CBA Honors Cincinnati's Business Achievers

A record turnout of more than 700 guests came to honor outstanding members of the Cincinnati business community and hear new Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis Tuesday when the UC College of Business Administration hosted its 18th annual Cincinnati Business Achievement Awards at the Millennium Hotel.

Lewis, in one of his first public appearances in town, was guest speaker at an event honoring Cincinnati business leaders Steven A. Wilson and George A. Schaefer Jr. and UC junior Benjamin R. Erb.

Erb was presented with the college’s Carl H. Lindner Scholarship.

A native of Dalton, Ohio, he maintains a 3.9 GPA while majoring in information systems and digital business. He also co-ops at the Great American Insurance Company, where he is assistant to the CEO.

Wilson received the 2003 Carl H. Lindner Medal for Outstanding Business Achievement.

A 1966 economics graduate from UC who then earned his MBA from UC in 1968, Wilson is now a group executive vice president with VNU Marketing Information, the world’s largest marketing research firm. He was the president of ACNielsen Bases prior to the company’s acquisition by VNU in 2002, and now is responsible for four of the company’s major marketing businesses.

He serves UC as both a member of the College of Business Administration’s Advisory Council and the college’s Alumni Association Board of Governors.

Schaefer was presented the College of Business Administration’s 2003 Distinguished Service Award.

He leads Fifth Third Bancorp/Fifth Third Bank, the nation’s 14th largest bank holding company as its president and chief executive officer, but has also become one of the city’s most visible and active civic leaders. Schaefer is Chairman of the UC Board of Trustees and serves on the Executive Committees of the boards of Children's Hospital Medical Center, the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce and the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati.

He also serves on the boards of the Cincinnati Institute for Fine Arts, the Johnny Bench Scholarship Fund, the United Way, Dan Board Council of Boy Scouts of America, The Taft Museum of Art, Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, the Medical Center Fund and the Hudson Institute. He is a member of the Hamilton County Republican Party Finance Committee and Cincinnati Business Committee.