Mershon Center Brochure 2007-08

Abstract

The mission of the Mershon Center for International Security Studies is to advance the understanding of national security in a global context. The center does this by fostering research in three areas of focus: • Use of force and diplomacy. • Ideas, identities, and decisional processes that affect security. • Institutions that manage violent conflict. The Mershon Center is named after Col. Ralph D. Mershon, an 1890 graduate of The Ohio State University. Mershon organized the American engineers for service in World War I and led the effort to create the Reserve Officer Training Corps. He was also an electrical engineer who held a number of patents. Mershon died in 1952, leaving a bequest to Ohio State to be used in part for the civilian study of national security matters. This money was used to start the Mershon Center. The center is also supported by community gifts and grant money.