COLUMBUS — Last November, frustrated Ohio State President William Kirwan unleashed a tirade at Ohio lawmakers and Gov. Bob Taft.

        “Ohio is in trouble. Big trouble. Once a national economic powerhouse, Ohio is on a steady economic decline, relative to the rest of the nation,” he wrote in an op-ed newspaper column.

Kirwan

        The reason for that decline? Ohio “continues to treat higher education essentially as a balancing account for the state budget,” Mr. Kirwan wrote.

        That column appeared shortly before Mr. Taft, a Republican, signed a budget-balancing bill that cut funding across state agencies, including public colleges. State aid to Ohio State was cut $28 million.

        By late March, Mr. Kirwan had announced he would take a similar position at the University of Maryland. He had spent 34 years there as a professor and was president of the College Park campus for nine years before moving to Ohio State in 1998.

        Mr. Kirwan, 64, insists the chief reason he's leaving is personal. He and his wife, Patty, have two children still living in Maryland with the Kirwans' three grandchildren.

        But as Mr. Kirwan confirmed in a recent interview, he's still frustrated with the funding in Ohio.

        The joke, he says, goes like this: Once, Ohio State was a state-supported institution. These days, it's state-assisted. Soon, “it will be state-located.”

        “Ohio definitely hasn't turned the corner — I think the basic sentiments expressed in that op-ed piece I still subscribe to,” Mr. Kirwan said. “All I'm saying is I think the awareness of the need is more pervasive than it was a few years ago, and concern about where we're headed in Ohio is on everybody's mind.”

        Mr. Kirwan's tough approach was tempered by his popularity on campus.

        Sen. Jeff Jacobson, a Republican who voted for the most recent budget cuts, recalled seeing people stop to talk to Mr. Kirwan during an OSU basketball game earlier this year.

        “He was seen not as a divisive figure, not as an elusive figure, but as someone they empathized with,” said Mr. Jacobson, whose wife is an OSU English professor.

        State funding for Ohio State's main campus was $305 million during Mr. Kirwan's first year. It rose to $318 million in 2001 and then dropped to $305 million again.

        Funding was one of several challenges Mr. Kirwan, a personable man with thinning, brushed back hair, glasses and a rarely dimmed smile, faced in Columbus.

        On Jan. 2, 2001, athletics director Andy Geiger — who also worked under Mr. Kirwan in Maryland — fired football coach John Cooper.

        Sixteen days later, the school hired Youngstown State University head coach Jim Tressel, a former Ohio State assistant coach.

        “I certainly hope some of the things I've been part of here will have a lasting impact on the academic quality of the institution, but I have no reservation in saying that I believe the appointment of Jim Tressell will prove to be a very significant event,” Mr. Kirwan said.

        Off-campus parties attended by students and nonstudents have grown out of control at times, leading to bottle throwing and dozens of arrests. Students whose parties become too rowdy now can now be suspended or expelled.

        The situation has improved, although the disappearance of campus bars as the university pushes a renovation of High Street, the main north-south artery through campus, may lead to more out-of-control house parties, said Sherry Mercurio, a Columbus police spokeswoman.

        In February, Mr. Kirwan backed a proposal to raise tuition for incoming students 35 percent to help make up for funding cuts.

        Ohio State and other universities considering double-digit increases backed down a few days later, agreeing to limit tuition increases but still charging new students more.

        Mr. Kirwan said the 35 percent increase wasn't meant as a message to lawmakers. Despite the increase, Ohio State tuition is still the eighth lowest among the state's 13 public colleges and universities, according to the Ohio Board of Regents.

        Mr. Kirwan won praise from faculty members for a plan to increase the university's diversity, including the creation of an Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in the Americas. The school trustees will name the building for Mr. Kirwan.

        His academic plan, which includes recruiting top-flight faculty members, hasn't been as well-received. Although it comes with salary increases for all, it has alienated some faculty members who see themselves as carrying the lion's share of teaching and committee work while so-called faculty stars do nothing but research.

        Mr. Kirwan left Maryland criticizing state support of higher education, although he said that did not drive him to take the Ohio State job.

        Once he returns, he plans to travel the state and listen to leaders at the university's 12 branch campuses. Eventually, he'll propose an academic plan similar to the one he pushed in Columbus.

        Mr. Kirwan also expects to fight more budget battles.

        “Maryland is having its fiscal challenges,” he said. “It did very, very well by higher education over the past four years, but the state's economy, like in other states, has gone south.”

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