Ohio Today Summer 2016

ohiotoday FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF OHIO UNIVERSITY

Summer 2016: Innovation

SUMMER 2016

Michael Cisneros (left), who earned an undergraduate degree from OHIO’s School of Media Arts and Studies in integrated media this spring, and Liu YuTao, a visiting professional from Hebei Normal University, check out 360-degree video footage through a virtual reality helmet at OHIO’s Game Research and Immersive Design Lab. [See related story on page 19.] Photo by Ben Siegel, BSVC ’02

Features COLLABORATING ON PROGRESS

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OHIO ON THE MOVE

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Ohio University recently allocated more than $4 million for an Innovation Strategy initiative that addresses concerns facing the Green and White community and the larger world. Meet the four cross-disciplinary teams to win major awards from this comprehensive undertaking in problem-solving—that spans research, creativity, and teaching.

“Life is a highway. I want to ride it all night long,” Tom Cochrane vocalizes in his 1992 pop rock single, “Life Is a Highway.” Bobcats sing a similar tune about OHIO innovations by helping Athens Public Transit unveil a Poetry Bus, creating a bus scheduling app for regional school districts, and hosting the 2016 Human Powered Vehicle Challenge.

BOBCATS GREEN THE WORLD

BORN TO CARE

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OHIO takes pride in its eco-friendly strivings. Many necessitate interdisciplinary innovations that embrace the cuttingedge and the fundamental while incorporating citizen scientists and storytelling. Examples: wearable air quality sensors, deployable water quality sensors, and unmanned aerial environmental monitoring.

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Public health expert Nadra Tyus, BS ’98, traveled to Liberia recently with colleagues from the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps to contend with the largest outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in history.

The lieutenant commander nurtured such humanitarian impulses from girlhood—and at OHIO.

30 ABOVE: “Success at OHIO showed me that I was very interested in working with the public to prevent the health disparities we see in our nation and the world”: Nadra Tyus. Photo by Chad Bartlett, MA ’10 ON THE COVER: OHIO mechanical engineering major Rachel Schack, now a senior, attaches the rear wheel of a “higher roller” recumbent bicycle in spring 2015; she was on OHIO’s team that competed in the Human Powered Vehicle Challenge that summer in Florida. [See related story on page 28.] Photo by Rob Hardin, BSC ’08

Departments 2 President’s message 3 From the editor 4 Letters to the editor 5

Your OHIO

Alumni answer a fun question.

6 Across the College Green

44 In memoriam

Recent and unfolding developments about OHIO people, entities, initiatives, pursuits, activities, events—and more!

46 Bobcat brainteaser

34 Bobcat tracks

Q&A with an OHIO faculty or staff member.

Alumni history, perspective, photos, news, and announcements.

48 Last word Inside back cover Still more Photo column by University Photography Supervisor Ben Siegel, BSVC ’02.

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Finding a better way, again and again

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ny institution that has thrived for 212 years is likely familiar with the need for innovation. Ohio University was established in the middle of untamed wilderness in a state and a nation in their infancies. The world has changed and evolved since our founding in 1804, and we have changed and evolved with it in order to ensure the future of our singular University.

Innovation is present in nearly everything we do at Ohio University. Thomas Edison once said, “There’s a way to do it better—find it.” This message resonates with us at OHIO. Whether it’s the doctoral student who is on the verge of a research breakthrough, the professor who is constantly updating teaching methods to appeal to new generations, or the administrator who is strategically mapping the University’s future, our commitment to innovation is widespread and well-documented.

Our planet’s changing climate prompted OHIO to focus on sustainability and commit to becoming carbon neutral by 2075. Concerns

over the cost of tuition inspired The OHIO Guarantee™. Record enrollment demanded expansion—13 new buildings on the Athens Campus and two new regional campuses, in Dublin and Cleveland, in the last 12 years. An institution does not just become the nation’s best transformative learning community without first investing in the entrepreneurial, innovative spirit of its people—who individually hold the power to transform lives and who collectively can change the world.

Inside this issue, you will read about OHIO faculty and students who are taking steps to make not only OHIO but also the rest of the world more efficient. You will read about the development of innovative projects that have the potential for worldwide impact, including a method of measuring water quality with solar-powered, portable sensors. Also included in these pages are a more thorough explanation of our Innovation Strategy and a humorous essay by faculty member Dinty Moore on the top technological breakthroughs of the past year.

We are following Edison’s lead across Ohio University. Today’s students, faculty, and staff are aware of the social, economic, and environmental issues facing the world, and they are highly determined to change the course of the planet to create a better life for future generations. We are finding a better way. I am so proud of the brilliant minds on this campus who are willing to do more than just talk about current issues. The future of our school and our planet is shaped by the actions we take today. This is not a responsibility we take lightly.

Cordially,

Roderick J. McDavis

President www.ohio.edu/president/blog @OHIOPrezOffice

Sarah El-Dabaja, BSCE ’12, MS ’14, a secondyear doctoral student in civil engineering, receives a first place award at the 2016 Student Research & Creative Activity Expo in April from Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit. “My research focuses on driver behavior while using automated speed control systems (e.g., cooperative adaptive cruise control),” El-Dabaja writes via e-mail.

“This poster described my proposed research plan for gauging how they will change freeway capacity.” Photo by Kaitlin Owens, BSVC ’17

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o oh h ii o ot to od da ay y .oonrlgi n e . c o m

A time to ...

FROM THE EDITOR The buzz of innovation Motorola engineer Martin Cooper made the first public cellphone call in 1973. IBM counterpart Frank Canova brainstormed the smartphone less than 20 years later. I doubt they groove to “My Telephone,” a 1989 track by Coldcut, the English dance-music duo, with the refrain, “Telephone, got me hanging on the line. / Telephone, wasting all my time. / I can live without my telephone.”

In some ways, I, too, can live without my telephone. I prefer days when no one rings me and I place no calls. But I’m no Luddite. I appreciate cellphones. With my first, I remember most worrying less about breaking down in a vehicle on a highway. Of late, I’ve begun to pilot airports via smartphone. Over the years, I’ve benefited personally and professionally by talking and texting, checking e-mail and surfing online, almost whenever and wherever.

If only I owned this innovation when, in grad school, I babysat at an academic conference. Teaching assistantships nowhere near covered living expenses, so mindful professors threw side work to mentees. An extra $30 and a free lunch—what a windfall!

The assignment: watch 10 children, elementary school age, on a Saturday afternoon in one meeting room as parent-professors made presentations in another at a lodge about two hours away in foothills not unlike those in Appalachian Ohio.

The opportunity arose the day before, after someone else had canceled last-minute. Commercial Internet hadn’t emerged. The mentor offering me the job handwrote directions. I queried AAA for a map to verify the route, but the destination was too remote to stock one and advanced notice was required to generate a TripTik travel planner. My old gas-guzzler managed 12 miles per gallon. Even if I got lost, I figured on clearing $15.

I allowed four hours for the itinerary; orientation isn’t one of my strengths. As hour two passed, I pulled into a general store-gas station, rushed the attendant, and, waving the directions, asked, “Will this get me where I need to go?” This mountain of a man, wearing overalls and boots, sporting a flowing beard and tattooed biceps, eyeballed the note, then me, and said, “Yep.” I dashed out, resumed course, and arrived just as the proceedings began. The organizer, noticing my fret, wondered during a break what was up. Turns out, she explained, I had followed the directions correctly, but they were circuitous by half.

On the return, even with streamlined guidance, I had to pass the general store-gas station—and fill up. Forking over any anticipated bounty to the same attendant, I reminded him of our earlier encounter and demanded, “Why didn’t you tell me there were better directions?”

He replied, “You didn’t ask me that.” —Peter Szatmary

Be involved Reach goals Have fun Make plans

Make your gift today!

ohio.edu/give

Ohio University Office of Annual Giving P.O. Box 869 Athens, OH 45701

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LETTERS

Mascot memories

Bobcat boost

Just getting around to reading the fall 2015 issue, theme of milestones. I enjoyed “A Timeline of OHIO Milestones” on page 7 and learned quite a few things. One thing I was surprised to learn was that Rufus the Bobcat was actually named after someone.

While in school, my now-husband, Tim Lorek, BA ’07, CERT ’07, CERT ’07, and I assumed that someone at OHIO was very clever and named the mascot Rufus because the scientific name of the bobcat is Lynx rufus. I’m sure that Rufus Putnam was a very nice man and important to the University’s beginning, but we were a little disappointed to learn the truth. By the way, we were there for the mascot switchover in 2006 marked on the timeline. All our friends would refer to Rufus as either “Rufus the Sad Bobcat” (previous mascot) or “Rufus the Angry Bobcat” (current version). Although he was not as vicious-looking for athletic competitions, we all preferred running into the former droopy-looking version on the Athens Campus and at events.

I just wanted to thank you so much for all of the hard work that you all put into Ohio Today.

It is so well done, so interesting, encapsulating and amplifying the uniqueness of being a Bobcat. Every time I receive this publication in the mail, I look forward to setting aside the time to go over it cover to cover. I just did this with the spring 2016 edition, themed “reinvention,” and especially enjoyed Jessica Gardner’s “More Than a Sporting Chance,” about Bobcat leaders in sports management. I also like catching up on the accomplishments of alumni from all over the world in “Bobcat Tracks.” OHIO has been and will continue to be a main part of my life, and the alumni magazine helps strengthen that bond.

Speaking of ties, my wife, Sarah Irvin Clark, also is a Bobcat—BSJ ’93. She and I are ecstatic that our son, Hayden, a sophomore majoring in strategic communication, continues our legacy on the Athens Campus.

It’s been fun to watch him go from an observer of all things OHIO to a participant creating his own wonderful experiences and memories of the campus that we love so much. We can’t wait until he earns the chance to get Ohio Today! Keep up the great work, and thanks again for all the time and energy that it takes to put together this gift to us all.

—Stephanie Bevard Lorek, BA ’07, CERT ’07, New Haven, Connecticut “Until 1925, or 29 years after the school colors changed from blue and white, the Ohio University athletic teams were called the ‘Green and White,’” according to University documents. “At that time, however, the school’s athletic board decided the teams needed a nickname and a campuswide contest was initiated. … [T]he bobcat won for its reputation as a sly, wily, scrappy animal.

Former student Hal H. Rowland of Athens earned the $10 first prize for proposing the winning entry. … The Bobcat mascot first appeared at OHIO’s Homecoming game against Miami on Oct. 22, 1960.” It has gone through many iterations “but remains a beloved representative of Ohio Athletics” and OHIO. Photos courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections

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—Kelly Clark, BSC ’90, Columbus, Ohio

Perplexing puffs The last issue of Ohio Today [specifically, letters to the editor from a bygone era] unearthed a memory of the cigarette companies that used to troll the Athens Campus in the ’60s. I remember the scrubbed-face cigarette company reps who’d stand at the front of cafeteria lines (Tiffin?

Shively?) with little boxes of free cigarette samples, five to a box, as I recall—frequently Salems, maybe Marlboros. You’d put one of these small boxes on your meal tray next to your mashed potatoes, eat, then go back to your dorm room and learn how to smoke.

Millennials don’t believe me when I tell them this story! Anyone else remember?

—Susan Titus Phillips, BFA ’66, Naperville, Illinois

Two takes Re: Dave Spirk’s letter to the editor in the spring 2016 edition requesting that a future Ohio Today cover a straight Bobcat couple since the fall 2015 issue included a Q&A with a University gay couple. Here’s a way to provide balance: We celebrate the first same-sex couple to marry legally in Athens County. In other news, opposite-sex couples are still able to marry since marriage records have been recorded.

(See the “OH, I dO” renewal ceremony for an OHIO take on it). Re: OHIO transgender student Patrick Local’s profile in the spring edition: I’m sorry to hear your former pastor was unkind to you. The first person baptized

by Philip in “Acts Chapter 8” is a gender nonconforming African. So I apologize for this other pastor’s short view and Biblical illiteracy.

Sending love and blessings your way, and thanks for sharing your story.

—Rev. Luke Lindon, BSJ ’03, Sylvania, Ohio

WRITE TO US. Ohio Today welcomes comments from readers. We reserve the right to edit for grammar, space, clarity, and civility. Send letters by e-mail to ohiotoday@ohio.edu or by mail to 213 McKee House, 1 Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701. We regret that we cannot publish all messages in print or online.

YOUR OHIO

memories & more

Imagine that Bobcat graduates referenced cable TV, air conditioning, and Title IX when prompted about OHIO innovations. Alumni also mentioned attending commencement at the Convocation Center, getting e-mail accounts, and switching from quarters to semesters—and back. Here are other edited examples. —Editor Peter Szatmary There was a new Green being developed.

I lived in Howard Hall at the top of the hill—first dorm built on campus. It is long gone now. There were switchboards in each dorm run by students (paid about 40 cents an hour). When a call came for someone, the switchboard reached the only phone on that floor and someone picked it up and yelled for the person who was wanted on the phone.

—Judi Shermer Wolf, BSED ’65 Honeywell phones installed in all dorm rooms sophomore year. It was so exciting to be able to call home without going to a pay phone and using a calling card! Seems ridiculous now.

—Julie Komerofsky Remer, BSJ ’90 TRIPS [touch-tone registration and information processing system]. That TRIPS voice still haunts me: “Press one to add a class!”

—Betsy Reeves Harter, BSS ’94 In 1971, I lived on New South in Building #2 (now O’Bleness House) which had not been named and wouldn’t be during my two years on the 4th floor. I took my first computer class (Fortran for Scientists and Engineers).

We made our pilgrimage daily to Clippinger for “happy hour” at 4 PM, submitting our punch card deck and receiving a 7-minute turnaround on our programs, versus two hours normally. It was there I saw my first Wang electronic calculator (about 18” x 18” x 12”) that only computed basic operations.

—Sue Thuma, BSED ’73, MS ’78 I was in the telecommunications program as the whole television production world was transitioning from analog to digital.

Mini DV cams and digital cameras were just becoming a thing. Cellphones were the

an hour with a fraternity brother just because they were the first escalators in Athens County.

—Andrew Cech, BMUS ’07, MM ’09

Ohio University Libraries implemented ALICE, an online catalog system, in 1983. Library employee Steven Cohen uses it circa that time—displaying none of the trepidation of the Bobcat memory below! Photo courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections

Motorola Razr (or something else entirely).

That TCOM program kept up with us and kept us going!

—Ashley Cicero Johnson, BSC ’04 Alden Library introduced ALICE, a computerbased card catalog. (“Go ask ALICE.”) I was afraid to use it.

—Daniel Medvid, AB ’85 Walking into Alden Library on a tour and the librarian introducing us to the World Wide Web.

—Lori Limon, BSED ’94 The first co-ed modules on New South Green. Considered experimental then, but caught on. Pretty innovative for the times!

—Michael Neff, BSJ ’81 “Quad Night” at the Junction [a defunct bar on Court Street].

—Trace Hull, BFA ’89

I experienced the renovation of Bentley Hall and attended class in the Athena Cinema until it was finished. Not everyone can say her microeconomics class took place in a movie theater.

—Megan Hutto, BSED ’05 The Ping Center opening my freshman year.

Getting a job there was such a big deal!

—Julie Orient Sergent, BSSE ’99 Grover Center reopened my senior year, moving my classes from Lindley Hall as a hearing, speech, and language sciences major. Lindley was such an outdated, dark, uninviting building. Moving to the new Grover, which was so bright and open, and which even had a café, was amazing!

—Lisa Bateman Welsh, BSHSL ’02, MED ’03 The elimination of a curfew for women.

—Debra-Jo Sujka, BGS ’73 Paid $1 per hour for dial-up my freshman year. I was the only person on my floor with a personal computer in my room. I left a jar beside the tower for my mod-mates.

—Adam Hazlett, BSS ’01 We were part of the experimental group trying out micro-fridges in Lincoln Hall.

Loved that cool new technology!

—Jessica Lippoli, BSJ ’00 The first CDs played at ACRN [All Campus Radio Network].

—Lynnette Lowmiller Baughman, BSC ’91

The introduction of a wok bar in the dining halls.

—Ryan Cornell, BSJ ’99 The Tier III synthesis courses were not only innovative. They were also brilliant!

—John Gibbons, BSC ’85 When the new Baker Center opened, I rode the escalators up and down for more than half

NEXT ISSUE’S QUESTION: When you think of teamwork at OHIO—regarding sports or academics, projects or causes, volunteerism or socializing, or otherwise—what comes to mind? Send letters to 213 McKee House, 1 Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701; e-mails to ohiotoday@ohio.edu; or posts to the Ohio University Alumni Association’s Facebook page (by “liking” us on the site).

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college green

A new definition for droning on!

