technology, human resources, contracting and other administrative offices.In addition, Lapiana serves as the acting director of Communications and External Affairs at the Smithsonian, which includes the Office of Public Affairs and External Communications, Government Relations, Special Events and Protocol, Visitor Services and International Relations. Lapiana has served in a variety of positions since joining the Smithsonian in October 1998. In 2007, he was appointed chief of staff to the Board of Regents where he headed the Office of the Regents, which provides counsel and support to the members of the Board of Regents and Smithsonian senior staff. From 2002 to 2007, Lapiana served as senior program officer under the Smithsonian’s Deputy Secretary and chief operating officer. In that role, he helped to oversee programmatic activities in the museums and administrative units reporting to the Deputy Secretary. From 1998 to 2002, Lapiana was an assistant general counsel where he provided guidance on a variety of legal issues and represented the Smithsonian in administrative proceedings and other types of litigation. Before coming to the Smithsonian, Lapiana was a trial and appellate attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division from 1992 to 1998. He served as a clerk to Chief Judge Paul R. Michel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from 1991 to 1992. He was an associate at Wilmer, Cutler, and Pickering, a law firm in Washington, D.C., from 1987 to 1991.Lapiana earned his Juris Doctor (1987) and a Bachelor of Science (1984) from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Scott McCollum is on the Board of Directors at Technology First. Scott is also the Chief Information Officer of Sinclair Community College.