Doctor who failed to report Strauss surrenders his medical license
A doctor connected to the Richard Strauss abuse allegations at Ohio State University no longer has a medical license in Ohio.
Dr. Ted W. Grace failed to report Strauss’ actions in the 1990s and made “a false statement related to the practice of medicine,” a report issued in March shows. Strauss, who died by suicide in 2005 in California, has been accused of sexually abusing hundreds
of former students while he worked for Ohio State between 1978 and 1998.
On Wednesday, Grace volunteered to surrender his license to the State Medical Board of Ohio and board members accepted it as part of a settlement agreement, Jerica Stewart, a board spokeswoman said via email. The agreement, which specified Grace can no longer practice medicine or surgery in Ohio, means the doctor will forgo an administrative hearing that was originally scheduled for later this month, Stewart said.
A search of the state medical board’s licensure listing shows the board took action Wednesday, Grace’s license has been permanently revoked and an investigation into Grace is closed.
The action is the clearest “vindication” for survivors of Strauss’ abuse, said Steve Snyder-hill, who attended Ohio State as an undergraduate and graduate student between 1991 and 1998.
Snyder-hill said he was seen by Strauss when he made an appointment at the health center after noticing a lump on his chest. Strauss, after asking Snyder-hill what the problem was, proceeded to examine Snyder-hill’s genitals, even before examining the lump on his chest, Snyder-hill recalls.
Snyder-hill previously told The Dispatch he wrote a letter in the mid-1990s to an official within Ohio State’s student health center after he was examined by Strauss.
Despite the board’s action Wednesday, Snyder-hill said more people still needed to be held accountable for allowing Strauss’ abuse to go unchecked.
“Ted Grace wasn’t the only one. There are a lot more people that are out there that can still have punitive action
taken against them,” Snyder-hill said. “There’s a lot more people that need to fall …Ted Grace is just the first one.”
Grace served as director of Student Health Services at Ohio State from August 1992 through 2007. Grace told the medical board in March 2020 that he heard about a physician at Ohio State who had been “touching athletes,” before he even started working at the university.
Grace told the medical board that he became aware of at least three separate complaints against Strauss involving different male students who were seen for medical appointments with Strauss at the Student Health Center. Two complaints were reported in January 1995 and another was reported in January 1996, according to a letter the board sent to Grace.
After leaving Ohio State, Grace became the director of student health services
at Southern Illinois Universitycarbondale. Grace informed Southern Illinois University-carbondale on March 12 of his intention to step away from his responsibilities and retire after 13 years there.
Grace notified the university of his intentions to retire two days after Gov. Mike Dewine’s working group reviewing the Strauss investigation released its final report and findings.
The report called for the State Medical Board of Ohio to reopen 91 sexual assault cases against physicians and other licensed medical professionals that were previously closed. The group recommended 11 cases be referred to law enforcement agencies for possible criminal prosecution.
Reporter Sheridan Hendrix contributed to this story. mfilby@dispatch.com @Maxfilby