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ew Zealand freelance photographer Amos Chapple (center) presented “The Short-Lived Golden Age of Drone Photography” at OHIO’s Schuneman Symposium for Photojournalism and New Media: Image. Immersion. Impact. in March at the Baker University Center Theatre. Chapple, an early adopter of drone photography, spoke of the modifications he’s made with the innovation. Tim Goheen, MA ’06, director of the School of Visual Communication at the University (left), moderated the Q&A portion of the discussion. The annual Schuneman Symposium began in 2009. With roots dating to 1968, it takes place during the Scripps College of Communication’s “Communication Week,” a yearly series of events and speakers for students and faculty across the five schools. —Staff report Photo by Margaret Sabec, MA ’17

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In the news TOPS IN TOXICOLOGY Ohio University’s forensic chemistry students rank No. 1 in toxicology on that portion of the Forensic Science Assessment Test administered by the American Board of Criminalistics. When Jules Guei, lecturer in analytical and forensic chemistry, arrived at OHIO in fall 2012, the University came in 11 out of 13 schools. He consequently revamped CHEM 4850/5850 Forensic Chemistry. “I combine practical application of real toxicology, meaning drug analysis, with relevant videos and news articles in addition to the lectures. And I emphasize the biotransformation of drugs of abuse,” said Guei. Senior forensic chemistry major Shawn Altier enjoyed Guei’s class, particularly how drugs and poisoning affect the body, he said. OHIO’s toxicology program overall rates third nationwide.

MAGNETIC DISPOSITION OHIO doctoral student in physics Andrada Mandru received two national-level student honors at the American Vacuum Society International Symposium. She garnered the Russell and Sigurd Varian Award, considered the top citation for students, and the Leo M. Falicov Student Award in the magnetic interfaces and nanostructures division. Both commendations reflect her dissertation, which examines various ferromagnetic materials (those exhibiting extremely high magnetic permeability; a characteristic saturation point; and magnetic hysteresis, generally explained as a lagging of an effect behind its cause) when coupled with different magnetic and nonmagnetic systems. “What I learned from this experience is that hard work pays off,” said Mandru, “and it feels great to get recognized for it.”

INNOVATION IN OHIO’S ATMOSPHERE The American Meteorological Society (AMS) named the Ohio University chapter “Outstanding Student Chapter of the Year.”

AMS praised OHIO for its community service, including hosting an annual symposium; outreach at elementary schools; and support of StormFest, a family-friendly event hosted

by California University of Pennsylvania’s chapter at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh. Club adviser Ryan Fogt, associate professor of geography-meteorology, said the honor, a first for Bobcats, “speaks highly of the caliber of our students and reflects strongly on our department and growing program.” The group formed in 2005, became an AMS chapter in 2009, and made its honor roll once.

VICTORY IN DEFEAT Ohio University won the diversion rate category of the 2015 GameDay Recycling Challenge to promote waste reduction at college football games. The Bobcat diversion rate—measuring recycling and organics recovery as a percentage of total trash—approached 96 percent, or 7,225 pounds of materials not sent to landfill, during the Oct. 17 home loss to Western Michigan. Campus Recycling and the Appalachia Ohio Zero Waste Initiative, a program of the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, led the triumphant effort. Ninety-nine colleges and universities recycled or composted almost 2.5 million pounds of game-day waste during GameDay last fall. —Megan Henry, BSJ ’18 For more news, go online to ohiotoday.org/ summer-2016.

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college green

Design grad’s Somali roots inspire thesis

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omalis write in Arabic, English, and Italian much more than in the official Somali language. That poses a problem in a land still wracked by civil war and once colonized by Europeans.

Somali families accordingly assign one of their own as oral historian, said Nasra Mohamed, who earned a BFA in graphic design from OHIO in April. Her family comes from Somalia, leaving in 1990 before the conflict erupted.

Indeed, in the splintered country whose refugees span the globe and whose Latin-style alphabet contains numerous pronunciation choices, Somali oral traditions prove more important—and more prevalent—than written ones, she explained.

Mohamed’s multimedia thesis, tying her heritage to her major, examined the slow translation of spoken Somali into written form.

“Spoken / Written” entailed a book she created from scholarly analysis of Somali discourse and political history, oral and written

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—tapping her penchant for font and graphic design; audio of her family reading Somali poems; traditional Somali music; and a lasercut wooden Somali alphabet.

“I knew we were more like a verbal culture because of the weddings I’ve gone to,” she said. “There is always a lady who creates a poem, who reads or sings something, in relation to the bride. She tells the story of that person’s family. Someone in your family knows where your family comes from. There is always someone who keeps a record, basically memorization.”

Mohamed received $950 from the Provost’s Undergraduate Research Fund to help finish the innovative investigation. She used the grant to buy wood, old tape recorders, cassette tapes, paper to make the book, and headphones. Mohamed also earmarked some money to attend a typography conference.

OHIO mentors praise her process and product. “Nasra is the definition of a transformative designer and artist,” commented Don Adleta, BFA ’75, OHIO professor emeritus of graphic design, about another Mohamed project. “She was an inspiration to observe as she visually translated complex design systems from her rigorous research. She referenced cultural awareness through her solid family connections to ancestors and melded this to contemporary designs. Her tools included the analog [sewing machine] with the most advanced graphic software and digital printing on fabric substrates.”

Emily Zarack, a University Communications and Marketing graphic designer who supervised Mohamed as a Program to Aid Career Exploration student worker, applauds her versatility. “Nasra has a knack for integrating different mediums into beautiful compositions,” Zarack said.

Mohamed’s family hails from the Mudug region in north-central Somalia.

She was raised in Canal Winchester, Ohio, in a traditional Somali home, while simultaneously ingratiating herself into American culture. Mohamed moved to the U.S. at kindergarten age to live with her mother, Fardousa Guled, a medical interpreter. Eventually, matriarch Shukri Jama, Mohamed’s maternal grandmother, a retired childcare provider, also immigrated.

(Mohamed’s father, Abdirasaaq Mohamed, who managed a trucking business, died from natural causes three years before her

mother arrived stateside.) Mohamed barely speaks her native tongue and, like many counterparts, can’t write it.

“We never grew up in Somalia. The oral language is the main language. It’s so different from the writing,” said her older sister, Nada Mohamed, a home care nurse. “The Somali language, itself, is very complicated. People in the north have a different dialect than in the south. A stone might have three different names depending on the region, maybe more.”

Nonetheless, “We’re taught at an early age never to forget our culture. You go to different places, but Somali people hold onto their culture,” Nada continued. “We’ve lost so much in the war, but we still have our culture, clothing, music. Each person has to try to keep it alive.”

The Bobcat got interested in art during high school. At OHIO, Mohamed started wondering why syllabi excluded African art for often-taught genres like European movements. Watching a TED (technology, entertainment, design) Talk by maverick graphic designer Saki Mafundikwa, who left a successful career in New York to return to his native Zimbabwe to work, inspired Mohamed to merge her background with her passion.

During this process, she came across Somalia’s failed attempt to make the populace learn a common alphabet in the 1970s. Mohamed referenced it in her thesis exhibit. —Jon Greenberg, BSJ ’01, runs TheAthletic.com, a blog about Chicago sports. He lives in Deerfield, Illinois.

PAGE 8: Nasra Mohamed used a laser cutter to make images from the Osmanya script invented in the 1920s to transcribe the Somali language.

She created letterpresses of characters to place in a book that formed part of her BFA thesis project at OHIO. LEFT: In the display, held at Seigfred Hall, Mohamed also included a tape recorder of poems, documentary audio, and music found online pertaining to the oral history of Somalia. “My main intent was researching a country’s history with written language,” she said. Photos by Anna Winstead, BSVC ’16

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college green

Following better footsteps

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hanks to the new Ohio University Walking and Running Clinic, women’s cross-country team member Ellen Isaac understands why she gets shin splints and how she can reduce chances of injury.

The junior exercise physiology major underwent testing at the clinic, housed in the Gait Lab in the Grover Center and overseen by founding director Robert Wayner, BSSP ’05, DPT ’08, assistant clinical professor in the School of Rehabilitation and Communication Sciences in the College of Health Sciences and Professions.

The Gait Lab uses components from MotionMonitor, a real-time synchronized data collection system. Wayner and company measure patient movement, mobility, strength, and coordination to create a biomechanical profile to maximize energy, minimize injury, and determine when those hurt can train and compete again. For Isaac, seven cameras captured images of her stride as she worked out on a treadmill. Those images were fed into a computer that generated a 3-D model of her in motion. This digitalization helped physical therapists evaluate the force, energy, and musculature of her gait, pinpoint problem areas, and plan treatment options.

The evaluation “showed me why my gait is the way it is. I tend to overstride, partially because of the lack of strength and mobility in my right hip,” says Isaac, who runs the 3K indoor and the 5K and 10K outdoor. “Dr. Wayner gave me exercises to help strengthen my hip, and I’m excited to see how they’ll help improve my game.”

Wayner’s system debuted with his arrival last July and with the concordant establishment of the Gait Lab. His first clients have been the women’s cross-country and basketball teams. He’s eager to extend to other athletes.

“We plan to track Bobcats over their athletic careers to compare those who are performing well and help those who aren’t,” Wayner says.

Christopher Miller, OHIO staff athletic trainer, says the women’s track and basketball teams have seen fewer injuries and less practice time lost to injury through such assessment. “Whether a team uses the lab is up to the team’s coach, but I’d recommend that everyone try it,” he says. “All sports have running associated with them.”

Tim Sykes, MSRSS ’04, assistant women’s cross-country and track and field coach and an instructor in recreation and sport pedagogy at the Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education, also enthuses about the innovation. Sykes says he notices “subtle improvements in the form and gait of runners who are using the technology. Some of them are standing taller with their hips, their spines are more upright, and they’re not losing as much energy out of the hips.”

The Walking and Running Clinic and Gait Lab benefit not just hardcore athletes but also weekend warriors and community members, adds Wayner, who ran for the OHIO track and field team and later opened a clinical practice in Eugene, Oregon, and collaborated with University of Oregon on student-athlete biomechanics, before joining OHIO. While in Oregon, he also started Team Run Eugene, a runners’ collective connecting dedicated athletes with community members to pursue health goals.

“We can help anyone who’s limited by mobility issues and needs a pain-free way to get from home to car,” says Wayner.

So far, more than two dozen community members have taken this step. —Benjamin Gleisser is an award-winning writer based in Toronto. He has published pieces in Sporting News, Entrepreneur, and the Toronto Star and focuses on college and university alumni magazines.

Robert Wayner, BSSP ’05, DPT ’08, founding director of OHIO’s new Walking and Running Clinic, and Denise Boyd, a third-year doctoral student in physical therapy, practice a running gait analysis in spring 2015 using 3-D motion capture. She wears reflective markers that send video streaming that Wayner checks via monitor. “The technology enhances the ability to understand the relationship between movement mechanics and injury,” explains Wayner. Boyd is one of 10 OHIO students from the School of Applied Health Sciences and Wellness in the College of Health Sciences and Professions to work in Wayner’s lab. Photo by Lauren Dickey, BSVC ’16

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ENTREPRENEURIAL ALUM AND IMGUR FOUNDER MENTORS FUTURE INNOVATORS

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n Athens to receive the Charles J. and Claire O. Ping Recent Graduate Award from the Ohio University Alumni Association last October, Alan Schaaf, BSCS ’10, founder of the image-hosting site imgur.com, coached 10 student entrepreneurs from the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ College of Engineering and Technology on their projects.

“Everyone in this room is some sort of unicorn person,” Schaaf said. “We’re all psychopaths who decided to change the world to look how we want it to look.”

Trevor Bennett, BSCS ’15, wondered how to monetize his mobile app that charts an optimal route for someone running multiple errands.

“In general, what matters a lot more than monetization is growth,” Schaaf responded. Optimize usage before pursuing revenue, he explained.

Engineering technology and management freshman Benjamin Scott pitched his idea for a more convenient solar charging system for electric cars: put flexible solar panels “on a roll much like a projector screen that can be pulled down and displayed.”

Schaaf offered advice based on his own life: Leap one hurdle at a time.

“One of the big problems I came across early on was that people were using Imgur far more than I thought they would,” recalled Schaff, who started Imgur as a side project in his residencehall room and later received support from OHIO’s Innovation Center. “So the server was going down all the time, bandwidth was expensive, and I had very little server experience. I didn’t know what you do when 10 million people are hitting your site and the database is crashing, but you Google it. You Google the error message, and you solve one little thing after another.” —Pete Shooner, associate director of communications, Russ College of Engineering and Technology

OHIO’s new SMART Lab to tackle big data analysis

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e all know the pull of social media and the ways in which it captures our attention, sometimes for the worse. Imagine using readily available digital information for good: for knowing the impact of the Zika virus, say, or defining strategies to attract business audiences.

That’s the goal for a new OHIO innovation: the Social Media Analytics Research Team— acronym SMART—Lab. The facility, currently being envisioned and built with equipment and large touchscreen monitors for visually sharing compelling data analytics with large groups, will be fully online this fall for students and faculty in the Scripps College of Communication and across all campuses.

“There is a shift from descriptive analytics to predictive and prescriptive analytics in the industry,” says Laeeq Khan, SMART Lab director and School of Media Arts and Studies assistant professor. “With the addition of this lab, OHIO students will not only be prepared for the job market, but also have a toolset to understand the workings of analytic software and use it to see the big picture.”

The focus of the lab—the fourth of its kind on higher-education campuses in the nation—is research on big data, or the analysis of large data sets. How can we harness information to effect positive change and use statistics for marketing, public health, safety, and other endeavors?

For starters, we can provide graduates with the skills needed to analyze data. According

to research by MGI and global management consulting firm McKinsey’s Business Technology Office, there is already a shortage of nearly 200,000 professionals in this growing industry, and the data analytics outsourcing market is predicted to grow into a $5.9 billion industry by 2020, estimates Allied Market Research.

Senior Haley Kennedy, majoring in media arts and studies, has taken one of Khan’s new courses on analytics and feels better prepared to answer the call.

“Taking his Social Media Analytics course helped me bolster my skill set and become familiar with traditional and cutting-edge analytics techniques, practices, and software,” reports Kennedy. “Having familiarity with tools that employers haven’t heard of is valuable because it shows my passion and interest in social media as a descriptive and prescriptive instrument.”

In addition to using the facility for both data mining and analytics on hot topics, Khan intends to host an analytics summit, graduate research seminars, and coding workshops. Industry and academic partnerships are also planned. —Erin Roberts, BSJ ’00, BA ’00, director of communication at OHIO’s Scripps College of Communication ABOVE: Laeeq Khan teaches key performance indicators in his Social Media Analytics course in April. “Since resources are limited, measuring the impact of social media efforts in monetary terms is vital for the success of an organization,” he wrote via e-mail. Photo by Margaret Sabec, MA ’17

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LEFT TO RIGHT: UpGrade Athens County figures Mathew Roberts, information and outreach director; Sarah Conley-Ballew, executive director; and Chris Chmiel, cofounder, convene for a photo at The Ridges in April. Photo by Ben Siegel, BSVC ’02

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Energy ingenuity

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alk about a light bulb moment for Bobcats.

Last summer, Sarah Conley-Ballew, BSS ’04, MPA ’15, executive director of UpGrade Athens County, which advocates for renewable and sustainable energy, and coworker Mathew Roberts, BSJ ’14, information and outreach director, and crew began to distribute 48,000 LED light bulbs to area residents from a donation by AEP Ohio.

“There are enormous costs to generating power from fossil fuels,” says Conley-Ballew. “Most people don’t think twice about leaving a light on or opening a window while a heater is running.”

“If we don’t measure stuff, we can’t really manage it,” adds Chris Chmiel, BGS ’92, an Athens County Commissioner who helped spearhead UpGrade Athens County. An eco-undertaking like that one “takes the broader concern and moves it toward really solid action because a lot of this stuff is like a math problem.”

UpGrade Athens County started as a special project of the Southeast Ohio Public Energy Council in 2014 and established a nonprofit, UpGrade Ohio, last November. Among its other initiatives, the group implemented a countywide energy savings plan that targets the 25 most energy intensive municipal properties and collaborated with OHIO’s Off-Campus Living on a “Smart Renter” program to instruct 8,000 off-campus students on energy conservation.

Also, UpGrade Athens County teams with 25 affiliates, including local government agencies, private businesses, and nonprofits, to organize energysaving projects in residential homes and publicize at community events.

Roberts steers proactive residents to programs such as Community Energy Savers, a cooperation with AEP Ohio and Columbia Gas of Ohio to reduce energy usage by installing Energy Star appliances, switching to programmable thermostats, and conducting in-home audits.

“This is a valuable partnership because utilities have a big say in the way and speed at which we transition to a clean energy economy,” Roberts says.

Thanks to such efforts, the county is a semifinalist for the $5 million Georgetown University Energy Prize, a nationwide energy efficiency award that 50 communities are vying for over two years. This round of the contest ends in December. So far, Athens County has avoided 700,000 kg of carbon emissions and saved more than $875,000.

“Even if we don’t win, there are positive things we get besides energy reduction,” reflects Chmiel. “When we have people going around and helping insulate homes or do audits on homes and switch out lights and improve their HVAC system, that all takes work and creates jobs.”

Momentum builds. Because of high participation in Community Energy Savers, Athens County earned a $85,602 award to apply to energy upgrades within its public libraries. The utility companies presented the check in a public ceremony at the Athens County Public Library in March. —Amy Nordrum, BSJ ’10, is a freelance science writer in New York City.

Her credits include Scientific American and Popular Mechanics.

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Inch by inch, row by row

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dams County, Ohio, launched a homespun innovation in 2001 that North America soon embraced: a community folk art project known as a barn quilt trail. Suzi Parron wrote about the grassroots aesthetic—quilt squares painted on boards, usually 8’ x 8’, mounted on barns— in her 2012 book, Barn Quilts and the American Quilt Trail Movement, with its founder Donna Sue Groves. They explained the origins of the pastoral patchwork and the spread to 25 states and Canada. Barn quilts now number into the thousands. Parron returns to the subject in Following the Barn Quilt Trail, with a foreword by Groves; it was released in April.

