Ohio Today winter 2020

Winter 2020 TECH

for ALUMNI and FRIENDS of OHIO UNIVERSITY

P R E S I D EN T ’ S M E S S AG E

Transformative tech Dear OHIO Alumni, When many of us were in college, we painstakingly wrote papers on typewriters or computers in the library, used shared phones in the residence halls, and were thrilled to receive letters in the mail from family and friends.

Over the years, technology has transformed much of the college experience, and the pace of change is breathtaking. Our 2019 alumni can attest to the speed at which tech advances and how it shaped their college experiences.

How tech is used in OHIO research techniques is constantly evolving, and the work of Professor

Jennifer Hines, who is featured in this issue of Ohio Today, is an excellent example of this progression.

Teaching methods also continue to harness new technology, and Ohio University is leading the way through initiatives such as our virtual reality training videos for health care workers.

Across our university, new technology makes a profound impact every day in our classrooms, research facilities, arts centers, and athletics programs.

Bobcat Beacons of Excellence FROM PRESIDENT M. DUANE NELLIS

The Bobcat Esports Club places OHIO as a leader in the global gaming industry, and an alumnus is

serving as an international leader in the field.

[LEFT] Members of the Bobcat Esports Club enjoy the camaraderie they’ve found in the largest university esports club in the state. Photo by Ben Wirtz Siegel , BSVC ’02 [ABOVE] Students celebrate the cultural diversity of OHIO’s international community at the annual International Dinner in November. Photo by Hannah Ruhoff, BSVC ’20

In addition, our alumni are serving as pioneers in research and technology. Alumnus Paul Roetzer, for example, combines artificial intelligence (AI) and marketing in his innovative work, which is profiled on page 26 and in this issue’s Ohio Today Radio podcast episode.

I look forward to seeing how technology will continue to transform Ohio University and all of our lives in the years ahead. Still, I’m always thrilled to receive traditional mail from family and friends.

At Ohio University, we do more than

just recognize cultural diversity, we celebrate it with events like the annual International Dinner.

Ohio University has been recognized as one of America’s most innovative universities, as well as one of the nation’s top universities for student engagement.

In November, Professor Haley

Duschinski testified before members of Congress, highlighting the human rights situation in India’s former state of Jammu and Kashmir.

OHIO is receiving national recognition for our sustainability efforts, and our renovated

Ellis Hall was awarded LEED Gold certification in December.

In fall 2019, microbiologist Ronan M. Duane Nellis President @OHIOPrezOffice

Carroll was awarded a $2.1 million grant from the NIH to advance his work in combating a bacterial infection that resists antibiotics.

TECH

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If we marry educational technology with quality, enriching content, that’s a circle of win.

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— LEVAR BURTON Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor Jennifer Hines (RIGHT) and her team are developing methods to combat drug-resistant bacteria by harnessing some of the human body’s most foundational built-in technology.

Read more on page 38.

features 26

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More human

Tech then + now

Alumnus Paul Roetzer preserves the humanity in marketing as artificial intelligence transforms the industry

A look at the tech Bobcats across the decades couldn’t live without

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The heart of health care

Next-gen drugs

OHIO-developed virtual reality simulations help rid the doctor’s office of implicit bias

Professor Jennifer Hines flips the switch on bacterial infections

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Generosity by the numbers

Still more

Infographic: Breaking down the impact of Giving Day 2019

OHIO in pictures

D EPA R TM EN T S 03 From the editor 04 Letters to the editor 05 Contributors 06 Green scenes

OHIO stories in photos + words

24 Calendar 31 Ohio University Press Featured book

08 Growing OHIO’s next green roof.

Photo by Ellee Achten , BSJ ’14, MA ’17

42 OHIO time machine 44 Bobcat tracks

Class notes, Bobcat sightings, Future Bobcats, Alumni authors

51 In memoriam 42 Behind the scenes of The Post of 1970.

Photo courtesy of the M ahn Center for Archives & Special Collections M ahn Archives & Sxqxqpecial Collections

56 Last word

Zijian Diao opens up ohiotoday.org Visit ohiotoday.org for multimedia stories that complement the stories inside this issue. Find Ohio Today Radio's new podcast episode, “More intelligent,” on ohiotoday.org/radio.

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ON THE COVER Paul Roetzer, BSJ ’00, is no stranger to disruption. Now, he’s ready to lead amid the sea change artificial intelligence has brought to the marketing industry. Read his story, “More human,” on page 26. Photo by Dustin Franz, BSVC ’10

Gatefold photo by Jonathan Adams , BSVC ’13

Technology is infused in practically all disciplines at OHIO—from engineering to the arts, in healing athletes to educating health care providers. The stories and images inside take you on a tour of tech at OHIO now and the tech Bobcats used in bygone days. One truth emerges: Tech will be with us well into the future, bringing us to parts unknown.

—Editor Kelee Garrison Riesbeck, BSJ, CERT ’91

With an intricate lighting design, Tantrum Theater mounted Rhinoceros, Eugene Ionesco’s 1959 avant-garde absurdist satire, at Athens’ Forum Theater in fall 2019. Photo by Ben Wirtz Siegel , BSVC ’02

From the editor

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L E T T E R S TO T H E E D I TO R

Stewards of the landscape Thank you for featuring the marvelous article about the work of John Sabraw and Guy Riefler with iron oxide (“Stewards of the landscape,” Spring 2019 issue).

When the magazine arrived, I was reading “The Blue Period”

by Luke Jerod Kummer about Picasso. In chapter five, he and his companion were barely surviving in the mountains of Spain when he saw the sun shining brilliantly on some rocks. He discovered he could make beautiful paint, too, by pounding the rocks for days. —Diana Lewis Walters, BFA ’68, MFA ’70

What’s been kept I was at the ’74 music festival to do a bunch of interviews for

radio. I was standing to the side of the stage when James Taylor launched into “Mockingbird,” and unbeknownst to me, Carly Simon was standing right behind me and launched into the “echo” opening of the song. …About jumped out of my skin. …Until that moment, no one knew she was even there.

—Craig Ramsay, BSC ’75, via ohiotoday.org

Bobcats go on a date Yesterday my wife and I celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary after our first date in Athens 52 years ago. We went to a 50-cent movie (Hud) and then got a hamburger at Frisch’s. A glorious night that has lasted all these years. —Josh Garry, AB ’71, via ohiotoday.org

To serve & to heal I, too, was a student of Dean Rush Elliott in 1962. I was a pre-dental student, struggling to bring my grades to a level where I would be accepted into graduate school.

His philosophy and caring for his students were as important as what he taught in comparative vertebrate anatomy or any of his other courses. I remember meeting with him one on one after I was accepted into all the schools where I had applied and I was still worrying. He told me to relax, that I had done what I had to do, and if I wanted to be a good doctor, I would have to be comfortable with myself and my abilities. Dr. Elliott had the most lasting impression on me of all my professors at Ohio University. —Leslie “Les” LeFevre, BS ’64, via ohiotoday.org

My roommate, who was in premed and later went on to become a doctor, would enlighten and scare me with stories of Rush Elliott. Elliott was truly a legend, and his anatomy class either broke an aspiring doctor or inspired him or her onward. Obviously Dr. Papay was inspired onward.

—Ron Moss, BBA ’71, via ohiotoday.org Dean Rush Elliott in the July 1965 issue of The Ohio Alumnus. Photo courtesy of the

Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections

WRITE TO US. Ohio Today welcomes comments from readers. We reserve the right to edit for grammar, space, clarity, and civility. Send letters by email to ohiotoday@ohio.edu or by mail to Ohio University, Ohio Today, 112 McKee House, 1 Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, or join the conversation at ohiotoday.org.

We regret that we cannot publish all messages received in print or online.

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CO N T R I B U TO R S Ohio Today asked a sampling of this issue's writers and photographers to share what they took away from the stories they wrote or created. Their answers follow.

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1. Growing OHIO’s next green roof | “I always find inspiration in every subject I photograph.

This issue’s green roof project was especially exciting, and I look forward to more green tech coming to Athens.”—Ellee Achten, BSJ ’14, MA ’17

2. Capture this | “I really do find road trip inspiration from Ian’s guidebooks, and recommend them for weekend trekkers.”

3. The 21st-century classroom | “I was pleasantly surprised to learn about the strides the university has made with integrating tools such as augmented and virtual reality into the classroom in the three years since I graduated from OHIO.” —Kaitlyn Pacheco, BSJ ’17

4. Virtual reality tech puts more heart into health care | “I think people often start with a technology and look for a problem it can solve. But it’s better to first make time to fully understand the problem.” —Amy Nordrum, BSJ ’10

—Jeff Kallet

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What if the key to recovery after an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear weren’t in the knee, but rather in the brain? Using stroboscopic and virtual reality techniques, Associate Professor of Athletic Training Dustin Grooms (RIGHT) studies how proprioception, the brain’s sense of where the body is in space, changes after a musculoskeletal injury, and how improving it can lead to better patient outcomes. Photo by Ben Wirtz Siegel, BSVC ’02

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A green roof comprises more than dirt and plants. In fact, the systems are “much more complex and elegant,” says mechanical engineering senior Rachel Modzelewski, whose capstone design team developed model-scale systems (ABOVE) to help inform a multidisciplinary effort to install a green roof on the Schoonover Center for Communication. For additional data, a diverse team of faculty and staff placed a suite of sensors on site (LEFT) before work gets underway in March 2020. Photos by Ellee Achten, BSJ ’14, MA ’17

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The 21st-century classroom

Professor of Instructional Technology Greg Kessler sees vast potential in the immersive learning opportunities virtual reality technology has brought to his curriculum. Photo by Ellee Achten, BSJ ’14, MA ’17

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The first question that Larry Hess asks faculty seeking his help integrating technology into their coursework is, “If you ran into a student who took your course five to seven years from now, what would you want them to remember from your class?”

