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A Canal Winchester native, Nick Strahan BS ’13 MPA ’16 began his post-Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service life as an analyst in the Ohio Office of Budget and Management before becoming the assistant chief financial officer for the Ohio Department of Medicaid in 2024. In this profile, he talks about bleeding green, his career journey and the Voinovich School's role in shaping him into the leader he has become.

OU, Oh YEAH: Both my mom and dad went to OU, so I knew I was going there since I was three years old. My dad was a Columbus firefighter, and my mom was a public school teacher, so there was a big emphasis on public service in our house. My parents are retired now and have moved back to Athens, so I still make it down a lot.

LSAT him down: As an undergrad, I double majored in history and political science, so my original plan was to attend law school. However, I took the LSAT and didn't do as well as I had expected, which forced me to reconsider what I actually wanted to do. My dad had heard about the MPA program, so we set up a meeting with Jason Jolley, and it sounded like exactly what I was interested in. Plus, it was a shorter and cheaper program, too!

Real-World experience: The best thing by far was the hands-on nature that came with the program. I was fortunate to get a graduate assistantship working with Marcia Lewis and Ani Ruhil. They were practitioners and professors, so going out in the field with them and getting that professional experience, learning things, and translating the classroom knowledge right then and there was terrific. There's also a tremendous amount of flexibility. There was a class in the executive program that I thought was interesting, so they allowed me to take that class on Saturdays with the executive group. I got to mingle with all these people who were already in the workforce and make connections.

Gentleman of the state: I enjoy policy, politics, writing, and research, so I wanted to meld all of those things together. I knew that the Ohio Office of Budget and Management (OBM) was involved with a lot of different state agencies, and I was able to work with a core set of agencies in the health and human services space. So, I got a lot of exposure across the board, including how the Governor's Office and the General Assembly work.

Staying healthy: Medicaid is the major player in the state budget as far as total dollars. I had been with OBM for seven years and had done three budgets, so I was ready for the next thing. It's a $40 billion program with about 3 million Ohioans on Medicaid. Nearly half the kids in Ohio are on Medicaid, and half of all pregnancies are on Medicaid. So it's very real. I get a lot of satisfaction from helping people because the program is highly complex.

The great beyond: I’m a big outdoors guy. I like to hike and camp. If it’s a long weekend, I can do 30 miles. I go down to Red River Gorge in Kentucky or anywhere in the Appalachian mountain range. I use the Athens trails I was on as a student as training hikes coming out of the winter. If I have to do a long hike, I use those to help get me back into shape.