“The second book is more personal,” said Parron, a former high school English teacher.

“It talks a lot about life on the road”—13,000 miles in a converted bus with new husband, Glen, a software developer who works remotely, and their dog, Gracie, encountering barn quilts and the makers of them. Parron answered questions about the latest installment, part memoir, part travelogue.

Edited excerpts follow. —Megan Henry, BSJ ’18

Author Suzi Parron calls barn quilts “an innovative approach to public art.” This example, Jo’s Sunflower, paying tribute to loved ones, hangs at an event facility in Adams County, Ohio, where quilt trails began in 2001.

Photo courtesy of Suzi Parron

What are some benefits of barn quilts?

It’s definitely a way of bringing people together because these days, people are so involved with electronics and social media. I think we get very drawn into things that are happening elsewhere in the world, and we don’t often get involved with people that are close by in our community. Barn quilts give people a reason to come back around to something and spend time with people that are close by. A lot of people make the greatest friends through barn quilts. Also, there’s a whole lot of community pride in them. People don’t always have a reason to be proud of where they live or get excited about it. All of a sudden, they’ve got these wonderful works of art, and they have visitors coming to see.

What makes a barn quilt memorable?

They can certainly stand out visually; typically, barn quilts try to use really bright colors. Although you might think the really bright colors might not be as pleasing up close, you want them to be visible at a

distance. So a lot of times, barn quilts are memorable because you see these bright colors that you don’t normally see in the landscape. And if you talk to folks involved in a barn quilt, you may find out that it’s the replica of a family quilt, or it was done in memory of someone in the family. That’s always really memorable, too—when you find the meaning behind it.

How long does it typically take to make an 8’ x 8’ barn quilt?

Some folks will put on a layer of paint in the morning and come back maybe that afternoon and put another layer, and then the next day, do a different color. So, either several days or a week.

What does the process entail?

You start with the material, usually either plywood or a board called MDO [medium density overlay], also called a sign board. And, of course, you select patterns. You prime the boards, then draw them out. Sometimes, there is a little bit of math involved if there are a lot of angles, but it’s not too difficult. Most folks use painter’s tape and do one color at a time.

You make presentations about barn quilts full time.

I’ve been extremely lucky. The year the first book came out, I gave about 40 talks to various organizations and it got to the point of, well, I could probably quit my job and do this full time. I share the story of the barn quilt trail, how it began in Ohio with Donna Sue, and how different people moved it forward. A lot of it hinges on the personal stories.

What was Adams County, birthplace of the barn quilt trail, like?

It was like being dropped into this wonderful piece of history that was just there waiting for me.

For barn quilt photos and more about the book, go online to ohiotoday.org/ summer-2016.

Editor’s note: Each edition of Ohio Today covers a recent Ohio University Press book.

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Stop this crazy thing

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Washington Post article touting the most significant innovations of 2015 offered a short list, highlighted by hoverboards, reusable space rockets, and female Viagra.

I confess to being less than excited. Two of those items aren’t of much use to me; the other is too embarrassing to address.

Chances are good that I’m not the only person with rapidly whitening hair who feels cheated by 21st-century technology.

“The Jetsons”—yes, I’m old enough to have watched that futuristic cartoon in its original 1962 airing—featured self-mowing lawns, self-folding clothes, and self-walking Great Danes. (Remember Astro?)

Instead, we navigate e-mail and a

multiplicity of wireless devices, none of which mows my lawn, folds my clothes, walks my dog—or reduces my other workload. My e-mail account and my smartphone just add extra hours of drudgery, along with crippling eye strain.

I don’t need a reusable rocket. Where do I think I’m going, anyway?

I don’t need to hover, either. Frankly, my balance teeters these days. If you want to see me on a hoverboard, invent one with airbags and a seat belt.

What I’m waiting for is the self-driving car that engineers keep promising. I savor resting my swollen feet on a backseat ottoman while being robo-piloted to the Columbus airport, a trip I make at least twice each month.

Imagine what I could do instead of scanning the horizon for state troopers and swerving to avoid motorists who are so busy texting that they veer into my lane. I could grade papers, plan assignments, write more books.

Maybe watch reruns of “The Jetsons” on one of my gizmos.

Best of all, I could nap.

Yes, I hear myself sounding old and cranky, but why not? My knees ache.

My lungs wheeze. Can someone invent something that will make it easier to climb up three flights of steps in Ellis Hall?

Which brings me to what I really need: a self-exercising body.

I recently joined WellWorks, the fitness facility favored by faculty hoping to build up a sweat without encountering smirking undergraduates. Unfortunately, given the chained-to-the-desk nature of teaching, grading, advising, researching, and writing, when we hit the treadmills, we give them plenty to smirk about.

My personal trainer is 23 and mostly muscle.

He wants me to do deep squats and toss a medicine ball back and forth while jogging sideways. “If I have a heart attack,” I ask him, “you promise to catch me?” He laughs.

Perhaps the only innovation to solve my long list of complaints is a time machine. If I could be young again, I could go into WellWorks and smirk at the pudgy professorate as well, then run laps around my burly personal trainer—on my hoverboard.

You know what? All I really need is some innovative way to cheer myself up when the old coot in me bursts forth.

Maybe next year, scientists can tackle that.

—Dinty W. Moore, professor of English and director of creative writing at OHIO, specializes in literary nonfiction and personal essays. His 10 books include Dear Mister Essay Writer Guy (Ten Speed Press, 2015) and The Accidental Buddhist (Algonquin Books, 1997).

ABOVE: Dinty W. Moore told Ohio Today that he was game to be photographed riding a hoverboard.

We decided not to torture the popular essayistprofessor, captured instead in the backyard of his Athens home. Photo by Ben Siegel, BSVC ’02 summer 2016

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Calendar of events for alumni and friends of Ohio University | ohioalumni.org/calendar

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herever you live, Ohio University wants to keep in touch with you.

Alumni chapters exist around the globe to help you meet and reconnect with fellow Bobcats. Of course, you’ll occasionally want to find a reason to return to campus—summer is the perfect time to visit! For a full schedule of chapter, society, and on-campus events, including reunions, visit ohio.edu/alumni. —Hailee Tavoian, coordinator, Advancement Communication & Marketing

OHIO UNIVERSITY HOMECOMING 2016 OCT. 3–8

2ND ANNUAL MANASSEH CUTLER LOBSTER FEST JULY 23 | Rockport, Massachusetts

SUNSHINE STATE OF MIND Headed South for the winter? Your OHIO Alumni Association is busy planning Florida events for Bobcat snowbirds, including a holiday reception, Tampa Bay Rays game, and more. Update your info, including seasonal addresses, online at ohio.edu/ alumni/involve/update-your-info.cfm.

GOLF OUTINGS Fore! Watch out for OHIO golf outings this summer on a green near you: JUNE 25 | Chantilly, Virginia JULY 30 | Grove City, Ohio It’s a best ball scramble with bonus prizes for longest drive, long-putt, hole-in-one challenges, and mystery contests. Register your foursome at ohio.edu/alumni.

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Join the Massachusetts Chapter Serving New England on idyllic Cape Ann to remember a founding father and reprise the annual lobster dinner in celebration of OHIO. Register at ohio.edu/alumni.

#OHIOHC2016

TALENT/IMPROV SHOW SEPT. 17 Take a bow! Bobcat star power takes center stage at a talent/improv show held during Black Alumni Reunion.

Find more information at ohio.edu/ alumni/involve/Black-Alumni-Reunion2016.cfm.

#STRAIGHTOUTTAOHIO #OHIOBAR2016S

THE 76TH ANNUAL ALUMNI AWARDS OCT. 7 Each fall, the OHIO Alumni Association honors Bobcat MVPs who have left their mark at Ohio University.

Read about this year’s awardees at ohio.edu/alumni/involve/alumniawards/.

MUSICAL INNOVATION IN FULL BLOOM “We frequently improvise, creating something new,” says Bobcat Lara Wallace about Mozaique, a new instrumental world-music group performing in and around Athens, “tapping and rapping, pounding and sounding, shaking and waking humanity,” adds Pat McGee. They held an impromptu concert and picnic in March under Athens Campus cherry trees. Left to right: Wallace, BA ’98, MA ’00, PHD ’15,

lecturer, English Language Improvement Program, Linguistics Department, on cello; Sobhan Nazari, master’s student in mechanical engineering, on Iranian ney (flute); McGee, BA ’74, Athens city councilman and Center for Student Legal Services managing attorney, on harp; and Karen Richards, BA ’90, customer service representative at Stewart-MacDonald guitar tools, parts, and supplies, on violin. —Staff report Photo by Sarah Forrest

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Collaborating on progress OHIO’s new Innovation Strategy spans disciplines to meet 21st-century needs

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o fuel innovation in research, scholarship, creative activity, teaching, and institutional operations, Ohio University has launched the Innovation Strategy initiative.

Earlier this year, the University announced the recipients of a series of awards designed to help interdisciplinary teams of faculty and staff nurture solutions to issues ranging from improving medical diagnostics and developing novel teaching strategies to enhancing regional economic development and designing a new student program for immersive media technologies. More than $4 million in funding has been designated for cross-campus teams to develop and advance their visions.

“The Innovation Strategy is all about ensuring that OHIO retains a vital role in confronting the big challenges of the 21st century,” said Joseph Shields, vice president for research and creative activity and dean of the Graduate College. “We need to look to the future,

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we need to be creative, and we need to leverage the full span of talent at the institution regardless of department or college or campus boundaries.”

Funding for investments under the Innovation Strategy will be made available on a recurring basis. The process for identifying a second round of investments will begin in the 2016–17 academic year.

The following spotlights on the four teams that received major awards from the Innovation Strategy initiative show some of the many ways that OHIO health and medical researchers, entrepreneurs, media technology professionals, scientists, administrators, clinicians, public policy experts, and engineers are working together to tackle challenges and create new opportunities.

For longer profiles of these four teams and for winners of other Innovation Strategy awards, go online to ohiotoday.org/ summer-2016.

Immersive media initiative

When Josh Antonuccio, BSC ’96, attended the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas, in March, he talked to companies that were eager to find college students with skills in the virtual and augmented reality technologies in which many industries— from media and entertainment to tourism— are investing billions of dollars.

“Every industry is trying to figure out how to incorporate this technology to connect with consumers and fans because it creates a whole new level of tangible experiences,” said Antonuccio, a lecturer in OHIO’s School of Media Arts and Studies.

The University is stepping up to meet this need. The Immersive Media Initiative is developing a new curriculum and hands-on research and creative projects for students to gain experiences in this field.

John Bowditch, BSC ’04, MA ’06, an instructor in the School of Media Arts and Studies and director of the Game Research and Immersive Design (GRID) Lab, is leading the interdisciplinary effort, working with Antonuccio and Eric Williams, associate professor in the School of Media Arts and Studies, to spearhead efforts to create a formal immersive media program.

“We are so fortunate to have received this grant because as far as higher education goes, we’ll be a leader in the pack in this field. That’s going to be huge for this University,” Bowditch said.

The initiative includes partnerships with faculty and staff across the University who are exploring how to use virtual and augmented reality for issues such as reducing anxiety in blood donors, training health care professionals, or offering virtual visits to paleontology field sites.

The Immersive Media Initiative team already has a solid foundation on which to build. The GRID Lab has offered students a facility, equipment, software, and real-world

learning experiences in research and development in game design and immersive media for more than a decade. A portion of the second floor of the Scripps Hall home to the GRID Lab’s computer equipment and video production space is expanding to include a new motion capture studio and an audio recording and editing suite.

The initiative already has involved students in projects such as the production of the short film “Re: Disappearing,” which used a 360-degree camera rig to shoot scenes at various angles to offer viewers an immersive story experience. The team also employed its technology at OhioHealth in Columbus to help enhance emergency room training for medical students.

This summer, the initiative will offer its first classes, in which students will work with the camera rig, audio equipment, and other

tools and “have a direct hand” in creating research and development processes for projects, Williams said. In addition, the first cohort will work with WOUB Public Media to bring virtual and augmented reality to coverage of news events.

PAGE 18: OHIO School of Media Arts and Studies lecturer Josh Antonuccio demonstrates 360-degree camera movements for students involved in the Immersive Media Initiative.

Students learn how to use the equipment and how to adapt traditional film production processes to the virtual reality platform.

ABOVE: Maia Hamilton, an Honors Tutorial College student majoring in media arts and studies, and the freshman winner of the 2015–16 Legacy Scholarship from the Ohio University Alumni Association, creates animation at the GRID Lab in April. Photos by Ben Siegel, BSVC ’02

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Regional shale industry

A team of OHIO engineers and public policy experts are exploring ways to keep more jobs and revenue from the shale industry in Appalachia and prepare the workforce and communities for life after the shale boom.

“Once the resources are out of the ground, you don’t get them back,” said team leader David Bayless, Loehr Professor of mechanical engineering in the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ College of Engineering and Technology. “If you don’t capture the value for the public now, you don’t get it back.”

The Bayless team plans to develop technologies aimed at increasing the amount of natural gas that companies can extract from shale. In addition, researchers at OHIO’s Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment will explore how to create a process to separate components of natural gas at the site of drilling that can be used for other applications such as in the plastics industry.

Collaborator Jason Trembly, BSCHE ’03, MS ’05, PHD ’07, associate professor of mechanical engineering in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology, also is leading the development of a technology to convert wastewater from hydraulic fracturing into clean water onsite. The process is intended to reduce the need for companies to transport wastewater and inject it into wells for disposal.

Other pieces of the project focus on mitigating greenhouse gases emitted by the shale industry. Academics Srdjan Nesic and Marc Singer, PHD ’13, of OHIO’s Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Processes will develop tools that can help reduce pipeline corrosion and leakage of methane gas. Professor Kevin Crist of the University’s Center for Air Quality will use small aircraft equipped with sensors to monitor methane emissions from hydraulic fracturing.

A key of the Innovation Strategy project is exploring and developing solutions for keeping shale industry wealth in the region. Scott Miller, MS ’96, and Mike Zimmer of the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, in collaboration with Daniel Karney, assistant professor of economics, will examine the manufacturing climate, public and economic development policy, workforce retraining programs, and related issues that could help Appalachia leverage more benefits from the shale boom and position it for the post-shale economy.

Miller will lead a study on why more manufacturing and production facility projects proposed for Ohio and surrounding Appalachian states haven’t come to fruition. Zimmer will work with local and state leaders, nonprofit organizations, and the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland to explore how financial and economic development strategies can be used to reinvest wealth generated by the shale industry boom in Appalachian communities.

“We’d like to make the benefits of the shale industry not fleeting but more lasting so that if the shale market changes, we’ve created value that has a permanence, richness, and depth that can transcend the boundaries of shale,” Zimmer said.

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At the Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment at OHIO, senior undergraduate mechanical engineering major Colton Nissen works on a section of the supercritical water reactor designed to remediate flowback water from a horizontally drilled, hydraulically fractured shale well.

Photo by Ben Siegel, BSVC ’02

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Academic innovation accelerator

Across the United States, colleges and universities have experimented with different ways to bring innovation to the classroom. At OHIO, a cross-campus team led by Bradley Cohen, senior vice provost for instructional innovation, is asking whether the type of system popularly used to help entrepreneurs launch start-up companies could assist faculty members with cultivating novel methods for teaching and education.

OHIO educators pitch academic innovation ideas to the accelerator’s advisory group: faculty members from eight colleges and schools.

“So many times as faculty we have ideas we’d like to try out, but too often those ideas never make it out of the garage because we anticipate roadblocks or the lack of resources necessary to move forward,” said Linda Rice, a professor of English serving on the advisory group.

“The accelerator, as its name implies, really is to provide an increased fluidity, to mitigate or remove some of the risks and barriers, to help

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ideas turn into actionable plans and real-world projects and experiments.”

Proposals that the advisory group believes could better OHIO’s student education on a broad scale will be forwarded to a committee comprising University deans and senior administrators. This “champions group” will play a role similar to that of venture capitalists in a business accelerator by deciding which proposals merit wide University financial investment and implementation, Cohen said.

Examples of issues that academic innovation proposals might tackle include helping high-risk, first-generation college students navigate courses with high drop rates; assisting faculty with video conferencing or flipped classroom models to teach low-enrollment courses across multiple campuses; developing courses that focus on mobile technology; or using technology to offer students different types of global immersion experiences.

Cohen stressed that the accelerator is

an experiment in academic innovation, a way to establish a potential process for the University to evaluate and implement new educational concepts more quickly. Higher education institutions can be conservative and cautious about innovation—often for good reasons—but also realize that they must explore new models, Cohen said.

“Let’s try this, but do it in a controlled way so that we don’t spend too much money or put the institution at too much risk. We will learn whether we can make this work,” he said about the philosophy behind the accelerator.

Robert Frank, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and member of the champions group, anticipates that the accelerator will stimulate interesting conversations about how educators can create a new campus environment of innovation.

“It is, in my opinion, essential that we create such an environment if we are to be successful in an increasingly competitive higher education future,” Frank said.

Better osteoporosis diagnosis

To diagnose osteoporosis, doctors commonly use X-rays to measure an individual’s bone mineral density. Although this is standard procedure, OHIO scientists say that it also poses a problem. Measuring bone density is actually a poor predictor of which patients will experience osteoporosis-related bone fractures. One study by other researchers, for example, found that 81 percent of women who suffered fractures were not diagnosed as having osteoporosis.

