The looming departure of Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee for Brown University gives him pause for reflection.”There has been a lot of nostalgia,” Gee said. “I have such strong feelings about Ohio State, but it is most important to have new challenges.”Gee leaves for Brown on Jan. 1, which was a difficult decision for him.”It is like going from an aircraft carrier to a speedboat,” he said.He said he feels like a graduating senior, visiting all of his favorite places for the last time.When he left West Virginia University and the University of Colorado, it was like a divorce, but leaving OSU has been more like a continuation of his life, he said.Gee said that people should not worry about the future of OSU, because “it has great momentum and a strong identity.”Although there have many high points at OSU, activities like sleeping in the dorms and interacting with the students has been a highlight. But, Gee was not always so recognizable. He told a group of parents, during Parents’ Weekend, the following story about his first days at OSU.”On my third day at Ohio State,” Gee said. “I was walking across the Oval when I saw a student with her parents. There was a look of recognition in their eyes, and I said ‘hello,’ and they said ‘hi’ back. I wasn’t 15 feet away when I heard the daughter say that she thought I was Orville Redenbacher.”Things have changed since those early days. Gee said that he is now enormously recognizable because of his unique look. Plus, he works hard to remember names and acknowledge people. He just hopes that people like him because he is a good person.”People think that I am very intense, because I look at them so intently,” he said. “I’m studying them so I can remember them, which helps me be a better president and a better person.”The most important lesson he has learned during his last few months is that great universities are not expendable, but its presidents are.The search for his successor should be confidential in nature, Gee said. If not, he said, OSU will not get the best possible candidates to come here. Anonymity is the key.Gee said that he would not have talked to Brown had they not promised secrecy. His reasoning, “they recruited the happiest university president in the country. It would have lowered my credibility had it gotten out that I was seriously considering any other position.”Gee had been approached several times for the presidencies of other universities, including the University of California in 1995. He said when that process became public, it was a very difficult for him to do his job at OSU.”At Brown, I want balance in my life, but it will be equally challenging,” Gee said. “I have every intent of knowing everyone at Brown.”He said that he has started to get to know Brown’s people and culture, but he has a long way to go before he knows everything he wants to.Gee’s first act as president of Brown is to announce a reorganization of the institution. He is bringing in people to determine where Brown should be today, where it should be in the future and how it should get to where it is going. This is similar to what he did when he first arrived at OSU seven years ago.On what his plans are after Brown, Gee said, “My aspirations are really right where I want them to be. I have been blessed by a remarkable career. I didn’t plan any of it.”