Nothing beats a homecoming weekend. As a ridiculously proud Bowling Green alumni, I always love returning to campus to be with old friends, visit our old stomping grounds and to take in a football and sometimes a hockey game.

And while I didn’t go to Youngstown State, I have similar emotions toward YSU (I was very proud when former business school Dean Licata anointed me honorary business school alumni at a YSU happy hour in New York City a few years ago). YSU’s homecoming is coming up in a few weeks, and while the focus will be on the football team and the band, maybe it’s an appropriate time to discuss two men I think could be a great fit to return to YSU as its next president. Neither knows I am writing this, but I feel compelled because the future of the university is the future of the entire Mahoning Valley.

When I worked in economic development in the Valley over 10 years ago, one of my favorite relationships was with newly formed STEM college, and its then-dean Dr. Martin Abraham. Never had I seen a dean, especially within the STEM disciplines, so committed to his students, their education, their well-being and their future. And when it comes to future, Dr. Abraham had a vision like no other. In the late 2000s, YSU hosted annually a Sustainable Energy Forum that brought businesses and thought leaders from around the world to the Mahoning Valley.

Back when no political leaders wanted to discuss electric vehicles and thought CNG vehicles were the future, Dr. Abraham and I worked to send three YSU and even one Akron students to South Korea to work summer internships in the electric vehicle supply chain.

When the shale industry came roaring into the Valley, he immediately worked to pull existing resources to create an Institute at YSU to address water resources and student career opportunities.

After I left the Valley, Dr. Abraham became provost at YSU, and then left YSU to eventually become interim president of Western Illinois, where he was loved again by his students. Martin and I didn’t always agree, and we had our share of heated discussions. But when we found common ground, it was magic. Because he believed in the future of the Valley, and in the students of YSU.

Along those lines, in that same time period YSU had its own music man, who also brought not only joy to the university as Dean of the College of Fine & Performing Arts, but his worldly knowledge of the inner workings of academia to elevate the university and its relationship to the community. Bryan DePoy and I were co-chairs of the Mahoning and Trumbull Arts committee for several years. It was a privilege to work with Dean DePoy. He made me a better person simply by my observing his calm maturity when it came to bringing people of divergent opinions together.

The Mahoning Valley has an abundance of arts institutions for a community its size, and he stepped up to protect and grow it, even when he simply could have protected the interests of his college. And within YSU, he recognized the STEM college is first among equals for its importance on the Valley’s economy, and soon STEM had some STEAM, with programming for the arts interconnected with the STEM college. Bryan also left YSU for greater roles, including a successful run as Provost at nearby Lake Erie College.

The Mahoning Valley is not always the easiest place for an outsider to navigate. There was, at times, entrenched thinking that prohibited new ideas, and in some circles a bit of mistrust of people who arrive in the Valley bringing best practice ideas from other cities and institutions. Thankfully that mindset has improved dramatically, but nonetheless, it is an issue for consideration.

When I returned to Youngstown, friends jokingly called me a boomerang, but I always felt proud that my experiences had greater reception because of my Youngstown heritage.

About a decade ago, YSU had a president that didn’t last very long. And right when things looked darkest, along came a gentlemen who understood the DNA of the university and the valley like no other. Maybe that magic can spill over a bit more to the next candidate. I have no idea if either man is interested or will apply, but maybe with a bit of proactivity these two men that I call friends would throw their hat into the ring.

Eric Planey is a Mahoning Valley native and chief executive officer of SolaBlock, a solar technology company located in Massachusetts and New York.