Mr. Dorrian and the quiet power of public trust

He was known throughout Columbus as Mr. Dorrian. 

“In private some of his friends may have called him Hugh, but in public everyone called him Mr. Dorrian,” says former Columbus Mayor Greg Lashutka ’67, ’99 HON. “It was a sign of respect for the man, his strong character, professional accomplishments and overall decency.”

Hugh J. Dorrian ’59 died Feb. 6 at age 90. He was the Columbus auditor for 48 years, guiding the city through sustained growth and economic ups and downs.

“He had this air of complete competence and excellence,” says Megan Kilgore ’04, a Dorrian mentee who succeeded him as city auditor. “He cared so deeply about the city, and I learned so much from him about leadership, the value of respect and this beautiful thing called discourse.”

Dorrian grew up in the Franklinton section of Columbus, the seventh of eight children of deeply religious Irish immigrants. He began his studies at Ohio State, left to serve in the U.S. Army from 1954 to 1956, then returned home to complete his degree. He became a certified public accountant and initially worked for a national accounting firm. 

He ran for city auditor in 1965 and lost, then was appointed city treasurer in 1966 and then city auditor in 1969 after the death of John Price. Dorrian went on to win 12 consecutive four-year terms and opted not to run for reelection in 2017. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 1975.

“I did not come into City Hall with the intention to make it a career,” he told The Columbus Dispatch. “I fell in love with public service.”

As city auditor, Dorrian, a Democrat, was responsible for audits of the city’s departments and agencies, financial oversight and investigations of allegations of fraud, waste and abuse. 

“When I began as mayor, Columbus was not AAA bond rated,” says Lashutka, a Republican. “We achieved that, which meant we could get financing at lower rates, and all the credit goes to Hugh. He reduced our debt and developed responsible approaches to financing major projects.”

Dorrian received many honors during his career, including the Ethics in Government and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Ohio Government Finance Officers Association. He was inducted into the City of Columbus Hall of Fame and received the Outstanding Local Public Service Award from Ohio State’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs, where he taught for 22 years.

Faith was important to Dorrian. He and his wife, Janice (who died in 2023), were founding parishioners of St. Timothy Catholic Church. The couple raised four children: Julia ’96 JD, ’97 MA, Margaret ’89, Mary ’91 and Hugh. Dorrian served the Diocese of Columbus on the Finance and Investment committees and received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (“for Church and Pope”) medal from Pope John Paul II in 1992. 

“My mom and dad were devoted to their faith and family, and his greatest wish was that we would all love each other and take care of one another,” says Julia Dorrian, who serves as judge of Ohio’s 10th District Court of Appeals. “My dad taught us to use our talents and skills to serve others.”

Julia Dorrian remembers a blizzard in the late 1970s. “The city shut down, and this was in the days before the direct deposit of paychecks,” she says. “I remember my dad getting up and getting dressed to go to work. We said it was too dangerous. But he signed all the paychecks and said, ‘If I don’t get to work, people won’t get paid and may not be able to pay rent and put food on the table.’”

Dorrian encouraged Kilgore to run for auditor. On her first day on the job, she found a letter on her desk from her mentor. “He wrote that you’re a public servant and at the end of the day you should be able to look in the mirror and be proud of your actions.”