While clinicians are aware of the system’s flaws, “there’s no medical device to replace it,” said Anne Loucks, an OHIO professor of biological sciences who conducts research on the impact of diet and exercise on bone health.

An interdisciplinary team of medical scientists, engineers, physical therapists, and entrepreneurs at OHIO hopes to change that with a new system designed to offer a better chance for people with weak bones to get the treatment they need. The team aims to create a sophisticated prototype of a device that uses vibration technology to measure bone stiffness, as well as a software program that can help target treatment for those individuals most likely to suffer fractures.

For almost 40 years, scientists have understood that bone stiffness is an accurate predictor of bone strength, said Lyn Bowman, a research assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. However, the medical community has been unable to find a way to measure stiffness and determine how easily a patient’s bone might break.

Working in the Loucks laboratory, Bowman and other University researchers have improved the Mechanical Response Tissue Analysis vibration analysis technique to measure bone stiffness. The team has filed for a patent, accordingly.

To undergo testing, a patient lies down in the device and raises an arm, resting the wrist on a support. A mechanical probe is placed against the skin over the ulna bone, which runs on the outside of the arm below the little finger. The probe vibrates, and the system captures data to determine the level of bone stiffness.

PAGE 22: Raymond Frost, professor of management information systems at OHIO’s College of Business, is one of several faculty members serving on the advisory group of the Academic Innovation Accelerator. The project is exploring novel classroom teaching concepts.

Photo by Anna Winstead, BSVC ’16 ABOVE: Brian Clark (front left) discusses the Innovation Strategy project with OHIO team members (clockwise from back left) Lyn Bowman, Jundong Liu, Laura Rush, and Anne Loucks. RIGHT: When the device is in use, a mechanical probe is placed against the skin over the ulna bone. Photos by Jane Cowan

The team now will develop a more advanced version of the prototype that could be commercialized and sold to hospitals and clinics. With input from TechGROWTH Ohio, a business development program housed at the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, the team also is designing an informatics system that can communicate with the devices in medical settings, gathering and aggregating data to make diagnoses, Bowman explained.

The team will conduct more research on subjects in Athens and at the OhioHealth

Research & Innovation Institute in Columbus.

“This will allow us to conduct a pivotal clinical study using their patients,” said project team leader Brian Clark, a professor in the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine and executive director of the Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute. —Andrea Caruso Gibson, BSJ ’94, director of OHIO’s Office of Research Communications and editor of Perspectives, the University’s biannual magazine covering research, scholarship, and creative activity by OHIO faculty, staff, and students

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BOBCATS GREEN THE WORLD Technology & storytelling foster innovations in conservation In December 2015, 195 countries meeting in Paris, France, adopted a climate action plan that stands as the most ambitious in history. Meanwhile, in the streams and hillsides of Athens County, OHIO researchers pursue environmental issues closer to home.

These latter efforts hinge on interdisciplinary collaboration. Many utilize “citizen scientists”—volunteers.

Citizen science becomes even more beneficial as societal knowledge of surroundings increases through interactive technology and as personal monitoring of environmental issues gains federal and commercial attention.

Three OHIO undertakings exemplify how Bobcats take innovative climate action by monitoring the environment while harnessing the power of storytelling.

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Wearable air quality sensors Imagine being able to know the quality of the air around you in real time, wherever you happen to be. One pilot project, funded by an Innovative Research Grant from the College of Health Sciences and Professions, works toward making this aspiration into a reality through wearable technology.

A yearlong venture concentrates on recruited volunteers trained to clip on or carry individual air quality sensors for 4–6 hours at a time and to log their activities on an hourly basis. A smartphone app allows participants to monitor the quality of the air nearby.

“The project focuses on the relationship between personal air monitoring and behaviors that could be influencing exposures,” Michele Morrone, professor of environmental health science and principal investigator of the study, shared via e-mail.

“We specifically recruited participants over the age of 50 because of the expertise of the project team,” whose members come from engineering, public health, gerontechnology, and environmental studies, Morrone explained. “We are pilot testing the technology and a health behavior model that includes tracking activities and identifying self-efficacy.”

In a way, then, this concerted attempt on OHIO’s part to engage citizen scientists results in a pursuit that proves mutually advantageous: private and public enlightenment.

Overall, the project intends to demonstrate an easy-to-use, portable system that increases understanding of air pollution health risks and inspires individuals to reduce such threats. With personal monitoring studies a priority of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and with President Barack Obama’s August announcement regarding new air quality standards, the OHIO scholars are seeking further funding, using their pilot study as an example.

“So far, we are optimistic that the project is on track to being quite successful,” Morrone concluded, a boon not only for the University but also for the community—and, potentially, beyond.

Deployable water quality sensors Last year, Godfrey Ogallo, MITS ’15, MSES ’16, an OHIO doctoral student in instructional technology, earned third place at the University’s Center for Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition and top honors in the energy and environmental category at its Student Expo for his master’s work on low-cost water quality monitoring of streams impaired by acid mine drainage (AMD). Ogallo provided input on a concept

by OHIO researchers to enable automated data collection, even in remote locations, and operate with eco-awareness, shutting down its solar-powered technology to save energy.

A project between the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, Fritz J. and

Saw-Wai Hla adjusts a sample on an ultrahigh-vacuum lowtemperature scanning tunneling

OHIO keeps its eye on environmentalism in many innovative ways, including via unmanned aerial vehicles that survey the region for trouble spots that need eco-friendly addressing. Illustrations by Andy Martin

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Capitalizing on the breakthroughs and conveniences of the digital era, OHIO researchers created conveyable means for people to check air quality and record findings to benefit one and all.

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Dolores H. Russ College of Engineering and Technology, College of Arts and Sciences, and Scripps College of Communication refines this innovation. As the state’s involvement with the oil and gas industry evolves, so does a dialogue about measuring the impact of hydraulic fracturing on water quality. The OHIO progression, led by Natalie Kruse Daniels, BSCE ’04, associate professor at the Voinovich School, and an Ogallo mentor, develops a deployable sensor aiming to monitor water quality and incorporates community stories about water along the way.

Kruse Daniels, faculty/staff colleagues, and graduate students already devise systems that remotely collect water quality data from AMD-impaired streams and transmit it from locations without wireless coverage. Their next step: design an alert system, downstream of injection wells, that sends a message when water quality indicates waste fluid spillage reaches a stream.

The team is also building a website for OHIO’s Partnership for Digitally Connected Environmental Monitoring to display water quality data in near real time. It will showcase University environmental monitoring research and share community stories about water. Ultimately, it will connect to OHIO’s Water Project, an interdisciplinary, interactive website (ouwaterproject.org) about water quality in the Appalachian Ohio Valley, with the mission “to bring information to citizens, policymakers and researchers from OHIO’s journalism and academic communities and to provide a forum for community blogs and action groups.”

“This multifaceted project unites OHIO’s strengths in environmental science, technology, data communication, and journalism, while encouraging community engagement,” wrote Kruse Daniels by e-mail, “and could change the accessibility and coverage of environmental monitoring in Appalachia and other underserved areas.”

Unmanned aerial environmental monitoring Although controversial in some settings, legalized use of small unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) allows environmental researchers to scrutinize vegetation growth, animal life, and habitat conditions more regularly and economically than fieldwork. Southeast Ohio is an ideal area to experiment with environmental drones, accordingly. An ongoing project combines OHIO’s decades-long leadership in field monitoring and aviationrelated research to verify and discover areas with AMD from coal mining.

Steven Porter, BS ’07, MS ’12, a member of the Geographic Information Systems team at the Voinovich School, has been collaborating with the Air Force Research Laboratory on the feasibility of detecting AMD from raw aerial imagery collected for the Ohio Statewide Imagery Program.

According to Porter, the raw aerial images are capable of covering entire counties and are similar to Google maps. They are unique, however, because they include infrared light.

“Being able to keep tabs on the world

around us more persistently will dramatically change our views about how we interact with the environment and how to deal with the legacy of our past,” he explained over e-mail. “The work that our Avionics Engineering Center is doing has the potential to collect data at a much lower cost, but, more importantly, at greater frequencies, making detecting of environmental pollution much easier.”

Voinovich School counterpart Jennifer Bowman, BS ’97, MS ’00—who oversees the Environmental Management Program that conducts research as part of OHIO’s interdisciplinary Appalachian Watershed Research Group of faculty, staff, and students—agrees. She also manages the Ohio Watershed Data website, which compiles and tracks water quality changes to measure success of mining reclamation.

Over the phone, Bowman indicated another component of OHIO’s drone environmental monitoring: partnerships with community groups and governmental entities advancing preservation and restoration. She cited Rural Action, a nonprofit whose mission is “to foster social,

Acid mine drainage and hydraulic fracturing threaten area water, prompting OHIO scientists to adapt vanguard devices and incorporate grassroots efforts to protect the precious resource.

economic, and environmental justice in Appalachian Ohio” and Ohio’s Division of Mineral Resources Management.

Wide-ranging methods, far-reaching implications These highlighted projects rely on a mix of expertise, disciplines, and strategies to gather data, shape a fuller story about environmentalism, and further the cause.

They represent a starting point for what is possible when cutting-edge technologies and interdisciplinary approaches align with citizen science.

Ogallo observed by phone, “Collaborative work becomes paramount” in today’s world. “I would encourage OHIO students and alumni to consider how they might use the skills they have learned to work with other sectors.”

Nate Schlater, Rural Action’s Monday Creek Watershed Coordinator, commented via e-mail, “Identifying AMD in remote locations that may be inaccessible or not easily accessible by staff … enables us to find things that we would otherwise have no knowledge of.” He adds, “We are currently partnering with OHIO on several projects to improve/preserve water resources in Ohio.”

Jocelyn Kozlowski, public information officer at the state Division of Mineral Resources Management, wrote by e-mail, “Our strong partnership with OHIO helps support local efforts aimed at restoring streams to their pre-mining ecological condition and create remediation projects that produce positive results for the environment.”

Kruse Daniels put it this way: “Finding new and better ways to collect environmental data is an exciting and necessary field. At OHIO, we are bringing together rapidly evolving technology with environmental problems to collect data needed to find solutions.” —Becca J. R. Lachman, MA ’07, is the communications officer for Athens County Public Libraries and a former writer/editor in the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs at OHIO. Her most recent book is a collection of poetry, Other Acreage (Gold Wake Press, 2015).

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OHIO on the move

Get behind the wheel with OHIO as Bobcats embark on inspiring road trips to benefit humanity Mass transit What a difference a year makes!

Last spring, a team of Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ College of Engineering and Technology students entered the Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC) for the first time, testing their three-wheeled recumbent trike design against university crews from around the country at University of Florida. The Bobcats left with not only a sportsmanship award but also the ambition of hosting the 2016 East competition. That goal came to fruition; this May, several hundred students from approximately 35 teams from around the globe convened on the Athens Campus for the freewheeling festivities.

“Under strong student leadership, the [HPVC team, founded in fall 2014] saw an opportunity to host the event and show others our beautiful campus and the good things going on at OHIO,” says Greg Kremer, the squad’s former faculty advisor and Robe Professor of mechanical engineering and department chair. “It is a huge undertaking that requires coordination of many units across campus, plus fundraising and lots of organization.”

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He’s not kidding. One of two contests held in the United States annually, with the others occurring in Latin America, Mexico, and India, the mid-May weekend kicked off with design presentations and safety inspections at Stocker Center, followed the next day by a parade and drag race event down South Green Drive. The final day involved a rigorous endurance event in the Convocation Center parking lot: “an exciting 2.5-hour race with obstacles, turns, and pit stops,” summarizes second-year graduate student and mechanical engineering major Cody Petitt, team mentor and former co-captain. “This was designed to simulate the real-world application of the vehicles that we’re building.”

According to sophomore team leader and mechanical engineering major Matthew McKenzie, those practical applications include ecofriendly alternatives for daily commutes and a more efficient way to transport goods.

“These vehicles have the ability to be very useful to anyone around the world,” he asserts, “as well as being a lot more cost-effective than any automobile on the road.”

A+ app The wheels on the bus are starting to go round and round more efficiently, courtesy of OHIO’s Russ College of Engineering and Technology. In 2015, the Muskingum Valley Educational Service Center (MVESC) received a $1.8 million grant to drive down transportation costs across 20 Southeast Ohio school districts. OHIO’s proposal for an electronic bus scheduling application was selected as one way to reduce outlays.

“Enrollment is going down, but transportation costs continue to rise, which is a real dilemma,” says Mike Fuller, BA ’77, MS ’80, PHD ’88, who directs MVESC’s Center for Innovation and Data Services. “[Our goal was to] pool resources for all 20 school districts and find a better way of looking at bus routing.”

OHIO’s app, “OSSC Routes and Riders,” analyzes GPS and rider data to provide cross-district bus scheduling. To collect the information, 450 buses were outfitted with GPS technology and radiofrequency identification card readers to track riding habits of the districts’ collective 30,000 students. By scrutinizing factors like percentage of bus capacity used, popular routes, mileage, and idle time, new and more efficient routes can be configured.

“By sharing cross-district bus routes, transportation managers can utilize neighboring district routes to reduce costs further,” explains OHIO team leader Dusan Sormaz, associate professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Russ College of Engineering and Technology.

Indeed, the app—devised by faculty, graduate students, and a software engineer—will help save the consortia $4 million over five years. The consortia hopes to trim its fleet by 20 buses and operating expenses by 2 percent. Currently, the project is in pilot mode with four school districts.

Fuller estimates that all 20 districts will be using the application by August.

“Until now, most districts haven’t had an electronic means to determine the best way to route buses; they were using paper and pencil,” says Fuller. “This application is going to create a huge time savings.”

PAGE 28: Justin Gillum (left) and Eric Herman, OHIO sophomore mechanical engineering majors, assemble the steering of a threewheeled recumbent trike in April. Photo by

RIGHT: Some people consider a poem a type of journey that takes both writer and reader on a ride. Athens Public Transit recently embraced this notion of fare excursion. Photo

Anna Winstead, BSVC ’16

by John

Moving words Talk about poetry in motion—since October, the aptly named “Poetry Bus” has been making its way around town. Wrapped in verse, the 18-seater is part of Athens Public Transit’s “On the Bus” program, which hitches art, design, and culture with conveyance.

Athens Public Transit coordinator Michael Lachman, BMUS ’02, collaborated with creative director Molly Schoenhoff, a graphic designer and former OHIO faculty member; graphic designer and Honors Tutorial College alumna Paula Welling, BFASA ’14; local poets Wendy McVicker and Kate Fox, MA ’85, PHD ’92, writer/editor at OHIO’s College of Health Sciences and Professions; and College of Fine Arts students. Athens vendors Performance Signs and Minuteman Press helped execute the design with OHIO College of Fine Arts’ CREATE_space lab (creative research exploring arts, technology, and entrepreneurship).

“My idea was small and traditional; many transit systems have put poetry installations in their interior advertising space,” says Lachman. “Molly responded with a much grander vision, suggesting both the inside and outside of the bus be our typographic canvas.”

The debut poem is McVicker’s 1992 “In Summer.” It begins, “We rolled down / the fresh-mown hills / into pools of dusk. / One by one, up / and down the street. …” Budget permitting, another bus featuring Fox’s 1990 “West Union Cemetery” is slated for later this year or early next year. The poem is about teaching her daughter to drive in a graveyard and begins: “‘Everybody goes there,’ she says. / ‘It’s the safest place to learn.’”

The common denominator? Active, vivid—and family-friendly—language about movement and life. “Poetry that connects organically to what transit is all about,” says Lachman.

McVicker has conducted readings and workshops onboard. She calls the passage a one-of-a-kind vehicle to highlight a genre. “People find their rides are given extra spice by being on the poetry bus,” McVicker says. “It’s a conversation starter.”

Fox adds, “I’m delighted that the design allows riders to ‘board the poem’ as well as the bus. Passengers literally travel within the poem—what a remarkable way to get from one destination to another.” —Jen Jones Donatelli, BSJ ’98, is a freelance journalist in Los Angeles, California; her credits include REDBOOK, Playboy, Natural Health, and Variety. She is the director of OHIO’s OHIO-in-LA program—and new mom to twin future Bobcats. See page 37.

Halley, MFA ’87

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Born to care

From the nation’s capital to a health crisis in Liberia, OHIO alumna’s public service improves lives around the globe

A

s a young girl, Nadra Tyus, BS ’98, enjoyed watching medicalbased television shows such as “Quincy, M.E.” and “St. Elsewhere.”

She also liked playing the batterydriven game Operation, in which a child pretended to be a doctor who uses tweezers to remove ailing parts of patient Cavity Sam. One slight mistake in any direction, and a buzzer sounded the alarm and his nose lit red.

Tyus augmented those make-believe pursuits with the real-world experiences of her mother, Frances, who logged more than 40 years at the Cleveland (Ohio) Clinic as a registered dietitian. On several occasions in girlhood, Tyus accompanied her mother to work.

“I have two friends who were physicians, and Nadra would like to have conversations with them,” said the matriarch, who retired about five years ago, in a phone interview.

So it should come as no surprise that Tyus became interested in biology and science—fields replete with innovations— in high school. An overachiever, the youth earned a 4.1 grade point average and graduated third in her class of about 110 while also playing volleyball.

