Through the Decades, We Are...

The Mariemont Experience has been the foundation for our students for years. It is evident in the ways our students and alumni apply their Mariemont educational experiences in the lifelong pursuit of knowledge and personal growth and the courageous desire to impact the world around them. The success and achievement that follows is just as remarkable; in other words, it is Distinctly Mariemont.

Bennett Nestok, Class of 2009

Adjunct Professor in Computational Aesthetics at the University of Cincinnati

After graduating from Mariemont, I completed my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Design at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP). I then pursued a Master of Education program at Harvard University, specializing in Technology, Innovation, and Education.

In DAAP’s cooperative education program, I completed five full-time internships and was actively involved in campus activities such as TEDx, robotics, and drawing editorial cartoons for university publications. I was President of the Master in Design (MDes) cohort, presented at global conferences, and received awards for my thesis.

While at Harvard, I continued cartooning at various newspapers like MIT’s The Tech and The Harvard Crimson. I also became involved in We Gotta Run, a student organization aimed to encourage educators to pursue careers in politics. Additionally, I worked part-time at illustrious institutions such as the Harvard Creative Computing Lab and the MIT Media Lab.

I returned to my home turf and became the Creative Director of an app for a big corporation. Currently, I teach graphic design summer camps for the Digital Media Academy and work as an In Our Own Voice Program Leader for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).