Associate Vice Provost for Instructional Innovation Candice Morris, BSED ’97, MED ’07, says that since today’s student population grew up with digital technology, there’s an expectation for tech to be used in their college experience.

Hess, an instructional designer with the Office of Instructional Innovation (OII), calls this his “big idea” question, and it echoes OII’s mission to enhance student learning experiences by bringing emerging tech into the classroom.

“We’re meeting our students where they are today,” Morris says. “If it’s more familiar for students to write and post their assignments on Blackboard rather than keep track of a notebook, that makes a difference.”

“To maintain an edge within delivering innovative instruction, we have to be willing to try new things,” Hess says.

While more faculty members are using OIIsupported tech and tools that guide interaction with content through audio, video, and text formats, some have experimented with integrating new-age tech like augmented and virtual reality into their curriculum. Professor of Instructional Technology Greg Kessler has used virtual reality tools to “transport” students studying a foreign language to cities like Paris, France, in preparation for study abroad trips. He says immersive practice like this has brought learning to a new level.

After establishing professors’ goals and objectives for their course, OII instructional designers and technologists help them determine which tools— like discussion boards, VoiceThread, or TopHat— would fit with how they want students to engage with the course material.

When Hess collaborated with Elizabeth Wanless on Intro to Analytics, a graduate course in the College of Business’s Master of Sports Administration Program, they focused on creating assessment experiences that would mimic how a sports administration professional would use analytics. The pair developed a business memolike prompt that asks students to perform datadriven tasks based on what they learned that week, similar to how a future boss might assign assessments.

“Now, instead of just reading about a topic or being lectured at about it, students are able to have a more meaningful, authentic experience,” Kessler says. “They come away with more knowledge, awareness, and a whole new appreciation for that location.”

—Kaitlyn Pacheco, BSJ ’17

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As NASA preps for long-distance spaceflights to the moon and Mars, it has tapped OHIO Professor of Environmental and Plant Biology Sarah Wyatt to advance our understanding of how plant life adapts outside of Earth, its evolutionary home. Wyatt, with the help of students like Ava Heller, BS ’20, (LEFT), will send plants to the International Space Station for the third time to further study the effects gravity—and the lack of it—has on plant growth. Photo by Ben Wirtz Siegel, BSVC ’02

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The annual Student Research and Creative Activity Expo welcomes hundreds of students to the Convocation Center each spring to celebrate each other’s accomplishments—and enjoy some playful competition—as they present a wide variety of research and creative work ranging from robotic lawn mowers to virtual reality applications supported by colleges and units from across disciplines.

Photo by Hannah Ruhoff, BSVC ’20

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Medium meets machine In our digital age, technology permeates academia. In OHIO’s School of Art + Design, students use 3D printers— once reserved for industry—to deepen their understanding of design and produce innovative work. Explore this bust of Thomas Jefferson, 3D-printed in clay by artist and graduate student Bri Murphy, through an augmented reality experience.

1. Visit ohiotoday.org/ar on your smartphone to launch the web-based app.

2. With the app open, point your phone’s camera at the icon below.

3. See the work come alive in 3D and hear artist Bri Murphy explain her process.

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Graphics by John Grimwade Photo by Max Catalano, BSVC ’20

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The recent explosion of available data—about nearly every aspect of the physical world—has enabled a host of welcomed capabilities for OHIO Director of Strength and Conditioning Jared Azar (RIGHT). From sensors monitoring individual student athletes’ biometrics during practices to iPadenabled tech measuring weight training performance, the “quantifiable way to know what’s going on in their body” lets training staff keep student athletes safe, healthy, and competitive, Azar says.

Photos by Ellee Achten, BSJ ’14, MA ’17

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If online headlines are your guide, artificial intelligence is the harbinger of either humanity’s liberation or its demise. Of course, the truth likely lies somewhere in between. Listen to Ohio Today Radio’s episode, “More intelligent,” at ohiotoday.org to hear from experts like Paul Roetzer, BSJ ’00, (LEFT) about how this new tech is already being used in the marketing realm and what its broadscale adoption across industries might mean for our future. Photo by Dustin Franz, BSVC ’10

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From idea to shelf

OHIO’s Technology Transfer Office shepherds inventions to market When Jason Trembly was replacing the wood deck at his home, he had an “aha” moment. The Ohio University Russ Professor of Mechanical Engineering and director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment thought: Instead of using a wood-plastic composite material—which tends to warp and oxidize and is difficult to recycle—why not create a composite material based on coal and coal byproducts that didn’t come with these drawbacks?

He went to the lab and soon formulated a potential product that was not only workable, but also economically feasible for the construction market.

His next step? Submit an invention disclosure to OHIO’s Technology Transfer Office (TTO), which guided his provisional patent application.

The whole point of tech transfer, according TTO’s Director Bob Silva, is “getting our innovations into the marketplace for the good of mankind.” In Trembly’s case, it can mean sustainably using coal without releasing carbon into the atmosphere.

Other efforts at TTO create therapeutics or medical devices that can save or improve lives.

Ohio University has a strong track record when it comes to bringing technologies to market—licensing revenue topped $100 million over the past 10 years.

Today, Trembly and his team of students are continuing to test the material while the TTO negotiates rights to the technology with two

companies, CONSOL Energy and Engineered Profiles. The latter is headed by mechanical engineering grad Mike Davis, BSME ’02, and his brother Brian Davis, BSCHE ’04, a fellow chemical engineering grad like Trembly, himself a three-time OHIO alumnus, having earned his doctoral degree in chemical engineering in 2007.

“We love to work with alumni (because) they make great partners,” says Silva. “They want the school to be successful, they want to be successful, and they are easy to work with. …

Everybody wins.”

Silva points out that bringing a technology to market takes, on average, eight years due to the effort involved in capturing, evaluating, protecting, marketing, and licensing the technology, whether through an existing company or a startup.

Trembly’s coal-wood composite technology has a good chance of making it to market, specifically because production costs are competitive and manufacturers are already positioned to produce it.

Trembly knows that very few ideas make it from lab to market, so he’s in academia for another important reason. “Working with the students is a really fun and rewarding part of the job,” he says, “Honestly, (graduates are) our No. 1 product.”

—Mary Reed, BSJ ’90, MA ’93

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Faculty and student researchers in the Russ College’s Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment are developing composite decking boards from coal, backed by $2 million in support from the U.S. Department of Energy and industry partners.

Photo by Ben Wirtz Siegel , BSVC ’02

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calendar For more upcoming OHIO Alumni events, visit ohiotoday.org/calendar

March 23

March 27

April 3-5

TEDxOhioUniversity

Celebrate Women

Mom’s Weekend

Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium. Ohio University hosts a community-wide sharing of ideas on “Thriving in Rural Communities.”

OHIO’s Lancaster Campus.

Theme: Women Organizing, Mentoring, Empowering, and Networking.

Athens Campus. All Bobcat moms are welcome for one of the University’s most popular weekends.

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Victory, with a side of fries.

OHIO Football Coach Frank Solich endures a fitting avalanche of French fries after securing the Bobcats’ third-straight bowl win, besting Nevada 30-21 at the 2020 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in January.

Photo by Abigail Dean, BSVC ’21

April 6-12 Athens International Film + Video Festival Athena Cinema. The world-renowned festival celebrates its 47th year.

April 7

Oct. 5-10

STOMP

Homecoming

Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium. The explosive, inventive, provocative, witty, and utterly unique experience comes to Athens.

Return to the bricks to rekindle memories and celebrate all things Green and White.

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More human In February 2011, two of Jeopardy!’s top contestants were bested by an unlikely and wholly new kind of opponent—a machine.

The question-answering computer, named “Watson” by its IBM creators, handily defeated Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter while much of the tech world watched with interest.

The historic match between man and machine also caught the interest of Bobcat entrepreneur Paul Roetzer.

At the time, the Clevelander was wrapping up his first book, The Marketing Agency Blueprint, in which he laid out the disruptive path he had blazed through the marketing industry since founding his agency, PR 20/20, in 2004.

Paul Roetzer, BSJ ’00, is no stranger to disruption, and he’s poised to lead another sea change as the marketing industry adopts increasingly ubiquitous artificially intelligent tools.

Photo by Dustin Franz, BSVC ’10

Roetzer, BSJ ’00, posited that the traditional marketing agency model was broken. So, he created a new one—one that rejected customary pillars like billable hours and requests for proposals and embraced transparency, technology, and talent.

This innovative vision attracted clients and employees alike, and the business grew. However, Roetzer’s natural curiosity kept his gaze trained on the horizon. After watching Watson’s victory, Roetzer immersed himself in artificial intelligence (AI) research, eventually realizing that this technology would lead another, far greater disruption within the marketing industry.

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A new intelligence “At the end of the day, AI is about giving a machine human-like ability—sight, hearing, understanding language. It doesn’t have any of those things natively,” Roetzer says. “And then being able to make predictions at superhuman levels.”

You already interact with AI regularly if you upload a photo to Facebook, binge Netflix, or listen to Spotify. The algorithms those platforms use to recommend a tag, show, or song all rely on AI. Much of what a marketing agency like PR 20/20 offers clients is strategy: how and where to distribute a particular message with a given budget, audience, timeline, and other variables that have expanded exponentially in the digital age.

“There were basically five ways you could spend marketing budget in 2000. Fast forward to 2012, there’s like 5,000 ways,” Roetzer explains. “So, I came to believe that the human mind wasn’t actually capable of building an optimal strategy.”

