Ruann F Ernst

Ruann Ernst is a three-time graduate of Ohio State, with a Ph.D. in technology and organizational change, a master’s degree and a B.S. degree in mathematics education and computer science. She is former chairman and CEO of Digital Island, a managed hosting and internet services company that was acquired by Cable & Wireless PLC in 2001. Dr. Ernst spent 13 years at Hewlett-Packard (HP) Company, most recently as general manager of the Financial Services Business Unit. Prior to HP, she was vice president and general manager of Applications Marketing Operation with General Electric Information Services Co. She has also served as director of the Medical Computing Services Division and assistant professor of Medicine and Computer Science at the Ohio State University, and as a congressional fellow in the Office of Technology Assessment. Dr. Ernst serves on the boards of Digital Realty Trust (DLR on NYSE), IHS (IHS on NYSE), and is Founder and Chairman of the Board of Healthy LifeStars, a non-profit addressing childhood obesity. At Ohio State, Dr. Ernst has been an active volunteer leader, serving two terms on the board of directors of The Ohio State University Alumni Association, as Vice Chair of the OSU Foundation, and currently serves on Fisher College of Business Dean’s Advisory Council, the Foundation Board, and as co-chair of the Ohio State Innovation Foundation. Through her leadership at Hewlett Packard, Dr. Ernst helped to make possible over $3 million in gifts and gifts-in-kind to the Ohio State College of Engineering and its Department of Computer and Information Science. She and her husband, William Riffle, have also established scholarships for students in technology innovation at Ohio State and recently made a leadership gift in the “But For Ohio State” campaign. They live in Los Altos Hills, California, and Scottsdale, Arizona.