Elizabeth Juliano, ’84, vice chair of the Hiram College Board of Trustees, has been selected as the 2019 recipient of The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges’ (OFIC) Earl F. Morris Trustee Award.
Established in honor of Earl F. Morris, a graduate and trustee of Wittenberg University, the annual award recognizes a trustee of an OFIC member institution who has demonstrated exceptional commitment and service to the guidance and betterment of the campus and its students. The nonprofit organization represents 33 institutions and raises corporate and other funds to enhance the education experience for students as they develop the knowledge and skills necessary to enter the workforce.
Juliano is the first Hiram College Trustee to earn the award, created by the OFIC in 2010. Lori Varlotta, Ph.D., president of Hiram College, said that Juliano’s leadership and dedication to her alma mater makes her the perfect choice for this esteemed honor.
“Betsy Juliano is a highly successful business woman who understands that the collegiate ‘bottom line’ is tied as directly to its mission and its people as its finances” said Varlotta. “I have had the privilege of working alongside Betsy as we support, challenge, and lead our faculty, students, and members of the governing board of trustees through an exciting repositioning process for the College. She has lent her business acumen to the academic change process, funded student scholarships, and hosted faculty and staff dinners that celebrate the efforts of Hiram’s many change agents. Betsy understands the importance of building and maintaining relationships in organizations like the American Liberal Arts College.”
Following her graduation from Hiram College in 1984, Juliano continued her involvement with the campus community through leadership roles. In the late 1990s, she served as an adjunct faculty member and role model to students, sharing her passion for a liberal arts education. Her dedication extended beyond the classroom when she joined the College’s Board of Visitors—an advisory board to the College President. In 2011, Juliano joined the Board of Trustees, and in recognition of her growing leadership in the campus community, she was inducted into the Garfield Society, the highest honor Hiram College can bestow upon an individual.
Juliano is the Chief Executive Officer of Litigation Management Inc. (LMI), a company she founded in 1984 that analyzes and summarizes complex medical information for large corporations and lawyers involved in personal injury and product liability litigation. In 2007, she launched a second company, SmartCase Inc., which sells LMI’s proprietary web-based information management platform to small firms who cannot afford to hire LMI, but benefit from the use of the platform to organize and manage complex medical records data. Together, LMI and SmartCase have approximately 900 employees-600 in northeast Ohio, and 300 nationally.
In addition to her role on the Hiram College Board of Trustees, Juliano is an active participant in many other professional and civic organizations. She is a trustee of Western Reserve Land Conservancy and Fieldstone Farm Therapeutic Riding Center, as well as a community advisory council member with WKSU Radio. Previously, she served as a board member of the Animal Protective League and as a trustee of Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
In 2011, Juliano was named to the OFIC’s Hall of Excellence, an honor that recognizes attainment of leadership status in business and service, as well as involvement with liberal arts education as a visionary, critical thinker, advocate or pioneer. Her professional successes are recognized across the Northeast Ohio community, with honors from Crain’s Cleveland Business, the Northeast Ohio Association of Women in Business, Northern Ohio Live Magazine, and Ernst & Young. Juliano will be presented with her most recent award at the OFIC Evening of Excellence dinner in April.
by Jenelle Bayus