Roetzer predicted that with enough computing power, AI-delivered predictions would fill this gap.

He turned to his team, sharing his thoughts about the role AI will play in the future, inspiring them to collectively research the topic. As they accumulated more knowledge, Roetzer decided, “Let’s publish this stuff. If nothing else, we’ll learn.”

As it turned out, they were earlier along the adoption curve than they thought. The team discovered it had an advanced understanding of AI and how it can be leveraged within the field.

The staff of Roetzer’s PR 20/20—many of them Bobcats—have one word to describe the 16-year-old agency’s culture: family. Photo by Dustin Franz, BSVC ’10

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Challenging attendees to “Look beyond,” PR 20/20 and the Marketing AI Institute held a first-of-itskind conference focusing on the applications and implications of AI in marketing in July 2019. Photo by Dustin Franz, BSVC ’10

Over the next two years, PR 20/20’s AI-focused blog and newsletter received significantly increased attention, as well as a name: The Marketing AI Institute, which is today a standalone media company that “seeks to make artificial intelligence approachable and actionable for marketers,” according to its director, Mike Kaput.

In addition to consulting services, the institute and PR 20/20 also offered a first-of-its-kind conference in July 2019 focusing solely on AI in marketing. The Marketing AI Conference (MAICON) drew hundreds of professionals to Cleveland. Why? To start telling the story of how AI could change the field.

“We wanted to help … drive industry transformation with AI,” Kaput says. So they invited marketing change agents. And they came.

Speakers from Facebook and Hubspot, as well as authors, journalists, and futurists working on the cutting edge of the field discussed topics from practical applications of AI in marketing to the ethical questions the technology presents.

Karen Hao, the AI reporter for MIT Technology Review, moderated a panel discussion on the ethics of AI. “All technology can be wielded for good or bad. … I think the reason why AI is particularly troublesome in this regard is because it just scales things so quickly. Software is much easier to deploy as a technology than other things,” Hao says.

Because AI-marketing has the unprecedented potential to affect billions of consumers and comes with its own ethical conundrums, Roetzer set up the panel as a main-stage event in order to reach all attendees.

“Nobody was probably coming to the conference thinking, ‘Oh, I hope we have a topic on ethics,’ but I was not going to let people leave without listening to a topic on ethics,” Roetzer says. “Otherwise, you could look at what we’re doing as just teaching people to better predict and influence consumers.

And that’s not at all what we’re in it for.”

Staying human The nature of both MAICON and PR 20/20 is a reflection of Roetzer’s values—not just those of a marketer or entrepreneur, but of a human.

“I’ve always run the business where family came first,” Roetzer says. “We’ve made lots of decisions around the growth of the agency and passing up on growth opportunities largely because I wanted to be home at night to spend time with my family.”

This value of work-life balance applies to the entire staff and is at the core of the agency’s culture.

“You work with people more than you see your family sometimes, so you want to really care about each other,” says Vice President and Managing Director Jessica Miller, BSJ, CERT ’08. “You literally look around the room, and you know

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every person there is on the same page. You all have different strengths, but every person would help you out. Every person is working hard, learning all the time.”

How do you maintain that culture across a staff of 16? It’s not easy, says Vice President of Talent Tracy Lewis, BSJ ’09.

“One wrong hire can have a huge impact on the overall team, the overall happiness of the team, the way we treat one another,” she says. In hiring five of his current employees, Roetzer chose fellow Bobcats. A coincidence? Yes and no.

“In the early days, we just knew the skills we were looking for … and we knew that OU produced it,” Roetzer says. “Then, it just so happened a lot of the people we interviewed came from similar value systems.”

Roetzer’s character and vision have a reverberant effect on those around him. For Kaput, it’s Roetzer’s “relentless curiosity about what comes next.” Miller agrees, pointing out the truth behind the agency’s tagline: “Look beyond.”

“This is our culture. People are working here because they’re doing cool and innovative things and they want to be a part of that,” she says. “Whether it’s our employees, or clients, or industry peers, it’s what you expect when you associate with PR 20/20.”

Visit ohiotoday.org to listen to “More intelligent,” Ohio Today Radio’s episode on the basics of AI and what the tech might mean for our future.

—Peter Shooner

Paul Roetzer, BSJ ’00, author of The Marketing Agency Blueprint and The Marketing Performance Blueprint, delivers the opening keynote at the summer 2019 Marketing AI Conference in Cleveland. Photo by Dustin Franz, BSVC ’10

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Capture this A Photographer’s Guide to Ohio, Volumes 1 & 2 is, at its core, a series of recommended places for picture taking provided by a professional, experienced photographer who has logged over a million driving miles across the state in search of natural and human-built beauty.

The book’s author, Ian Adams, begins each volume with a foundational chapter that serves as a technical primer—an overview of camera types (yes, including smartphones), exposure control, depth of field, lighting, composition, and even post-trip digital workflow for people wanting to edit images on their computer.

“Ohio does not flaunt its scenic beauty, but an observant traveler in the Buckeye State will discover a treasure trove of subjects.”

Further into the book, Adams offers photo subject recommendations, organized by themes like waterfalls, barns, public gardens, scenic rivers, buildings, and cityscapes. Each theme features a full-color photo by Adams, along with a description of the location, and a fact or anecdote about the place.

He even includes some shop talk about possible lenses to use, camera positioning, and the best time of day to take your photo for optimal lighting.

Even if you’re not a photographer, this book is an excellent guide to Ohio’s scenic areas. The back of the book features an extensive index and regional maps with indicators placing each of the 285 locations covered in the two volumes, complete with helpful GPS coordinates.

“Ohio does not flaunt its scenic beauty,” Adams notes, “but an observant traveler in the Buckeye State will discover a treasure trove of subjects.” A Photographer’s Guide to Ohio, Volumes 1 & 2 brings Ohio into focus for anyone seeking an outdoor adventure.

Image courtesy of Ohio University Press

—Jeff Kallet is the sales manager at Ohio University Press

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Must-have tech:

then & now

From typewriters to laptops, rotary phones to smartphones, OHIO’s students are always in step with cutting-edge tech. No matter the device at their fingertips, Bobcats over the decades still use tech for the same reasons.

Tech is used as a tool by students to be successful in and out of the classroom. When it came to homework, Wendy Mandel, AB ’88, was able to tick away at her Brother electric typewriter from the comfort of her room in Jefferson Hall, saving her many late-night trips to the use-by-appointmentonly computer labs at Alden Library. Today, a student’s laptop is an essential tool for completing and submitting assignments entirely online, from anywhere.

Tech has always allowed students to ensure the highest quality in their work. Mandel purchased fancy stationary from the College Book Store to give her term papers a special touch. Now, students use online resources like Google Docs to have classmates view and edit their work to double- and triple-check assignments that encompass their semester’s work.

Before the cell phone, students connected with the folks back home by purchasing a calling

card. In the late ’90s, Teresa Barney, BSSE ’99, used her card—and had the multi-digit number memorized—to make long-distance calls to her family. “I mostly used it to call home to my parents when I needed a loving and listening ear,” Barney said, “or more often when I needed money transferred because I was still learning about budgeting.”

Calls to her grandmother, who lived in Chillicothe, 60 miles from Athens, was considered longdistance. Today’s students call, text, and video chat with friends and family anywhere on the globe with a simple tap on their smartphones.

From the very same smartphone, today’s Bobcats can amplify their favorite music for their friends through wireless stereos. Jon Denti, BS ’70, needed his 1966 Girrard turntable and stereo to achieve the same effect. With this setup, Denti and his friends created a makeshift radio station in his Parks Hall dorm, pointing his stereo out his window to play music and tell jokes to passing students. “Most people loved us, but a few said the only problem was they couldn’t turn us off. But after about three weeks, the dean did!”

—Jamie Clarkson, BSJ ’20

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Photos (ABOVE LEFT and BOTTOM RIGHT) courtesy of the M ahn Center for A rchives and S pecial Collections .

Photo (ABOVE RIGHT) by Hannah Ruhoff, BSVC ’20. Photo (BELOW LEFT) by Ben Wirtz Siegel , BSVC ’02

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Virtual reality tech puts more heart into health care

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OHIO experts’ immersive VR simulation shows how bias can obstruct patients’ access to care—and lets providers practice their response.

An ambitious Ohio University project aims to spread empathy and counteract bias by immersing health care providers in a scripted virtual reality (VR) experience. The program emphasizes how social determinants, or factors beyond a patient’s control such as income, access to healthy food, and job stability, can affect their health.

When health care providers make assumptions, those invisible judgments can affect the quality of care patients receive. Bias affects patients everywhere, including in Appalachian Ohio, which has high rates of diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and opioid addiction. Patients with these conditions are often stigmatized as unwilling to take responsibility for their health.

More than 200 OHIO faculty, staff, and students from seven colleges worked to produce the experience, with $1.9 million in grants from the Ohio Medicaid Technical Assistance and Policy Program. The project was led by Deborah Henderson, BSN ’84, PHD ’97, John McCarthy of the College of Health Sciences and Professions

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(CHSP), and Elizabeth Beverley of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (HCOM).

“We all bring our own biases that we have from our life experiences,” says Henderson.

“We need to identify those and examine them and make sure they do not creep into the care that we provide.”

The VR experience consists of two video series that tell the stories of fictional patients played by OHIO-trained actors, are inspired by real-world cases, and were developed with input from OHIO medical experts.

Destiny is 23 years old, pregnant, and addicted to opioids. She loses her job as a motel maid and discovers her boyfriend has sold her Subutex (a treatment for opioid addiction) to buy groceries. Lula Mae Tate is a 72-year-old woman with type 2 diabetes who cares for her grandchildren and disabled adult son, and volunteers at the local food pantry.