What is perhaps more striking is how far her foundations have taken her—literally.

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Grounding

After her time on the Athens Campus, Tyus earned a master of public health from the Medical College of Ohio (now the University of Toledo Medical Center) and a doctorate in public health from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. She then completed a three-year postdoctoral fellowship in community-based participatory research at the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute, contributing to projects that examined health inequities in areas such as sexually transmitted diseases.

But a problem arose. “I wanted to do public health and not necessarily the research,” she said in a phone interview.

So Tyus redirected her career path and, after a few short-term positions in health advocacy and science development, joined the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a senior public health analyst, first within its Health Resources and Services Administration. Recently, she was promoted to lieutenant commander (LCDR) in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps—more than 6,500 full-time public health professionals under the watch of the U.S. surgeon general within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services.

She’s been in the Commissioned Corps for about four years.

A memorable deployment with the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps took the social scientist to Liberia for

“OHIO helped me excel in the sciences and shaped me into the dedicated public health professional I am now. OHIO taught me to focus and be inspired about the possibilities in my career,” e-mailed Nadra Tyus, shown in her living room.

“I was also fortunate to do a summer pre-medical program at the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.” Photo by Chad Bartlett, MA ’10

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64 days in early 2015 to help fight an outbreak of the Ebola virus, a contagious and deadly disease, in West Africa. She put in 12- to 14hour days on one of four teams of 60 members apiece engaged in all sorts of life-and-death innovations combating the largest outbreak of Ebola in history. This effort, which included the establishment of a Monrovia Medical Unit—a new concept in treating the epidemic— earned the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps its first Presidential Unit Citation, Tyus noted.

In bestowing the award last September, President Barack Obama remarked, in part, “Last year, as Ebola spread in West Africa and I said that fighting this disease was more than a national security priority—it was a critical example of American leadership—these professionals from the U.S. Public Health Service were some of the Americans on the frontlines of that effort. … Thanks to their skill, thanks to their courage and their dedication, they not only helped to keep the American people safe; they led a global response. It was not until they arrived that other countries were confident that they could send their own health workers in, because they knew that this outstanding group of individuals and health professionals were there on the job and would provide them the kind of support that could make their own efforts safe.”

Endurance “First of all, it was an honor to be part of that; not everyone gets to deploy,” Tyus said. “Just going to Liberia was very emotional and very humbling. The Liberian people were very excited we were there to help. Of course that acceptance came with the sadness of Ebola.”

Tyus understood the risks of such humanitarianism. Before heading off, she attended a mandatory 10-day training program at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Alabama.

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“I knew of the epidemic and what was happening there. Our living situation was in a typical military-style tent. There was a day shift and a night shift,” she explained. “My primary responsibility was section chief of administration and finance for Team 3. In this section, our job was personnel accountability. I had to be accountable for where everyone was at all times, especially when officers had to leave the base for coordination or operational meetings.”

Physical challenges inevitably carried emotional hardships.

“When we got there, we had two Ebola patients,” she remembered, “and one died within days of us landing.”

Inversely, she called survivor Marphen Yardolo, who had lost family to the epidemic, an “inspiration” to Team 3.

In a story written by Team 3’s public information officers, Yardolo said, “I will live so that God can get the glory.”

Validation Capt. Dean Coppola, Tyus’s officer in charge when the Bobcat helped oversee the 240-person medical unit in Monrovia, praises her sense of responsibility.

“LCDR Tyus is the consummate professional. Her comprehensive and thorough work efforts were critically important to team accountability,” Coppola wrote in an e-mail. “I selected LCDR Tyus due to her stellar reputation at the Health Resources and Services Administration, where she is considered a valued asset. She is meticulous and demonstrates a high level of personal accountability.

LCDR Tyus leads by example and supports her staff.”

Edward Salsberg, former founding director of the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis at the Health Resources and Services Administration, and a prior supervisor of Tyus’s, also admires her commitment.

PAGE 32 LEFT: “The Monrovia Medical Unit included an Ebola Treatment Unit, pharmacy, administrative setup, and medical supplies,” Tyus explained of this February 2015 photo. “My Team 3 had two Ebola patients—siblings—a brother who died and a sister who survived.” PAGE 32 RIGHT: Dr. Karen DeSalvo, acting assistant secretary for health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (left), talks with Team 3 personnel, including Tyus (right center), while touring the Monrovia Medical Unit in February 2015. Photos courtesy of Nadra Tyus THIS PAGE: Tyus and LCDR LaMar Henderson, colleagues at the Health Resources and Services Administration, huddle in March in their building’s atrium to discuss activities planned for the Black Commissioned Officers Advisory Group, which Tyus chairs. It was chartered in 1990 to advise the surgeon general.

Photo by Chad Bartlett, MA ’10

“In fact, I hired Nadra in her first position at Health and Human Services,” Salsberg, research instructor at the George Washington University School of Nursing, wrote in an e-mail. “I was very impressed with Nadra’s work ethic and focus. She was very diligent, thorough, and took her responsibility as a federal employee very seriously. Nadra is an excellent public servant, and she was always looking for ways to improve her work.” He added, “She leads by example but does not hesitate to speak up when she sees something that has to be done.”

Perspective Tyus lives a few miles north of the nation’s capital and is on the volunteer leadership team planning the expansion of the Ebony Bobcat Network to Washington, D.C. But she almost didn’t attend OHIO. As with other, earlier formative moments, family played a role in her walking the College Green.

Tyus began her higher education at Allegheny College. She struggled to adjust to tiny Meadville, Pennsylvania, from the big city of Cleveland, and decided to transfer after two years. Her cousin, Jeffrey Tyus, BSC ’93, MA ’95, PHD ’99, a residence director then (and associate professor of communication at Youngstown State

University now), recommended OHIO. A strong financial assistance package proved further incentive.

And she received ongoing mentoring and fiscal counseling from Tyrone Carr, MED ’94, MED ’00, then assistant director of student employment in the financial aid office at OHIO, and currently executive director of Interlink Alliance/special assistant to the vice provost for diversity and inclusion at the University.

“I remember Nadra very well. Her cousin, Jeff, one of my advisees, told her to schedule an appointment with me. She was very mature and driven. We had many visits. She was determined not only to fulfill her academic dream but also to make it big, go to grad school, and more,” Carr said in a phone call. “She knew she wanted a career in health administration. In fall 2014, I was fortunate to reconnect with her during an alumni reception in Washington, D.C., and it thrilled me to learn of her accomplishments. I was very proud but not surprised to see how her persistence paid off.”

To what does Tyus think she owes her success?

“I really think it was a combination of growing up around medicine, and I just wanted to help,” Tyus reflected. “My mom said I played hospital. It is probably what I have always wanted to do; I wanted to make an impact.”—David Driver contributes to the Sports Xchange and has freelanced for leading daily newspapers across the U.S. He lives in Cheverly, Maryland.

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Photos courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections

BOBCAT TRACKS for alumni and friends

“I shud rite down what I think” The troubled and endearing hero of Flowers for Algernon, the best-known work of former longtime OHIO creative writing professor Daniel Keyes, jotted down his adventures as “progris riports” in the acclaimed tale. Tracy Lawson, who studied with the innovative author, also wrote down what she thought—about her OHIO teacher, among other topics—for the alumni essay on the next page. And countless Bobcats have turned in papers in high school or at the University analyzing this enduring yarn. Indeed, Ohio Today borrows a line from it for the headline.

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UPPER LEFT PHOTO: Cliff Robertson (left) won the 1968 Academy Award for best actor in a leading role as the title character in Charly, the movie adaptation of the novel Flowers for Algernon. The mouse that he and Daniel Keyes (right) hold, representing Algernon, undergoes a procedure that increases its brainpower, causing the rodent to solve mazes faster than the eponymous bakery worker who has an I.Q. of 68 and wants “to be smart,” as he puts it. The protagonist agrees to the same operation and becomes a genius, but only temporarily, and ultimately reverts. Keyes, 1927–2014, published the saga as a novella in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1959 and won the Hugo Award for best short fiction. He expanded the story to a novel in 1966 and tied for the Nebula Award. The novel (whose front cover, shown, references the Rorschach test, which Keyes alludes to in the account) had sold 5 million copies at the time of his death, according to a New York Times obituary. Keyes (pictured circa 1968 and ’80 in the other photos) taught at OHIO from 1966 to ’90.

—Editor Peter Szatmary

As much techie as storyteller

I

n high school, I aspired to write for television. So I enrolled at Ohio University in 1984 because its School of Telecommunications (now School of Media Arts and Studies) was a frontrunner that provided hands-on experience. I amassed TCOM, journalism, creative writing, and advertising classes and handled cutting-edge technology. The lessons I learned!

Daniel Keyes, my creative writing professor and author of Flowers for Algernon, explained that upon completing a manuscript, he kept one copy locked in the trunk of his car, one in a safe deposit box at his bank, one with his secretary, and one on his person, until publication. Computers make precautions easier. Yet my hard drive crashed recently, losing most of two works in progress. A la Dan, I now back up everything through Dropbox.

I began my studies at OHIO writing papers via electric typewriter. (I also profited from that labor-intensive endeavor by typing for classmates at 75 cents per page.) Senior year, I took a course in media planning and placement; its unit on innovations led to my first full-time job. My final project, a media plan using new software to maximize reach and frequency in a campaign, caught my eventual employer’s eye. Presto! This newly minted college graduate oversaw media planning and budgets for all clients at an advertising agency.

I resurrected my journalism training when later becoming an investigative analyst for the state of Florida. I sleuthed facts, digested information, and created reports under tight deadlines. What I gleaned was confidential.

But some applicants to the Florida Bar boasted such colorful histories that I subsequently drew on them as a novelist for inspiration for fictional characters.

After my husband, Robert, BS ’88, finished grad school, he taught economics at a university in a small college town. (He now is a professor at Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business.) I found no work in broadcasting or advertising, so

I accepted a position at a dance studio and helped mount productions. Comfortable with breakthroughs in home video because of my OHIO exposure, I taped classes to demonstrate student strengths and weaknesses and included clips of legendary tap dancers such as Fred Astaire, the Nicholas Brothers, and Eleanor Powell in lessons.

After 18 years of teaching dance and choreographing musicals, and after my daughter started college, I decided to try writing nonfiction. First, an account of an 1838 travel journal kept by my greatgreat-great grandfather. I had begun this project nearly 20 years earlier, making costly and sometimes ineffective long-distance calls to courthouses, libraries, and other repositories from a phone attached to the wall. Research fees, copying costs, and postage ratcheted up expenses. Cellphones, e-mail, and digitalization proved invaluable when I resumed what would become within two years Fips, Bots, Doggeries, and More (McDonald & Woodward, 2012).

I also write young adult fiction. Counteract (2014) and Resist (2015), the initial volumes in my series of near-future dystopia thrillers, feature technology, or the lack of it. To me, if a heroine loves her new Walkman, she exists in a past alien and uninteresting for today’s teens. I find it shrewder to deprive characters of devices readers take for granted. My teenaged protagonists, Tommy and Careen, don’t spend much time online after the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense blocks free access to the Internet and censors content. Paradoxically, this oppressive watchdog agency exploits gizmos to keep tabs on everyone.

At OHIO, I wrote letters to my immediate family. I couldn’t afford a phone in my dorm room; I stood in line for the pay phone after 11 PM when long-distance rates were at their lowest. My daughter, a college junior, contacts me daily by text, e-mail, phone, or Facebook. Maybe I’ll write about that evolution next. Maybe I just did. —Tracy

Also in 1988 at OHIO …

• Plans by the city and the University for an organized Halloween party in uptown fell through and “the traditional Halloween takeover” of Court Street occurred.

• Film buffs suffered two uptown losses, one temporary, the other permanent. A fire ravaged the Athena Cinema, compelling renovations to a venue that opened in 1915.

Across the street, the Varsity Theater, dating to the late 1940s, closed.

• Peter Bensinger, former head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Timothy Leary (ABOVE), psychedelia icon and onetime Harvard clinical psychologist, held “The Great Drug Testing Debate.”

• Author, Holocaust survivor, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel spoke about “When the Unthinkable Happens: Implications of a Holocaust for the Nuclear Arms Race.”

• Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt, BBA ’72, a three-time National League most valuable player and eventual National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, appeared at a baseball clinic and card show.

• Springfest attracted 25,000 “sun-drenched partiers.”

• Between 1,500 and 2,000 competitors waged sportive battle during Greek Week in events such as pyramid building, spoon weaving, boat races, air-band lip-synching, and water balloon tosses.

• Six faculty won University Professor honors from more than 3,400 nominations.

• Enrollment on all campuses topped 23,000, including almost 16,500 on the Athens Campus. Approximately 1,800 students received degrees at commencement in the Convocation Center. —Entries compiled by Editor Peter Szatmary from Athena yearbooks Photo courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections

Lawson, BSC ’88, lives and writes in Dallas, Texas.

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BOBCAT TRACKS for alumni and friends

All my Bobcats

Mailing miscue creates real-life soap opera for our readers

T

he spring 2016 Ohio Today began arriving around April Fools’ Day, but errors in the mailing process proved no joke. The bungle, however, elicited the trademark Bobcat thoughtfulness—and humor.

Nearly 13,000 subscribers flipped to the back cover to discover an incorrect name on their mailing label. About 1,400 copies went to wrong addresses. And some 1,400 households received an extra copy, among other botches. Our vendor made a mistake that caused the glitches and feels awful, as does the magazine. All parties have taken steps to prevent the problems from recurring, and the vendor reimbursed OHIO accordingly.

Jennifer Shutt Bowie, BSJ ’94, MS ’99, executive director of Advancement Communication & Marketing, the office overseeing Ohio Today, sent the following e-mail to readers upon discovery of the flub: We may owe you an apology. You might have received an extra copy of the spring 2016 edition of Ohio Today and/or been given a fictitious spouse/partner on the mailing label.

We found out late yesterday that our vendor made a mistake when compiling, grouping, and printing the mailing list.

If you have a spouse or partner, you may have noticed by now that spouse/partner names were not matched correctly in the first line of your mailing address.

Rest assured that information about your spouse/partner is correct in OHIO’s alumni database. Thank you to everyone who reached out to let us know about the mistake. We take such matters seriously. And we appreciate the legendary Bobcat goodwill; as one alumnus put it, “My wife picked up the mail and, noticing the ‘other woman’ on the label, joked, ‘Is there something you need to tell me?’” He said the same thing to her when another man appeared on her label.

I’m sorry for any concern or head scratching that this error has caused.

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Mr. & Mrs Wrong 8256 Mocking Bird

Circle

Athens OH, 45701

“It’s a great issue—no matter whose name is on it!”

—Donald Shee, BFA ’51, Downers Grove, Illinois

More than 125 readers contacted us. Most were matter-of-fact. Some were perplexed.

A few appeared irritated. Widows/widowers seemed hurt. Concern arose that others might not get their copy or that OHIO incurred extra expense. One Bobcat wished to have been included in the mess because, he observed, the affected parties now owned a special limited edition—a keepsake unique to them. And when comprehending what had happened, several subscribers jested that they were calling off their divorce.

We do not make light of the blunders. At the same time, readers, overall, took them in stride and, as good-natured Bobcats often do, had some fun in the process. Other edited examples follow. —Editor Peter Szatmary • “My wife and I had a little laugh finding out that I got remarried. Oddly enough, she did too, but to a Catherine.”—Brian Miller, BBA ’04, Athens, Ohio

• “Thank you for this apology. Indeed, my wife, upon noticing my name and the name of another woman on your mailing, confronted me about having an affair. I am a 1964 OHIO graduate and, at this point in my life, I am awaiting forgetfulness. I guess

I believe in the right to tell ‘white lies,’ but to lie about an affair hardly fits that category.

Assuming that this was just the beginning of forgetfulness, I admitted the affair—better that than risking a great lie. I told her that it must not have been much fun because I really didn’t remember it at all. ‘Must have been at a reunion, I guess,’ I told my wife, and when she asked, ‘Was she a cheerleader?’ I just said, ‘Probably.’ Fortunately, the woman named on the envelope, whoever she might have been, had a common name, so my wife picked five names from the Internet, ones with telephone numbers, dialed them up on her flip phone, and screamed at them like a longshoreman, ‘Stay away from my husband, you …’ Well, you get the idea. Funny thing, though, there was a little sparkle in her eye when she flipped that phone closed, like maybe she’d overlooked something in me. It has really helped our relationship. We’ve been married 50 years. Thanks to your mistake, I think we’re going to make it the whole way, so no need to apologize. —Charles Spear, BBA ’64, Venice, California

• “You’re not alone with the mail merge snafu. [Another] university did you one better in a mailing for accepted students. A few weeks ago, my son, Joe, a high school senior, got a postcard from [that campus] about making a large university feel like a small community. ‘A great way to make a large university seem small,’ Joe said, ‘would be to know my name.’ The postcard was addressed to Christopher Luke Schlangen.

He tweeted a picture of it, and a bunch of accepted students replied with their wrong names, too. Small mistake, huge mailing list. We got a little chuckle out of it because when we went for the tour, three or four people said, ‘Yeah, we’ve got tens of thousands of students, but you aren’t just a number here.’ Right. ‘You’re not just a number here. You’re a person with a name.

