Coming to Ohio State from a modest background on a farm near Wapakoneta, Russ Shaw ’62, ‘65 JD covered his college expenses with prize money earned by showing animals at the county fair. His success caught the attention of a neighboring farmer, who offered him work showing his cattle. But when the farmer lost his farm, Shaw also lost the income he depended on to remain enrolled.

Then, on a walk across the Oval, he ran into someone who remembered him.

A year earlier, Shaw had taken a mathematics course with Professor Leslie Miller and finished first on an exam with a perfect score, which caught his professor’s attention. Miller offered him an opportunity to teach remedial mathematics, but Shaw declined at the time. He planned to become a lawyer and did not see teaching mathematics as part of that path.

But when Miller stopped him on the Oval and asked how he was doing, Shaw admitted that he might have to leave school for financial reasons. He asked whether the teaching opportunity was still available. It was, and Shaw accepted.

That opportunity helped him stay at Ohio State, finish his undergraduate degree and continue to law school. He went on to serve in the U.S. Army, built a distinguished legal career, testified before the Senate Finance Committee, and later taught law students at Case Western Reserve University.

But what remained with Shaw most was not the job itself. It was what the gesture represented.

“A simple act of kindness and confidence from one professor made all the difference in the world,” he said.

Looking back, Shaw understands just how consequential that encounter was. Without Miller remembering him, believing in him, and creating an opportunity when he needed it most, Shaw said there was a very real chance he might not have finished college at all.

Decades later, that moment inspired Shaw and his wife Lynn to establish the Russell C. Shaw and Lynn B. Shaw Endowed Professorship in Mathematics. “This professorship is really about honoring a professor who changed my life,” Shaw said. “The gift is not primarily about mathematics as a discipline. It is about recognizing the impact a dedicated faculty member can have on students.”

For Lynn, the story has always been about gratitude and the lasting influence of those who invest in others. 

“Success is rarely achieved alone,” she said. “We all benefit from people who believe in us, encourage us and create opportunities when we need them the most.”

Miller’s influence, she believes, extended well beyond that day on the Oval. “His support affected our family’s future and ultimately inspired this gift,” she said. “That’s a remarkable legacy for any educator.”

For Lynn, that idea is also at the heart of philanthropy. “A gift does not have to be about bricks and mortar. Sometimes it’s about investing in people,” she said. “Faculty members, students, and educational opportunities create effects that can last for decades.”

That investment is beginning its next chapter with Dustin Mixon, the inaugural holder of the Shaw Professorship.

The connection is personal for Mixon. He did not grow up in a mathematical family and initially assumed he would eventually become an engineer. Three college courses changed his direction, while professors who took an interest in him encouraged his growing passion for mathematics.

“My own path into mathematics was shaped by a sequence of professors who took a special interest in me and wanted to help me succeed,” Mixon wrote in an introductory letter to the Shaws upon his appointment.

Seeing the professorship come to life with Mixon as its inaugural holder has inspired the Shaws to take their commitment further. Through an additional pledge and the Provost’s Endowed Chair Matching Program, they are now working to elevate the professorship to an endowed chair, expanding a legacy that began with one professor believing in one student.

Today, Mixon brings that same spirit to his work as a researcher and mentor. He advises graduate students, collaborates with students in his research and helps young mathematicians build confidence in communicating their ideas. The professorship gives him greater flexibility to support students, cultivate new collaborations, bring visiting scholars to Ohio State and pursue ambitious research opportunities.

For Mixon, the meaning behind that support goes back to the professor whose influence made the gift possible. 

“I hope to honor the spirit of your gift by being the kind of professor Dr. Miller was for Russ,” Mixon wrote, “someone who notices a student’s abilities, takes the time to encourage them, and helps create an opportunity at the moment when it can matter most.”

Decades after a professor stopped on the Oval to ask a student how he was doing, the effects of that conversation are still unfolding. Now, as the Shaws deepen their investment in faculty excellence, the belief that once helped Russ Shaw remain at Ohio State can become that same kind of opportunity for generations of students to come.