VR Producer Carrie Love, MFA ’19, from OHIO’s GRID lab, led a team that created 12 videos for each character that show them interacting with health care providers as they go about their daily lives. Actors playing health care providers exhibit bias against Destiny and Lula Mae, which prevents them from getting the help they need.

Love says the strength of the large interdisciplinary project team made it possible to use the complex tech required to make VR content.

“The real magic is that we’ve got so many players and they’re all the best in the fields,” Love says.

Both VR training programs are designed to be viewed wearing Oculus Go headsets as part of interactive workshops, one for each series.

Between videos, participants discuss what they saw with each other and a facilitator.

Illustrations by Nicolas Ogonosky

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GRID Lab Cinematographer Matthew Love, MFA ’18, developed new techniques to create special VR effects that emphasize aspects of the story. At one point, viewers can spin around to witness Lula Mae’s daily obstacles at home, such as challenges that keep her from refilling a prescription.

“We saw an opportunity to combine the strengths of 360-degree video with the storytelling techniques that have been so honed and evolved in filmmaking,” says Matthew Love.

Toward the end of each series, participants interact directly with a character and read from text overlaid on the scene in their headsets. This allows participants to rehearse appropriate, useful phrases for confronting bias in the workplace and guides them in providing the best care for patients.

“It’s really your turn to do it,” says McCarthy.

An evaluation of the efficacy of their VR experience is underway via focus groups and a participant survey. In June, the work will be transferred to the Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center, which will decide whether to make the program available to health care providers statewide.

Berkeley Franz, a medical sociologist at HCOM who was not involved with the project, often teaches medical students to recognize and address their biases. She says the VR experience includes three important elements—an opportunity to talk about bias and normalize it, a chance to hear about patients’ experiences, and an invitation to think about each character as an individual. “I think it’s a really powerful technique,” she says. “I think this is a really positive use of technology.”

—Amy Nordrum, BSJ ’10

OHIO impact

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Flipping the switch on infection Most bacterial infections follow a similar path: you get sick, a doctor prescribes antibiotics that target the infection, you get better. But what if scientists could switch off the infection before it started?

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Professor Jennifer Hines utilizes OHIO’s Biochemistry Research Facility on West State Street to develop methods to combat drugresistant bacteria. Photo by Jonathan Adams , BSVC ’13

That’s what OHIO Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Jennifer Hines and her research team are proposing. Hines studies ribonucleic acid, RNA, the molecule in all living things that carries out the instructions for replicating genetic information in DNA. Scientists now believe RNA has a much greater role to play in drug discovery.

“We’re still at the dawn of an era, but so much is being discovered,” Hines says.

Bacterial resistance to antibiotic drugs has been a growing concern among scientists and health care professionals. Every time a drug doesn’t kill off all the infectious bacteria, the ones that survive reproduce and adapt. And because “bacteria are so readily adaptable” and reproduce so quickly, Hines says, they outpace the rate of the invention of new drugs.

RNA offers a potential solution through its role in gene transcription, an action that uses riboswitches, small molecules that control gene expression. Hines’ research is focused on the T box riboswitch, which she says is like a light switch in a darkened room, left off until someone needs a light.

“If we can find a drug that keeps that switch turned off when the bacteria’s trying to turn it on, we can kill [the bacteria],” Hines explains.

Fortunately, the T box riboswitch controls many different genes in lots of bacteria.

“You could imagine developing something that will kill all these different bacteria with an essential

gene regulated by the T box,” she says. “That overlap could also make it harder for bacteria to become resistant.”

To create such a drug, Hines’ group must test how different molecules interact with the T box riboswitch. For this task, they use the Ohio Supercomputer Center’s high-powered processors that “go through many more calculations in a fraction of the time” it would take her single lab computer to complete just one, Hines says.

Hines and her team do this work online from their lab on the Athens Campus. Students access the center’s web interface on their laptops, which means more molecules are analyzed and “more students [are] involved in the computational work,” Hines says.

Even then, she says, it will take a long time to run the billions of calculations required to design, synthesize, and test the small molecules. Students continue to plug away at the project at Hines’ lab in the biochemistry building. While this and other groundbreaking research is occurring, OHIO is scheduled to open a new chemistry building by Clippinger Laboratories in summer 2020, where more state-of-the-art research and collaboration for faculty and students will transpire.

With such resources, the possibilities for drug discovery are far-reaching.

“The knowledge is just exploding,” she says.

—Cat Hofacker, BSJ ’18

OHIO impact

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Giving Day 2019 On any given day, what difference does your gift of $50, $100, or $500 to OHIO make?

Plenty! When OHIO counted on Bobcats to make a difference by supporting its inaugural Giving Day, a 24-hour campaign that began and ended on April 18, 2019, Bobcats didn’t disappoint. Ohio Today shows how donated dollars were put to work to benefit students, top-ranked areas of study, and programs. What a difference a day—of giving—makes!

DIVERSITY WOMEN’S PROGRAMMING AT OHIO UNIVERSITY LANCASTER

EBN URBAN SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT Giving Day gifts + The OHIO Match helped fund the endowment which provides Urban Scholars with a 4-year renewable scholarship.

OHIO Lancaster has hosted 350 girls from 20 schools in SE Ohio at each of its 15 Women in Technology & Science conferences.

SUSTAINABILITY OHIO UNIVERSITY SUSTAINABILITY FUND

THE DR. GUY REIFLER ACID MINE DRAINAGE PROGRAM

OHIO Student Farm’s orchard project secured 16 fruit trees, 60 blueberry bushes, and 47 bags of soil amendments.

One artist, one engineer, and team manage a pilot plant that extracts toxic coal seep from streams to create one pound of artist pigment per week.

STUDENT SUPPORT STUDENT AFFAIRS FOOD PANTRY SUPPORT FUND Every $25 provides one student with a three-day supply of emergency food.

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COMMUNITY GRID LAB GENERAL SUPPORT FUND

RUSS COLLEGE ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS

Funds will secure new technology, keeping the GRID Lab’s R&D efforts among the strongest in the country.

In 15 years, 75 student engineers have completed 15 infrastructure and sustainability projects in Ghana and Haiti.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

BOBCAT SPIRIT

SCRIPPS COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT FUND

SPORTS ADMINISTRATION PROGRAM ENHANCEMENT

The fund aims to bolster student learning outside the classroom, from experiential learning to research activity.

The fund for this top-ranked program has backed 50 grad students with assistantships, travel support, and networking opportunities.

Infographic by K aleigh Bowen, BSVC ’20

$443,534

Infographic

TOTAL DONATION AMOUNT FROM GIVING DAY 2019

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1970 TECH & TRUTH

In 1970, Andy Alexander, BSJ ’72, (CENTER) spent countless nights clicking away at typewriters and carefully assembling the pages of a campus staple: The Post, Ohio University’s student-run newspaper still in operation. The staff joked that he “ate, slept, drank, and breathed” the publication, according to the 1970 Athena yearbook.

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Photos courtesy of the M ahn Center for A rchives & S pecial Collections

Alexander wasn’t the only student journalist using tech to bring the news to the public. Reporters dialed away on rotary phones, photographers rushed to develop film, and designers pieced together the newspaper like a scrapbook every week.

This organized chaos created a meticulously designed and thoughtfully researched paper that rested in the hands of students and Athens locals.

Myriad tech tools have been developed and used to produce newspapers since The Post’s founding in 1912. But one thing remains: It’s still a celebration of free speech and press.

—Jamie Clarkson, BSJ ’20

OHIO time machine

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Class notes, tweets, and posts

* denotes tweets @OHIOAlumni or posts on OHIO Alumni LinkedIn

1964

In October, Vernita McClish Nemec, BFA ’64, presented a performance art piece at the “Art In Odd Places” event in New York City, where she resides.

1968

Larry Pavone, BA ’68, and Donna Croftcheck Pavone, AB ’68, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in August. The couple lives in Hubbard, Ohio.

1969

James E. Carlos, PHD ’69, founder of

IONA: Art Sanctuary in Sewanee, Tennessee, held the Winter Festival of Fine Arts in October. The event featured readings, performances, and an art exhibit by the Franklin County Arts Guild.

1970

George Mooradian, BFA ’70, was nominated for a 2019 Prime Time Emmy in Outstanding Cinematography for “Rel.” Mooradian lives in Studio City, California.

John Woyansky, AB ’70, finished 2019 as the commander

of American Legion Post 284, where he organized events to support local veterans.

He resides in Colonial Heights, Virginia.

1972

In July, Alice Knost Jennings, AB ’72, received a postgraduate assistantship from Spalding University to lecture on the life and work of poet Gabriela Mistral in Santiago, Chile.

1973

William H. Slaninko, MS ’73, retired in July after a 40-year career in the microbiology lab at Cedars Sinai Health Systems in Los Angeles.

He resides in West Covina, California.

1974

In September, Paul Glabicki, MFA ’74, MFA ’79, opened a fiveweek show featuring his most recent artwork at the Kim Foster Gallery in New York. Glabicki resides in Pennsylvania, where he teaches studio art at the University of Pittsburgh.

1983

Robin Mains Wilson, BSJ ’83, was listed on the 2020 Ohio Super Lawyer List for her work in business litigation. Wilson also

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received this honor in 2013. She resides in Brecksville, Ohio.

1984

In October, Jon Barhorst, BBA ’84*, was named the chief risk officer of Lending USA, an award-winning financial technology company. He resides in Oakwood, Ohio.

