Professor Emeritus Gerald (Jerry) Newsom has been honored with a 2025 Ohio State University Distinguished Service Award. The Distinguished Service Award was established by the OSU Board of Trustees in 1952 to recognize individuals who have rendered exceptional service to the university. Awards are not made on the basis of long, faithful, or loyal service alone, but rather for service that is truly distinguished.

Jerry has had a transformational impact on Ohio State through his long service on the faculty in the Astronomy Department (1969 until retirement in 2004, and beyond), including as acting chair, vice chair, and acting assistant dean of the College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. Jerry’s contributions continued in retirement through both his leadership role in the Ohio State University Retirees Association (OSURA) and through his generous long-term support of the department.

Jerry made critical contributions to Ohio State Astronomy by leading the effort to save and then rebuild the Astronomy Department after the University suddenly withdrew from the “Columbus Project” in 1991 – a plan to construct a very large telescope that eventually became the LBT. As acting chair, he helped craft a proposal to hire new faculty, to grow the instrumentation program, and to develop a vision for what OSU Astronomy could (and did) become. From one of the nomination letters, “The realization of this plan catapulted the Astronomy Department from one that was teetering on the brink of nonexistence to one of the top programs worldwide.” The department simply would not be where it is now without Jerry’s leadership at a critical time in our history.

Jerry also provided foundational support for the Planetarium and its reconstruction, for several other endowments, and for the David Will fund and prize. He has also been very active in OSURA as Vice President (2014-2015), President of the Board (2015-2016), and chair of the Finance Committee. His many efforts in these roles and others are a service to all current and former OSU faculty.