Someone else’s name … but a name.’ I love the magazine, by the way. Keep up the great work. —Maureen Schlangen, BSJ ’91, Dayton, Ohio

Future Bobcats “Only a baby can start,” wrote John Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath, winner of the 1940 Pulitzer Prize for novels. “You and me—why, we’re all that’s been.” Ohio Today prefers the former sentiment over the latter from the Depression-era saga about the struggles of the itinerant Joad family for rebirth. Who says the rest of us can’t begin again, too? In any case, OHIO alumni, commencing on a happier trek than the fictional counterparts, share via e-mail a few details about their bundles of joy. —Editor Peter Szatmary

1. ATTIX JAMES CHARLTON ALLREAD Born: May 27, 2015; 7 lb, 10 oz; 21 in—arriving 8 minutes after mom and dad made it to the hospital Photo: 20 lb, 29 in, at 8 months Parents: Candice Charlton, BSHC ’03, a contracting officer for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in Cincinnati, Ohio (pictured), and Jim Allread, American history, economics, and government teacher at

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Springfield-Clark Career Technical Center-Northwestern, in Springfield, Ohio Siblings: Viola, 2½ (pictured) Residence: West Chester, Ohio Parental resemblance: “Light hair and eyes like his mother.”

Emerging personality: “Totally laid back and down for anything.”

Photo by Traci Ryant

2. ARCHER EDWIN NOVAK

Parents: Cory Frye, BBA ’09, associate at Edgewater Capital Partners in Cleveland, and Samantha Palumbo Frye, BSPE ’11, senior sales consultant at Global Technical Recruiters in Cleveland Siblings: First child Residence: Cleveland Parental resemblance: “Mommy’s blue eyes and dimples. Daddy’s hair and nose.”

Emerging personality: “So happy and always smiling!”

Adorableness example: “She loves looking at herself in the mirror or in a picture and taking selfies and thinks it is so funny!”

4. ROCCO VICTOR DONATELLI (right) and GLORIA

(“GIA”) TIFFIN DONATELLI Born: Oct. 26, 2015; 4 lb, 8 oz, 18 in for Rocco; 2 lb, 6 oz, 13 in for Gloria. Of the fraternal twins born at 34 weeks, Rocco was born two minutes earlier. Gia and Rocco were in the neonatal intensive care unit

Born: May 22, 2015; 6 lb, 12 oz; 19¼ in Parents: Evan Novak, BA ’02, a strategic account manager for Moen Inc. faucets and plumbing fixtures in Cleveland, Ohio, and Kylie Vermillion Novak, BSHC ’05, a payroll specialist at Oatey Company, a commercial and residential plumbing products company, in Cleveland Siblings: Older brother, Mason, age 2 in the photo, with Archer at one week Residence: Avon, Ohio Parental resemblance: “Mom’s mini-me.”

Emerging personality: “Happy.”

Impressive feat: “Trying to walk before he can crawl.”

3. HAYDEN LOUISE FRYE

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Born: Aug. 29, 2015; 5 lb, 6 oz; 18 in; three weeks early Photo: 5 lb, 18½ in, at 19 days old

for five weeks and seven weeks, respectively.

Photo: 11 lb for Rocco, 9 lb for Gia, at about 4 months Parents: Jen Jones Donatelli, BSJ ’98, author, writing instructor, and freelance journalist (who contributes to Ohio Today), and Joe Donatelli, BSJ ’98, sex and culture editor at playboy.com Siblings: “First and only kids!”

Residence: Los Angeles, California Parental resemblance: “They were both born bald, like their father. Gia has her mother’s sass, and Rocco has her smile.”​ Emerging personalities: “Rocco is sweet, sensitive, and silly; Gia is spunky and expressive.”

Adorableness example: “​Gia was so small when born, she could sit inside an aquarium glass at the Pub on Court Street. Rocco has the kind of smile that can be seen all the way across College Green.​” Bobcat trivia: “Gia’s middle name is an homage to the OHIO dorm where we first met!”

4 Alumni parents, did a future Bobcat—new baby or adopted child—arrive recently? E-mail a photo and details to ohiotoday@ohio.edu.

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BOBCAT TRACKS for alumni and friends

Bobcat sightings 1. Joseph Greene, BSJ ’73, visits Frauenkirche church in Dresden, Saxony, Germany, last September. 2. Melanie Quatman, BBA ’06, and her dad, Warren Raese, BSED ’69, dress the part for Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. Papa sent the photo. 3. Two generations of Bromley Hall roommates celebrate a Bobcat wedding at The Vineyard at Florence (Texas) last July. Left to right: Paula Gehring Webster, BSHS ’74; Joy Laughlin Stuebe; Joann Yeager Harwood, BSJ ’74, mother of the bride; Elizabeth Harwood Sherry, BSRS ’01, bride; Megan Hensler Gramke, BSJ ’01; Renee Knight, BSJ ’01; and Jennifer Day, BSJ ’02. Groom Jason Sherry works in finance in Houston, Texas, where the newlyweds live. The bride, an instructor at Saint Street Swim, sent the photo. Not pictured: Catherine Houghtaling Kung, BSC ’01, who performed a reading for the couple. 4. Mike Johnson, BSJ ’67, and his sister-in-law, (Frances) Dianne Haley Vots, BSED ’67, cuddle future Bobcat, Serena Lynne Johnson, born July 21 at 8 lb, 4 oz, 19 in, and shown here in October. Johnson’s son, Zach, and daughter-in-law, Ayva, are the new parents. Patriarch Johnson, who submitted the photo, counts eight OHIO alumni in his family, including his daughter, Andrea Johnson, AB ’94,

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and late wife, Lynne Haley Johnson, AB ’68, who died on Jan. 10, 2014, at age 67 after a long illness, and whose ashes he sprinkled into the Hocking River, per her request. 5. Bobcat swimmers and decades-long friends hold their most recent reunion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, writes David Costill, BSED ’59, of “nearly all of the team captains and co-captains from 1957–61.” He identifies everyone, left to right. Front row: Bob Eastman, BSCO ’60; Al Morley; Mac Morrison, BS ’60; Tod Boyle, BSED ’61; Ernie Maglischo, BSED ’60; Bruce Tompkin, BS ’59; Bill Faunce, BSED ’59; and Tom Boyce, BSED ’62. Second row: Don Hunt, BS ’61; Costill; Ed Pease, BSCO ’60; and Walt Coleman, BSCO ’60. 6. Fore? No, four! A Bobcat quartet gathers in July at the Broadmoor Invitation golf tournament for top amateurs in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Left to right: Jack Damioli, BSPE ’81, MED ’83, new president and CEO of the Broadmoor luxury hotel and resort and president of the Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway; his wife, Rachel Hall Damioli, BSED ’83, a volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters and in schools as a literacy tutor; Dow Finsterwald, AB ’52, winner of the 1958 PGA Championship and 11 other tour events, four-time U.S. Ryder Cup team member, PGA Hall of Fame inductee, and former director of golf at the Broadmoor (also see page 46); and Mark Sutherland, BSC ’88, Broadmoor golf membership professional. —Compiled by Editor Peter Szatmary

Photo courtesy of Mic Garofolo 38 •

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Send your photos to ohiotoday@ohio.edu or Ohio Today, 213 McKee House, 1 Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701.

’67

Harry Greenfield, BBA ’67, ranked as one of Ohio’s “Top 100 Lawyers” and Cleveland’s “Top 50 Lawyers” for 2016, according to Super Lawyers magazine. He did so the previous year, too. Also designated a Super Lawyer in the state since 2004 by the same entity, Greenfield is a partner at Buckley King and handles business bankruptcy, creditors’ rights, and related matters.

’68

Jim Litten, BSED ’68, owner and president of the Indianapolis-based F.C. Tucker Co., made Swanepoel T3 Group’s list of the 200 most powerful people in residential real estate for 2016. The real estate research firm ranked him 111 for leading Indiana’s largest and one of the country’s oldest independent real estate companies, with more than 1,500 employees and $3.4 billion in annual sales. Litten has served on the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors, Indiana Real Estate Commission, and National Board of Realtors and is a founding member of the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World network.

’69

Art Stellar, BSED ’69, MED ’70, PHD ’73, joined the educational foundation board of directors of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

He also is a member of the marketing and programming committees for the foundation and has been honored by the fraternity several times since joining as an OHIO student.

Stellar is vice president of the National Education Foundation and its subsidiary, CyberLearning, and was superintendent of schools for 25 years in cities and counties nationwide, among other credits.

Serving OHIO in many capacities,

he received a 2015 Medal of Merit from the Ohio University Alumni Association. Stellar lives in Hingham, Massachusetts.

’70

Kathleen Bond, AA ’70, received a 2016 Volunteer Leadership Award from the American Cancer Society. Past chair of the East Central Division Board, she was cited for undertaking local fundraising and leadership and national research and advocacy; for conceiving the Pan Ohio Hope Ride, a 328mile, four-day bicycle event that has raised nearly $4 million since its inception in 2007; and for helping reinvigorate Hope Lodges financially and administratively, according to a press release. Bond was one of two recipients of the award. She lives in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

Mary Hausch, BSJ ’70, retired in June after more than 25 years as a journalism professor at University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Earlier in her career, she served as managing editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

’71

Ed Lachman, BFA ’71, earned an Academy Award nomination this year for cinematography for Carol. He previously was up for an Oscar in the same category for Far from Heaven in 2002.

’73

Ken Light, BGS ’73, made the top 10 list for 2015 photo books in Vogue and Mother Jones for What’s Going On? 1969-1974 (Light² Media), a monograph of the American social landscape during upheavals, including across Ohio and OHIO. He is the Reva and David Logan Professor of Photojournalism and photo director at the Center

for Photography at the Graduate School of Journalism at University of California, Berkeley.

’74

Timothy Finton, BA ’74, has been elected a member of the Washington, D.C.-based Cosmos Club, a private social organization that honors persons deemed to have done meritorious original work in science, literature, or the arts or recognized as distinguished in a learned profession or in public service.

He is senior counselor for international communications and information policy at the U.S. Department of State.

Kathy Beavers Mowry, AB ’74, served as a judge in the judicial assignment program of the Ohio Supreme Court from 2011 until last October. She was the first

female judge elected in Fairfield County, Ohio, presiding in the domestic relations division of common pleas court from 2007 to 2011. The Bobcat resides in Bremen with her husband, Dee Mowry, MED ’70, EMER ’97, associate professor emeritus of biological sciences at the Lancaster Campus.

John Sorrenti, MARC ’74, was elected chancellor of the College of Fellows for the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He is founder and president of JRS Architect, a full-service firm with offices in Mineola, New York, and Princeton, New Jersey, and has held numerous elected positions at AIA.

’75

Robert Bevacqua, BSED ’75, retired from Grand Valley Schools in Orwell,

2016–17 TOURS

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Antarctica Feb.19–March 5

Great Journey Through Europe July 4–14 Coastal Maine and New Brunswick July 20–27 Alaska Passages July 25–Aug. 4 London Immersion Aug. 17–28 North America’s Majestic Great Lakes Aug. 22–31 Italian Riviera Sept. 3–11 The Art of Living | Provence Oct. 7–29 Captivating Mediterranean Oct. 8–16 Southern Charm Oct. 23–29 Spotlight on San Antonio Dec. 1–5 Mystique of the Maya Jan. 11–22, 2017 Antarctica Feb. 19–March 5 Costa Rica Rainforests, Volcanoes & Wildlife Feb. 25–March 5 Outrageous Outback April 7–23 Listings current at time of printing

Click on the “travel” link at ohio.edu/alumni

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BOBCAT TRACKS for alumni and friends

Ohio, after 15 years as a science and math teacher. He previously spent 24 years in banking.

Cheermeister Spirit Award and Homecoming 2016 Video Contest Do you bleed green and white? Is Athens a home for you? Does your heart beat to the tempo of “Stand Up and Cheer!”? Well, Bobcat, we’ve been waiting for you.

Post an original video featuring your OHIO pride on your Facebook page using #OHIOCheermeister and #OHIOHC2016.

In addition to claiming bragging rights, the Homecoming Cheermeister will …

Receive a special edition personalized letterman jacket, official Stand Up and Cheermeister mega- phone, VIP seating for the game, and mounds of OHIO swag

Be the guest of honor for the Yell Like Hell Pep Rally Attend the Alumni Awards Formal Gala Receive recognition during the Homecoming game Lead the march as Parade Marshal for the Homecoming parade The eight videos with the greatest number of likes on Facebook by Aug. 15 will go head-to-head for alumni votes in a March Madness-style bracket. The winner will be announced on Sept. 29—one week before Homecoming.

ohio.edu/alumni/cheermeister

Steven Lesser, BSJ ’75, was reelected vice president of the Southeast Florida chapter of the International Concrete Repair Institute. He heads the construction law and litigation group and is a shareholder at the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, office of Becker & Poliakoff, a commercial law firm.

Larry Rothenberg, BBA ’75, a shareholder at the real estate default unit in the Cleveland, Ohio, office of Weltman, Weinberg & Reis, a full-service creditors’ rights law firm, earned designation as a 2016 Ohio Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers magazine. He has made the list every year since 2008 and in 2004–05. Rothenberg focuses on commercial real estate, complex foreclosures, evictions, and title insurance.

’76

Anthony Buba, MFA ’76, won the 2015 John E. O’Connor Film Award for best historical documentary from the American Historical Association for Ghosts of Amistad. Buba directed the work. Based on Marcus Rediker’s The Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom (Viking, 2012), the movie “chronicles a trip to Sierra Leone in 2013 to visit the home villages of the people who seized the slave schooner Amistad in 1839 … interview elders about local memory of the case … [and] search for the long-lost ruins of Lomboko, the slave trading factory,” according to the documentary’s website.

’77

Justin Klimko, AB ’77, president and managing

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shareholder of the Detroit, Michigan, office of Butzel Long, a full-service law firm, received the Meritorious Service Award from the Association for Corporate Growth Detroit. He sits on the chapter’s board and serves as its secretary. Klimko focuses his practice on securities regulation, corporate financing, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and general corporate matters.

’80

David Bogenschutz, BSH ’80, MED ’81, head athletic trainer and teacher at Miamisburg (Ohio) High School, was named Trainer of the Year by the Ohio Athletic Trainers’ Association. He has been a Miamisburg Viking for 29 years.

Bogenschutz began his career with six years at Chillicothe High School.

’84

Sivanandan Sivagnanam, MS ’84, retired as a statistician from the Victorian Building Authority in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, after previous jobs in Sri Lanka, West Africa, India, and China. He works part time as a statistics lecturer at Monash College and Melbourne Institute of Technology and lives in Wantirna, a suburb of Melbourne.

’85

John Allerding, DO ’85, writes that he “became the 1,419th person to spend an entire winter at the South Pole while serving as the chief medical officer for the National Science Foundation/ U.S. Antarctic Program at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station” last January to November. The familypractice physician and retired colonel with the U.S. Army

BOARD OF DIRECTORS ANNOUNCEMENT

The OHIO Alumni Association board of directors is welcoming three new members:

Damian Clark, BSC ’05, auditor at Crowe Horwatch LLP, from Chicago, Illinois, and former president of the Chicago alumni chapter Shara Glickman, BSJ ’98, vice president, Weber Shandwick, from Arlington, Virginia, and immediate past president of the Nation’s Capital Chapter Greg Moore, BSC ’83, president of GTM Consulting Services, from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and former president of the Student Senate Alumni Society

Reserve Medical Corps lives in Loudonville, Ohio.

’86

Steve Barrows, BSPE ’86, MSPE ’89, became head football coach at Kentucky Christian University in 2015. He had been defensive coordinator/linebacker coach at McKendree University. His daughter, Emma, attends OHIO.

’88

James Behr, BBA ’88, an auditor by profession, became a member at-large of the board of the Finneytown Schools Educational Foundation in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he lives.

Vin Cappiello, BSJ ’88, MS ’96, assumed the role of editor of the Cody (Wyoming) Enterprise, a twice-weekly newspaper cofounded by Buffalo Bill Cody in 1899. Cappiello, a former managing editor there, most recently taught journalism and English at Cody High School.

His wife, Lisa Kohls-Cappiello, OHIO class of 1990 in elementary

education, is a fourth-grade teacher at Eastside Elementary School in Cody. “We have three daughters,” he writes, “Gabriella, 19, who is a journalism major at Central Wyoming College; Sara, 16, who placed first in the Wyoming High School Student Press Association news writing category last fall; and Maggie, 13, who is about to earn her seconddegree black belt in taekwondo.

Lisa and I are ever-thankful for the education we received at OHIO. Go Bobcats!”

’91

Kristine Strickland, BSED ’91, MED ’93, was named chancellor of L. E. Fletcher Technical Community College in Houma, Louisiana.

She had been executive dean for the West Bank Campus of Delgado Community College, based in New Orleans, and head of student financial assistance for all of Delgado’s campuses.

economic development in the five districts that constitute a corridor in Detroit, Michigan.

She had spent a year there prior with the AmeriCorps Urban Safety Program through Wayne State University’s Center for Urban Studies. Her career spans various roles in public service and community outreach.

Pamela Holschuh, BSHE ’93, principal of Copper Leaf Interior Design Studio in Marietta, Ohio, became an at-large member of the board of the Ohio South/ Kentucky chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers, whose 48 chapters in the U.S. and Canada total more than 33,500 members.

