Whitaker, Bret

Biography

Bret Whitaker is the Director of Business Administration for The Ohio State University’s Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence (CDME). In his role, Bret is responsible for the oversight and alignment of the center’s business and financial operations, as well as human resource activities. 

Bret joined CDME in 2016 as the Center’s first Fiscal Associate. In 2017 he transitioned into a Program Manager role for CDME's Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program, before then stepping into his current position in 2018. Since then, Bret and his team of student employees have created customized financial visualization and project management systems that provide detailed insight into all CDME projects and budgetary funds. The systems consider the complexity of CDME’s business model while providing greater clarity into the Center’s current financial position and future projections. Bret is also a member of Ohio State's University Conduct Board (UCB), and served as a part-time lecturer for The Ohio State University at Newark's Sport, Fitness, and Health Program from 2010 - 2022.

Before joining the CDME team, Bret served as the Director of Athletics and Recreation at The Ohio State University at Newark from 2008-2015. Bret also served in the Ohio Army National Guard from 2000-2006. 

A native of Massillon, Ohio, Bret earned his Bachelor’s Degree in English from Ohio State in 2005. He also received a Master’s Degree in Recreation and Sport Sciences from Ohio University in 2006 and later a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Ohio State in 2017.

He and his wife Danielle have two sons, Beckett and Lincoln, and reside in Pickerington, Ohio. 

CDME offers such incredible experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate students through our diverse industry-funded engineering and design projects. These opportunities provide real-world experiences in areas like project management, budgeting, and customer relations – things you can really only learn in a hands-on, customer-facing environment like we have at CDME. Student development has long been an area of interest for me, and continuing it here at CDME is extremely rewarding. 

Expertise

Business Operations

Financial Operations

Project Management

Human Resources

Ohio State University Systems