UC education allowed couple to make mark on Cincinnati

As a native of Defiance, Ohio, John Deatrick, CEAS ’79, says arriving in Cincinnati to attend the University of Cincinnati in 1963 felt like landing in New York City.  

He immediately fell in love with Cincinnati, its architecture and its university. Life at UC was an adventure, and Deatrick threw himself into the experience, joining the fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha and the engineering co-op program.

“Coming to Cincinnati and UC was an eye-opener,” he shares. He spent time with friends at the College-Conservatory of Music, “and it was an incredible experience visiting with all these people singing, playing the piano and instruments.”

“The co-op program was important, as was my fraternity, because I was immersed with people that were focused on making their future by learning by doing and from others.”  

My civil engineering work at UC taught me that observation and listening to people are the most critical aspects of design.

John Deatrick, CEAS '79

Deatrick’s dream of building “big stuff” came true in Cincinnati. He led projects that are well-known to city residents — the Fort Washington Way Expressway project, The Banks project and the Cincinnati Streetcar. Between Fort Washington Way and The Banks, he worked for five years in Washington, DC, on the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, responsible for implementing all transportation components. After the Streetcar, while living in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, south of Washington, he led the department in delivering a new library, a jail addition, and its renovation with a treatment center, three district police stations and improvements to the county airport.

“My civil engineering work at UC taught me that observation and listening to people are the most critical aspects of design,” he says.

The university was equally important for Linda. She left her own mark on Cincinnati’s historic preservation and art communities. She raised funds for DAAP, obtained National Register status for the Betts-Longworth Historic District, and as Summerfair’s first executive director, created ongoing initiatives supporting local artists.

“UC fueled both our careers and not just from the book learning. It was from the people and the experiences, the whole package,” says Deatrick. “That’s why the university is so important and why I think it’s important to support it.” And that’s why his latest project is serving on the board of the Lloyd Library and Museum to help support its expansion and renovation, “to bring the incredible resources of that world-renowned independent research library and exhibit space devoted to bringing science, art and history to life.”

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