’94

Chris Burkhardt, BSHC ’94, director of

child nutrition and wellness at Lakota Local School District in Liberty Township, Ohio, ranked in the top 10 of influencers on the industry in 2015, according to FoodService Director magazine. The commendation mentioned, among other kudos, his developing “on-campus concepts that deliver customization that rivals Chipotle.” Burkhardt also was named the 2015 outstanding food and nutrition director by the Ohio Association of School Business Officials and one of five school nutrition heroes by the School Nutrition Association.

Kris Owen, BSED ’94, MED ’99, school counselor at Ridgeview STEM Junior High School in Pickerington, Ohio, was named one of five 2016 School

’92

Breton Flanders, BSCE ’92, joined Tocci Building Companies as project executive/director of construction. Based in Woburn, Massachusetts, Tocci is a construction and project management firm specializing in virtual design and construction, building information modeling, highly collaborative project delivery, and integrated project delivery. Flanders, who lives in Merrimack, New Hampshire, previously served as a project executive at Gilbane, Inc., a construction and real estate development company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.

’93

Krystal Fields, MA ’93, became the clean and safe director at Jefferson East, a collaborative catalyst for

A Charitable Remainder Trust is a gift that gives twice

The Office of Gift Planning can help you explore a host of gift options to plan for the future, receive current benefits, and provide lasting support for Ohio University.

Charitable Remainder Trusts provide: FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT Kelli Kotowski Executive Director of Development, Gift Planning and Principal Gifts kotowskk@ohio.edu • 740.597.1819

• an income stream • a charitable income tax deduction • a partial bypass of capital gains taxes • generous future support for Ohio University

summer 2016

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BOBCAT TRACKS for alumni and friends

Counselor of the Year finalists by the American School Counselor Association. They and the winner were flown to Washington, D.C., for three days of events including being honored at a White House ceremony hosted by first lady Michelle Obama and meeting their members of Congress. Owen has been a school counselor since 1999 and received the Ohio School Counselor of the Year Award from the Ohio School Counselors Association in 2014.

Anthony Petruzzi, AB ’94, made partner at Tucker Ellis in Cleveland, Ohio. He practices white-collar criminal defense, corporate investigation, and business litigation for the fullservice law firm. He also was named an Ohio Super Lawyer for 2016 by Super Lawyers magazine, as he has every year since 2012.

’96

Jennie Cerino Malone, BMUS ’96, plays keyboard on the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. “I had the great fortune of playing at OHIO when the tour performed at Memorial Auditorium on Oct. 8,” writes the musician, dancer, singer, and member of Actors’ Equity Association. “It was great to be ‘home’ for one night!”

’97

Layton McCallum, BS ’97, joined York Risk Services Group, based in Parsippany, New Jersey, as vice president of its operations services centers, overseeing five locations with 130 employees.

He lives in Powell, Ohio.

’98

Jeremy Church, BSJ ’98, has been named a partner at WordWrite

bobcatstore.ohioalumni.org

Communications, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based public relations agency, at which he also serves as vice president of media and content strategies. Church joined the firm in 2011 as an account supervisor, after media relations and public relations jobs with a law firm, theater producer, and boarding school.

’99

Ivan Stefano, BSC ’99, became director of the Academic English Transition Program and assistant professor of languages at Ohio Dominican University. He had been the ESL composition program manager at Ohio State, another alma mater.

Matthew Young, BBA ’99, part of the credit union practice group in the Brooklyn Heights, Ohio, office of Weltman, Weinberg & Reis, a full-service creditors’ rights law firm, was named a 2016 Rising Star in Ohio

by Super Lawyers magazine. He has garnered this distinction every year since 2012.

’00

Cori McKeever Ashford, BSJ ’00, was promoted to executive vice president and Chicago healthcare practice lead at Weber Shandwick, a global public relations agency. She previously had been a senior vice president.

’01 Join our

OPT-IN LIST and save 18.04% on your next purchase.

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Jessa Goddard Fannin, BSJ ’01, CERT ’01, joined Hamilton Capital Management, an investment management and financial advisory firm in Columbus, Ohio, as an associate financial advisor on the wealth advisory team. She had been a financial advisor with Libertas Wealth Management Group in Dublin. Earlier in her career, Fannin spent 13 years as a

television news anchor/reporter, including for WBNS-10TV and Ohio News Network in Columbus.

Dustin Frazier, BBA ’01, made partner at the Columbus, Ohio, office of BakerHostetler law firm, which specializes in business, employment, intellectual property, litigation, and tax matters. He is a member of the business group and focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, commercial finance, and real estate.

Henry Geha III, BBA ’01, an associate in the Toledo, Ohio, office of Roetzel & Andress, a full-service law firm, was named a Rising Star in creditor debtor rights in Ohio by Super Lawyers magazine for 2016, as he was the previous two years.

Philip Truax, BSJ ’01, was promoted to shareholder at Wickens, Herzer, Panza, Cook & Batista law firm. Based in its Avon, Ohio, office, he is a member of the litigation and real estate and construction departments. Truax also earned designation as a Rising Star in Ohio by Super Lawyers magazine for the third straight year.

’02

Michael Evranian, BSC ’02, accepted a job as senior director of business development at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. He had been manager of national sales at Richard Petty Motorsports.

Earlier jobs in business development include Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Watkins Glen International.

’04

Ian McClellan, BSC ’04, became marketing manager at Rudolph/Libbe Inc., a national construction

contractor headquartered near Toledo, Ohio. He had been marketing department manager with Gleaner Life Insurance Society in Adrian, Michigan.

’06

Amanda King, BSME ’06, married Miles Wieting, BSED ’06, on Nov. 28 at Ovation, Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, where they live. King, an account manager at Bluebeam Software, and Wieting, a general education teacher at Pathways In Education, honeymooned in France and Spain. The wedding party included many fellow Bobcats: maid of honor and the bride’s sister Amy King, BSVC ’08; bridesmaids Jennifer Seemann Parker, BSC ’06, Kari Wik Horne, BSHSL ’05, Amy Scheithauer, BSEE ’05, MS ’10, and Carla Marseilles, BSCE ’06; and groomsmen David Boone, BBA ’05, Michael Julian, BSS ’05, Joseph Gibson, BA ’05, and Peter Ashley, MA ’07.

’09

Meredith Post, BFA ’09, was promoted to design director at global brand design agency LPK in

Cincinnati, Ohio. And last fall, National Public Radio’s Peter Overby included her insights in his “All Things Considered” story about branding in the 2016 U.S. presidential primaries vis-à-vis candidate Donald Trump.

’11

Sam Saccone, BSVC ’11, now works for Google as a software engineer and relocated to Mountain View, California, accordingly.

’12

Jacob Mosher, BA ’12, has been appointed assistant prosecuting attorney for Montgomery County, Ohio, assigned to the child protection unit. He had interned with the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office while attending University of Dayton School of Law. Mosher lives in Kettering.

’15

Alex Schulte, BBA ’15, joined Skoda Minotti, a national CPA, financial, and business advisory firm based in Cleveland, Ohio, as a staff accountant in the tax department. —Compiled by Editor Peter Szatmary

OHIO ALUMNI BOOKS

Ohio University alumni publish books across subjects and genres. Here are releases within the last year.

The Art and Life of Jimmie Jones: Landscape Artist of the Canyon Country, illustrated biography (Gibbs Smith), by James Aton, PHD ’81 • Behind the Shades: A Female Secret Service Agent’s True Story, memoir (WWP Publishing), by Sue Ann Baker, BFA ’68 • My Life Inscribed, guide to capture a loved one’s stories (CreateSpace), by Jill Basom, BSHC ’00 • The Lost Crown of Apollo, middle-grade novel about a family boating adventure (Sunberry Books), and Willard the Dragon: Sneeze-Fire, picture book with illustrator Luisa GioffreSuzuki for preschoolers through elementary schoolchildren (4 RV Children’s Corner), by Suzanne Cordatos, MAIA ’94 • The Dark End of the Rainbow, mystery novel (CreateSpace), by Janet Irvin, AB ’67 • In Another Life, novel about a grieving historian/ heroine’s personal and professional revivification (Sourcebooks), by Julie Christine

Johnson, MAIA ’95 • The Savage Apostle, historical novel (Sunbury Press), by John Kachuba, MA ’03, creative writing adjunct at OHIO • ReFocus: The Films of Amy Heckerling, analysis (Edinburgh University Press), edited by Timothy Shary, MA ’92, and Frances Smith • Racing to the Brink: The End Game for Race and Capitalism, analysis (CreateSpace), by Vernon Turner, BS ’65 • Between East and West/ Word and Image, analysis of Western cultural and literary theory and contemporary Chinese thought, and A Poetics of Translation between Chinese and English Literature, essays about translations (both released

by Baylor University Press), the former by Geng Youzhuang, PHD ’98, the latter edited by David Jasper, Youzhuang, and Wang Hai —Compiled by Editor Peter Szatmary

If you’re a Bobcat author and want to be considered for a future OHIO alumni books list, send a press release about your recent or forthcoming work to Ohio Today, 213 McKee House, 1 Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701 or via e-mail to ohiotoday@ohio.edu.

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Upgrading classic hospitality

A recent multimillion-dollar renovation brings all new spaces for everyone to enjoy. Innovations include new guestrooms, a new Cutler’s Restaurant, a new Bunch of Grapes Tavern, and a brand new place to stop, chat, or meet— We Proudly Serve Starbucks.

What a fitting addition to this neighborhood gathering place.

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740.589.3705 | catering@ouinn.com

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summer 2016

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IN MEMORIAM remembering fellow Bobcats

1930s

Ruth W. (Perry) Jones, BSED ’38 Gwendolyn E. (Lynch) Keith, AB ’38 Robert L. Brackney, General ’39 Albert W. Wainio, BSEE ’39

1940s

Marceil Packard Griswold, BSED ’40, BS ’42 Marjorie J. (McDonald) Roads, AB ’41, MA ’42 Elizabeth Jane (Bates) Farmer, BSHEC ’42 Howard Golden, AB ’42 Elizabeth (Spink) Karmazin, BSED ’42 Marjorie (McClure) Perrine, BSED ’42 Don R. Carr, BS ’43 Jane (Hancock) Edwards, BSED ’43 Wilfred R. Konneker, BS ’43, MS ’47, LLD ’80 William T. Swinehart, BSEE ’43, MS ’47 Janice (Keller) Baughman, BSS ’44 Carl N. Shadix, BS ’44 Helen J. (Yarshuk ) Carr, BS ’46 Isabel (Courtney) Hall, BFA ’46, BSED ’47 F. J. (Bradley) Buckovich, BSED ’47 Aileen (Davies) Simmons, BSHEC ’47 Robert J. Radebaugh, BSCOM ’48 Robert W. Vrbanac, BSCOM ’48 Hedy L. (Strauss) Werner, BSJ ’48 John K. Hering, BSCOM ’49 Victoria R. (Costanzo) Perdue, BFA ’49

1950s

Marilyn (Wood) Christman, BSED ’50 William R. Fothergill, BSCOM ’50 Lois (Kieber) Ludwinski, General ’50 Paul E. Maple, BSED ’50, MED ’64 Barbara M. (Smith) Mihelick, AB ’50 Gwenda W. (Fletcher) North, AA ’50, BSS ’52 Virginia L. (Ault) Butler, AB ’51 Gloria A. (Slechta) Crisp, AA ’51

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Alex Nagy, BSJ ’51 Patricia A. (Faris) McWilliam, AB ’52 H. Jane Brundige Stein, BSED ’52 Lawrence H. Talley, BS ’52, MS ’56 Shirley A. (Bauer) Wilging, General ’52 Charles L. Brobst, Jr., AB ’53 Helen L. (Folden) Bush, AA ’53 Andrew W. Markiewicz, BFA ’53 Robert B. Smith, BS ’53 Joan (Bisel) Sprouse, General ’53 Patricia A. (Moore) White, BS ’53 Richard L. Yoo, BSAGR ’53 Bernard B. Borden, BFA ’54 William E. Clark, BSED ’54, MED ’55 William E. Dunlap, BSED ’54, MED ’58 John G. Miller, AB ’54 Thomas G. Hauenstein, BSCOM ’55 Wayne A. McCulty, BSME ’55 Martha J. (Tullis) Wetherholt, BFA ’55 Richard L. Cady, BSCOM ’56 Richard P. Hamlin, BSED ’56 Richard C. Kendall, AA ’56 Patricia A. (Headlee) Yoo, BFA ’56 Jack D. Young, BSCOM ’56 Edna Lou (Travis) Lyman, AB ’57 William M. Wagner, BA ’57 John D. Loxley, BSCE ’58 Mahlon E. Rice, AB ’58 Gary W. Davis, BSED ’59 Richard Lasko, BSED ’59, MED ’61 Robert N. Malcolm, BSCOM ’59 Marshall L. Novak, BFA ’59

1960s

Karen L. (Thompson) Bellan, BSED ’60 Paula L. (Andrew) Cotterman, General ’60 William B. Gore, BSCOM ’60 Robert G. Haas, BSCOM ’60 Norman D. Hosler, BSCOM ’60 Frederick C. Jantz, BSCOM ’60 Craig G. Larson, BSME ’60 Robert W. Sheldon, Jr., BSCE ’60 Ann R. Decker, BFA ’61 John E. Devlin, BSIT ’61 Kenneth J. Furrier, MED ’61 Algis E. Gedris, BSME ’61

Sally M. (Coombs) Kotnik, BS ’61 Louise Anne (Schneider) Milder, AB ’61 Patricia (Anderson) Moore, BSED ’61 William H. La Follette, BS ’62 Edwin R. Page, MS ’62, PHD ’70 Jacquelyn Y. (Browning) Adams, BSED ’63 Jerry R. Boehm, BS ’63 Gerald L. Irvine, BSED ’63 Edward J. Sump, BBA ’63 Kenneth J. Brown, BFA ’64 Harl L. Evans, BSED ’64, MED ’65 Richard A. Reeves, BBA ’64 G. G. Ritter, Jr., BSED ’64 Janet A. (Hothem) Dodds, BSED ’65 Wilma L. (McRoberts) Irvin, BSED ’65 Russell L. Fox, BS ’66 Carl William Gray, MED ’66, PHD ’69 Ethel M. (Disbennett) Grooms, BSED ’66 Cheryl (Alter) Hanson, AB ’66 Gary A. Jones, BBA ’66 Ronald E. Scheffer, MA ’66 Constance M. (Brown) Upper, AB ’66 Carl D. Lopeman, BBA ’67 Janet (Moats) Roberts, BSED ’67 Bruce I. Johansson, BFA ’68 Raymond A. Lancaster, BBA ’68 Carol (Kuhn) Harris, BFA ’69 Judith K. (Armstrong) Lamp, BSED ’69 Leonard J. May, BSED ’69 Judge John L. Ross of Logan County Municipal Court (Ret.), AB ’69 U.S. Army Lt. Col. (Ret.) John G. Stapler, Jr., AB ’69

BSED ’72 Melissa (Heslop) Mignin, AA ’72 Raymond L. Omen, BBA ’72 Fedele A. Rossi, BSME ’72 Frederick G. Sechrest, BSED ’72 Patrick V. Cullinan III, BSED ’73 Richard P. Gallite, BBA ’73 Roberta (Luther) Glasgow, BSHEC ’73 Chi-fang T. (Chang) Chen, MS ’74 Michael S. Miller, BSED ’74 Keith A. Rathbun, BSJ ’74 Larry P. Smith, AB ’74 Thelma J. Airson, BFA ’75 William A. Airson, BGS ’75 Rhea (VanHeest) Arnold, MED ’76 Barbara Kolb Beittel, MM ’76 Randall L. Brannon, MM ’76 Robert P. Brackett, MAIA ’78 Pamela S. (Morrison) DelCanto, BFA ’78 Therese M. (Kennedy) Gardner, BSED ’78

1970s

Jane E. Hutchins, BSED ’91 Rhonda Michele Renn, BSEE ’91 Thomas Gerard Kunkler, BSCE ’92 Leanne (White) Campbell, BSED ’93 Melody L. (Petracca) Hickenbottom, AB ’93 Tamarah L. Carper, BFA ’98 Chester Franklin Pifer, Jr., MSPE ’98 Murray Louis, DFA ’99

Joyce M. (Yanchar) Brinner, BS ’70 Norman D. Mullins, PHD ’70 Anthony Niccoli III, MED ’70 Clyde T. Root, BSED ’70 Kenneth E. Ackerman, MA ’71 Martha (Shaw) Bitters, BSED ’71 Robert Cornelius, Jr., BBA ’72 Rebecca T. (Turner) Miesmer,

1980s

Gary Million, MED ’80 Michael J. Gardner, BSISE ’81 Robert S. Miller, MBA ’81 Diane K. Taveira, MFA ’81 Elva R. McDougle, BSN ’83 Scott Allen Mendel, BBA ’83 Walter T. Stewart, Jr., PHD ’84 John E. Innes, MBA ’85 William Bryan Knott, BSC ’87 Bernard F. Domann II, AAS ’88, BGS ’88 Judy J. Whitaker, AS ’88

1990s

2000s

Patricia Ann (Rodgers) Sims, AAS ’01 James Eric Douglas, BSIT ’08

2010s

Scott Kennedy Davis, MFE ’10 Mari R. Todd, BCJ ’13

Faculty/Staff

Frank P. Beck, Manchester, Tennessee, former professor of aerospace studies (1985–89), Sept. 1, 2015 Rathindra N. Bose, Houston, Texas, former vice president for Research and Sponsored Programs and dean of the Graduate College (2008–11), July 10, 2015 Paige Kathleen Garfield, Pomeroy, Ohio, retired administrative associate, Custodial Services, Dec. 13, 2015 Adam M. Giandomenico, General ’89, Steubenville, Ohio, associate professor emeritus, hearing and speech, Ohio University Eastern Campus (1967–2006), Dec. 24, 2015

L. Eugene Jennings, Falls Church, Virginia, professor emeritus of piano, College of Fine Arts (1949–94), Feb. 1 Elizabeth A. Kesterson, Lexington, Kentucky, former grant writer, Ohio University Southern Campus (1987–2006), Feb. 16 Helen G. Marsh, Largo, Florida, former adminstrative professional, Dec. 17, 2015 J. Norman Parmer, The Plains, Ohio, inaugural director, Center for International Studies (1964– 75 and 1993–96), Jan. 26

Clifford C. Houk, BSED ’55, MED ’56, Athens, Ohio, professor emeritus of health and sports sciences, College of Health Sciences and Professions (1966– 95), Dec. 30, 2015

Share your news with fellow alumni by completing this form and mailing it to Ohio Today, 213 McKee House, 1 Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701-2979; sending an e-mail to ohiotoday@ohio.­edu or a fax to 740.597.9070; or visiting ohtoday.us/class-note.