1985

Ronald Burns, BSH ’85, DO ’89, was installed as American Osteopathic Association’s 2019-20 president during the association’s annual meeting in July. Burns also was awarded the OHIO Alumni Association’s Medal of Merit in October 2018. Burns resides in Orlando, Florida, with his wife, Janet Wisniewski Burns, BS, BSPT ’88.

Donna Julian, BSPE ’85*, was promoted to executive vice president of Hornets Sports and Entertainment, operator of Charlotte, North Carolina’s, Spectrum Center. She remains as the center’s general manager. Julian’s career with the organization spans 15 years.

BOBCAT SIGHTINGS OHIO alumni go on adventures hither and yon!

While on safari in Malawi, Africa, Emilie “Cynthia” Gray, BA ’12, and Andrew Gardner, BSC ’87, paused for this pic to boast their Bobcat pride.

Douglas Evans, BMUS ’79, and Sarah Williams Evans, BMUS ’82, bring out the green and white with pride while in Seoul for a family visit.

Kathleen Bennett, BSED ’70, and husband Tim grin ear to ear in their Bobcat gear at Glacier National Park.

Joan Butcher, BSC ’05, MA ’08, took in the scenic landscape in September near Hovet, Norway, with a friend’s trusted pooch, Baloo.

Those Bobcats tied the knot!

[BACK ROW, L-R] Alex Morrow, BSED ’12, John “Jack” Kelley, BBA ’12, Matthew Goldstein, BBA ’12, Corbin Blosat, BSED ’12, Paul Severini, BSJ ’84, Dana Stewart, BSJ ’08, Stephanie Cesar, BSJ ’13. [FRONT ROW, L-R] Rachel Orr, BSVC ’11, Samantha Murray Doktor, BSED ’10, groom Harrison Hess, BSSPS ’12, bride Danielle Hess, BSVC ’12, Chad Harville, BSJ ’12, Anna Luczkow, BSJ ’12.

Matthew Birt, BSJ ’16, gives his sister, Christina, a proper welcome to the Bobcat family on the day of her high school graduation.

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—Compiled by Jamie Clarkson, BSJ ’20, and Kelee Garrison Riesbeck, BSJ, CERT ’91 Send your photos with names, grad degrees, and grad years to ohiotoday@ohio.edu or to Ohio University, Ohio Today, 112 McKee House, 1 Ohio University Drive, Athens, OH 45701.

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FUTURE BOBCATS

Melanie Pearn, BSED ’02, and her husband, Chad, sent this photo of their delightfully cheerful Bobkitten Millie.

Mack (LEFT) and Beau, sons of Andrew Hardy, BBA ’04, and Katie Poorman Hardy, BSJ ’04, are geared up to become third generation Bobcats.

Beach bound Michelle Munoz Wilson, BSJ ’08, and her husband, Tony, stopped at the Class Gateway for this pic with son Matthew, marking the tot’s first visit to OHIO’s Athens Campus.

Emily Offord, BSN ’15, shared this shot of her bundle of Bobcat joy, Logan.

—Compiled by Jamie Clarkson, BSJ ’20, and Kelee Garrison Riesbeck, BSJ, CERT ’91 Send your photos with names, grad degrees, and grad years to ohiotoday@ ohio.edu or Ohio University, Ohio Today, 112 McKee House, 1 Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701.

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Addison is all smiles in her green and white! Proud grandmother Christina Kasmar, BSN ’17, MHA ’19, hopes Addison follows in her footsteps.

1987

Renee Carey, BSJ ’87*, was appointed the regional editor for Kentucky newsrooms

by CNHI, a newspaper publishing company.

Carey is the editor of The Sharon Herald and The New Castle News.

1988

Cardiologist Mario Massullo, DO ’88, was honored in June by the Sons of Italy of Kankakee County, Illinois, with the Leonardo da Vinci Award, an annual recognition given to Italian-Americans for their achievements.

1989

Kara Brem Cervelli, BSED ’89, was named director of the Fairport Harbor Public Library in summer 2019. She and her husband Frederick, BFA ’91, reside in Madison, Ohio.

Shannan Ritchie, BBA ’89, MBA ’90*, was named the chief operating officer at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in Cleveland.

He has worked in health care leadership for nearly 20 years.

1990

In October, Gregory “Scott” Bright, BSEE ’90*, was appointed the chief

executive officer of Jeeva Wireless by its board of directors.

Previously, Bright was the co-founder and CEO of Synapse Product Development. He resides in Seattle, Washington.

Kevin Everson, MFA ’90*, was awarded the 2019 Heinz Award in the Arts & Humanities in September for his work in film and media.

Everson teaches art at the University of Virginia. He resides in Charlottesville, Virginia.

David Miree, BSSE ’90, MSPE ’91, was named the lead region president for Northeast Community Banking for Wells Fargo, a region that includes New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut.

1992

John Beck, BSC ’92, was named interim dean of the School of Business and Communication at The Master’s University in California, where he resides with his wife, Mary Carlo Beck, BSED ’93.

John Hannon, BSC ’92*, was named the president and general manager of Univision Houston, the leading Hispanic media company in the United States.

1994

Peggy Dillon, MSJ ’94, PHD ’97, was promoted to professor in the Media and Communication Department at Salem State University. Dillon resides in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

In November, Katherine Dykes, AB ’94*, was named the executive director of the Middletown Arts Center in Middletown, Ohio. She resides in Monroe, Ohio.

1995

Michele Lewis Watts, MSA ’95, received her doctoral degree in kinesiology and exercise science from Wayne State University. Watts is the director of the sport management program at Madonna University in Livonia, Michigan.

1997

Amelia Robinson, BSJ ’97, was named as a finalist for “Best Radio Podcast of The Year” at the National Association of Broadcasters Marconi Radio Awards for her podcast, “What Had Happened Was.”

1998

The photography of Aaron Cameron Muntz, BSVC ’98*, was featured through

Bobcat tracks

November at The Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens, Ohio.

In fall 2019, Robert Ferguson, BSME ’98, participated in NASA’s Human Exploration Research Analog at Johnson Space Center in Texas, where he experienced a 45-day simulation of isolation, light cycles, and distance from Earth and was studied for behavioral health and performance. Ferguson lives in Newnan, Georgia.

Daniel Slentz, BSC ’98, completed the largest fixed ultra-high definition production performance facility in the United States while working as the chief video engineer for the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida.

1999

Jeff Altenau, BBA ’99*, began his position as executive managing director at Cushman & Wakefield, where he will lead the firm’s debt capital markets platform for Chicago and the Midwest.

Liz Sidoti, BSJ ’99, announced her role as a managing director at the Washington, D.C., office of Abernathy MacGregor, a leading strategic communications firm.

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2000

Joy Polkabla Byers, BSS ’00, was named the executive director of Campus Recreation and Student Wellbeing at Youngstown State University. Byers resides in North Jackson, Ohio.

2002

In June, Jill DelGreco, BSJ ’02, began her role as communications adviser for Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. In her role, DelGreco focuses on state assets and social media. She resides in Pickerington, Ohio.

2003

Rex Wilford, DO ’03, an internist, was named one of Cleveland’s best doctors in the August issue of Cleveland Magazine.

2004

In October, Marisa Long McKenney, BSJ ’04, was named executive vice president of Inspire PR Group. McKenney will guide agency operations and client management. She resides in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Matthew, BS, BBA ’04.

2005

Adam Covington, BSIT ’05*, was named the president of Ferry Industries after over ten years with the company. He previously served as an engineer and vice president.

Kelly Curtin Noll, BBA ’05, was promoted to director in the Valuation and Financial Opinion Services Department of GBQ Partners, an accounting and consulting firm based in Columbus, Ohio.

2007

Michelle T. Patella, BBA ’07, authored an article on innovation and creativity for Columbus CEO’s online magazine.

Patella resides in Columbus, Ohio.

2008

standing graduating MSW students in the strengthening organization and communities specialization. She resides in Oakland, California.

Angela Germano, BS ’08, studied cheetah conservation and ecosystem management in Namibia through Miami University’s Global Field Program in summer 2019. Germano teaches science at Dover Intermediate School in Westlake, Ohio.

Katie Sedor, BSHCS ’08, accepted the position of project architect at Red Iron Architects, a Certified WomanOwned Small Business based in Charleston, South Carolina, where she resides.

Hana Bieliauskas, BSJ ’08, was promoted to vice president at Inspire PR Group, where she will provide strategic guidance and support to clients.

Bieliauskas lives in Arden, North Carolina.

Marie Swinford Yearling, BS ’08, received the WyDEC Innovative Educator of the Year honor at Laramine County Community College in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where she teaches microbiology.

Kendra Edwards, BA ’08, received a master’s degree in social welfare from the University of California, Berkeley in May. Edwards received the Ralph M. Kramer Award, which recognizes out-

2010

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In October, Ellen Herman Kimball, BSH ’10*, was formally named the head volleyball coach at the University of Connecticut. She had been serving as the

team’s interim coach since February.

2011

Courtney Little, MPH, DO ’11, began serving as the health commissioner and medical director of the Ross County Board of Health. She resides in Chillicothe, Ohio.

2012

In November, Brian Boesch, BSJ ’12*, began working as the radio play-by-play basketball broadcaster for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

2013

Terri Roberts, BSN ’13, was a recipient of the 2019 Heroes in Infection Prevention Award for Education for her work in improving the health and wellbeing of her patients and co-workers. Roberts resides in Irwin, Pennsylvania.

Jaimi Adams Widmer, BA ’13, traveled to Brazil with Miami University’s Earth Expeditions program in summer 2019 to study golden lion tamarin conservation. Widmer is a graduate student in Miami University’s Advanced Inquiry Program. She resides in Trenton, Ohio.

2014

In summer of 2019,

Michael Hamilton, BSED ’14, studied coral reef ecology and marine conservation along the Great Barrier Reef through Miami University’s Earth Expeditions field course in Australia. Hamilton is a science teacher at West Clermont Middle School in Batavia, Ohio.

Darla Moore, BSN ’14*, joined Community Mental Healthcare as a fulltime family practice nurse practitioner after 18 years with the Cleveland Clinic Union Hospital. She resides in Jewett, Ohio.

What’s new?

Share your news with fellow alumni by completing this form and mailing it to Ohio Today at Ohio University, Ohio Today, 112 McKee House, 1 Ohio University Drive, Athens, OH 45701; sending an email to ohiotoday@ohio.­edu or a fax to 740.597.9070; or visiting ohiotoday.org/class-note/ Name ...................................................................................................

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During the summer of 2019, Molly Niese, BS ’14, spent eight days in India studying the ecological, cultural, and spiritual landscapes of the Western Ghats with Miami University’s Earth Expeditions program. Niese is a teacher at Madison Plains High School and resides in London, Ohio.

In June, Robert Razzante, BA ’14, trained young professionals on the foundations of communication in Ammon, Jordan.

Three months later, former classmate Lindsey Spanner, BA ’14, coincidentally interviewed these same students for a potential job.

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In May, Heather Sowards, PHD ’14, was named Marietta College’s Faculty of the Year by the college’s student body governing board. Sowards serves as a visiting assistant professor of English at the college. She resides in Parkersburg, West Virginia, with her husband, Luke Peters, MPA ’05, and their two sons, Griffin and Graham.

2015

In October, Emily Weldon, MFA ’15*, was named the director of production at Collaboration Theatre Company in Chicago.

2017

Michael Witte, BBA ’17, was promoted to “In-Charge”

at Weber Clark, Ltd. in Toledo, Ohio. Witte began at the company as an intern in 2016 and became a full-time employee in 2017.

2018

Vlatko Andonovski, MSRSS ’18*, was named the head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, the world champions in women’s soccer. He resides in Kansas City, Missouri.

In October, Alex Hurley, MSES ’18*, was named the new policy and data analyst at Donovan Energy in Cincinnati.

—Compiled by Jamie Clarkson, BSJ ’20

Alumni Authors

Ohio University alumni publish books across subjects and genres. Here are releases within the last year. —Compiled by Hardika Singh, BSJ ’21, and Editor Kelee Garrison Riesbeck, BSJ, CERT ’91 School Programs in Speech-Language Pathology: Organization and Delivery, Sixth Edition, medicine (Plural Publishing, Inc.), and Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Proactive Intervention, Third Edition, medicine (Plural Publishing, Inc.), by Jean L. Blosser, BSHSS ’69 • Opera on TV, poetry (KIN(D)* TEXTS & PROJECTS),

by James Lowell Brunton, AB ’03 • Captain Draggin’s Unstoppable Flying Machine, children’s literature (Rock/Paper/Safety Scissors), by Paul Chimera, BSJ ’71 • Sacred Groves: Or, How a Cemetery Saved My Soul, memoir (Bedazzled Ink Publishing), by Kathleen Davies, AB ’77 • Testament of an Exceptional Plus Selected Short Stories, historical fiction (Outskirts Press), by Donald “Don” Korenewych, BBA ’85 • House of Hemp and Butter, history (Cornell University Press), by Kevin O’Connor, PHD, CERT ’00 • Harmony, children’s literature (Monday Creek Publishing), by Cristina Sicard, BSJ ’18

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Remembering fellow alumni

1930s

Mary L. Anderson Weisenborn, BSED ’38 Frederick H. Weals, BSCE ’39

1940s

Mildred E. Yeager Hooper, AB ’42 Hilda Berman Manello, BSED ’42 Doris A. Davies Ruby, ELED ’42, BSED ’44 Grace E. Anderson Furbee, BSHEC ’43 Helen J. Jones Baugh, AB ’45 Barbara J. Harner Holladay, BSED ’45, MA ’48 Betty R. Geller Nesbit, STENO ’45 Mary A. Whipple Stanley, AB ’45 Demaris J. Jarroll Williams, MED ’45 Doris M. Morgan Gaffney, AB ’46 Dorothy F. Hainer Woldorf, AB ’47 Robert V. Zaman, BSCOM ’47 Anna Meyn Allen, BSED ’48 John R. Angel, BSCOM ’48 Joanne Weeks Fenn, BS ’48 Melba J. Yates Harmer, BSHEC ’48 William J. Petrovic, BSAE ’48 Daniel W. Shaps, BSCOM ’48 William M. Stomps, BSIE ’48 Claude E. Kendall, BSCOM ’49 Richard W. Laut, BSCOM ’49

1950s

Thomas E. Allen, BSCOM ’50 Harry R. Barton, BSED ’50, MED ’50 Patricia A. Jewett Crawford, AB ’50 J. E. Genheimer, BSAE ’50 Martha A. Reese Miller, BSHEC ’50, MA ’79 Stanley J. Safford, BSED ’50 William A. Smith, BSED ’50, MED ’51 Roland E. Bashore, BSCE ’51 James R. Decker, BSCOM ’51 Ariel C. Hollinshead, AB ’51, HON ’77 Betty Wagner Lambdin, AB ’51 William A. Pinkava, BSME ’51

Ruth H. Hartford Ritchey, AB ’51 Thomas T. Tykodi, BSED ’51 William G. Van Hall, BSCOM ’51 Margaret E. Molnar Wells, BSED ’51 Robert E. Whitworth, BSEE ’51 Rudolph L. Allison, BSCOM ’52 Jean A. Annable Cozza, BSED ’52 Elnora T. Troxell Cullinan, AB ’52 Harold E. Johnson, BSCOM ’52 David I. Lamphier, BSCOM ’52 William H. Lewellen, BSCOM ’52 Ruth E. Jones Merkle, BSED ’52 John F. Milar, BSCOM ’52 Robert L. Weinland, BSCOM ’52, BSIE ’54 Elmer C. Apel, BSED ’53 Reginald R. Charette, BSCE ’53 Forrest J. Colegrove, AB ’53 Vince Costello, BSED ’53, MED ’60 Samuel T. Henderson, BS ’53 Richard W. Lewis, BS ’53 Paul E. McDaniel, AA ’53 June G. Gerthing Mishler, BSED ’53 William P. Newkirk, AB ’53 Sanford G. Ross, BSED ’53 Helen B. Dunn Sidwell, BSED ’53 William T. Straughan, BSCOM ’53 Robert R. Baucher, BSCOM ’54 Shirley Phares Brubaker, AA ’54 James D. Gatts, AB ’54 Joan M. Miday Krauskopf, AB ’54 Cora A. Merten Layaou, AB ’54 John N. Meeks, BSCOM ’54 Robert C. Oakes, BSCOM ’54 David H. Staley, MS ’54 David B. Bates, AB ’55 Keith B. Berlin, BSCOM ’55 Juanne I. Gibson, BSJ ’55 Hugh D. Lucas, AB ’55 Beverly Barrett Smith, BSHEC ’55 Samuel S. Stewart, BSCOM ’55 Roger L. Wood, BSCOM ’55 Elaine M. Mesec Charvat, BS ’56 Donald A. Christopher, BSCOM ’56 William R. Farms, BSED ’56 William P. Griffin, BSCOM ’56 JeanAnn Newland Hughes, BSED ’56

In memoriam

Richard L. Jennings, BS ’56, BSCE ’57 Jane T. Hutchinson Kiorpes, BS ’56 Robert W. Klenk, BSED ’56 Nancy J. Pearce Truelove, BFA ’56 Walter J. Wood, BSCOM ’56 Delbert J. Doles, BSCOM ’57 William C. Gargiulo, AB ’57 Nancy J. Domer Gaydar, BFA ’57 Calvin F. Hurd, BS ’57 Marjorie Q. Quay Larkins, BSED ’57 Paul C. Martoccia, BSED ’57 Donald L. Pierce, BSED ’57 Elaine Burkhart Greenlee, AA ’58 Ben F. Jackson, BSME ’58 Robert B. Jones, BFA ’58 William C. Keck, BSCOM ’58 Fred E. Maloof, AB ’58 Donald W. Santee, BSME ’58 Vernon S. Smith, BSIT ’58 Ruth J. Schweikert Smythe, BSHEC ’58 John P. Wood, BSCOM ’58 Robert N. Aebersold, MS ’59 David L. Behm, BSCOM ’59 Donald L. Bosscawen, BSCOM ’59 Linda S. McVay Christopher, BSED ’59 John T. Conroy, BSCOM ’59 Jean G. Gattrell Cowan, BSED ’59 Howard J. Day, BSCE ’59 Edgar A. Finchum, BSCOM ’59 Stephen B. Hamm, AB ’59 Illene Sieglitz Hodgdon, BSHEC ’59 Albert H. MacKenzie, BFA ’59 Stanley A. Rodman, BSJ ’59 William R. Rousseau, AB ’59 Jessie A. Janes Smith, BSHEC ’59 George G. Smith, BSCOM ’59 Roger W. Wiley, BSME ’59

1960s

Laura L. Rose Hinton, BSED ’60 John C. Jessell, MED ’60 Patricia M. Matheny Luster, BSED ’60

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James D. Moore, AB ’60 Preston E. Phelps, BSME ’60 Donald W. Robb, AB ’60 Carl H. Sears, AB ’60, MED ’67 Peter Lucak, BSCOM ’61 Robert J. Motil, BSED ’61 Richard J. Schmeisser, BSIT ’61 Donald M. Snyder, BSME ’61 Martha J. Teeters, AB ’61 Judy Dumbauld Waterman, BSJ ’61 Kenneth W. Chaloupek, BSCHE ’62 Patricia J. Dixon, BSED ’62 June Martinick Martinick Farrell, BSJ ’62 Margaret A. Guentert, BSED ’62 Charles R. Hurst, BSCOM ’62 Donald E. Kramer, BSED ’62, MED ’67 Annette J. Dunn Mobley, BSED ’62 Joseph W. Richen, MA ’62 Gary N. Roeseler, AB ’62 Roger W. Scott, BS ’62, AB ’81 Edward M. Selby, BSED ’62, MED ’63 James K. Thomas, BSCOM ’62 Ann S. Snee Wagner, BSHEC ’62 Stephen H. Wahl, AB ’62 Ward Wilson, AB ’62 Charlotte J. Baun, BSED ’63 Colby A. Burke Brown, BSED ’63, MED ’78 Thelma I. Coffey, BSED ’63 Horst F. Waymann, BSME ’63 Aaron K. Bateman, BBA ’64 Charles W. Bucklew, BSIT ’64 David A. Couch, BBA ’64 Gerald B. Dargusch, BA ’64 Margot A. Millavec Klima, BSJ ’64 Joan Pickens Lea, BFA ’64 Michael J. McAfee, BA ’64, MA ’66 Gary L. Stephenson, BFA ’64 Frederick J. Wiecher, BS ’64 Paul E. Bauer, BSED ’65 James A. Crum, BBA ’65 Mary C. Cravens Jackson, BS ’65 Thomas W. Metters, BSJ ’65 Christian M. Beni, BS ’66 David W. Coffey, BSED ’66, MED ’71

Lanny E. Crist, BSED ’66 Glendon F. Eberts, BSED ’66, MA ’67 John R. Hoch, BSIT ’66 Richard H. McDonald, BSED ’66 Bert L. Mozena, AB ’66 Catherine L. Cain Nelson, MA ’66 Alayne Weeks Payne, BSED ’66 Sharon K. Scott, BSED ’66 Martha A. Evans Sparks, BSED ’66 Gary R. Weaver, BSED ’66 Wayne R. Weld, AB ’66 Constance Roberts Bowermeister, AB ’67 Patrick M. Cirino, AB ’67 Mildred P. Pitts Guinn, BSED ’67, MED ’79 James J. Harris, MED ’67 Judith P. Peterson Kolwicz, MED ’67 Thomas E. Leeper, MED ’67 Lance N. Miller, BSJ ’67, MSJ ’69 Terry R. Pelton, BSME ’67 Veda Lau Roberts, AB ’67 Linda S. Courtney Scott, BA ’67 Michael W. Selm, AB ’67 K. D. Streiff, BBA ’67 Joseph P. Whyte, BSED ’67, MED ’69 Kathryn T. Denton, BSED ’68 Ronald D. Diehl, BBA ’68 Sarah Atkinson Frazier, MED ’68 Daniel L. Frear, BBA ’68 Aaron A. Karimakwenda, AB ’68 Linda Pasquini McClelland, BS ’68 Joseph J. Pavlasek, BSED ’68, MED ’70 William E. Pugh, BSED ’68, MED ’72 Samuel K. Wild, BFA ’68, MFA ’70 Joanne Glick Bash, BSHEC ’69 Judy R. Nehls Bear, BSC ’69 Carol A. Zimmerman Callaghan, BSJ ’69 John A. Collier, BBA ’69 John W. Conrad, MED ’69 Sandra A. Adkins Emery, AB ’69 Peter G. Geil, MED ’69 Susan Wiley Hopple, BSE ’69

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C. D. Wappner Kracker, BBA ’69 Dorothy F. Logan, BSED ’69 David R. Martin, BSED ’69 Richard J. Webster, BSIT ’69 Richard A. Wiedemer, BBA ’69

1970s

Dana B. Ciccone, BSJ ’70, MA ’72 Stephen C. Compher, MS ’70 Donna W. Gilligan, AB ’70, MED ’71 Richard E. Jenkins, BSED ’70, MED ’72 R.J. Kuhner, BSISE ’70 Hugh A. Lofton, MA ’70 Pribble Bates Richeson, BSHSS ’70, MS ’82 Gary S. Scheiers, AB ’70 David M. Sever, BS ’70, MS ’71 James R. Van Etten, MBA ’71, BSIT ’70 Robert L. Weinfurtner, PHD ’70 Lindsay Carter, BS ’71 Thomas W. Coffman, MED ’71 Deborah A. Duchon, BSC ’71 Charles H. Frobose, BSED ’71 Marlin J. Harper, AB ’71 Susan A. Gurba Hubacher, BFA ’71 Sue E. Kizer, AB ’71 Richard G. Martin, MM ’71 Barbara S. Myers, MS ’71 Dan A. Remley, AB ’71, MA ’72 Marilyn B. Bolton Stafford, BSED ’71, MED ’75 William D. Albright, MBA ’72 James A. Dunn, AB ’72 John J. Hager, BSJ ’72 Robert E. Howell, BSED ’72 Robert H. McGaughey, PHD ’72 Alex J. Poplawsky, MS ’72, PHD ’74 Robert H. Ray, BFA ’72 Donald E. Reed, PHD ’72 Kathryn E. Shoemaker, BSED ’72 Eleanor E. Smith, BSED ’72 Thomas C. Springer, AB ’72 Ralph E. Waite, MA ’72 Deborah D. Rohner Bishop, BSED ’73 Larry E. Doak, BSED ’73 Bernard A. Knapp, BSC ’73

Frances P. Arledge-Junk, BSED ’74 Daniel L. Clemenz, BMUS ’74 Jose M. Gundin, BBA ’74 William J. Seelie, AB ’74, MED ’76 James E. Rogers, MS ’75 Gilbert M. Evanish, AB ’76, MA ’78 Michael S. Greevy, MS ’76, PHD ’80 Gregory K. Johnson, BBA ’76 Kathleen A. Kutsko, BA ’76, MED ’86, PHD ’19 Harry D. Peach, BS ’76 Florence Lash Tackett, MED ’76 Douglas W. Gordon, BBA ’77 Linda J. Hilson, AB ’77 Joann M. James, BGS ’77 Ralph A. Johnson, PHD ’77 Mark D. Ross, AB ’77 Douglas A. Braun, BSC ’78 Craig D. Hubler, BSC ’78 Clifford T. Rubenstein, MED ’78 Michael L. Rucker, BSED ’78, MS ’93 Robert W. Young, BBA ’78 Phyllis Carder Baker, MED ’79 William K. McKelvey, MS ’79 Victoria A. Moore, BSED ’79 Stephen Wollenhaupt, BSC ’79

1980s

Nancy L. Lease Gooldin, BSN ’80 John R. Jason, MBA ’80 Dale E. Kelly, MBA ’80 John D. Parker, MFA ’80 Jeffrey S. Davidson, BSJ ’81 Richard M. Lohr, BSJ ’81 Randall R. McNair, BBA ’81 Penny J. Frohnapfel Shane, BSED ’81 Catherine A. Kovach Woskobnick, BS ’81 Keith D. Clary, BMUS ’82 Robert S. Garrison, BFA ’82 John E. George, BSED ’82 Lonnie D. Kriebel, MED ’82 Peter N. Scarff, BBA ’82 Connie A. Jones Veillette, AB ’82 Thomas H. Adams, AA ’83 Diane M. Baker, AB ’83 Gary R. Baumann, BGS ’83

Larry T. Schlosser, BBA ’83 Sarah J. Stewart, BGS ’83 Jed W. Utsinger, BBA ’83 Tracy M. Liggett Degood, BBA ’84 Scott H. Switzer, BSC ’84 Mark W. Adams, AB ’85 Kenneth B. McKee, BSED ’85 Phyllis F. Fry Pernestti, BSED ’85 Jeffrey M. Boulton, BSEE ’86 James A. Crum, BSISE ’86, AAB ’90, AA ’90 Genevieve R. Eaton, MSHEC ’87 William A. Hannah, BSC ’87, BBA ’99 Michael P. Dziewatkoski, BS ’88 Norville D. Maston, BBA ’88 Kevin D. Miller, BBA ’88 Dorothy A. Hacker Sunseri, AS ’88 Kenneth R. Workley, AS ’88

1990s

Lois E. Inboden Kempton, MA ’90 Kathy J. Ritter, BSED ’90 Luke V. Robinson, BSC ’90 Daniel T. Anderson, AAS ’91, BSAS ’92 Clellon H. Callahan, AA ’91, AAB ’93, BSS ’94 Gary T. Greegor, BBA ’91 Maxine C. Brooker Best, BBA ’92 Michele E. Pugh Jones, BSCHE ’92 Dominic A. Cioffi, AB ’93, MA ’94 Lynn D. Cooper, BSC ’93 Deborah A. Gordon, MED ’93 William C. Kaylor, BSC ’93 Mitzi J. Jenkins Carpenter, AA ’95 Benjamin A. Henson, AAB ’95 Leslie A. Yinger Vaughan, BFA ’96 Cheryl L. Nichols Frazier, BSN ’97 Eric C. Schwegman, BSC ’97 Deborah Crye, BSS ’98 Wendy J. Hoskinson, BA ’98, MS ’05 Daniel A. Stein, BSC ’98

2000s

Connie S. Rider, AAB ’01 Scott R. Baumgardner, BA ’02 Charles W. Bush, MED ’02 Denver R. Caudill, BSED ’03

In memoriam

Matthew T. Hutton, BSJ ’05 Yousef M. Faroniya, BSJ ’06 Jill A. Thompson, BSS ’07 Todd M. Fierman, AAS ’09

2010s

Jeffrey P. Moore, AAB ’10 David J. Dick, BSETM ’11 Patti L. Haden, BSED ’11 Donald A. Hedrick, AAS ’11, BCJ ’12 Candi M. Marshall, BSS ’11 Clinton M. Kaser, AAS ’12 Christopher T. McCauley, BSSPS ’12 Michael J. Abbott, BTAS ’13 Daniel T. Hailey, BSH ’14 John P. Flowers, BA ’15 Stephanie A. Lanzer, AAS ’15 Elijah A. Kunkel, AAB ’18

Faculty/Staff

Douglas K. Adie, Indianapolis, Indiana, professor of economics, Athens Campus, Sept. 25 Lureen F. Bailey, Athens, Ohio, administrative assistant, Athens Campus, May 18 John W. Bender, Athens, Ohio, professor of philosophy, Athens Campus, Sept. 14 Mildred V. Bernard, Albany, Ohio, quality control technician, Athens Campus, June 14 Violet L. Binni, BSED ’70, MED ’74, Powhatan Point, Ohio, instructor, Eastern Campus, June 3 Eldred R. Bovenizer, PHD ’68, MED ’82, St. Clairsville, Ohio, professor emeritus of education and administrator, Eastern Campus, July 12

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Homer L. Bradshaw, BSED ’51, Peebles, Ohio, professor emeritus of psychology, Athens Campus, Sept. 15

Jeffrey J. Lloyd, Zanesville, Ohio, groundskeeper, Zanesville Campus, Aug. 5

Lucian P. Spataro, AnthemArroyo Grande, Arizona, professor emeritus of management, Athens Campus, June 8

Larry Calendine, Athens, Ohio, electrician, Athens Campus, Aug. 7

Lilian McGregor Mitchell, MA ’70, MS ’73, PHD ’82, Athens, Ohio, professor of psychology, Athens Campus, Sept. 2

Steven A. Chapin, Athens, Ohio, professor of mathematics, Athens Campus, June 30

Robert M. Newell, Naples, Florida, composer in residence, Athens Campus, July 4

James Y. Tong, Athens, Ohio, professor emeritus of chemistry, Athens Campus, Sept. 24

Roger F. Classen, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, administrator, Athens Campus, Oct. 6

Richard J. Nostrant, Athens, Ohio, professor emeritus of industrial technology, Athens Campus, Oct. 8

Steven C. Uhl, AAB ’12, Lancaster, Ohio, professor of computer technology, Lancaster Campus, June 18

Mary Lee Schupp Ong, AB ’57, Hudson, Ohio, trustee emerita, Athens Campus, July 24

Jared K. Vorkavich, BSC ’01, CERT ’01, Athens, Ohio, web administrator, Athens Campus, June 12

Lisa A. Donovan, BSHEC ’89, MSHCS ’93, Cleveland, Ohio, master teacher, Athens Campus, May 7 Betty Enlow, Zaleski, Ohio, baker, Athens Campus, May 1 Bruce Ergood, Athens, Ohio, professor emeritus of sociology, Athens Campus, Sept. 1 Mary A. Flournoy, PHD ’95, Athens, Ohio, administrator emerita, Athens Campus, Oct. 23 Lowell E. Gallaway, Athens, Ohio, professor emeritus of economics, Athens Campus, Aug. 13 Sandra L. Darrow Geiger, Athens, Ohio, senior records management officer, Athens Campus, Sept. 1 Tibor A. Koertvelyessy, Osprey, Florida, professor emeritus of anthropology, Athens Campus, Oct. 23

Wanda Oxley, Columbus, Ohio, custodian, Athens Campus, Oct. 26 George Pallo, Jacksonville, Ohio, communications technician, Athens Campus, June 29 Peggy F. Parsons, AA ’89, BGS ’90, MED ’93, Tiltonsville, Ohio, advisor, Eastern Campus, April 23 Stanley Plumly, Baltimore, Maryland, instructor, Athens Campus, April 11 Roger D. Radcliff, Athens, Ohio, professor emeritus of electrical engineering and computer science, Athens Campus, July 5 Bonnie L. Roach, Columbus, Ohio, professor of business law and human resource management, Athens Campus, June 18

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Bruce E. Steiner, Athens, Ohio, professor emeritus of history, Athens Campus, July 13

Richard B. Ward, Athens, Ohio, cook, Athens Campus, Aug. 17 George L. Ware, MA ’65, Zanesville, Ohio, professor emeritus of history, Zanesville Campus, June 1 R. Budd Werner, BSCOM ’53, Oberlin, Ohio, executive in residence emeritus, Athens Campus, Aug. 17 Lynden S. Williams, Buhl, Idaho, professor emeritus of environmental biology, Athens Campus, May 1 —Compiled by Peter Shooner. Includes alumni who passed away between April 1–Oct. 31, 2019. Information provided by the University’ s Office of Advancement Services.

MISSION STATEMENT

Ohio Today informs, celebrates, and engages alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends of Ohio University.

Editor (outgoing) Kelee Garrison Riesbeck, BSJ, CERT ’91 Editor (acting) Peter Shooner Art Director Sarah McDowell, BFA ’02 Contributors Ellee Achten, BSJ ’14, MA ’17 Jonathan Adams, BSVC ’13 Kaleigh Bowen, BSVC ’20 Max Catalano, BSVC ’20 Jamie Clarkson, BSJ ’20 Nick Claussen, BSJ ’92 Abigail Dean, BSVC ’21 Dustin Franz, BSVC ’10 John Grimwade Cat Hofacker, BSJ ’18 Jeff Kallet Kyle Lindner, BFA ’16 Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections Amy Nordrum, BSJ ’10 Nicolas Ogonosky Ohio University Press Kaitlyn Pacheco, BSJ ’17 Mary Reed, BSJ ’90, MA ’03 Hannah Ruhoff, BSVC ’20 Ben Wirtz Siegel, BSVC ’02 Hardika Singh, BSJ ’21 Wally Skalij Akbar Sultanov Angela Woodward, BSJ ’98 James Year

Ohio University President M. Duane Nellis Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations & Executive Director of the Alumni Association Erin Essak Kopp Assistant Vice President of Communication and Chief of Staff, Advancement Jennifer Shutt Bowie, BSJ ’94, MS ’99 Senior Director of Creative Services and Digital Communication, Advancement Communication and Marketing Sarah Filipiak, BSJ ’01

ERRATA Errata for the fall 2019 issue follow.

Ohio Today regrets the errors.

Page 32: John Wilhelm was not the first director of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. Rather, he was the first dean of the College of Communication.

George Starr Lasher was the school’s first director. The caption for the 190708 pocket-sized student handbook indicates that OHIO’s student body was all male at that time. It was not.

Ohio Today is published three times a year. Its digital companion is ohiotoday.org. Both are produced by University Advancement, with funding from The Ohio University Foundation.

Views expressed in them do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the staff or University policies.

Editorial office address: Ohio Today, 112 McKee House, Ohio University, 1 Ohio University Drive, Athens, OH 45701.

Send questions, comments, ideas, and submissions (such as Class notes, photos of future Bobcats, and information about books by Bobcats) to the above address, via email to ohiotoday@ohio.edu, or call Ohio Today at 740.593.1891. Make address changes at ohio.edu/alumni or via Ohio University, Advancement Services, 1 Ohio University Drive, 168 WUSOC, Athens, OH 45701. Send details for the “In memoriam” column to the latter or via email to advinfo@ ohio.edu. The OHIO switchboard is 740.593.1000.

Copyright © 2020 by Ohio University.

Ohio University is an equal access, equal opportunity, and affirmative action institution.

Proofreader Emily Caldwell, BSJ ’88, MS ’99 Printer The Watkins Printing Co.

Masthead

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Last word Zijian Diao, a professor of mathematics at Ohio University Eastern Campus, has spent his career researching applied mathematics in fields like quantum computing astronomy and speech translation systems. Ohio Today sat down with Diao to learn about his personal side, which includes poetry, firecrackers, and “seeing into the future.”

Would you rather live in the past or in the future? I would rather live in the future, because I believe the future is better. It’s more adventurous, because I don’t have a good idea of what to expect. But if we’re living in the past, we know quite a bit obviously and we can sort of know what happens in what era you have to live in. I would rather leave it open.

If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be? I want to see the future. Then, I won’t be surprised when I have to live in the future.

Visit ohiotoday.org for the full Q+A. —Jamie Clarkson, BSJ ’20

Photo by Ellee Achten, BSJ ’14, MA ’17

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Photo by James Year

Miriam Intrator, special collections librarian, and Miriam Nelson, head of preservation and digital initiatives at Alden Library, teamed up with Cory Crawford, associate professor of classics and world religion; Larry Witmer, professor of anatomy; and Misako Hata, lab director at the Innovation Center, to create 3D-printed replicas of ancient artifacts, like this Sumerian cylinder seal (LEFT) and Babylonian tablet from the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections. Using the same process that the Witmer Lab uses to study dinosaur bones, the interdisciplinary team provided researchers and students, including those in Crawford’s Bible Class, with a new, hands-on way of exploring history. —Ben Wirtz Siegel, BSVC ’02

Still more

NONPROFIT ORG U . S . P O S TA G E

P A I D Advancement Services Ohio University 164 WUSOC 1 Ohio University Drive Athens, Ohio 45701-0869

As music industry icon Ken Ehrlich, BSJ ’64, produced his 40th—and final—Grammy Awards this January, he shared with Ohio Today his reflections on his long journey from Athens to Los Angeles. Look for his story and more in a special digital-only issue, themed “Pathways,” in spring 2020. Photo by Wally Skalij/ Los Angeles Times/Contour RA

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