Jim Underwood is president of Underwood & Associates, a Columbus-based strategic research company he founded in 1993. And since 1994, he has been on the faculty at Ohio Wesleyan University as a professor of journalism.

Underwood & Associates specializes in corporate and public affairs research. Over the years, Jim has conducted research for a diverse list of corporate clients including Ameritech/SBC, Lloyds of London, TRW, the American Bankers Association, Conrail/CSX, Ohio Health and The Limited, just to name a few.

Jim also has provided research-consulting services to government agencies such as the Ohio Department of Development, Ohio Auditor, Ohio Lottery Commission, Ohio Secretary of State, the City of Cincinnati and the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority. He has also provided research and consulting services to organizations such as the Ohio Municipal League, the Ohio Library Council, the Ohio Hospital Association and the Ohio Manufacturers Association.

A 1975 graduate of Bowling Green State University, Jim was elected in 1987 to the BGSU Journalism Hall of Fame. During a distinguished journalism career, Jim was a reporter, editor and Statehouse Bureau Chief for a number of Ohio daily newspapers, including The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer.

Among the more than 20 awards he won during his journalism career was the 1980 Heywood Broun Award, an honor he shares with such distinguished journalists as Pulitzer Prize winners Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post and the late Chicago columnist Mike Royko.

As a reporter, editor and columnist, Jim was honored by numerous groups and organizations, including the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, the Ohio House and Senate, and the NAACP.

In 1992, former-Ohio Gov. George V. Voinovich presented Jim with a resolution in which the governor wrote, “Few people will ever be as knowledgeable about the workings of state government, politics and journalism as Jim Underwood.”

Jim’s community and public-service activities include serving as a trustee of Veterans Memorial in Columbus and as a commissioner on the Ohio Courts Futures Commission.

A Vietnam veteran, Jim served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1967 to 1971. While serving in the Republic of Vietnam, he was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal with the Combat “V.” In 1978, former President Jimmy Carter honored Jim for his community service by naming him one of the nation’s Outstanding Vietnam Veterans.

Jim and his wife, Michelle, live in Hilliard. Michelle, a CPA and currently Finance Director for the City of Hilliard, is a partner in Underwood & Associates.