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Hester Radcliff, Athens, Ohio, retired cook, Nelson Dining Hall, Culinary Services (23 years of service), Jan. 25 Daryn Straley, Athens, Ohio, associate professor of family medicine, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (2011–15), Dec. 19, 2015

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Howard H. Wicke, Athens, Ohio, retired professor of mathematics June 6, 2011 —Compiled by Jennifer Shutt Bowie,

Anita H. Grant, Athens, Ohio, electronic acquisitions librarian, Alden Library, Ohio University Libraries (1991–2015), Dec. 21, 2015

What’s new?

BSJ ’94, MS ’99, based on information

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received by the University’s Office of Advancement Services prior to March 1

Contact information Editorial offices are at 213 McKee House, 1 Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701-2979.

Send questions, comments, ideas, and submissions (such as Bobcat tracks, future Bobcats, and alumni books) to that address, e-mail to ohiotoday@ohio.edu or call Editor Peter Szatmary at 740.593.1891. Make address changes at ohio.edu/alumni or via Advancement Services, WUSOC 168, Athens, OH 45701-0869. Send in memoriam details to the latter or via e-mail to advinfo@ohio.edu. The OHIO switchboard is 740.593.1000.

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.

Copyright © 2016 by Ohio University.

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

summer 2016

• 45

BOBCAT brainteaser

Innovative innovation

1

For the solution, go online to ohiotoday.org/summer-2016.

14

ACROSS

17

1. Name of Ohio University’s mascot 6. Deity of the Canaanites and Phoenicians 10. Acronym of New York institution housing work by OHIO alumnus Harvey Breverman, MFA ’60 14. Ancient Portuguese city designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site 15. Composer of “Rule, Britannia!”

16. What OHIO alumna and soprano Sandra Moon, BMUS ’79, sings 17. *Innovative innovation #1: Worthless idea?

19. Division I org. in which Bobcats compete 20. Sold-out sign 21. Dockworkers union, for short 23. Heels 27. *Innovative innovation #2: Part of a recipe for a big batch of soup?

33. Women’s clothing design with a fitted top and flared skirt 35. Deg. for a theologian 36. Gullible 37. Eradicate 39. First-rate 41. Female swan, or an enclosure to keep her in 42. Word or phrase made by rearranging letters of another word or phrase— and a hint to the solutions of the starred clues 44. Bobcat ____ Finsterwald, AB ’52, who won the 1958 PGA Championship 47. Former Chicago Cub Sammy, a seven-time All-Star in right field 48. OHIO holds one at Homecoming 53. Company that released the computer game Pong in 1972 55. Pawlenty, former two-term Minnesota governor 57. Hall of Fame pitcher Ryan 58. *Innovative innovation #3: Leave out the smoked salmon?

61. Tribal poet-singer 62. Study 63. Yoga accessory 65. The Winter’s ____, Shakespeare play 68. *Innovative innovation #4: Country of wine lovers?

75. Pizza place 76. Colored portion of the eye 77. Perabo of Coyote Ugly and “Covert Affairs” and an OHIO alumna, BFA ’98 78. Bobcat Lauer, BSC ’97, of NBC’s “Today” show 79. Singer and actress Horne 80. Carne____, Mexican grilled beefsteak

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o h i o t o d ay . o r g

2

3

4

6

9

10

24

25

26

27

28

38

45

46

53

39

55

63

52

56

57

73

74

41

48

49

50

57

69

61 64

59

68

75

67

76

77

78

70

79

80

1. Gun the engine 2. Kind of sun ray 3. Faith for the French 4. Large coffee receptacle 5. ____ souci (carefree, in French) 6. Bandleader and alumnus Sammy Kaye, BSCE ’32, invited audiences onstage to compete for these 7. Cardinals or Diamondbacks on scoreboards 8. From enero to diciembre (Spanish) 9. Vladimir ____, cofounder of the Bolsheviks 10. Indefinite future time 11. Goblin in The Lord of the Rings 12. Soccer star Hamm 13. Small battery 18. Coronado’s gold 22. “Wichita ____,” 1968 song by Jimmy Webb recorded by Glen Campbell 23. Plymouth, for one 24. Pub quaff 25. Not very bright

51

35

60

62

DOWN

32

40

56

59

67

31

43

54

66

30 36

47

58

13

22

29

35

42

12

19 21

34

11

16

20

37

65

8

18

33

44

7

15

20 23

5

55 71

70

26. Syllable before cone or cat 28. Play ____, Sam, 1969 play by Woody Allen 29. Olfactory stimulus 30. Potentate or pooh-bah, e.g.

31. Hail or farewell 32. Perfect score in gymnastics 34. Equivocal 38. Ambient music innovator Brian who also composed the Windows 95 start-up music for Microsoft 40. Forty winks 43. ____ Spumante, Italian white sparkling wine 44. Bobcat O’Brien, MED ’77, former general manager of the Cincinnati Reds 45. Siouan people of Nebraska 46. Pale 49. Take from by force 50. Chicken-king connector 51. Patriotic org. founded in 1890 52. Finis 54. Beaver or squirrel, e.g.

72

56. Drink with champagne and orange juice 59. Blacksmith tool 60. What to do to a hide 64. Spanish appetizer 65. Bobcat Crouch, AB ’66, aviation writer and senior curator of aeronautics at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum 66. Gardner of the silver screen 67. Rent 69. Anger 70. Literary fiction writer and diarist Anaïs 71. Memoir by Frank McCourt 72. Hoppy brew, for short 73. Ref. bk. with 600,000 words 74. Initials for gun group —Jim Bernhard has written crossword puzzles for The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times syndicate, among other media. He also has authored books on numerous topics, including Final Chapters: How Famous Authors Died (2015) and Puns, Puzzles, and Wordplay (2014), both released by Skyhorse Publishing.

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

Communication & Marketing Sarah Filipiak, BSJ ’01

Ohio Today advisory board

Editor Peter Szatmary

Melissa Wervey Arnold, BSJ ’99 (alumni representative), chief executive officer, Ohio Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics

Art Director Sarah McDowell, BFA ’02

Amber Epling, BSJ ’04, director of presidential communications

Contributors Chad Bartlett, MA ’10 Jim Bernhard Jennifer Shutt Bowie, BSJ ’94, MS ’99 Jane Cowan Lauren Dickey, BSVC ’16 Jen Jones Donatelli, BSJ ’98 David Driver Sarah Forrest Andrea Caruso Gibson, BSJ ’94 Benjamin Gleisser Jon Greenberg, BSJ ’01 John Halley, MFA ’87 Rob Hardin, BSC ’08 Megan Henry, BSJ ’18 Becca J. R. Lachman, MA ’07 Tracy Lawson, BSC ’88 Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections Andy Martin Roderick J. McDavis, BSED ’70 Dinty W. Moore Amy Nordrum, BSJ ’10 Kaitlin Owens, BSVC ’17 Erin Roberts, BSJ ’00, BA ’00 Margaret Sabec, MA ’17 Pete Shooner Ben Siegel, BSVC ’02 Hailee Tavoian Anna Winstead, BSVC ’16

Cary Frith, BSJ ’92, MS ’98, associate dean, Honors Tutorial College

Proofreaders Emily Caldwell, BSJ ’88, MS ’99 Brian Stemen, MA ’98 Printer The Watkins Printing Co.

Ohio University President Roderick J. McDavis, BSED ’70 Chief Marketing Officer Renea Morris, MED ’12 Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations and Executive Director of the Alumni Association Jennifer Neubauer Executive Director of Advancement Communication & Marketing Jennifer Shutt Bowie, BSJ ’94, MS ’99 Director, Creative Services, Advancement Communication & Marketing Kari Gunter-Seymour Peterson, BFA ’94 Codirector, Online & Digital Communication, Advancement

Jessica Gardner, director of communications, College of Business Jenny Hall-Jones, AB ’95, MED ’97, PHD ’11, dean of students and interim vice president, Student Affairs Laurie Sheridan Lach, BSC ’92, director of development and external affairs, Ohio University Lancaster/Pickerington Heather Lawrence-Benedict, associate professor of sports administration, College of Business Peter Mather, interim dean, University College, and vice provost for undergraduate education Jennifer Neubauer, assistant vice president, Alumni Relations, and executive director, Ohio University Alumni Association Brian Stemen, MA ’98, copywriter, University Communications and Marketing

Ohio University Alumni Association Board of Directors Julie Mann Keppner, BBA ’02, chair Ronald Teplitzky, AB ’84, vice chair Joseph Becherer, BFA ’87, MFA ’89 Robin Bowlus, BFA ’98 Craig Brown, BSC ’82 Cynthia Calhoun, BSEE ’88 Bryon Carley, BSC ’81 Casey Christopher, BS ’02 Brenda Dancil-Jones, AB ’70 Jim Daniel, BSED ’68, MED ’72 Steve Ellis, BS ’82 Alissa Galford, BSC ’05 Todd Grandominico, BBA ’00, CERT ’00 Mike Jackson, BSED ’68, HON ’12 Matthew Latham, AA ’06 Jeffrey Laturell, BSC ’80, MBA ’82 Timothy Law, DO ’94 Connie Lawson-Davis, BSED ’67 Robert “Rocky” Mansfield, BSCHE ’74 Lyndsay Markley, BA ’02 Carolyn “Bitsy” Merriman, BFA ’77 Julia Brophy Righter, BSC ’78 Kenneth Rusche, BSED ’73 Dustin Starkey, BS ’98 Larry Starr, BSED ’68, MED ’71 Stacia Taylor, BSC ’82 Kyle Triplett, BA ’12 Makenzie Olaker, BBA ’17, Student Alumni Board president

BLACK ALUMNI

REUNION

2•0•1•6

Straight Outta OHIO SEPT. 15–18

More than 350 of you voted and, thanks to your input, this fall’s Black Alumni Reunion (BAR) theme is Straight Outta OHIO! Taking you back to where it all began, the BAR tradition has more than three decades of history and draws more than 500 alumni and friends to Athens every three years. In fact, since 1988, some 1,260 alumni and friends have committed more than $453,000 to the National Black Alumni Scholarship in honor of the reunion and their Bobcat connections.

Highlights of this year s activities: THURSDAY, SEPT. 15 Welcome to OHIO Reception FRIDAY, SEPT. 16 Alumni and Student Networking Luncheon Black Alumni Reunion Gala, celebrating Living Legacies SATURDAY, SEPT. 17 Through the Decades Cookout Talent/Improv Show SUNDAY, SEPT. 18 OHIO Coffee Hour and Sendoff Take in a special archival display, memorial exhibit, and campus tours all weekend long!

Go online to ohio.edu/alumni/involve/Black-AlumniReunion-2016.cfm for details and registration information. #OHIOBAR2016

Konneker Alumni Center 52 University Terrace 1 Ohio University Athens, Ohio 45701 T: 740.593.4300 alumni@ohio.edu ohio.edu/alumni

summer 2016

• 47

LAST WORD

The play’s the thing

J

What’s in the cards for Julie Brown besides gerontology? Inspiring people to play more— including games like Uno, a personal favorite. Photo

ulie Brown, assistant professor of gerontology in the Department of Social and Public Health at the College of Health Sciences and Professions at OHIO, studies older adult use of technologies.

She became interested in innovations for this demographic when volunteering at an assisted living facility.

“About 10 years ago, I was asked to set up a ‘new game,’ Nintendo Wii Bowling, for residents,” she recalled. “What happened afterward was nothing short of magic; I saw these older adults engaged in a meaningful way that I had never seen before.

This inspired me to pursue a doctorate in gerontology.” Her 2014 dissertation at University of Kentucky: “Understanding the Role and Meaning of Digital Games in the Lives of Senior Gamers.”

Brown answered questions about her career and background via e-mail. Edited excerpts follow. For more of the Q&A, go online to ohiotoday.org/summer-2016.

by

Kaitlin Owens, BSVC ’17

—Editor Peter Szatmary

Summarize your specialization, gerontechnology.

It’s an interdisciplinary area of study assessing older adults’ interaction with technology. This includes the development of technology to meet the needs of this population to enhance their quality of life. Although my work stretches across several domains, my focus is on older individuals who play digital games.

More adults age 50-plus play digital games than do persons younger than age 18.

Play is serious.

Just as socialization is necessary from birth to death, so too is play. It isn’t frivolous or just for children. It’s a key to quality of life. This is especially true in old age when opportunities to play may decrease. Play preferences in childhood typically remain into older adulthood. Play tends to wane as individuals concentrate on their career, family, etc., but increases in retirement. Older adults tell

oa ty o.doaryg. o r g 4 8 • 4o8h•i oothoi d

me they have reached a point where they have earned the right to relax and enjoy themselves; that includes play. Interestingly, I have found that older gamers play digital games for fun, not in the belief that doing so will benefit them cognitively or physically.

And your own play?

Hitting the open road and camping. I started in childhood; my parents took us kids all across the U.S. each summer to see every historical site imaginable. I still go camping and always bring a deck of Uno. In fact, I have traveled through all 50 states and have camped in most. And I used to be a National Park Ranger.

Name some excellent digital games for aging adults.

Whatever game that is enjoyable for the player, as personal preferences and abilities are individualized. Nonetheless, the oldest group of older adults I have researched

enjoys digital games reminiscent of traditional card and board games they played as youths—e.g., Solitaire or Words with Friends, which is similar to Scrabble. Younger older adults (those in their 60s) enjoy casual games, like Match 3 games, whose objective is to find patterns—e.g., Bejeweled.

Which seniors in your life follow your advice about gerontechnology?

My mom has embraced and benefited from her smartphone. It has revolutionized how she spends her downtime and connects with loved ones.

OHIO plays hard, from the next generation through old-timers. What do you notice?

I love that the passion of my fellow Bobcats extends throughout the lifespan spectrum.

I’ve witnessed older alumni getting just as pumped with pre-game activities as their younger counterparts.

STILL MORE

LUMINOUS RESONANCE

T

hrough innovations in art and science, two OHIO professors team up in enlightening and entertaining ways. John Sabraw, professor of art and Painting + Drawing chair, uses pigments supplied

by Guy Riefler, associate professor of civil engineering, that derive from toxic runoff from abandoned coal mines, a problem long plaguing the region. These pigments, yellow to red to dark brown, “go into every painting I make,” Sabraw e-mailed. “The project is certainly a clever model for stream remediation,” wrote Smithsonian.com in July 2013, about a partnership still intact. “Here, something that is nasty—acid mine drainage—is turned into something useful—paint— and beautiful—Sabraw’s paintings. …” OHIO students recently voted Sabraw (shown in his studio in April) one of four 2016 University Professors; his courses encourage cross-disciplinary collaborations to resolve local environmental issues. —University Photography Supervisor Ben Siegel, BSVC ’02, who took this photo

NONPROFIT ORG U. S . P O S TAG E

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

CO LU M B U S , O H I O P E R M I T N O. 4 4 1 6

OHIO honors women

L

eft to right: Becca Johnson, Martha Seiple, and Brandy Chamberlain, all BSW ’17, gather at their Student Social Work Association booth at the 10th Annual Celebrate Women Conference at Ohio University Lancaster Campus in March. Partially pictured: Ryann Marie King (center right) and Baylee Cunningham, also BSW ’17. “The hard work and dedication of student volunteers played an integral role in the success of Celebrate Women this year,” e-mailed organizer and co-chair Pamela Kaylor, PHD ’02, CERT ’02, associate lecturer in communication studies and in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. “These students presented a panel with other social work students exploring innovative ways to fight drug addiction and its effects on families.” Joycelyn Elders, the first African American surgeon general of the U.S., gave the keynote address in an event themed “Embracing Wellness—Mind, Body, Spirit.” More than 25 speakers shared their professional expertise at the daylong symposium. Next year’s topic: “Women and Leadership.” —Staff report Photo by Kaitlin Owens, BSVC ’17 COMING NEXT EDITION: The theme will be OHIO “teamwork.”