The Ohio State University Police Division (OSUPD) is promoting Alan Horujko to deputy chief, effective Feb. 10, 2025. He joins fellow deputy chief Eric Whiteside and will report directly to Chief Dennis Jeffrey.
Horujko joined OSUPD in 2015 and has spent a decade serving the campus community, most recently as a lieutenant. Prior to joining OSUPD, he was a police officer for Ohio Health.
“We had a strong group of candidates and are excited for Alan to step into the role of Deputy Chief,” Jeffrey said. “Over the past five years as a lieutenant, Alan has gained valuable management experience and has taken the lead on initiatives related to special event incident command, critical thinking and decision making under stress. He has built relationships across campus and will help our agency continue to build and maintain trust with our community.”
Originally from Fairfield, Ohio, Horujko came to Columbus to attend Ohio State, where he met his wife, Jacqueline, during his freshman year. Both Alan and Jacqueline graduated from Ohio State and are now university employees, with Jacqueline serving as a nurse anesthetist at the Wexner Medical Center. The couple has one son.
“The safety of our university community is very important to me, and I am honored to help lead our agency in protecting and serving all Buckeyes,” Horujko said. “I look forward to supporting Chief Jeffrey’s vision and upholding our five core values of integrity, diversity, innovation, service and respect.”
In 2016, Horujko was the first officer on the scene for what would later be classified as a terrorist-inspired attack. His heroic actions in ending the threat that day earned him an invitation to the White House, where he was awarded the 2019 United States Congressional Medal of Valor.
Horujko has served as an instructor for OSUPD on topics including incident command, active shooter response, empowerment and self-defense, medical first aid, CPR and trauma care, and leadership. He is an instructor in the Supervisor Training and Education Program (STEP) for Ohio’s Law Enforcement Foundation. He has traveled the country to speak about critical incident response and management, with a focus on officer wellness, earning recognition from multiple agencies for this work. Horujko has assisted with many community outreach initiatives during his tenure with Ohio State, and helped raise funds for military families and for the Special Olympics. He was selected as OSUPD’s supervisor of the year in 2022.
In addition to graduating with a bachelor’s degree in security and intelligence from Ohio State, Horujko completed the STEP and the Police Executive Leadership College (PELC). He is currently working toward both a graduate certificate in public management and a master’s degree in public administration and leadership from Ohio State’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs.