SUMMER 2019
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TACKLING INNOVATION REINVENTING THE VENERABLE WILSON FOOTBALL
/16 TR UE NORTH THE DETOURS ALONG THE WAY MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE
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GAME CHANGERS
FOUR ALUMNAE CREATE NEW RULES TO PLAY BY
ABOUT THE COVER: Rose Previte, BA ’03, inside Compass Rose, her first restaurant in Washington, D.C. This issue’s cover story shares Rose’s journey from her Ada, Ohio, childhood to becoming a critically acclaimed restaurateur. She opened her second Washington, D.C., restaurant, Maydan, in 2017.
AC C O R D I N G TO R O S E
Rose Previte’s world travels influence her views on dining and cuisine. We may not all be able to visit 50 countries, but if you get the chance to visit a few, here are some things to look for.
SUMMER 2019
OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE
CONTENTS FEATURES
/10 THREAT DETECTION NEW MOLECULES HOLD THE PROMISE OF PEACE OF MIND
/12 TACKLING INNOVATION ALUMNI HELP REINVENT THE VENERABLE WILSON FOOTBALL /3
/16 TRUE NORTH 3
FOR ROSE PREVITE, THE DETOURS ALONG THE WAY MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE
/22 GAME CHANGERS FOUR ALUMNAE CREATE NEW RULES TO PLAY BY
/28 RANK UP VARSITY ESPORTS PROGRAM BEGINS COMPETITION THIS FALL
COLLEGE NEWS
/30 ARTS & SCIENCES NEWS /31 BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION NEWS /32 ENGINEERING NEWS /33 PHARMACY NEWS /34 LAW NEWS
INBOX
GOING FOR TWO! Congratulations to Colleen Kerger, BS ’15, (No. 9) and her Charlotte James Connolly’s GAA teammates for winning the United States Gaelic Athletic Association (Gaelic football) 2018 Junior A Championship. At the end of August, they will seek to defend their title at the 2019 Nationals in Washington, D.C. Good luck, Colleen!
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SAFETY AND STYLE
Ohio Northern University football players will play with more confidence this fall knowing that the finest football helmet on the market is protecting them. Thanks to a generous gift to the Polar Bear Club from the Walt and Teri Bettinger Foundation, every player on the Polar Bear roster will have the opportunity to wear a new state-of-the-art VICIS Zero1 football helmet, the top-rated helmet by the National Football League Players Association for three years running. The Zero1 is also a five-star rated helmet by the Virginia Tech University impact-testing program that has provided unbiased helmet ratings for college and high-school levels since 2011. “Player safety is a top priority in our program,” says head football coach Dean Paul. “Our staff vision is to go above and beyond to provide our players with the best of science and innovation.”
STATE CHAMPS
PLOYMENT
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Showing some Polar Bear pride at Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. Left to right: Jennifer (Smith) O’Brian, BSME ’12, Jill (Moskowitz) Garlitz, PharmD ’13, Erica (Schoenberger) Wibberley, PharmD ’13. Photo credit: Ben Wibberley, BSME ’11. Moral support: John Garlitz, BSME ’11.
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Up, up and away
LLEGE S F OR
We talk about our placement rate quite a bit and with good reason. TheLadders.com recently published their annual list of the best colleges for employment in each of the 50 states. Not only is Ohio Northern top in the state of Ohio, but we are also No. 3 overall!
Say what? When our inbox overflows, some of it spills onto the pages of ONU Magazine. Send letters, story tips and quirky news bits with an ONU connection to
magazine@onu.edu
OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE
President Daniel A. DiBiasio Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs Maria Cronley Vice President for Financial Affairs William H. Ballard Vice President for Enrollment Management William Eilola Vice President for University Advancement Shannon Spencer Vice President for Student Affairs Adriane Thompson-Bradshaw Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Juliet (Harvey) Hurtig, BSEE ’91 Executive Director of Communications and Marketing Amy Prigge, BSBA ’94 ONU Magazine Editors Josh Alkire Senior Writer and Editor Barbara (Long) Meek, BA ’90 Director of Alumni Engagement
Dear alumni and friends, While many readers of ONU Magazine received my electronic communication about the Foundation for Our Future Project (FFP), a number of you did not. As a result, I want to devote this letter to offer a brief description of what FFP was all about. In short, it was a 15-month comprehensive program review effort intended to sustain the University’s academic strength and improve our financial position. We successfully completed the FFP process in May 2019. The financial goal for FFP was to achieve between $4-$8 million in cost savings by reducing expenses, consolidating activities and streamlining operations, while at the same time investing in future growth and effectiveness. Moving forward in this way is imperative because in today’s turbulent higher education environment, standing still is falling behind, as many other private colleges and universities that have embarked on similar initiatives fully realize. On May 17-18, 2019, the University’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved the recommendations contained in the FFP Final Report. Once implemented, the recommendations will yield cost savings of $10.15 million, exceeding the high end of the $4-$8 million goal, of which approximately $1 million will fund investments in new initiatives and opportunities. The recommendations call for specific, targeted and strategic changes to academic, administrative, and institution-wide programs and operations. They produce savings and investments that will enable the University to maintain the scope and quality of its educational programs and improve its financial strength. A total of 10 academic programs with sustained levels of low enrollment were discontinued. They include undergraduate degree programs in German, French, risk management and insurance, a master's degree program in law, and six other programs that nearly duplicate others that will continue. Collectively, the 10 programs impact approximately 45 students (1.5 percent of the student body), and all of those students will have the opportunity to successfully complete their degree program at ONU.
Laura Germann Writer
Among the investments is the creation of a Student Success Center, accelerated hiring of faculty positions in criminal justice and pharmacy, staff positions in public safety, and expanded laboratory equipment.
Brian Paris Associate Director of Communications and Marketing
The Foundation for Our Future Project was a significant undertaking that involved nearly the entire campus community. We embarked upon it at the right time, when ONU is strong academically; in the right way, by examining all that we do; and for the right reason, to sustain our quality and improve our economic condition by reducing expenses. I am very proud of what our faculty and staff accomplished and confident that the results we achieved will better position the University for continued academic success and improved financial strength, and it will serve as a springboard to make the most of recent achievements, including the following:
Art and Design Nancy Burnett Art Director Rebecca Legge, BFA ’17 Graphic and Digital Designer Photography Trevor Jones University Photographer Send Class Notes via email to: alumni@onu.edu POSTMASTER Send address changes to: ONU MAGAZINE 525 S. Main St., Ada, OH 45810-1599 ONU MAGAZINE is published by Ohio Northern University, 525 S. Main St., Ada, Ohio 45810-1599. Phone: 419-772-2000 Fax: 419-772-2932 OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY was founded in 1871 and is a private, co-educational, student-centered institution of higher learning that offers quality, nationally ranked sciences, arts and professional programs in its five colleges: Arts & Sciences, Business Administration, Engineering, Pharmacy and Law.
• Opening the new 105,000-square-foot James Lehr Kennedy Engineering Building in fall 2019 • Repurposing the Biggs Building to provide improved facilities for programs in technological studies, psychology, sociology and criminal justice • Moving all IT staff into a new operations building that opened in spring 2019 • Launching a new major in data analytics (which you will read about in this issue!) • Leveraging a number of recent positive program accreditation reviews in education, music and nursing • Starting a new intercollegiate esports team • Preparing for the University’s sesquicentennial celebration in 2021-22 Many thanks for your continued support of our great University. Best regards,
onu.edu
FROM THE PRESIDENT
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Sheila Baumgartner Associate Director of Communications and Marketing
Another outcome of this initiative, most regrettably, is its impact on 16 University faculty and staff members who were notified that their positions have been eliminated (four faculty and 12 staff). In addition, there are 35 open positions that are vacant or will become vacant due to retirement. Those positions will not be filled and have been eliminated.
CAMPUS NEWS 2019 ALUMNI AWARDS
communities and loyalty to their
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From left, 2019 award winners James O'Donnell, Cheryl (Burcham) Cotner, Barbara Bowyer and James Cates.
The Ohio Northern University Alumni Association bestowed its highest annual awards during June’s Alumni Weekend. Capt. Barbara Bowyer, BA ’76, and James Cates, BA ’67, were each awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award for excellence to their professions, service to their
NURSING PROGRAM RANKS AS ONE OF THE BEST Nurses make an impact in their endeavors, and Ohio Northern University continues to make its mark in preparing nursing students for their careers. RegisteredNursing.org recently ranked ONU’s nursing program seventh among 93 RN programs in Ohio. The ranking analyzes several factors and is based largely on students’ passage rates on the NCLEX-RN exam over a five-year period, from 2014-18. College graduates need to pass the NCLEX exam to become practicing registered nurses (RN). The ONU nursing program’s fiveyear passage rate on the NCLEX nursing board exam is 96.6 percent. “Much of our success can be attributed to our commitment to clinical experiences that provide our students with relevant, high-impact learning opportunities. For example, our students begin clinical experiences during their sophomore year and acquire 210 hours of clinical experience in their senior capstone courses,” says Kami Fox, ONU’s director of nursing and chair of the Department of Nursing.
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alma mater. James O’Donnell, JD ’66, and Cheryl (Burcham) Cotner, BSBA ’68, were each awarded the Alumni Service Award for their exceptional service to ONU through volunteerism, leadership and unparalleled dedication.
A DAY TO
GIVE
The greater Ohio Northern community joined together to celebrate Founders Day on April 10. Founders Day is ONU’s annual dedicated day of giving that recognizes the contribution of a pivotal figure in ONU’s history. This year, Theodore Presser, ONU’s first music professor and music publishing magnate, joined previous founders Henry Solomon Lehr, Eva Maglott and John Gamble Park. Presser got his start at ONU (then the Northwestern Ohio Normal School) after being recruited to head up the music department by Henry Solomon Lehr himself, a man Presser affectionately referred to as “a university with whiskers.” He arrived in Ada to find only two students and little else, yet for a year he laid the foundation for a music department at ONU that would noticeably expand by 1874. Not only did he launch an enduring music program that would go on to educate thousands of students, but his Presser Foundation, which he launched in 1916, supported the construction of a music building on ONU’s campus through a $100,000 gift. The resulting building, Presser Hall, was dedicated on May 26, 1929. Through Presser's vision and generosity, ONU has been able to create well-rounded students who participate in music-related studies and performances regardless of their major. Thank you to the 700 donors who gave $116,000 and to everyone who celebrated ONU on Founders Day.
NEW LEADERSHIP FOR LAW administrator and practitioner. I am confident he has ideal credentials to continue to provide strong leadership to the ONU College of Law,” ONU President Daniel DiBiasio says.
Following a national search, Charles H. Rose III was named dean of the Pettit College of Law. He began his tenure on July 1, replacing David Crago, who had served as interim dean since 2017.
Rose’s primary scholarly interests focus on advocacy persuasion techniques, and he is an internationally recognized expert in that area. He has taught and researched in the areas of advocacy, criminal procedure, military law, evidence and professional ethics. His published work includes numerous law review articles, two casebooks on trial advocacy, and legal treatises on military criminal law and evidentiary law.
“Professor Rose has a rich background in the law, as a scholar,
Prior to joining ONU, Rose was professor of law and director of the
Center for Excellence in Advocacy at Stetson University’s College of Law in Gulfport, Fla. Stetson University College of Law has been ranked the No. 1 school for trial advocacy 21 times by U.S. News & World Report, most recently in its 2020 rankings. Rose served as the director since 2008.
Notre Dame Law School.
Before joining the Stetson faculty in 2005, Rose spent 20 years on active duty in the U.S. Army. He served as a linguist, intelligence officer and judge advocate. He prosecuted and defended criminal cases for more than five years and served as a criminal law professor at the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s School in Charlottesville, Va. He also served as an adjunct professor at the University of
“Ohio Northern is committed to offering our law students exceptional educational and co-curricular experiences that will prepare them for rewarding careers as attorneys, as well as developing individuals who pursue lives of impact in their communities. It is clear that Dr. Rose shares this commitment,” says ONU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Maria Cronley.
CAMPUS NEWS
Rose earned his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University South Bend and his JD from the University of Notre Dame Law School. He also earned an LLM from the Judge Advocate General’s School, United States Army.
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SO MUCH OF OUR FOUNDERS DAY S U C C E S S CA M E F R O M SOCI AL MEDI A, E SPECI ALLY THIS FACEBOOK POST FROM VICE PRESIDENT FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS ADRIANE THOMPSON B R A D S H AW T H AT R E AC H E D NEARLY 18,000 PEOPLE!
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FULBRIGHT X2 Jonathan Pitts, Ph.D., associate professor of English at Ohio Northern University, has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar to Japan for the 2019-20 academic year. He will teach at American Keio University and Hitotsubashi University in the Tokyo area and lecture in the East Asia and Pacific region. His previous Fulbright award was to Turkey, where he taught in the American Literature and Culture Department at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey, from 2010-11. The Fulbright Program, which aims
to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries, is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. “My interest in my writing and teaching has always been in bringing diverse stories and people together. In fact, if narratives are really all we have in the world – our identities are stories we tell ourselves and others about who we are – we have no choice but to figure out how to understand each other,” Pitts says.
STUDENT SUCCESS CENTER COMING THIS FALL
will partner with the Student Success Center to help students define their goals and thrive on the way toward personal growth and success.
At Ohio Northern, we want nothing but the best for our Polar Bears, and academic success is at the top of the list. That’s why, beginning in fall 2019, ONU’s newly established Student Success Center will make it easier than ever for students to access everything they need to maximize their educational experience at Northern.
“The holistic approach of the Student Success Center will focus on learning and skills development, supporting high-impact learning experiences, and will work in close collaboration with the departments of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs, as well as faculty and staff across campus,” says Dr. Lynda Nyce, assistant vice president of Academic Affairs.
The Student Success Center will bring together several service areas that were previously scattered across various departments and locations. Housed together on the second floor of McIntosh Center, Polar Careers, Disability Services and the new Office of Global Initiatives will provide direction and support for students as they connect to campus; establish their academic, personal and professional goals; and discover their path to success. The Office of Global Initiatives includes study abroad and international student and scholar services. The Writing Center, located on the second floor of Heterick Memorial Library; tutoring services; academic advising across campus; and the new Center for the Advancement of Faculty Excellence
Further details regarding the Student Success Center are still in the works, but what we can say with confidence at this time is that the Student Success Center will be a valuable asset to all students – not just those who need extra help with class assignments. Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Maria Cronley adds, “While the new Student Success Center will continue to evolve once launched, coalescing student academic support activities will create synergies to help ensure that students are retained, thrive and graduate successfully from ONU.”
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RAY OF LIGHT Ray’s interest and activism in human rights began during her freshman year of college. There were no human rights groups on campus to join, so she helped to create a chapter of Amnesty International at Ohio Northern University (AIONU) through which she has been able to increase the recognition of human rights abuses worldwide and create dialogue between students.
In recognition of her community engagement, Hannah Ray, a senior political science and statistics double major, has been selected as a Newman Civic Fellow. Ray is among 250 students nationwide to earn the one-year fellowship, which is sponsored by Campus Compact, a group working to advance the public purposes of higher education.
For Ray, defending human rights is natural. “Who doesn’t support human rights?” she asked when discussing her passion for AIONU. “With my Catholic background, I believe everyone is entitled to equality, fairness and love.” Ray has shown great ambition in both her studies and involvement on campus. As a double major, she has received both college and University recognitions. She has been inducted into several honor societies, was the
The 2019 Newman Civic Fellows will be provided a variety of learning and networking opportunities through Campus Compact. The fellowship also provides fellows with pathways to exclusive scholarship and post-graduate opportunities. The Newman Civic Fellowship is supported by the KPMG Foundation and Newman’s Own Foundation. Ray is the fifth ONU student to win this prestigious honor. Ben Fink, BA '19, was a 2018 recipient, Zachary Bragg, BS '19, was a 2017 recipient, Derek Price, BA '18, was a 2016 recipient, and Amanda Liebrecht, PharmD '19, was a 2015 winner.
KAPPA ALPHA THETA TURNS
25
Members of Kappa Alpha Theta returned to campus March 16, 2019, to celebrate the Zeta Sigma chapter’s 25-year anniversary as an ONU Greek organization.
TO - G O, A N D OP, UASN N D EGWOS, A N D G O . . . C AGM
ENGINEERING OPEN HOUSE OCT. 5 The long wait to see the inside of the spectacular new James Lehr Kennedy Engineering Building is almost over. A public open house is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 5, as part of Homecoming weekend festivities. All alumni, parents and friends are encouraged to stop by and see what all the excitement has been about for these past two years.
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In his nomination, ONU President Daniel DiBiasio wrote, “Hannah typifies the qualities embodied in this prestigious award. She shows initiative, drive, intelligence, compassion and a true desire to change the world for the better.”
“Hannah is by nature a problem-solver; the problem most urgent to her is the violation of human rights both at home and abroad. In the three years since she co-founded AIONU, its annual Write for Rights campaign has grown tenfold,” DiBiasio says.
secretary for the ONU Model United Nations team, and is a teaching assistant in the Department of History, Political Science and Geography. Beyond her academic pursuits, she is a member of the Ohio Farm Bureau and Kappa Alpha Theta, and she studied abroad in South Korea. “During my time at Ohio Northern University, I have had the opportunity to grow as a leader and passionately pursue activities that I believe have had a positive impact on my peers and on campus,” says Ray.
THREAT DE A CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR’S NEW REACTIVE MOLECULES HOLD THE PROMISE OF PEACE OF MIND.
O
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rganic chemists like Ohio Northern University professor of chemistry Dr. Jake Zimmerman like to make stuff. Specifically, they like to make molecules and create new compounds. But what does it take for a new molecule to constitute an actual invention? In 2015, Zimmerman and a team of students set out to create a new molecule based on a chromone structure that is found in many medicinally relevant molecules. They used an inverse demand hetero-Diels-Alder reaction to create the molecules, and they discovered that upon exposing the compounds to ultraviolet light (e.g. a blacklight), they fluoresced, which was unexpected. Fluorescent molecules are not terribly difficult to synthesize in general, but brightly fluorescing ones with high quantum yields require more skill. These molecules had high yields. Fluorescent molecules are quite useful in two specific applications, imaging and sensing/detection. In fact, when a chemist creates a fluorescent molecule, the first thing he or she does is find out if it reacts with anything — if it can detect when a particular element is present.
Zimmerman’s molecules were very good at detecting fluoride. When a dilution of the molecules was mixed with solution containing fluoride and exposed to UV light, what was green became blue as abruptly as flipping on a light switch. The findings were significant enough for Zimmerman and his students to publish in Organic Letters, the peer-reviewed publication of the American Chemical Society.
He knew there would be a tremendous amount of work to get to that point, but he felt strongly that the simplicity of his detection method had promise. Others did as well, including ONU, which encouraged Zimmerman to pursue a patent for his creation.
Although they were focused on fluoride detection for their primary research, the team was curious as to what else their compounds might be able to detect. At the time, the Flint, Mich., water crisis was making headlines due to harmful levels of lead that had been discovered in the drinking water of approximately 100,000 people. They tested their molecule again in water containing lead. Sure enough, it worked.
“The patent process was a bit stressful, but it was a really good experience because it forced me to look at the science differently,” he says. “When you apply for a patent, you are dealing with attorneys, not scientists, so it took some getting used to how broad the patent became. Research is very specific, and the focus is very narrow. Patents are different because they have to protect the intellectual property against future ideas that haven’t even been thought of yet.”
It was one of those rare moments in scientific discovery when bench-level research and end result application are visible on the same plane. Zimmerman imagined a kit containing a vial of their molecule in dilution, an empty vial for a homeowner to fill with tap water from their faucet, and a small black light. That’s all someone would need to check their water for lead contamination.
The patent protects the entire class of molecules and expands on potential applications based on Zimmerman’s early research. For example, not only does the molecule detect lead by changing color, but it also bonds with the lead atom and traps it through a process called chelating. Zimmerman hasn’t experimented with developing a water filtration application using
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his compound. However, the science indicates it is possible, and the patent protects for it. There is a misnomer about patents that they go hand in hand with a commercial product. The reality is that a patent is really just the beginning. It is the legal protection of the underlying science and not the finished product. In fact, Zimmerman’s molecule isn’t quite ready to be included in a home kit for lead detection due to the EPA’s stringent 15 parts per billion lead allowances in drinking water. For comparison, the agency’s threshold for lead in paint is in parts per million. Currently, Zimmerman can detect lead to approximately 200 parts per billion, which is still extremely impressive. And the relevancy of it as something that can serve the public is somewhat in the eye of the beholder. Is it ready to be used to confirm that drinking water is safe? Not yet. Can it tell you in a matter of seconds if you have severe lead contamination? Absolutely. And with more time, Zimmerman is confident he can refine the synthesis to produce a molecule that will meet the EPA threshold. “It bothers me that I can’t get the lead detection lower,” he says. “The compounds are good enough that you want to patent and protect the molecule, but they aren’t there yet." "If I had a team of grad students
TECTION working on this full time, we could knock out 200 compounds and find the one that would. I’m sure of it.” When Zimmerman presented his research to the Getty College of Arts & Sciences advisory board, the feedback he received was that he should go on “Shark Tank.” The simplicity of what his molecule does, the way it does it and the public’s awareness of the need for a product that will give people peace of mind that their water is safe to drink makes a compelling case for this technology’s future.
But even without a commercial product, the molecule has paid dividends. The students who worked in Zimmerman’s lab were all co-authors on all of the papers he submitted to peer-reviewed journals. Olivia Johntony, BS ’15; Daniel Steigerwald, BS ’15; Cody Criss, BS ’16; Shelby Evans, BS ’17; Mary Ernst, BS ’17; Megan Nieszala, BS ’18; Alex Stafford, BS ’18; and Jonathan Szczerba, BS ’18; many of whom are in graduate programs, showed up on the first day with peer-reviewed publications on their CVs.
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“It would be rewarding to see this research result in a product that makes a difference in improving the quality of life for people,” Zimmerman says. “In many ways, this whole adventure really captures what science means to me. You keep following the process and see where it takes you.”
“That’s what I’m proudest of —these students,” says Zimmerman. “They put in so much time. They did so much of the synthesis work. That experience is what separates them from their peers.” Hopefully, the day never comes where lead contamination in municipal water systems becomes a widespread concern, but America’s infrastructure isn’t getting any newer. Should Zimmerman have the opportunity to refine his molecule further and meet the EPA threshold, peace of mind could someday be found on the shelves of your local superstore.
TACKLING INNOVATION
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W
hen a a company hangs its hat on producing something that hasn’t changed in more than 75 years, innovation is not the first word that comes to mind. But in the case of the Wilson Football Factory in Ada, Ohio, maybe it should be. The leather footballs manufactured there are special to American sports history. Wilson is the only game ball supplier the National Football League (NFL) has ever had. Since 1955, every point in the NFL has been scored with footballs made in Ada. That long history is sacred to the NFL, and as such, every effort has been made over the years to ensure that the records and statistics from previous eras of football remain pristine. While there have been rule changes that impact the way the game is played, Wilson has kept the football – the one thing required for every offensive statistic – unchanged. Until recently, that is. In 2015, Mike Springer, BS ’99, a process/manufacturing engineer at Wilson Sporting Goods, was part of a team looking at ways to integrate digital technology within the company’s traditional footballs, including “the Duke.” The Duke is the nickname of the NFL game ball. It is the crown jewel of Wilson’s product line, and it is so specialized that it’s still made by hand. Even the leather is highly scrutinized. Though commonly referred to as a pigskin, a football is actually cowhide, and the leather is procured from the same supplier in Chicago that provides Louis Vuitton with the leather for its high-end luxury purses and bags. But more than that, only a certain part of each hide is good enough for the Duke. According to Springer, the leather from the belly of the cow is softer and suppler. And while that sounds nice for a purse, it’s not great for a football due to its inherent elasticity. An NFL game ball is inflated to 13 pounds of pressure per square inch before it leaves the factory in Ada, but during the manufacturing process, in a step called “molding,” it is pumped to 120 psi to help tighten the stitching and achieve its final shape.
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ability to notice irregularities. Essentially, Wilson had two jobs: put the sensor in the ball and make it impossible to detect. Springer helped devise the plan to place a sensor in a location within the ball that worked structurally and protected it from the most intense impacts the ball endures. Importantly, the sensor was undetectable to players. By 2018, the Zebra system was used in every NFL game. All 30 NFL stadiums, along with Wembley Stadium in London, England, and Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Mexico, were outfitted with the technology. Every one of the footballs Wilson provided the NFL had a sensor in it. The era of analytics had arrived in the NFL. “Now there are sensors not only in the shoulder pads and in the footballs, but all referees and umpires have sensors on them as well. And they even have sensors in the end zone pylons, the field goal posts, and the chain gangs on the sideline. There are sensors all over the field,” says Springer. The analytics generated by the Zebra/NFL partnership are fueling innovation on the field, and entertainment off it. Now that the curtain has been peeled back from what big data can contribute to the NFL, Wilson is interested in seeing how far its new connected football technology can go. In addition to supplying NFL game balls, Wilson is also a major supplier of leather footballs to NCAA, high school and youth leagues. In these developmental environments, Wilson envisioned an opportunity to use data from its footballs to help players get better, instead of just documenting performance. With that idea in mind, the Wilson X-Pro Connected Training System was born.
In evaluating how to best integrate digital technology into a football, Springer was tasked with looking at both the ball materials and the manufacturing process. In 2014, a company named Zebra partnered with the NFL to begin tracking players’ movements during games. The Zebra system works by implementing two RFID chips in the right and left shoulder pads, which then relay information to a series of receivers mounted to the top of the teams’ stadiums. When interpreted through computer programs, the player on the field became a dot on the screen. This initial foray into individual player data collection provided the NFL with the first of its Next Gen Stats, which show fans the speed of players, the amount of ground covered during a game, and where and when a player moved on the field. For fans, it’s fun to see how fast their favorite player can run, and for coaches and team personnel, it can show them how accurately their players are running plays. But without the ball being represented in the data as well, the picture was incomplete. That’s when Zebra provided Wilson with a small electronic sensor and a simple request – put it inside the Duke. For Wilson, this was easier said than done. NFL quarterbacks rely on feel, and they have an uncanny
According to Daniel Hare, senior engineer for Wilson’s Advanced Innovation team, new uses for the data the X-Pro delivers are being discovered all the time. “A lot of teams are really interested in learning about the time it takes the ball to reach the quarterback in a shotgun snap. That’s not necessarily something we envisioned when we started developing the technology,” says Hare. “Another really important use for the system is using it to assess players’ recovery from injury. If a quarterback is rehabbing, a team can look at the rehab data and compare it to pre-injury data to see how close he is to 100 percent. Obviously, comparing multiple quarterback prospects for the NFL draft is huge as well.” The X-Pro technology is impacting the company’s own research and development as well. The data is actually teaching them about their own
TAC K L I N G I N N OVAT I O N
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Only the leather from the back of the cow is tough enough. And as Springer will tell you, consistency is key when it comes to making the best football in the world.
The X-Pro is a technology system that Wilson can manufacture into any of their high-end leather footballs. It is comprised of an in-ball sensor and accompanying software package to record and interpret data. The X-Pro collects information pertaining to the mechanics of a football in flight. Wilson’s sensor measures spin rate, spiral efficiency, release time, launch angle, velocity and throw count. Once the data is interpreted and visualized into charts and graphs, the X-Pro system offers deep yet accessible insights into a quarterback’s performance. The system delivers data that helps a team evaluate arm strength and quarterback mechanics, while also more efficiently analyzing the success of pass plays.
products and giving them insight into what design changes can be applied to make a better-performing football. As a supplier to major college programs with a wide product line, Wilson uses X-Pro-equipped balls for what they call ball fitting, the testing process teams use to decide which model of football they want to use. In the past, ball fitting was purely subjective. Football is still a traditionalist sport, and some colleges pick their ball based on the color of the leather or the style of laces. The X-Pro data lets Wilson reps show coaches how their quarterbacks perform with different balls and lets them make educated, analytical decisions.
QB1 QB2 QB3 QB4
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From left: ONU alumni Ryan Ulrey, BS ’07, and Mike Springer, BS ’99.
“There is a huge difference between the data of a broken in ball and a new ball,” says Hare. /14
Spiral Efficiency (%)
X-Pro data has also confirmed what was long believed to be true – that a “broken in” ball performs better than a brand-new ball. NFL quarterbacks are notorious for the lengths they go through to get a ball the way they like it. They’ve been known to soak them in water, bury them in the ground, scuff them up with a stiff-bristle brush for hours upon hours, and even rub them with coffee grounds.
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Ryan Ulrey, BS ’07, a manufacturing engineer at Wilson’s Ada factory, is an expert on breaking in footballs, or as he calls it, “putting a couple hours of love into it.” It’s just one of the many skills he’s developed over his 13 years at Wilson. Ulrey’s duties range from building manufacturing equipment, to improving manufacturing processes, to ball customization and creating all the stamping dies for the graphics that find their way onto NFL footballs. There is probably no better person in the world to help create a new leather football, which is why he played a key role in the development of Wilson’s flagship college and high school game ball, the GST Prime.
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The GST Prime isn’t constrained by 75 years of history like the Duke, so Wilson had free reign to design a revolutionary ball from the ground up. “We are trying to make a football that anybody can throw,” says Ulrey. “The goal has always been to engineer a ball that holds a tight spiral no matter who throws it.” To that end, Wilson incorporated additional stitching into the leather to provide more areas to grip the football. The Duke has laces across the top and nothing else for the skin on the hand to hold on to. It doesn’t even have stripes, which provide college and high school players a nominal level of additional grip. It’s one of the reasons breaking in a ball is so important. The balls are shipped with a protective coat of wax that makes the ball slick. Once it’s removed, the balls become tackier to the touch. The GST Prime has more pronounced stitching on the stripes and additional stitching on the ends of the ball and around the laces, meaning a quarterback with smaller hands or one who has to throw the ball quickly
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(under three seconds) doesn’t have to catch the ball perfectly in order to grip it and throw it well.
for Wilson to see how well the data could be visualized and turned into useful information for ONU football coaches.
Springer is actually working on building a machine to produce a lace-less version of the Duke because the NFL game has become so fast-paced that quarterbacks don’t always have time to grip the laces. Wilson made the first lace-less ball about five years ago for current Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden to use at his quarterback camps. Since then, they have made a few dozen per year for various teams all completely by hand.
This year, Eaton and fellow senior Jordan Heitkamp will be using the X-Pro software for their senior capstone project. They are going to start the preliminary work on new use cases that Hare would love to see become part of the X-Pro software package.
Since all of their research told them that grip was key to throwing a football well, and since breaking in a ball is the key to grip, Wilson wanted a way to help consumers prepare their footballs so they perform at their best. They left the “how” to Ulrey. In fact, all decisions about how to manufacture a Wilson leather football are made by the team in Ada. Ulrey utilized a machine he uses for imprinting graphics onto footballs to apply what Wilson calls the “prep gauge.” The process, known as ghosting, is typically used to apply shading to a custom graphic to give it depth. It darkens the leather the same way that scuffing up a ball with a stiff-bristle brush does. Ulrey realized that by ghosting a pattern on the ball, they could give consumers an idea of how long to scuff up their ball. When the prep gauge disappears, the ball is ready.
The X-Pro is proving to be so popular that Wilson is having difficulty finding the time to develop more use cases within the software.
It’s kind of a dream come true for Eaton, a die-hard Kansas City Chiefs fan, who would love to work for a sports team someday. He knows that he’s involved at the leading edge of a growing area in data science, working with technology that is already an industry standard. In fact, his work this year will actively add to it by laying the foundation for a new use case. “Computer science graduates from across the country have knowledge of many of the same programming languages and concepts that I have, so I see this as a way to really differentiate myself because very few people will be able to say they have worked with this technology, let alone potentially design a part of it. The combination of the unique experience and my career interests made this a perfect chance to develop practical skills and have a blast while doing it,” says Eaton. Hare returned to ONU in May to upgrade the X-Pro system firmware with the latest version. When asked if any other college is using the X-Pro in their academic curriculum, he couldn’t think of any, and he would be the person to know. ONU has 12 X-Pro-equipped GST Prime footballs that the Polar Bears will use in practices this upcoming season. That data will be analyzed and visualized by ONU students and provided back to ONU coaches, hopefully extending the competitive advantage of ONU and the company’s collaboration beyond the classroom and back onto the field where you might have expected it.
“The X-Pro sensor is basically just a recording device, and it does a really good job of recording everything. There is so much data to sift through. Our software distills that information down to recognizable use cases related to throwing a football. So things like how fast a quarterback throws a ball, the trajectory of the throw, how tight the spiral is – things like that,” Hare says. “But there are far more use cases that we want to develop software for. The data is all there to do it.” This fall, Ohio Northern is launching a new major in data analytics housed under the Center for Interdisciplinary Sciences in the Getty College of Arts & Sciences. The program, thanks to ONU’s favorite neighbor, is positioned to become an attractive destination for data analytics students due to its access to the X-Pro technology. Dr. Naeem Seliya, associate professor of computer science, is incorporating it in ECCS 2011-Introduction to Data Science beginning this fall. Seliya learned of the project last year from engineers at the factory. And last fall, Hare spoke at an ONU Association of Computer Machinery (ACM) chapter meeting. He later advised then-junior Kenneth Eaton on an honors program project test-driving the technology
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From left: ONU football players Tyler Smith and Chase Rose practice with X-Pro-equipped GST Prime footballs.
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The GST Prime made its debut in NCAA football last fall at just three schools, one from each division. Wilson stuck with its hometown allegiances by selecting Ohio State University (Division I), the University of Findlay (Division II) and Ohio Northern University (Division III) to test sensorless versions of the GST Prime. By all accounts, the balls were a hit. This spring, the OSU football program utilized the GST Prime with the X-Pro technology in workouts, joining a who’s who of major college programs in adopting the technology.
“This project will be a lot more hands-on than the one I did last semester because Wilson has not yet developed the technology for it. We will start with a list of raw numbers read out from the sensor itself, and we will need to find a way for the system to determine what happened,” Eaton says.
True North ONU ALUMNA ROSE PREVITE HAS FOLLOWED A CIRCUITOUS COURSE TO SUCCESS. AND IN THE END, THE DETOURS ALONG THE WAY ARE WHAT MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE. Rose Previte, BA ’03, is living her best life. Her new restaurant, Maydan, is a bona fide beltway hotspot. How hot, you ask? Eater.com christened Rose and her team “The Fire Gods of Washington, D.C.” for their searing take on North African and Middle Eastern cuisine. Bon Appétit went even further, naming it America’s No. 2 best new restaurant in 2018. Maydan garnered a James Beard nomination, is listed as a Bib Gourmand in the esteemed Michelin Guide and was featured in Food & Wine’s May 2018 “Restaurants of the Year” issue. Rose herself even graced the cover of The Washington Post’s spring dining guide, which listed Maydan No. 6 on its list of the top 30 capital eateries.
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IT’S BEEN QUITE A RIDE, BUT IT’S A JOURNEY THAT BEGAN BEFORE ROSE WAS EVEN BORN.
Her Sicilian father, Peter Previte, JD ’73, met her Lebanese mother, Jeanne, in Detroit, Mich., while he was a pharmacy student at Wayne State University. Rose’s parents were from two very distinct food cultures, but they both loved to cook and share their culinary heritage with others. In 1968, Peter accepted a position teaching pharmacy at Ohio Northern University, far from the established Middle Eastern population of Detroit. For the next few years he would make the trip north whenever he wanted to taste the Lebanese cuisine he’d grown to love.
By 1975, Peter had earned his law degree from ONU and opened a law office in Ada, Ohio. Jeanne then made the permanent move to Ada, and together they added new flavors to their new hometown, including little Rose. As a child, the rituals of preparing and then consuming meals were integral parts of her family life. Jeanne ran a catering company out of the house and then a restaurant in Bluffton, Ohio. Peter’s side hustle involved a closely guarded family recipe for Italian sausage. Working various area festivals and fairs, Rose remembers entire weekends devoted to preparing and selling these dishes. Whereas finding ingredients for Lebanese meals presented few challenges in Detroit, Ada didn’t offer easy access to things like halal meat and sumac. So, to get what Jeanne needed, the Prevites traveled the well-worn path back to Detroit. Rose looked forward to these trips, their “little treks” to see family and stock up on supplies. These monthly voyages for dishes and recipes served as a prelude to the inspiration behind Rose’s later successes. She learned at a young age the importance of seeking authenticity.
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After graduating from Ohio Northern in 2003 with degrees in public relations and Spanish, Rose earned a master’s degree in public policy from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. She wanted to be a lawyer like her father. She wanted to “save the world” as an immigration attorney. But instead of saving the world, she would end up serving it. While waiting tables in Washington, D.C., Rose met NPR journalist David Greene. They married and soon found themselves in Moscow. The couple called Russia home for three years while David was on assignment. “Three long, cold years,” she groans, remembering the frigid air and snow-covered terrain that greeted her in November 2009. Without a visa, Rose couldn’t work. Without the ability to speak Russian, she found it hard to communicate. Her solution? Dress warmly, find a furry hat and explore the world. “I was dreaming about the restaurant the whole time I was in Russia, because I wasn’t really working. I was just traveling, but I started scheming the restaurant. I wasn’t actively doing anything other than getting ideas together.” As her vision for what would become Compass Rose – the beltway eatery she opened on T Street in 2014 – took shape, Rose and David would reminisce about their favorite foods and memories from the 30 countries they visited over those three years.
“We have a lot of regulars who work for the state department, foreign service, well-traveled people, or people who grew up somewhere else. They love coming in because it feels like a little bit of home. Or it reminds them of trips that they’ve been on or places they’ve lived. And that’s the demographic of D.C. overwhelmingly. That feeling of connection is part of the success.” Maydan, opened in late 2017, is focused on the Middle East, and Rose explains that it’s very important for people to understand that none of the restaurant’s dishes are specific to a particular country. “This is a region. It goes beyond borders. And it’s why we should all get along. And when so many of those countries don’t, it’s ironic, but that’s kind of the statement we’re trying to make.”
“I think my strength is with the people, and making people feel comfortable and at home. Because when you make it feel comfortable, you make it a gathering place with friends. When you move to a n e w c i t y a n d y o u d o n ’ t k n o w a n y b o d y, that can be a ver y hard thing to do.”
It seems that, inside Rose, there was always a restauranteur yearning to break free. The pieces were all there. She just broke the rules along the way.
Rose took a circuitous route to even get the restaurants off the ground. Both restaurants are housed in unconventional settings. Compass Rose is in a rowhouse, flanked by neighbors who initially feared she was opening a nightclub or bar.
“I’m completely nontraditional. Typically, people train to be a chef, they work in kitchens, they open a restaurant. Or they’re a manager for many, many years, and they know how to run every aspect of a restaurant, and then they open their own restaurant.”
"I wanted to do things differently, like put a restaurant in a rowhouse. Like, no one does that. And it’s very difficult actually. But I was determined that that’s where it was supposed to be. So, construction was harder because it’s not a traditional space."
Rose skipped a lot of the steps. Sure, she made snow cones for the concession stands during ONU basketball camps. (“I was a very good snow cone maker,” she notes.) She sold the renowned Previte sausages during Ada’s Harvest and Herb Festival. She spent two years serving at the Olive Garden in nearby Lima, Ohio. But she never wanted to be a chef.
Without endless funds, Rose did many things herself. And while great learning experiences, they were difficult. Her public policy master’s degree and even some of her studies at Northern helped her obtain her own paperwork. “A lot of people pay people to go get building permits, occupancy permits, liquor licenses. But I just did it myself, which is kind of crazy because it’s really hard to do.”
What she did want to do, however, was develop harmony through dining. “That’s kind of my philosophy. At the end of the day, I just love bringing people together. And over food and drink, I feel, is when you get people at their most real, because they’re doing this very vulnerable act of eating and drinking. It’s something that all cultures share. This is something that all cultures do. It’s something that binds us all together.”
Maydan is housed in a challenging location, too. In the 1880s, the space served as a service center for street cars. Then, it was a printing plant. After that, in the 1920s, it was an industrial laundry facility. As such, the ceilings are very high and feature more than a century’s worth of hardware in the rafters. “Most people would not have looked at this thing, this mess of beams and rust, and seen an exhaust system. But I did. I can’t tell you why. To this day
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“Memory and food were one and the same for us. We would say, ‘Remember that time when we got lost in Sicily and went down that dark alley, but then we thought we were going to die but then actually found the best pizza we’ve ever had before?’ It was stuff like that.”
At any given moment, diners will find between 15 and 19 countries represented on the small Compass Rose menu. Rose herself admits that this is unusual, but with an international populace like that found in D.C., this variety is part of the restaurant’s success, especially when that variety includes hard-to-find dishes atypical of American establishments.
I don’t know. I just looked at it and asked the realtor if there was a hole in the roof. If this contraption I could see, if it exited on the roof, and she confirmed that it did. I was like, that’s where my fire’s going to go.” And that’s how Maydan wound up with a fiery hearth in the center of the building. No one thought it could be done, but Rose was determined. She worked to make it completely code-compliant, and she wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. It’s become a huge deal and helped land Maydan on a number of “best restaurants” lists. “But that wouldn’t have happened if I had listened to people when they said it couldn’t be done. So I think, for whatever reason, I like new concepts. I came at it very differently. And it’s really hard to get people to believe that you can do it that way. But I finally did. I showed them.” Inside, both restaurants feature many pieces from Rose’s travels. There’s a lot of repurposed items, too. “Like old wood that people would have thrown away. Old materials of any kind. Old doors, old window frames. I re-use things instead of buying new, which also makes a big difference.”
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As a result, both places are comfortable, casual and beautiful. The interiors are as enticing as the food. Rose describes Compass Rose as a “shabby chicness” and Maydan as “a mid-century modern meets the Middle East.” “There’s zero pretension. Beyond the food, beyond the drinks, the vibe in here is really cool. I think I’ve been successful with what I really wanted, which was bringing cool people together in a space. And there’s a certain energy when you walk in to both restaurants that you can’t miss. And people want to be there. It makes them feel cool; it makes them feel like they’re somewhere special. And I think at the end of the day, that’s what most people want. They want to be part of something. I think both restaurants are more than just restaurants.” Compass Rose’s menu began during her travels while based in Russia, but it still sees tweaks, updates and revisions based on new inspirations. In early 2019, Rose took her two executive chefs and her sous chef to Mexico City for a food reconnaissance mission. “We spent three days eating and just learning the flavors. My chefs are so much more equipped to go back
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and recreate the food because they’ve been there.” Before that, a trip to Oman and the Persian Gulf yielded three different dishes for the Maydan menu and two on the Compass Rose menu that changed the week she and her chefs returned – “while the flavors were fresh in our heads.”
“I THINK ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS A VERY SCARY T HING, AND W HEN YOU CRE AT E SOMET HING F R O M N O T H I N G , YO U H AV E N O I D E A I F I T ’ S G O I N G T O W O R K , A N D YO U H AV E N O I D E A I F
”I do think that a lot of people were proven wrong at the beginning. We were really thoughtful about it. And it’s been tested over time, and it’s working.” Next up for Rose is a cookbook that
P E O P L E A R E G O I N G T O L I K E I T. W H E N I WA S
she is in the process of writing. And, as
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a once-a-month visitor to Los Angeles,
WORRIED IT WOULDN’T WORK, PEOPLE
Calif., she’s dabbling with the idea of opening a third restaurant on the West
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Coast. “I have this dream of having a The development of Maydan’s menu W O U L D N ’ T L I K E I T , I W O U L D N ’ T B E A B L E T O also involved a culinary field trip, this compass rose, a restaurant on every P A Y M Y I N V E S T O R S B A C K . I T W A S R E A L LY time to the Middle East to consult with point of the compass. LA would be S C A R Y. B U T I W I L L S AY T H AT P E R S E V E R I N G the real experts. Rose is Lebanese. It’s my western point.” the food she grew up with. But her T H R O U G H I T W A S O B V I O U S LY O N E O F T H E It’s a fun thought experiment to envichefs had not. So her team went on sion a Rose Previte restaurant in Los a five-country tour in preparation – to B I G G E S T G R O W T H E X P E R I E N C E S O F M Y L I F E . ” North Africa, the Middle East and then Angeles. Which of her travels would the Caucuses. “You have to feel this food. This is soul food. You can’t just be most reflected in such a space? Regardless of the cuisine, you can count read a recipe. We learned from actual grandmas in their kitchens. And that’s on it being a destination restaurant – in more ways than one. It’s certain real. And that’s why it’s so authentic. You don’t get more real than grandma to be a continuation of Rose’s childhood experiences with food, the path teaching you how to make these dishes. So you can tell that the meals are she’s followed as an adult, the journey that began in Sicily and Lebanon authentic. We don’t have fancy plating. It doesn’t feel fancy. It just feels real.” with stops in New Jersey and Detroit – and the launching pad of Ada, Ohio. She met a ton of skepticism from people who thought she was too young, too female, too inexperienced. They thought she was jumping on the latest trend, that she didn’t have the strength to follow through. “Everyone was like, oh you’re one of those people. Because I hadn’t done it traditionally, I didn’t have years of experience running a big restaurant; I wasn’t a chef. People said, ‘You’re just one of those people who’s going to go into this and think it’s dreamy, and then when you see how hard it is, you’re not going to make it.’” The pushback seemed to be without end. Some chefs wouldn’t work at either restaurant because the menu is very challenging. Some critics thought the flavors would clash because they’re so different.
Indeed, the young woman who set out to save the world ended up serving it, in more ways than one. For most of the patrons of Compass Rose and Maydan, Rose Previte serves up an exotic culinary adventure full of exciting new aromas and flavors. But for the fortunate few, she serves an authentic taste of home, as vivid in memories as it is in spices. Only someone like Rose could make such complex connection through food. Only a traveler who genuinely loves the world represented on her menu can breathe life into a restaurant that speaks to the soul as much as the palette. Only a visionary would bet that our shared culture of sharing a meal is stronger than the individual cultures we come from. Only a fighter could turn such an idea into reality in one of the toughest markets in the
Rose, herself, contended with self-doubt – and still does.
world, twice over.
But then, Rose put her heart and soul into it. Applying hard work to her vision, both Compass Rose and Maydan have become wildly successful – to the excitement and surprise of many.
But then, that’s Rose, the small-town girl who made it big by making the world seem so small.
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Michelle Stratton, BSN ’17
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“I believe you.” These are the most important words that a victim of sexual assault needs to hear. After experiencing the astonishing trauma that comes with being victimized, everything can seem surreal, especially at first. Did this really just happen to me? Should I speak up at all? What will happen if I do? A visible shift has recently taken place to assuage these fears in victims’ minds, no matter who is asking themselves these questions. In 2017, the rise of the #MeToo movement showed victims of sexual assault that no matter how much power, influence or wealth their abuser has, they deserve to be heard. More victims are coming forward. More are being believed. But while celebrity victims receive outpourings of support via social media, it’s often a different story for the average Joe or Jane. Depending on the circumstances and the resources available, a victim may not have access to a system that believes and supports them. Even if they do, they may not know it exists. Consider the state of Ohio. Out of 237 hospitals and 13 health systems in the state, only about 75 programs are equipped to properly treat and
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gather evidence from victims of sexual assault. Even for those programs that do exist, many of them are severely under-supported. What this means is that the majority of sexual assault victims who visit an emergency room in Ohio may never see a nurse who has received specialized training in caring for them. Few know this better than Michelle Stratton, BSN ’17, coordinator of the sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) program at Blanchard Valley Health System in Findlay, Ohio, and a survivor of abuse herself. For 10 years, she was caught in a physically and emotionally abusive marriage. After breaking free of the cycle of violence in 2010, she heeded a calling to become a forensic nurse to care for victims of violence. In 2018, the Ohio Chapter of the International Association of Forensic Nurses named her the Forensic Nurse of the Year for her efforts to establish more effective sexual assault triage. In 2000, Stratton found herself in the midst of a sexual assault situation involving a family member that introduced her to the protocols hospitals follow for cases of assault. As an expert in the field today, she looks back at that experience with regret. “There wasn’t a SANE available at that hospital, and so my family member was checked by a physician, and there was not a sexual assault kit completed,” she says. “I didn’t even know that there was a sexual assault kit that could’ve been done, or photos that could’ve been taken, or evidence collected. I didn’t know any of that existed.” On top of that, her family member had not received the immediate, specialized care needed to deal with the emotional aftermath of the trauma experienced.
Fast forward to 2016. After more than five years as a SANE, Stratton took on the role of part-time SANE coordinator. The state of the program was deficient. It lacked the capacity and resources it needed to adequately serve victims (as did nearly all SANE programs across the country). There were only two to three SANEs who, when they weren’t on shift, had to be on call virtually every hour of the day. Often, the hospital had to turn sexual assault victims away because there was no SANE available.
about sex, it’s about power and control,” Stratton says. “And once that patient comes into the ER, we start to give them that power back.”
Stratton knew things needed to change, and the first thing she needed to do was find funding. That same year, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office conducted a needs analysis on hospitals and found that SANE programs were desperately under-supported if they even existed at all. Through federal Victims of Crime Act funds, Ohio opened up millions of dollars in grants to hospitals to fund their SANE programs. Stratton applied for the grant, and her hospital was awarded $198,000 per year for three years.
But as much as Stratton could do from the hospital side, she also knew that she couldn’t make a real difference just by herself. She knew she needed to connect all the stakeholders in the fight against sexual assault, from the first step in the process to the last. This meant building a network within her community between the hospital, shelters for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, law enforcement officers, and court officials.
Next, Stratton transformed the patient experience. The sexual assault examination room had previously been within the chaotic epicenter of the ER. She had it moved to a quieter, more private location in the main part of the hospital. Patients received a robe instead of a hospital gown. She replaced outdated décor and the sterile feel of the room with warm colors on the walls and a special bed that feels more like a chair than an examination table. Since their clothes have to be taken as evidence, patients receive a new outfit and a travel bag filled with personal hygiene items before leaving. On the surface, these changes may seem aesthetic, but they are much more than that. It’s about empowerment – helping these survivors reclaim something that’s far more valuable than comfort.
She started building relationships – meeting everyone in person, matching faces with names and figuring out how she could help make their respective jobs easier. She was also instrumental in shaping and refining Hancock County’s sexual assault response team. Her efforts have been felt throughout her community, but her ultimate goal is for every community to have access to the resources of a SANE program. Ryn Farmer, director of Day One Crime Victim Services in Lima, Ohio, has worked closely with Stratton and best characterizes this shared purpose:
In May, Elizabeth “Liza” (Fomum) Ekole, PharmD ’06, returned to Harvard University for the third year to speak at the Global Health Catalyst Summit, a premier yearly event dedicated to catalyzing high-impact international collaborations and initiatives to eliminate global health disparities. When she thinks about where she’s come from – an ambitious young immigrant from Africa – to where she is now – leading a workshop at the Harvard Global Health Catalyst Diaspora Leadership Academy – she can’t help but think about how her wide range of experiences contributed to her journey. Ekole was born and raised in the West African nation of Cameroon. Even from a young age, her family could see the brilliant potential degree emanating from her spirit. Her father, Hon. Dr. P.A. Fomum, especially, could see what she couldn’t see in herself, and before his untimely death at age 56, he revealed a premonition he believed in deeply – she would become a doctor someday. Ekole doubled that vision, earning a doctor of pharmacy and a doctor of philosophy degree. She would carry with her these foundational lessons and values first as a clinical hospital pharmacist and later as the owner of a retail pharmacy in Michigan. Every day, she was speaking with patients, listening to their problems, doing the real “boots on the ground” work that pharmacists do.
“There are still many communities without such services, and we must continue working to ensure equitable and accessible services for all survivors of sexual violence. The Dear Sister Anthology [Letters from Survivors of Sexual Violence] says, ‘Survival is a testament to someone’s strength. Healing is a testament to the community surrounding her.’ Survivors are brave. They are resilient. But it is up to us – the community – to show them, show us, that we are here. We see them. We believe them.”
“What we know about sexual assault is that it’s not Dr. Elizabeth “Liza” (Fomum) Ekole, PharmD ’06
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The grant money allowed Stratton to solve one of the most pressing challenges to SANE programs – availability. Assaults occur at any hour of the day, so Stratton increased her staff from two or three nurses to 10, ensuring that the SANE unit truly was available to patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The way Stratton and her fellow SANE nurses do this is by putting the patient in control of what happens in the examination room. Nothing happens without the patient’s consent, and in a compassionate yet objective manner, nurses make it clear from the beginning that the patient is in charge of the process and the outcome.
DR. DR. LIZA
After a few years, she sold her pharmacy to Walgreens and moved up in her career to become director of a hospital pharmacy. Yet, as her career evolved, she kept noticing an alarming trend – a collaborative disconnect between health care professionals.
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“Studies have shown that billions of dollars are wasted yearly due to lack of collaboration between pharmacists and physicians. When I decided to pursue a Ph.D. in health services leadership, I was looking for ways to bring intelligent collaboration into the health care field. I wanted to bridge that gap within the health care industry,” she says. Ekole’s personal journey resulted in an epiphany. She realized that the real path to providing better service to patients is by being a better collaborator and communicator. Similarly, institutionally providing better care is more about improving collaboration between various teams of health care professionals. But the question of “What can I do differently?” remained. That’s when Ekole started to take an interest in learning about how organizations work. She looked within health care and at other industries to see what solutions may exist. As she explored further outward and examined more complex organizational structures, she realized that the real key to changing a mammoth system is right back with the individual. It’s what led her to coin the Double Rhodium Rule®. In Christianity, the Bible verse found in Luke 6:31, “Do to others as you would have them do to you,” is more commonly known as the Golden Rule. Many religions have their own version of this saying, and it has long served as a baseline societal more in human civilizations. However, as society has become more complex, and as we have achieved a greater understanding of human psychology in this relational age, some have sought to refine the Golden Rule. The Platinum Rule, coined in 1996 states, “Treat people how they want to be treated.” It replaced the assumption within the Golden Rule that someone would want the same
thing you do. It was refined to the Double Platinum Rule in 2007, and to the Rhodium Rule in 2010 (“inspire oneself so others will be inspired to consider one’s ability to help another improve his or her own situation”). Ekole’s Double Rhodium Rule® states simply, “Know yourself, understand others and inspire others in ways they don’t even know they can be inspired without asking ‘how.’” This ideology is the basis for what Ekole calls Collaborative Relational Intelligence® (cRQ). In her doctoral studies, she learned that IQ only accounts for 4 to 10 percent of what we do in our professional lives; the rest comes from how we relate to one another. One’s cRQ has to be intentional and is a combination of self-awareness, the ability to understand others, and the value gained from those differences that results in win-win collaboration. As president and founder of Collaborative Relational Intelligence® Leadership, Inc., Ekole is a certified executive coach, a certified diversity and inclusion professional, and a highly sought after speaker. She uses the Double Rhodium Rule® and cRQ to shape and mold future generations of leaders, from entry-level employees to C-suite executives. cRQ breaks new ground in emotional intelligence (EQ) and is fast becoming the new competitive edge in health care and other organizations. Ekole’s simple, practical and inspiring leadership methodology is designed to break walls erected based on false assumptions. This powerful leadership concept has been adopted as approved leadership training for many organizations, perhaps most notably Harvard University, which approved it for continuing medical education (CME) at Harvard Medical School.
Fortune 25 company. Covering her main client, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, she facilitates the collaboration between physicians and her client using her trademark concepts. “When I graduated from Ohio Northern, I wanted to become a pharmacist and then just work. But as I stepped deeper into the health care world, I realized there was an area between education and providing care to my patients. That’s where the communication and collaboration need to happen for positive outcomes to be possible. That’s why I came up with cRQ and teach the philosophy today.” On a daily basis, Ekole works with a clientele characterized by diversity. It’s fitting because her own journey has spanned multiple continents, socioeconomic circles, work environments and educational experiences. After leaving Africa, she arrived in New Jersey in 1997 and soon after moved to a Cameroonian community in Michigan. The foundation of discipline her parents had instilled in her sustained her. She often worked two or three jobs at a time at places like McDonalds and Coney Island. She would sleep no more than four hours a night, and then it was off to work or off to class. For Ekole, her time at Northern was “my first time in America that I just really enjoyed life.” There was no bouncing from job to job or burning both ends of the candle; although, she did burn some midnight oil on occasion at Heterick Memorial Library.
“I work with diversity and inclusion because it starts with personality. I realized that when you start talking to people about how different they are and unique in their personality, they are more welcome to diversity around them, whether it is gender diversity or racial diversity,” she says. “So my focus is there – first it's personality, then gender and racial/cultural diversity follows. Participants always attest to having an epiphany after sitting through a presentation or workshop on cRQ.”
She calls these years, and really, all of her life, a series of “little, tiny steps.” She's still on a path her parents helped her envision all those years ago and glad that her mother Mrs. T. A. Fomum got to see her fulfill her dreams. She is also thankful for the incessant support of her husband Alphonse Ekole, MD, and three children, Ndialle, Hanna and Abigail. Apart from her work in pharmacy and leadership training, Liza and Alphonse run the Ekole Fountain of Hope Missions, which provides development assistance in Cameroon, and for which she won the Harvard Aid Impact Award in 2016 for philanthropic activities.
Today, Ekole works as a senior clinical consultant of physician engagement for Express Scripts, a
“I think God has just blessed me beyond measure,” she says.
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That’s how the yearning set in. “A lot of people come to NASA because they want to send things into space – come up with an idea and then see it turn from paper to hardware and then fly to space,” she says. “That’s something that I really wanted – that hands-on developing something from beginning to end.”
all done in the isolated vacuum of a test cell, part of theoretical testing that may or may not ever make it into space.
GAME CHANGERS
The ALBus team, which had by then doubled in size, was shooting for a significant first for CubeSats, a significant increase in power capacity. Because of their limitations in size and weight, CubeSats typically operate within a power range of 5-20 watts. ALBus’ primary mission was to demonstrate the power management and distribution of a 100-watt electrical system. A secondary objective was to test a new mechanism for deploying solar arrays. Previously, most CubeSats only had one option. Prior to launch, they had to be tied down with thin wire, and once the CubeSat reached space, the wire was then “cut” with a thermal knife to release the arrays. This method could not be tested prior to use – you had one shot and you hoped it worked. ALBus’s system was unique in that it could be re-set, which allowed for greater design flexibility, additional pre-flight testing and the ability to make last minute changes. The project hit a snag just days before the team was set to ship ALBus to Rocket Labs, NASA’s launch partner who would be providing the CubeSat’s ride to space on its Electron rocket. Working with a power system five-times more powerful than the norm had taken its toll, and the team detected a failure in the main battery pack. They rallied together on their own to rig up a replacement battery they’d previously used for testing, just in time for ALBus to be shipped out as scheduled. ALBus was one of 10 CubeSats on the Electron rocket that Oriti watched blast into space. About four hours after the launch, the team received their first signal from ALBus. She’d finally done it – concept to flight.
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Oriti’s big dream would come in a small package. About the size of a loaf of bread, a CubeSat is a miniature, lightweight satellite. The first CubeSats were launched in the early 2000s and had roughly the same Katie (Shaw) Oriti, BSME ’06 capabilities as Sputnik. Now, photo credit - Bridgette Caswell from NASA Glenn Research Center CubeSats are being used by all types of entities – governmental, commercial and academic alike – as low-cost avenues to test new, cutting-edge technology DREAMING SMALL in space. A big part of their appeal is their low 1:33 a.m. EST, Dec. 16, 2018 — Cleveland, Ohio. weight and small size, making them perfect to fill Katie (Shaw) Oriti, BSME ’06, sits wide awake, the voids in large payload missions. In fact, NASA’s her eyes glued to her living room TV screen taking CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) is intended to in the surreal scene playing out on New Zealand’s do just that. If a rocket is going to space that Mahia Peninsula nearly half a world away. There, “has room” aboard, NASA will fill that space with a rocket is about to launch into space carrying CubeSats, essentially letting them hitch a ride a machine that’s been her life for four years, the into space for free in the name of science. Advanced Electrical Bus (ALBus) cube satellite (CubeSat). As she watches Rocket Lab’s Electron Oriti’s introduction to CubeSats came in an email rocket lift off from its platform, there’s just one from the senior administrator at NASA Glenn announcing an opportunity to participate in the thought on her mind. CSLI. She and five other early-career engineers "Let’s make it to space" are words Oriti has been volunteered for the project. The only instructions telling herself ever since she began her aerospace were that the mission be value-added in some career as an engineering contractor at NASA’s way to NASA Glenn, NASA as a whole and the Glenn Research Center 11 years ago. Currently CubeSat community. They had to come up with a project manager working on NASA’s Orion the rest, and it had to be strong enough to earn mission, she’s climbed the ladder in a roundabout a spot in the CSLI. way – from mechanical test engineer to thermal engineer to systems engineer. But while all these Soon after submitting their proposal to the CSLI, jobs were rich in hands-on experience, they all they found out that they were selected, making had something else in common, too – they were them the team that would develop the first launch
mission in over two decades to be entirely run by NASA Glenn.
CubeSat missions have communicated their interest in the mechanism, and Oriti indicates that another CubeSat mission could be in the works at NASA Glenn to try a second iteration of the SMA mechanism.
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The days, weeks and months after the launch would cloud the team’s early success, however. With that first signal, 50 percent of the mission’s objectives had been achieved – the solar arrays and radio antennas had successfully deployed using the new mechanism. But that first signal would be the only reading they received. Although they waited and searched for months thereafter, they would never hear from ALBus again. Oriti and the team believe that the 100-watt power system likely caused the replacement battery to fail. Since it had been used for testing, the battery was less than ideal for flight. It evidently maintained enough of a charge to send out that first beacon, but nothing after it.
Typically, when people think about the future of space exploration, they think big – colonizing the moon, sending humans to Mars. Orion, the series of missions Oriti has been working on for the majority of her 11-year aerospace career, aims to do precisely that – send humans into deep space. While the value of such missions is unmistakable, she often thinks, where would I be now without ALBus? Oriti is one of the youngest project managers in her field, and she didn’t get there by being part of an earth-shattering first or flagship mission – she got there by dreaming small.
But there was a silver lining. Ironically, the successful part of the mission was somewhat by happenstance. During the project’s development, Oriti had a chance encounter with Othmane Benafan, materials research engineer at NASA Glenn. Benafan had spent his career working with a NASA Glenn-proprietary substance called Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs), materials that can be deformed at low temperature and recover shape upon heating. When he heard about ALBus, Benafan discussed with the team ideas to utilize SMAs in a new concept design for CubeSat solar array deployment mechanisms. Oriti agreed to incorporate the novel mechanism design.
OPEN HEART
“If it’s a smaller scale project and you’re on a smaller budget, that usually means that you can take more risk,” she says. “Sometimes when you take risks, it works out.”
And the winner of the 2017 Legacy Award is… Dawn Ackerman. She smiled as she ascended the stage, adorned with a starry black background resembling the night sky with the words “Lead Boldly” emblazoned upon it. She looked out over the sprawling crowd – the attendees of the 2017 National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) annual conference, among them hundreds of VIPs from over 300 corporate partners – Apple, the Walt Disney Company, Procter & Gamble, American Airlines, to name but a few.
ALBus’ successful implementation of the SMA deployment mechanism has generated quite a buzz in the CubeSat community. Others planning
Dawn Ackerman, BS ’96, couldn’t help but think back to the first NGLCC annual conference she attended in San Francisco in 2005 as owner of
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EcoToner, a small ink toner business she started in 1997. Back then, the event had been little more than an informal social mixer meant to connect those on the forefront of the fight for LGBT business inclusion. There were only five corporate partners then, and the term “LGBT business enterprise certification” (LGBTBE), which had been created by the NGLCC just three years earlier, was largely unknown outside its own circles. By definition, the term designates a business that is majority owned, operated and controlled by an LGBT person or persons who are either U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. In simpler terms, it was a declaration to all that “this is who we are and this is what we do.” For a time, many in the LGBT community viewed the certification as a scarlet letter. Business owners were hesitant to christen their businesses with the term, fearing that it would hurt their businesses and cause them to lose clients. But Ackerman didn’t see it that way. What if we could make certification more than just a statement? What if we could make it something appealing, something that others want to be a part of? EcoToner had just obtained the LGBTBE certification when she attended the conference in ’05. As she mingled with other attendees, it was only a matter of time before someone asked her, “Have you met the guy who sells office furniture?” That man was George Pieper, the owner of an office furniture supply company based in Seattle, Wash. “It was very clear to me that he and I both had a passion for our local gay community businesses and that we both understood certification in a way that I think a lot of other people didn’t,” she says. “We finally decided that maybe together we would be stronger and have more opportunities.” In 2007, Ackerman and Pieper founded OutSmart Office Solutions, an LGBTBE-certified office supplies/furniture, interior design and space planning company specializing in environmentally
way to California with just $500 in her pocket and her own ambition. As she’s traveled from one end of the spectrum to the other, she’s found that she epitomizes one quality more than anything else – authenticity.
In 2013, OutSmart became the first LGBTBE-certified vendor to Office Depot, and earlier this year, it became a certified vendor on Amazon. The company also became a literal game changer in 2016 when it spearheaded a push to get LGBTowned businesses a seat at the table with the NFL to bid on business contracts for Super Bowl 50 in San Francisco, Calif. LGBT businesses have been included in every Super Bowl in every city since. OutSmart is currently working with a California water company as a result of legislation it helped pass for LGBT business inclusion with the California Public Utilities Commission. So who is this woman, and why does she do what she does? A country girl from southeastern Ohio, Ackerman came to Ohio Northern University in 1990 not knowing a soul. She worked tirelessly to put herself through college, and after graduating with a dual degree in biology and psychology, she drove all the
conservative campus was one of the hardest things she’s ever done, but once she did, she noticed that her voice and her actions were making a real difference for others like her. One incident at ONU will forever live etched in her memory. It was a phone call from a male student who was questioning his sexuality. He told her that he’d gone to the campus counseling center to talk, only to be turned away because they couldn’t “counsel for things like that.” Instead they gave him Ackerman’s number since she was well known across campus for being open about her identity. She’ll never forget how he poured his heart out to her. She stayed on the phone with him and let him say things out loud that he’d likely never said before. She listened to all of it and offered what words of encouragement she could. Over the next two decades, she would hear thousands of stories just like his, accounts of
T HGEA M JO E UCRHNAENYGHEO RM SE
The world has certainly changed since she first joined the fight – marriage equality was established in the United States, LGBT representation has increased in several arenas such as movies, TV shows, music and politics. Things have changed in the business world, too. The LGBTBE certification is thriving and growing – it’s now a point of pride for hundreds of organizations around the country, and more and more companies are pursuing it as part of their own diversity initiatives, thanks to Ackerman and her fellow activists. “It’s really important to finally have a voice in the business world for people to understand that our LGBT businesses contribute billions of dollars and create thousands of jobs in the American economy, and we should have a seat at the table,” she says. “We are building businesses that are successful, and we are helping people get jobs where they can come, be themselves and be the best people they can be – not come to work fearing that they’re going to get fired if they have a picture of their wife on their desk.” During women’s history month this March, Ackerman received two prestigious honors – one from the Golden Gate Business Association and the Hispanic Chambers of Commerce of San Francisco and one from the California Legislature Assembly. Both applauded her as a champion for LGBT business inclusion.
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“As a business owner, it is important for me to be my authentic self,” she says. “I need to be able to talk openly to my clients because, as with any relationDawn Ackerman with Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau ship, there has to be a level of trust and open communication. The and socially responsible products. OutSmart has last thing you want to do is have to hide things.” not only become a poster child for the LGBTBE certification, winning the NGLCC Supplier of the She first learned to embrace authenticity at ONU, Year Award in 2012, but it has been a trailblazer where she was one of the founding members in opening up more opportunities for all LGBTof Open Doors, the LGBTQA student organiowned businesses. zation on campus. Coming out at a traditionally
LGBT entrepreneurs she would meet. Many of them started their own businesses as a means of survival because they had to leave hostile work environments or were ostracized by their families. It stirred something inside her, and she knew from that very first time that she wanted to commit her life to making a safe space for people to be who they really are.
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RANK UP
Q&A WITH COACH TROY CHIEFARI ONU esports coach Troy Chiefari answers questions at an esports watch party last spring.
VARSITY ESPORTS PROGRAM BEGINS COMPETITION THIS FALL. Ohio Northern University’s long history of athletic prowess enters a whole new era as competitive gaming comes to campus. Esports is the newest, fastest-growing trend to hit collegiate athletics, and ONU is excited to announce it will launch an official varsity esports team this fall. Now, before you ask yourself – “Is this serious, or is it just an excuse to play video games at school?” – know that yes, it is very serious. Esports, unlike casual gaming, is not a hobbyist activity. It is a spectator sport like baseball, football and soccer with a growing fan base. The 2018 world championships for “League of Legends,” one of the games ONU will play competitively, was viewed by more than 100 million people worldwide. ONU’s esports coach, Troy Chiefari, is a former professional player who will bring the same level of focus and commitment to ONU’s collegiate team as the pros. Scholarship opportunities are even available for esports players.
Q: How is this similar to other sports? A: In some ways, esports is exactly the same. In some ways, it’s not. To many, the obvious difference is that students are not getting exercise or gaining normal health benefits from it. While true, it doesn’t defeat the fact that esports is still a very competitive activity with team-building and communication-skills benefits. The mental struggles a sports player goes through with trying to better themselves or win at something are the same mental obstacles an esports player will have in their development.
Q: How will they have time to study? A: ONU esports athletes will probably play less than their normal leisurely play. Being on a team and progressing as a team for just a couple hours a day is far more tiresome than playing for 10 hours. The team will train equal to other sports at ONU, which is around 15-20 hours a week, and players will have the same resources the athletic teams have.
Q: How long is an esports season, and when are games played through the academic year?
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PEER-TO-PEER TO PEER-REVIEWED While collegiate esports programs are growing more numerous each year, video games themselves are increasingly becoming an attractive topic for academic research. Researchers in the humanities are examining video games as an art form capable of reflecting aspects of the human condition in much the same way as art, cinema or literature. Social scientists are eagerly studying the societal and interpersonal relationships that players engage in through gaming. Dr. Erica Neely, associate professor of philosophy, is finding that video games are a very interesting place to study ethics, decision-making, and inclusion and accessibility. “I teach courses on ethics. And when I teach ethics, I tend to think about ethics. I’m also a gamer, so I noticed when moral decision-making started to become a trend in game design,” she says. “I think games are actually an effective means of promoting moral thinking, because they allow experimentation. Players can replay a game with different decisions and see how it affects the outcome. That’s not an option in real life.” Neely has authored academic papers and presented at international conferences on the topic of video games, and she is currently writing a book manuscript in which she explores video games from multiple ethical perspectives. But even at a school the size of ONU, she’s not the only faculty member interested in video games.
A: The esports seasons usually mimic the academic sessions for spring and fall, with leagues running live tournaments at the end of fall, i.e., regionals, nationals, worlds. The teams will practice throughout the year.
Q: Is esports a spectator sport? A: There will be events for big matches we’ll be in, and there will also be fun events for watching professional games either on campus or streaming online.
Q: What life skills can an esports player gain from being on a collegiate team? A: A majority of these players have never been on a team that practices together face-to-face. Being in the presence of someone who may criticize their skills can be a humbling experience that can prepare these students for the real world. Being on a team doing any competitive activity over a long period of time helps develop interpersonal skills and teaches the team how to overcome challenges together.
Q: What other jobs can stem from being involved in esports besides being a player?
A: Managers (logistics, people, sports, content), media producers, social media, public relations, human resources, information technology and coaching, to name a few. There are many more that basically mimic professional sports with some added roles for the digital age and cord-cutting trends.
RANK UP
Drs. Mark Cruea and Shane Tilton, professors in the Department of Communication & Media Studies, have written extensively about video games and use games in their classes. Cruea has authored articles on race and gender in gaming and contributed to the book The Evolution and Social Impact of Video Game Economics. Tilton contributed a chapter to the book The Psychology of Zelda: Linking Our World to the Legend of Zelda Series and has presented at SXSW Gaming, the epicenter of video game culture. To these researchers, the rise of esports is no surprise. What they are learning is that video games can tell us a lot about ourselves precisely because they have evolved to meet the wants and needs of the people who play them. “The esports evolution we’ve seen is a natural outgrowth of the social component to gaming. Before players could connect with one another over the internet, friends would get together at someone’s house and play video games. You didn’t even have to play; you could just watch and cheer them on,” says Neely. In addition to the multiplayer online battle arena video game “League of Legends,” ONU will also compete in the multiplayer first-person shooter “Overwatch.” The new esports facility is being constructed in Taft Memorial Hall, once the historic home of ONU Athletics. It’s fitting that the building that was home to the last big change to intercollegiate athletics, Title IX, is now home to the next. Learn more about ONU Esports at onu.edu/esports.
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Renderings of the proposed esports training facility in Taft Memorial Hall.
ARTS & SCIENCES
ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS Political science students conduct first-ever “Northern Poll”
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In the tempest that has become electoral politics, the best way to gauge the political winds is through polling data. Political polling is a science in itself, and this spring, Ohio Northern University’s best and brightest political science students spearheaded a special project to gain high-impact learning experience in this area. ONU’s very first “Northern Poll” was an online poll conducted by ONU students this spring under the tutelage of Dr. Robert Alexander, BA ’94, professor of political science and chair of the Department of History, Political Science and Geography. The poll focused on public perceptions regarding the 2020 presidential election and surveyed 1,505 registered Ohio voters between April 5 and April 10 with a margin of error of 2.7 percent. Results of the poll predict that Ohio is a toss-up for the 2020 presidential election, which is somewhat surprising given the strong showing of Republicans in statewide elections in the 2018 midterms. The crux of this experience was the initiative and diligence of the students themselves, all of whom are members of ONU’s award-winning chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society that partially funded the project. It was a 100 percent extracurricular effort, and the students gained valuable experience writing the grant to fund the project. They did extensive research on the polling process itself, working with Alexander to learn how to draft questions, determine question order and assemble the
results. In coming up with specific questions, they collaborated with several faculty members with different areas of expertise to gain a wellrounded perspective on the subject matter. In terms of providing students with high-impact learning experience, the outcome of the project exceeded expectations. A University press release summarizing the results of the poll landed placements in several media outlets: articles in The Columbus Dispatch, The Dayton Daily News, The Lima News, a retweet from Toledo, Ohio’s, The Blade and guest appearances from Alexander on radio stations WSPD in Toledo and WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio. “The fact that the media is interested in our results suggests what we are doing is important,” says Alexander. “And for our students, it is pretty neat when the media picks up something you had a part in.” Two students, Hannah Ray and Cassie Krencisz, will be using some of the results of the poll to inform their respective senior theses. Ray is writing on immigration reform, and Krencisz is examining the role of gender in politics. Alexander was more than pleased with the entire project, and he hopes to continue the “Northern Poll” as a regular feature of the high-impact experiences that make ONU stand out as a leader among small private universities.
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“This is the kind of thing that distinguishes why you come to Ohio Northern,” Alexander says. “Participating in research like this is different than the experience you get from other places. Many students don’t get the chance to do projects like this until graduate school.”
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
STRENGTH ON STRENGTH within the college that could benefit their career marketability and give them the confidence and entrepreneurial know-how to start firms of their own.
The Dicke College of Business Administration welcomes two established, successful academic programs this fall. Public relations and sport management students at Ohio Northern University will need to get used to some new surroundings this fall as both academic programs are moving to a new home in the College of Business Administration. The programs were previously housed within the Getty College of Arts & Sciences.
University administrators also discovered significant overlap between the public relations major and the existing marketing major, with many of the current students double-majoring. It is intended that by combining the curricula, additional synergies and teaching efficiencies will arise to make ONU more efficient in its operation and ability to deliver the same high caliber training in public relations it has enjoyed for decades.
“We saw a tremendous benefit to our students by bringing both these programs into an environment that will provide additional opportunities and allow them to take advantage of the broad liberal arts background in addition to sharply focused business skills,” says Dr. John Navin, dean of the College of Business Administration. “And we are thrilled to add programs of the high caliber of PR and sport management to the Dicke college. I can’t wait to see the collaborations that ensue.”
The multibillion-dollar sports industry needs savvy individuals to work in sport management. After all, professional sports isn’t all about athletes, coaches and competition. It’s really about business. Every sport and athletic enterprise needs people skilled in management, operations, public relations, marketing and sales to run things. As a College of Business Administration program, sport management will be business-centric from day one.
Whereas the public relations program originated within close proximity to liberal arts disciplines such as professional writing, graphic design, and communications law and ethics, the professional environment its graduates enter is much more closely aligned with business. In fact, a majority of public relations work is done on the behalf of corporations and businesses. With the move, students will still learn the complete skill set of a modern public relations professional, but will do so while immersed in a business education environment where they will have ample opportunities to learn how to network, and build and lead teams. Students will also have greater flexibility in choosing minors
The College of Business Administration is eager to welcome the new and returning public relations and sport management students to ONU this fall. Both of these programs have excellent reputations for graduate placement and student outcomes. Over the past five years, 100 percent of our public relations majors were employed in full-time employment or enrolled in graduate school within six months of graduation. For sport management graduates over the same time period, 93 percent found employment. With that kind of track record, it seems hard to see how these programs can improve, but seeing them both do just that is going to be part of the fun.
COLLEGE NEWS
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The move is reflective of ONU’s continued emphasis on strong student outcomes and graduate placement.
For sport management students, the move also makes sense. A degree in sport management already required successful completion of courses in business marketing, entrepreneurship, accounting and management. It also required some of the same public relations courses that will now be part of the College of Business Administration, tipping the scales further towards a logical new home in Dicke Hall.
ENGINEERING
ADAPTIVE
ENGINEERING
Plenty of 14-year-olds have dreams of playing basketball at the highest level, hitting buzzer-beater threes and dunking over opponents. But some children — particularly those with disabilities — only ever get to play basketball in their dreams.
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James Falahee, a young man living with cerebral palsy, had his love of basketball relegated to watching from the sidelines until a team of Ohio Northern University engineering students turned their senior capstone project into a mission to get him out on the court. Then-seniors Carly Waugh, BSME ’19, Nick Cordell, BSME ’19, Jacob Russell, BSME ’19, Cody Clayton, BSME ’19, and Cam Jenkins, BSME ’19, set out to design and build a device that would allow James to finally shoot baskets, something his limited muscle and fine motor control made impossible. The end result was a wheelchair-mounted system with mechanics similar to a pitching machine that launches basketballs instead of baseballs. A joystick gives James control of the pan and tilt of the device to aim, and a slider mechanism allows him to apply varying degrees of force. Once he has his controls dialed in, all James has to do is smash the big red FIRE button and swish — nothing but net.
James and his mom, Sarah Falahee, are ready to launch another shot as (from left) senior Nick Cordell, dad Tom Falahee, sister Bridget, and seniors Carly Waugh, Cody Clayton, and Cam Jenkins look on.
Professional Society of Engineers, an umbrella organization over the various professional societies, has a code of ethics that guides the engineering profession. Included in the code is a directive that “engineers shall be guided in all their relations by the highest standards of honesty and integrity” and “shall at all times strive to serve the public interest.”
The capstone was the latest project in which ONU students focused their considerable talents toward building something that not only solves a problem, but also brings a smile. In spring of 2017, Dr. Todd France, assistant professor of engineering education, led an Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) project to adapt existing commercially available toys to match the capabilities of children with special needs. One of the toys had an indented power button that required a certain degree of fine motor skill to press. The students rewired the electronic device to start up via a tap light, a domelike backlit button that is more stimulating and easier for a special needs child to activate. The class also created busy boards, a type of stimulation tool for special needs children with various curiosities for the child to fidget with, such as a spring doorstop, lock or handle. In the College of Engineering, designing with purpose is key to the educational mission. Engineers have a powerful opportunity to impact the world. The National
“Beginning in the first-year engineering experience with the Foundations of Design course, we talk intentionally about the role of the engineer and our responsibility to leave the world better than we found it,” says Dr. Blake Hylton, associate professor of mechanical engineering. “It’s a mindset that our students tend to buy into with enthusiasm, demonstrating that eagerness to do good in everything from designing occupational therapy boards as freshmen to building wheelchair basketball launchers as seniors.” For James, playing basketball is now a reality, and while he may never be a “splash brother” like NBA stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, thanks to his friends at ONU and his big red button, he has already become quite the smash brother out on the hardwood.
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PHARMACY
PHARMACY OUTREACH EFFORTS PREPARE STUDENTS FOR PROFESSIONAL PURSUITS WORKING FOR OUR COMMUNITY
1,300 students
5,903 patients
414
events
550
immunizations
370
preventive health screenings
Educational activities were the most prevalent activity, with students providing information to 5,903 patients. They provided health screenings to 1,569 patients, including 550 immunizations, 414 comprehensive medication reviews and 370 preventive health screenings. By taking part, the ONU students gain skills that bridge the classroom and labs with the workplace in their future careers. Kenneth Barga, a fifth-year pharmacy student, has participated in more than 20 health screenings in the area, and they all have added to his college experience while providing career preparation. “The screenings I have performed the last few years have allowed me to apply information I have learned into patient-specific scenarios,” he says. “These services have also taught me how to empathize with my patients as well as expand my professional network and learn from upperclassman students.” Courtney Fichter, a fifth-year pharmacy student, worked with the Kenton City YMCA and Kenton City Middle School on an outreach educational program involving 80 students.
COURTNEY FICHTER NOT ONLY HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO OUTREACH IN KENTON, SHE ALSO WORKED AT NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL THIS SUMMER.
COLLEGE NEWS
“Outreach has added to my college career because it allowed me to get into the community, meet new people and network with the community agencies,” says Fichter. “Planning and executing outreach events has helped me prepare for the lifelong service I will provide to my patients. We are able to apply our classroom knowledge, develop skills for our practical experience and have direct interaction with patients.” As part of the University’s emphasis on developing well-rounded students who impact their professions and communities, service learning is an integral component of the ONU college experience. “Pharmacy is a profession that is focused on improving the quality of life for individuals. Therefore, it is important that our students have experiences that allow them to put community service into action,” says Michelle Musser, director of community outreach in the College of Pharmacy. In her role, Musser coordinates servicelearning efforts for the college. Students are required to perform at least 50 hours of service learning during their college careers, and many far exceed that threshold. Much of the outreach is achieved through the college’s 14 student organizations, and most projects involve the local region. In 2017-18, 53 percent were performed in Hardin County. “At Ohio Northern, we emphasize to our students the importance of making an impact, and these outreach efforts are part of that effort,” Musser says. “We want to be good neighbors who make a difference in the community.”
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comprehensive medication reviews
261
Raabe College of Pharmacy students continue to make a real impact as they utilize community service to improve the health of regional residents. More than 1,300 students were involved in a total of 261 events during the 2017-18 academic year.
LAW
ONU LAW
RANKED NO. 6
IN THE NATION FOR PRACTICAL TRAINING INNOVATIVE SIMULATION COURSES PLAY LARGE ROLE The Pettit College of Law has been ranked No. 6 in the nation for practical training in the spring 2019 issue of preLaw magazine. The “Best Schools for Practical Training” rankings honor law schools that offer the most comprehensive practical training and provide the most options for students.
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PreLaw recognized ONU Law for making the biggest leap of any law school in the rankings. After earning an A- last year, ONU Law now ranks among top law schools such as Northeastern University, University of St. Thomas, Pepperdine University, the University of California Irvine and Yale Law School. PreLaw rankings are based on experiential-learning opportunities. Taking data from the American Bar Association and individual law schools, preLaw looks at several categories, including legal clinics, externships, interschool competitions and simulation courses. One such simulation course – Labor and Employment Law Practicum – was taught last spring by Dallan Flake, professor of law.
simulation as realistic as possible, Flake hired several students to play the parts of various clients and witnesses throughout the case. Third-year student Berenice Arroyo-Arellano was given the lead role of Jenny Isom, a perioperative nurse at Cleveland Mercy Hospital who made several allegations of sexual harassment by her coworkers during her time at the hospital. Playing this role required Arroyo-Arellano to memorize a new identity and intricate facts and details. She needed to portray Jenny in a convincing manner so that the student-attorneys felt like they were genuinely representing a person who had endured a traumatic experience. “I wanted to make sure that I provided the best experience for the student-attorneys,” she says. “I spent hours memorizing the facts and making sure that I acted as Jenny as best I could.” The course did not follow a conventional classroom schedule but instead unfolded like
This course gave law students the opportunity to hone practical lawyering skills such as client communication, legal research, and written and oral advocacy. The simulation tasked students with managing a mock case (based on real events) from start to finish – from gathering the facts and conducting an investigation to representing clients in litigation. To make the
O N U M AG A Z I N E S U M M E R 2 0 1 9
litigation often does in the real world: move by move. Many of the legal issues facing the student-attorneys depended on the actions of opposing counsel. While student-attorneys sometimes had days or weeks to prepare certain documents for the client, other legal issues would arise that demanded immediate attention, requiring students to work quickly and efficiently (and sometimes late into the night). While this unpredictability frustrated the student-attorneys at times, it demonstrated how flexible and adaptable good lawyers must be. The course provided practical training for the mix of skills every lawyer is expected to understand and perform after law school. With experiences like this – ones designed to push law students outside their comfort zones to test their abilities and learn valuable lessons for life after graduation – it’s clear why preLaw magazine believes ONU Law belongs near the top of its rankings.
PERPETUAL
WINNING ATHLETIC ENDOWMENTS BRING CERTAINTY TO ONU ATHLETICS
Since the launching of the Polar Bear Club in 2017, donors have begun athletic endowments for men’s and women’s basketball, wrestling, volleyball, softball and men’s soccer. Unlike smaller gifts, which are often applied to general operational expenses, athletic endowments help exclusively support a specific athletic program in perpetuity, therefore ensuring and protecting its future. It’s this future that is so important to athletics donors. They have very fond memories of their time as student-athletes. It’s only natural that they want to keep the tradition going for, well, ever. “We wanted to pay back the University and also pay it forward by helping to provide future students the stability of Polar Bear
In fall 2018, Dean Penman, BSBA ‘90, and his wife, Libbie (Byers) Penman, BSBA ’91, helped establish the Ron Beaschler Wrestling Endowment, named for the all-time winningest coach in ONU history. Dean knows his life would never have been the same without ONU wrestling. “Wrestling is a sport that requires a 100 percent commitment to yourself and your team. You build a brotherhood of friendships and mutual respect for your teammates, as well as the wrestlers who have come both before you and after you,” he says. “I developed a level of competitiveness and internal fortitude that has helped me succeed throughout my life. That sport and
POLAR BEAR CLUB
my teammates have helped mold me to become the person that I am today. As the saying goes, ‘once you have wrestled, everything else is easy.’” One thing that’s not easy, however, is to accurately use the word “forever.” It’s most often uttered in hopefulness not certainty. The true determinant of whether something lasts forever rests in the hands of those to whom the baton is passed. Somewhere in the current or future ranks of ONU student-athletes are future Melinda Hilemans and Dean Penmans, individuals whose sense of gratitude and loyalty will persist with each generation. As long as it’s up to these Polar Bears, and as long as there’s an Ohio Northern University as we know it, forever couldn’t be more certain.
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An endowment, in the simplest terms, is a financial gift that can last forever. When you combine this concept with the loyal dedication of ONU athletics’ biggest supporters, you get a literal game changer – athletic endowments.
athletic teams, Polar Bear pride and the continued rich Polar Bear tradition,” says donor Melinda (Durbin) Hileman, BA ’87, who, with her husband Dave Hileman, BSPh ’86, BSBA ’87, helped establish athletic endowments for the women’s basketball and softball programs. “It’s our hope with each team’s established endowment, the sustainability for our well-rounded studentathlete experience at Ohio Northern will continue to thrive for years to come.”
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2
13
5
7
3
8
4 6
O N U M AG A Z I N E S U M M E R 2 0 1 9
1960s
1990s
3 Jeff Huston, BSPh ’90, led his 23rd and 24th World Gospel Mission medical team to Honduras in spring 2019. Jeff leads a team that provides quality health care to the poorest residents of Choluteca, Honduras, and surrounding villages in collaboration with an inter-professional health care team consisting of nursing, nurse practitioner and PharmD students Dennis D. Hunt, BA ’70, recently from the Ohio State University College retired after 38 years in higher of Nursing and Cedarville University education administration, 32 of School of Pharmacy. He resides in which he spent as a vice president Cedarville, Ohio, with his wife Sally (Bagge) Huston, BSPh ’90, and their for advancement at four universities. three children. He is now a member of The Registry, an interim placement firm for retired 4 Stephanie (Pearce) Burke, BA senior university officers. He and ’91, JD ’94, of Jefferson District Court his wife reside in Longmont, Colo. has been named Judge of the Year by the Louisville Bar Association. David Cheney, JD ’74, retired as a judge of the Allen County Court of Sue (Hughes) Scruggs, JD ’93, is the co-founder and executive director of Common Pleas in December 2018. the Marion Animal Resource ConnecDavid Remy, JD ’75, is the city of tion (MARC) in Marion County, Tenn. Mansfield’s new full-time public works See www.marc4change.org for more director. Remy will now oversee information. 1 Thomas Gossel, BSPh ’63, received the Purdue University College of Pharmacy Distinguished Alumni Award on April 5, 2019. With him in the photo is Dr. Val Watts, BSPh ’90, a former student.
1970s
5 Tod Grimm, BSPh ’94, was installed as president-elect at the Ohio Pharmacists Association 141st Annual Conference held April 12-14 in Columbus, Ohio. He resides with his wife Suzanne (Pedaci) Grimm, BSPh ’99, and family Steven Nord, BA ’81, was named in North Royalton, Ohio. chair of the West Virginia State Stephanie L. Haines, JD ’95, serves as Bar Lawyer Disciplinary Board. He district judge on the U.S. District Court is a partner at the law firm Offutt for the Western District of Pennsylvania Nord Burchett PLLC and resides and is also an assistant U.S. attorney in Huntington, W.Va. in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Marie (Mathew) Markward, BA Haines serves as the sole prosecutor ’82, was accepted to the Summer in the Johnstown, Pa., branch office Institute in Teaching with Primary and handles a wide variety of federal Sources in June 2018 and spent one criminal matters. week studying and learning in the Library of Congress with teachers Michael Murray, BS ’95, accepted a promotion to Ohio Lead with IBI from around the U.S. She resides in Group (formerly ME Companies), Van Wert, Ohio. overseeing operations for four offices throughout the state. He resides in 2 Donald Hicks, JD ’83, was Westerville, Ohio, with his wife Amy honored as Senior Lawyer of the (Widner) Murray, BS ’95, and their Year by the Akron Bar Association three children. on May 15, 2019. Thomas Sully, BSME ’96, earned a John Triplett, JD ’84, was elected Master of Science degree in human judge of the Washington County factors from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He resides in High Point, N.C. Court of Common Pleas.
1980s
Jacob Krecic, BSBA ’98, founder of Krecic & Fitchko Wealth Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors, recently opened a new office at Crocker Park in Westlake, Ohio. Krecic is a managing director and premier advisor with WFA specializing in family wealth management. He and his family reside in Avon Lake, Ohio. 7 Ann Donnelly Hamilton, BA ’99, and Loren Hamilton, BS ’10, welcomed a daughter, Morgan Elizabeth, on July 29, 2017. Morgan joins big brother Grady, 7. The Hamiltons reside in Ada, Ohio. Ben Richards, BA ’99, was recently named the superintendent of Valley View Local Schools in Germantown, Ohio, where he resides with his wife Jennifer (Addair) Richards, BA ’03, and their two children. Ramesh Subramaniam, BS ’99, recently joined Highmark Health as a strategy consultant in Pittsburgh, Pa. He and his family reside in Cranberry Township, Pa.
2000s Kendall Knight, BS ’00, installed four new axle assembly lines at the new Dana Toledo driveline. The assembly lines will be used for production of the Jeep Wrangler, Jeep Gladiator, Ford Ranger and the reintroduced 2020 Ford Bronco. He resides in Sylvania, Ohio, with his family. 8 Jaclyn (Cruikshank) Vogt, BA ’01, and her husband, Benjamin, welcomed their first child, Ethan Avery Vogt, on Aug. 12, 2018. Jaclyn is curator of the NEBRASKAland magazine photo library at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in Lincoln, Neb., where they reside. 9 Stuart Beatty, PharmD ’03, of Columbus, Ohio was honored as a distinguished UNDER 40 award recipient for professional achievements and vision in the practice of pharmacy at Ohio Pharmacists Association 141st Annual Conference held April 12-14 in Columbus.
C L AS S N OT E S
10 Jessica (Holden) Fleming, BA ’03, and her husband Michael welcomed a son, Kane, on July 1, 2018. They reside in Lombard, Ill. 11 Matthew A. Taulbee, JD ’04, joined Fort Mitchell Office of Reminger Co., LPA. He focuses his practice primarily in the areas of trucking and commercial transportation, products liability, and insurance defense litigation. Amir Ziton, JD ’05, is a managing associate with transatlantic law firm Womble Bond Dickinson in its Leeds-based Commercial team to assist with data protection and IT-related matters. 12 Justin Friesner, PharmD ’06, was honored as a distinguished UNDER 40 award recipient for professional achievements and vision in the practice of pharmacy at the Ohio Pharmacists Association (OPA) 141st Annual Conference held April 12-14 in Columbus, Ohio. He resides in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife Kasey (Hardesty) Friesner, BA ’05, and family. Mark Niehus, BSME ’06, was awarded the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Administrator’s Award of Excellence Bronze Medal for outstanding service on temporary assignment to the Department of Energy's (DOE) headquarters in Washington, D.C. He received the award in January 2019 for direct contributions to the efforts of DOE’s NNSA to reduce the threat of nuclear proliferation. Kira (Rankin) Davis, BA ’07, and her husband Stephen welcomed a daughter, Eliana, on Oct. 6, 2018. She joins big brother William at home in Lima, Ohio, where they reside. Kody Kubbs, BA ’07, was named a finalist for Gaston County Schools Teacher of the Year 2019-20. He teaches at South Point High School in Belmont, N.C. 13 Karla (Geise) Young, BSBA ’07, and her husband, Sam, welcomed a baby girl, Addison Marie, born Nov. 30, 2017. The Youngs reside in Sidney, Ohio.
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the engineer’s office, along with 200-plus employees in a variety of departments.
6 Jill Apa, JD ’97, was elected to the law firm of Hodgson Russ LLP as partner, effective Jan. 1, 2019.
CL ASS NOTES 17 21
14
16
19
18
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22 15
14 Chase Axelson, BA ’08, and Katie (Whitney) Axelson, BSBA ’09, welcomed a son, Dylan Robert, on June 16, 2018. Katie is a merchandise planner at DSW, Inc., and Chase is an account manager at Greif, Inc. They reside in Worthington, Ohio. 15 Nicolas Koehler, BSEE ’08, and Tiffany (Hritz) Koehler, BM ’09, welcomed a daughter, Charlotte, in October 2018. She joins older brother Andrew and older sister Evelyn. The family resides in Galena, Ohio. 16 Jeffrey Strouble, PharmD ’08, was honored as a distinguished UNDER 40 award recipient for professional achievements and vision in the practice of pharmacy at the Ohio Pharmacists Association (OPA) 141st Annual Conference held April 12-14 in Columbus, Ohio. He resides in Milford, Ohio, with his wife Lauren (Schad) Strouble, PharmD ’08, and family.
20
17 Timothy Ulbrich, PharmD ’08, was honored as a distinguished UNDER 40 award recipient for professional achievements and vision in the practice of pharmacy at the Ohio Pharmacists Association (OPA) 141st Annual Conference held April 12-14 in Columbus, Ohio. He resides in Orient, Ohio, with his wife Jessica (Anderson) Ulbrich, BA ’06, and family. 18 Christopher Chiles, BFA ’09, was named a newcomer to watch in the San Diego theatre scene for 2019 by San Diego Magazine.
Nathan Schutz, BSBA ’09, earned his MBA at Southern Methodist University in 2018. He resides in Dallas, Texas.
2010s 19 Erin (Milroy) Farnsel, BSBA ’10, was promoted to senior manager at Ernst & Young in October 2018. She and her husband welcomed a daughter, Margot, in January 2019. They reside in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Jeffrey Henfling, BSCE ’09, married Katie Byrne on Oct. 27, 2018. They reside in Lyndhurst, Ohio.
20 Joseph Kent, BA ’10, joined the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites on Dec. 3, 2018, as program developer for Lanier Mansion.
Mark Howard, BSBA ’09, joined BrightView Enterprise Solutions, part of BrightView Landscapes, as a strategic sourcing specialist in January 2019. He resides in Gahanna, Ohio.
Jennifer (Zavicar) Natter, BSBA ’10, was recently named business manager for the Jackson County Intermediate School District in Jackson, Mich., where she resides with her family.
O N U M AG A Z I N E S U M M E R 2 0 1 9
Benjamin Smith, BS ’11, was named marketing coordinator for Zaremba Management Company in Fairview Park, Ohio, where he manages the marketing for apartment properties across five states. He resides with his family in Cleveland, Ohio. 21 Amy Fanous, PharmD ’12, was honored as a distinguished UNDER 40 award recipient for professional achievements and vision in the practice of pharmacy at the Ohio Pharmacists Association (OPA) 141st Annual Conference held April 12-14 in Columbus, Ohio. 22 Kirsten (Yoho) Gosnik, PharmD ’12, married Matthew Gosnik on Nov. 2, 2018. The couple resides in Painesville, Ohio.
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24
29
32
27
Steven Hunter, BSBA ’12, earned his MBA at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in May 2018 and earned his Master of Science in risk management from New York University’s Stern School of Business in May 2019. He works as the director of capital planning and stress testing for CenterState Bank in Davenport, Fla. Alexandria (Herman) Klaiss, BSME ’12, and her husband Zeile welcomed a daughter, Riley Nicole, on July 13, 2018. Riley joins sister Brynn, 3. The Klaiss family resides in Powell, Ohio. 23 Nicolas Sasso, JD ’12, joins Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky as an associate in its Pittsburgh and Greensburg offices. Sasso’s practice will concentrate primarily on estates planning and elder law. He resides in Monroeville, Pa.
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31
24 Kristin (Bradley) Velovitch, PharmD ’12, earned board certified geriatric pharmacist (BCGP) status in December 2018. She is a clinical pharmacist at Cleveland Clinic Rehab Hospital and resides in Painesville, Ohio.
Thelma (Schweigel) Esterline, BA ’14, graduated with a Master of Science in professional counseling and became a licensed professional counselor at Maumee Valley Guidance Center. She resides in Defiance, Ohio.
25 Sean McKee, PharmD ’13, started a new position in August 2018 as a clinical pharmacist for King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. On his 30th birthday, Oct. 14, 2018, he and his wife Jamienne (Scott) McKee, BA ’11, welcomed a son, Ezra.
Jordan Dimmerling, PharmD ’14, was awarded the CVS Paragon Award in 2018. The Paragon Award is the company’s highest employee award and recognizes exceptional professionalism and service. She resides in Pleasant City, Ohio.
26 Blake Birchmeier, BA ’14, passed the Pennsylvania Bar Exam and became a licensed attorney in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He is an associate attorney practicing business law and estate administration at the law firm Peacock Keller, LLP, in Washington, Pa.
27 Jonathan Michelsen, PharmD ’14, and his wife, Janetta, welcomed a son, Tyson Riley Jonathan, on Sept. 17, 2018. The family resides in Anacortes, Wash. Jonathan was a pharmacy manager at Walgreens Boots Alliance until he was diagnosed with ALS in June 2017.
C L AS S N OT E S
28 Sara (Swick) Supe, PharmD ’14, and Reed Supe, PharmD ’14, adopted a son, Jacob, from South Korea in February 2019. They reside in Anchorage, Alaska. 29 Cody Fennig, BS ’15, and Miranda (Fiely) Fennig, PharmD ’17, were married on May 19, 2018. They reside in Blue Ash, Ohio. 30 Shelby (Ehemann) Gibbs, BSBA ’15, and her husband Jason welcomed a son, Aiden Christopher, on Jan. 12, 2019. They reside in Jackson Center, Ohio. 31
Brittany Johns, BA ’15, joined the Law Office of Rudnick & Hosek, Ltd. as a licensed attorney. 32 Chelsea Bellew, JD, LLM ’15, joined Chartwell Law as a workers’ compensation and employment and labor law defense attorney to the firm’s Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., office.
CL ASS NOTES
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50 Years of DZ Sisters, Zeta Kappa Chapter, Ohio Northern University: The 1969-70 graduating class met in October at the East Hilton in Columbus, Ohio, for three days of love, laughter and sisterhood memories. Some of the sisters hadn’t seen each other for 50 years, but they were instantly brought back to their college days and enjoyed every moment of their time together once again.
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Front: Shirley (Inloes) Snyder, BSEd ’70; Karin (Hendrickson) Dillman, BSEd ’70; Donna Turner Chamberlin; Jenni (Jewell) Miller, BSEd ‘70. Back: Donna (Beres) Kessler, BA ‘69; Pat (Finneran) Diepold, BA ’69; Gail (Stevens) Murry, BSEd ’69; Donna Rust Langerstedt; Linda (Gilmore) Sigg; Phyllis (Shipman) Ralph, BA ‘70. 34
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33 Chelsey Smith, PharmD ’17, was honored as a distinguished UNDER 40 award recipient for professional achievements and vision in the practice of pharmacy at the Ohio Pharmacists Association (OPA) 141st Annual Conference held April 12-14 in Columbus, Ohio. Jessica Wise, BM ’17, graduated in May with a master's in music performance degree with a double concentration in orchestral conducting and flute performance from the University of Louisville. 34 Austin Hilverding, PharmD ’18, was honored as a distinguished UNDER
40 award recipient for professional achievements and vision in the practice of pharmacy and installed as OPA Trustee representing District 8 at the Ohio Pharmacists Association (OPA) 141st Annual Conference held April 12-14 in Columbus, Ohio. 35 Haval Norman, PharmD ’18, has been early committed to the PGY2 oncology pharmacy program at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md.
Logan County, Ohio, Judges (from left to right): Judge William T. Goslee, JD ‘89; Judge Ann E. Beck, JD ‘86; Judge Kim KelloggMartin, JD ’84; and Judge Dan W. Bratka, JD ‘86.
36 Victoria (Maurer) Tebbe, PharmD ’18, married Austin Tebbe on Nov. 10, 2018. The couple resides in Minster, Ohio.
Judge Goslee is the Common Pleas General Division Judge. Judge Beck is the Bellefontaine Municipal Court Judge. Judge Bratka and Judge Kellogg-Martin are the Common Pleas Family Court Division (Probate, Juvenile, Domestic Relations) Judges.
O N U M AG A Z I N E S U M M E R 2 0 1 9
REMEMBERING THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE 1930s Dale “Bud” England,
Starling (Gray) Jordan, AA ’38, Mount Victory, Ohio, Feb. 1, 2019.
BSBA ’69, passed away April 19 at the Cleveland
1940s
Clinic after a long illness.
William W. Billing, BSCHE ’40, Sidney, Ohio, Feb. 25, 2018.
Born July 2, 1947, in
Marybelle M. (McPeck) Baker, BSEd ’41, Newark, Del., Aug. 6, 2018.
attended Ohio Northern
Margaret (Moore) Dickey, BA ’41, Central, S.C., March 12, 2019.
lor’s degree in business
Columbus, Ohio, England University to play football and to pursue his bacheadministration. He would go on to earn a law degree from Capital University and become an attorney in private prac-
Vernon P. Williams, BSEE ’47, Westerville, Ohio, June 10, 2018.
feelings about football. He believed in sports’ power to build
Fredrick Arnold Kusta, BSME ’47, Vestavia, Ala., Oct. 19, 2018.
reflection of this belief, England supported ONU athletics
Reba (Buess) Searfoss, AA ’48, Mount Blanchard, Ohio, Nov. 1, 2018.
plaza, ticketing area and fence enclosure to Dial-Roberson
John A. Zink, BA ’48, Lima, Ohio, Sept. 16, 2018.
sion and host playoff games for high school tournaments.
John E. Hedeen, BA ’48, Plymouth, Ohio, Dec. 9, 2018.
Hall of Fame committee at ONU and a Lifetime Member
tice for more than 40 years, but he never wavered from his character and confidence in young men and women. As a through the funding of The England Gate, an entrance Stadium in 2012. Thanks to his generous support, ONU is able to better account for numbers of guests, charge admisEngland was the longest-standing member of the Athletic of the Henry Solomon Lehr Society.
George L. Coaker, BSPh ’48, Foley, Ala., Jan. 29, 2019.
Gilbert R. Williamson, BSCE ’52, Mahomet, Ill., Jan. 4, 2019. John P. McGahan, BSEE ’53, Palmyra, Pa., Jan. 31, 2019. Richard V. Zurz, LLB ’53, Uniontown, Ohio, Oct. 14, 2018. Carol (Perlowski) Brenneman, BSEd ’54, Orrville, Ohio, March 5, 2019. Harry Olin Pfeiffer, BSEE ’54, North Canton, Ohio, Nov. 11, 2018. Marilyn (Hitchcock) Diefenderfer, BA ’55, Longmeadow, Mass., Feb. 19, 2019. Larry C. Mackey, BSEE ’55, Latrobe, Pa., March 13, 2019. John David Schmelzer, BSEd ’56, Rio Rancho, N.M., Jan. 26, 2019. Logan F. Marshall, BSPh ’56, Springfield, Ohio, Jan. 18, 2019. Donald Joe Varner, JD ’57, Canfield, Ohio, Jan. 3, 2019. Patrick J. Neidig, BA ’58, Tampa, Fla, Sept. 30, 2018. William A. Neeley, BSPh ’58, Findlay, Ohio, Sept. 27, 2018.
Paul L. Chorpening, JD ’49, Ashland, Ohio, Jan. 12, 2018.
Lowell Edwin Briner, BSPh ’50, Arlington, Mass., March 6, 2019.
1950s
John Serbin, BSCE ’49, Wadsworth, Ohio, Oct. 2, 2018.
Keith A. Bastian, BA ’51, Delphos, Ohio, Oct. 1, 2018.
Marjorie (Hart) McHugh, BSEd ’50, Lady Lake, Fla., Nov. 19, 2018.
C. Eugene Kreitler, BSEE ’51, Sun City, Ariz., Jan. 22, 2019.
David L. Thomas, BA ’59, Findlay, Ohio, Jan. 17, 2019.
Richard S. Wilkins, BSEE ’49, Provo, Utah, Oct. 23, 2018.
Maralyn (Little) Wiechart, BSPh ’50, Lima, Ohio, Dec. 26, 2018.
Alfred C. Carrino, BSPh ’51, Conneaut, Ohio, Dec. 30, 2018.
Joel M. Serling, BSEd ’59, Henderson, Nev., Dec. 30, 2018.
Sue (Hamakawa) Blackwood, BSEd ’49, Dayton, Ohio, Dec. 18, 2018.
REMEMBERING THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE
James R. Buck, LLB ’58, Grandville, Mich., Jan. 15, 2019.
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Norma (Carpenter) Alt, BSEd ’44, Richburg, S.C., March 2, 2019.
David John Williams, BSCE ’52, Louisville, Ky., Oct. 30, 2018.
George C. Selover, BSPh ’59, Akron, Ohio, Oct. 20, 2018.
1970s Inara (Mencis) Brubaker,
Alan R. Longert, BSPh ’59, Cleveland, Ohio, Nov. 17, 2018.
BS ’59, ’81, Hon. D. ’16,
Thomas W. Rose, BSPh ’59, Richmond, Ind., Dec. 1, 2018.
2019, in Bluffton, Ohio.
Norman B. Goldberg, JD ’59, Studio City, Calif., March 16, 2019.
Latvia, on May 1, 1938,
passed away July 2, She was born in Riga, and immigrated to the United States when she
1960s
was 12 years old. She
Ted R. Greiner, BA ’60, Avon, Ohio, Oct. 3, 2018. Floyd W. Parr, BA ’60, Dayton, Ohio, Nov. 6, 2018. Carl Joseph Frammolino, BSEd ’60, Aliquippa, Pa., Dec. 1, 2018. Lynn A. Clapp, BSEE ’60, Greentown, Ind., Sept. 29, 2018.
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James L. Kirk, BSEd ’61, Worthington, Ohio, Jan. 14, 2019. Ann Sale, BSEd ’61, Lima, Ohio, Jan. 18, 2019. James W. Leedy, BSEE ’61, Arlington, Ohio, Dec. 31, 2018. James P. Weiss, BSPh ’61, Ashland, Ohio, Oct. 28, 2018. James R. Dever, BSPh ’61, Pine Mountain, Ga., Nov. 13, 2018.
earned her Bachelor of Science in chemistry and mathematics from Ohio Northern and her Master of Science and Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Ohio State University. In 1966, she was hired at UOP/AlliedSignal (now Honeywell International), where she worked until her retirement in 2002. In 2003, the American Chemical Society Chicago Section honored Brubaker for her pioneering work. She was a Lifetime Member of the Henry Solomon Lehr Society, was an avid supporter of the chemistry department, and established a scholarship in chemistry in memory of her daughters Erika J. Brubaker and Andra E. Brubaker, who passed away in 1993. She was awarded an ONU Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009 and received an honorary doctorate from ONU in 2016.
Lee C. Crawford, BA ’70, Laughlintown, Pa., Nov. 21, 2018. J. Dennis Jolliff, BSEd ’70, Hilliard, Ohio, Nov. 8, 2018. Philip E. Smith, BSEd ’70, Casstown, Ohio, March 18, 2019. Forest B. Stoudt, BSPh ’70, Alliance, Ohio, Nov. 6, 2018. Kurtis B. Mealy, BA ’71, Ludlow, Pa., June 17, 2018. Barry Dean Cody, BA ’71, Toledo, Ohio, Dec. 4, 2018. Jan Charles Stotz, BSME ’71, Fremont, Ohio, Oct. 11, 2018. John Allen Poppe, JD ’71, Wapakoneta, Ohio, Feb. 13, 2019. Eric Philip Oswald, BSCE ’72, Wooster, Ohio, Nov. 22, 2018. Eugene S. Nevius, JD ’72, Springfield, Ohio, Dec. 20, 2018. Wilma (Mize) Sheares, BA ’73, Toledo, Ohio, Jan. 19, 2019. Paul D. Rizor, BA ’73, Lima, Ohio, Sept. 29, 2018. R. Keith Pattison, BA ’73, Powell, Ohio, Jan. 3, 2019.
John D. Dugan, BA ’65, Ridgeway, Ohio, Nov. 25, 2018.
Charles A. Keith, BSEE ’67, Rochester Hills, Mich., Dec. 9, 2018.
Marion Hemphill-Palmer, BA ’66, West Liberty, Ohio, March 19, 2019.
Barry Daniel Smith, BA ’69, Okatie, S.C., Jan. 23, 2019.
Connie (Kelner) Stocksdale, BSEd ’63, Union City, Ohio, March 25, 2019.
Gary F. McKinley, JD ’66, Marysville, Ohio, Oct. 2, 2018.
John S. Stains, BSCE ’69, Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 16, 2019.
Thomas F. Bryant, JD ’66, Findlay, Ohio, Jan. 20, 2019.
James Michael Slough, BSEd ’69, Findlay, Ohio, Jan. 21, 2019.
John R. Daley, BA ’63, Lima, Ohio, Feb. 17, 2019.
L. (Culbertson) Stephan, BA ’67, Forest, Ohio, Jan. 18, 2019.
C. Janice George, BSEd ’69, New Knoxville, Ohio, Feb. 19, 2019.
Marilyn (Mattox) McClure, BSEd ’65, Kenton, Ohio, Feb. 6, 2019.
Marilyn (Ruhling) Schuetz, BSEd ’67, Venice, Fla., March 23, 2019.
Odette G. Bailey, BSEd ’69, Celina, Ohio, Feb. 20, 2019.
1980s
Irene (Romer) Kinkley, BSEd ’65, St. Marys, Ohio, March 6, 2019.
Fred L. Lindabury, BA ’67, Ada, Ohio, Dec. 11, 2018.
Gordon R. Shivley, BSEd ’69, Delphos, Ohio, March 20, 2019.
Mark Steven Maynard, BA ’80, Middlefield, Ohio, Jan. 26, 2019.
Kenneth F. Giesken, BSEE ’62, Bridgeville, Pa., Feb. 22, 2019. Lowell T. Meadows, BSPh ’62, Christiansburg, Va., April 12, 2018.
O N U M AG A Z I N E S U M M E R 2 0 1 9
Gary W. Herman, JD ’74, Willoughby Hills, Ohio, Dec. 15, 2018. George Mallo, JD ’74, Las Vegas, Nev., Dec. 15, 2018. Donald A. Lindsey, BSPh ’76, Lorain, Ohio, Dec. 2, 2018. John C. Butler, JD ’78, Chattanooga, Tenn., Nov. 29, 2017. Walter R. Starr, JD ’79, Lewisville, Ohio, Nov. 19, 2018.
Dr. Patrick “Pat” Croskery, passed away peacefully March 26 at Hospice of Northwest Ohio after a brief but courageous battle with cancer. For the past 20 years, Croskery was a beloved and respected member of the Ohio Northern University community. He pioneered ONU’s Honors Program and worked both as the Honors Program director and as a professor in the Department of Religion and Philosophy, where he specialized in ethics, and social and political philosophy. Croskery served broadly and extensively within ONU and for professional organizations such as the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics and its Intercollegiate Ethics
Retired professor Paul Nutter passed away March 3 after a courageous two-year battle with brain cancer. He was a professor of technology at Ohio Northern University for 18 years, receiving the Golden Apple award in 2017 before retiring in 2018. Nutter was a 1969 graduate of Lakewood High School, and he attended Ohio University for his undergraduate and graduate studies. He was a proud and active member of the Kenton and Ohio Lions Clubs, going so far as to form and advise a Lions Club on the ONU campus for students. Paul received the Melvin Jones award, the highest honor one can receive from the organization. He will be remembered on campus for taking care of each of his students. He was a mentor and friend to the students he taught and to the members of the ONU football team, the ONU Lions Club, and many other organizations.
Nancy (Turner) Schilling, BA ’86, Eaton, Ohio, Nov. 5, 2018. Michael Grothouse, BSPh ’86, Dayton, Ohio, Feb. 26, 2019. Salvatore J. Nardozzi, JD ’86, Dunmore, Pa., Oct. 1, 2018.
1990s Mark Edward Hendricks, JD ’95, Albuquerque, N.M., Feb. 20, 2019. Kristin (Boes) Raudabaugh, BA ’98, Tiffin, Ohio, Feb. 22, 2019.
2000s Garnetta (Powell) Wylie, JD ’02, Mount Sterling, Ky., Feb. 15, 2018. Joshua Arthur Lemke, BSCPE ’02, Toledo, Ohio, Oct. 30, 2018.
2010s
William D. Cook, Toledo, Ohio, Oct. 4, 2017. Loreta Creeger, Bluffton, Ohio, July 27, 2018. Eric D. Johnson, Chapel Hill, N.C., Nov. 7, 2018. William C. Kingery, Vandalia, Ohio, Feb. 28, 2019. Alexander D. MacDonell, Lima, Ohio, Jan. 24, 2018. Arlene Mayers, Naples, Fla., Nov. 19, 2017. Ralph F. Neiswander, Ada, Ohio, Aug. 12, 2018. Karen Ruth Phillips, Manteo, N.C., Jan. 25, 2019. Ann LaRue Pond, Columbus, Ohio, Dec. 15, 2018. Richard L. Poppe, Lawrenceville, Ill., Feb. 19, 2019. Deborah D. Pritchard, Dresden, Ohio, March 4, 2019.
Kanika Kapoor, PharmD ’14, Flint, Mich., Dec. 26, 2018.
Gregory L. Rorie, Evansville, Ind., May 31, 2018.
Steven Grant Gohrband, BS ’16, Troy, Ohio, March 7, 2019.
Robert H. Routh, Cuyahoga, Ohio, May 6, 2018.
FRIENDS
LaDonna Elliot Sleesman Kusta, Vestavia, Ala., Oct. 28, 2018.
Jean Ann Augsburger, Portola Valley, Calif., Oct. 22, 2018.
Dolores T. Smith, Bluffton, Ohio, Feb. 12, 2019.
Martha W. Beard, Pittsburgh, Pa., Dec. 1, 2018.
Marge Sprehe, Findlay, Ohio, Dec. 3, 2018.
William E. Brewer, Toledo, Ohio, Jan. 6, 2019.
Diane K. Thede, Ada, Ohio, May 1, 2018.
Joanne C. Brownlee, Canfield, Ohio, Oct. 19, 2018. Elwanda J. Casper, Ada, Ohio, Dec. 17, 2018. Margaret L. Clarke, Grove City, Ohio, Oct. 30, 2018.
REMEMBERING THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE
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Bowl. He devoted his life to tackling intricate philosophical issues; he enjoyed doing so both in conversations amongst colleagues and through pure unaccompanied thought. Through working and teaching, Croskery deeply impacted the lives of countless people. Both a mentor and a peer to students and colleagues alike, he gave trusted counsel to many and guided others to introspectively reflect on their true strengths and dreams and bring them to light.
Philip Arden Brandt, JD ’82, West Liberty, Ohio, Dec. 18, 2018.
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