ASCENT Spring 2013 by College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio State

SPRING 2013

ASCENT

news from the College of Arts and Sciences Beauty blossoms in the Center for Applied Plant Sciencesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; growth chambers. {Read the full story on pg. 12}

in this ISSUE

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THE SUM IS GREATER: Highlights of giving and updates on major projects—your generosity at work. ALUMNI NOTES: Letters from our alumni.

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L.A. STORY: Students spend spring break in L.A. film studios.

it’s elementary an undergraduate researcher’s life in the lab

LIVING LANGUAGE: Ohio State creates student languagelearning opportunities in East Asia.

greening the globe new partnerships sow seeds for change

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WORKING THEIR WAY UP: Six students share their internship experiences.

ALASKAN ADVENTURE: One man. 16 dogs. 14 days. 1,049 miles of frozen Alaskan terrain.

buckeyes and the bard Shakespeare takes center stage this spring

19 SHAKESPEARE COMES TO LIFE IN THE CLASSROOM

TRIPLE THREAT: Sai Somboon makes his dreams a reality in the big city.

FOR BUSINESS: A neuroscience major puts his 22 AbrainMINDto work creating a new private social network. A FINE WINE: It takes time to develop your passion 24 LIKE and find your way. CAMP ROUNDUP: From physics to flute playing, 25 SUMMER ASC reaches out to young people in the community. CAPITOL HILL: Speech and hearing science students 26 ON take their cause to Capitol Hill.

alumni awards RECOGNIZING OUR OUTSTANDING ALUMNI

& SCHOLARSHIP: Creating and sharing new 30 SCIENCE knowledge is our primary mission—faculty awards and honors.

artist: Petr Nikl, Puppet: Světlonoš (Linkboys); photographer

ASCENT ASCENT READERS Your input is invaluable to us. Please take a moment to fill out our readership survey at go.osu.edu/ascent-survey. The information we gather will help us continue our efforts to serve our alumni and friends at the highest possible level and provide an interesting, readable publication. Thank you for your time. WANT ACCESS TO TIMELY, EVERY-WEEK NEWS? Sign up for the College of Arts and Sciences’ weekly e-newsletter, News & Updates, and it will be served fresh in your Inbox every Wednesday afternoon. go.osu.edu/ASC-weekly

Save the Date! Saturday, Oct. 19, 2013

ASC Alumni Reunion-Homecoming Weekend Tailgate Ohio State vs. Iowa This year, we will celebrate alumni from the classes of 1963, 1988, and 2003. Game tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. All arts and sciences alumni are invited to attend the reunion-homecoming tailgate. To be eligible for game tickets, arts and sciences alumni must be current members of The Ohio State University Alumni Association, Inc., by July 12, 2013. Details will be posted soon at asc.osu.edu/alumni.

NEW LOOK, same great content You may have noticed something different about this issue of ASCENT. Along with the new logo, the university is rolling out comprehensive brand guidelines. New university fonts are being used throughout this issue. Learn more at osu.edu/brand.

WELCOME to the College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio State.

The act or process of ascending; advancement

For us, ASCENT reflects the amazing potential and value of an Ohio State arts and sciences education. The Buckeye experience is powerful, transformative, and stays with us throughout our lives, reaching far beyond geographic borders. We want to share these stories with you—and we hope that you’ll share your stories, ideas, and feedback with us. (Contact information below.)

CIRCULATION The ASCENT print magazine is issued twice a year (autumn and spring) to all College of Arts and Sciences alumni; additionally, content is added to our website and an html e-newsletter version is sent to our alumni, students, faculty, staff, donors, and friends. We also send supplemental updates throughout the year via e-newsletter. GO GREEN If you would like to receive only the e-newsletter in place of your printed copy, please send an email to asccomm@osu.edu. CONTACT US Please feel free to send us your feedback, comments, and story ideas. Additionally, you can always choose to stop receiving this magazine by sending an unsubscribe notice via email to asccomm@osu.edu, or by mail to: 1010 Derby Hall, 154 N. Oval Mall Columbus, Ohio 43210

SCARLETTE MAGAZINE Ohio State’s first fashion magazine, produced entirely by students, just issued its spring 2013 edition and launched new website. Scarlette promotes campus individuality and beauty with exciting interviews, inspirational fashion editorials, and informative articles about events on campus. View the most recent issue at go.osu.edu/scarletteSP13 and website at scarlette.osu.edu.

Joseph Steinmetz | Executive Dean and Vice Provost Peter March | Divisional Dean, Natural and Mathematical Sciences Mark Shanda | Divisional Dean, Arts and Humanities Gifford Weary | Divisional Dean, Social and Behavioral Sciences

EDITOR

International Partnership Brings Rare Czech Puppets to Town

The puppet Linkboys (at left) is part of the international exhibition, Strings Attached: The Living Tradition of Czech Puppets, on view at the Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) through August 25. The exhibition was organized by the museum, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Arts and Theatre Institute in Prague, and explores the rich history of puppetry in the Czech Republic. The show is curated by Nina Maliková with guest curator Joe Brandesky, Ohio State theatre professor, Lima campus, and Carole Genshaft, CMA adjunct curator.

r: Václav Jirásek

Libby Eckhardt EDITORIAL STAFF Elizabeth Tarpy Alcalde, Victoria Ellwood, Jennifer Farmer, Sandi Rutkowski, Janell Strouse DESIGN STAFF Greg Bonnell, Andrew Bromwell, Eva Dujardin Dale, Karin Samoviski WEB COMMUNICATIONS Eva Dujardin Dale, Jody Croley Jones

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES 186 University Hall | 230 N. Oval Mall | Columbus, Ohio 43210 | asc.osu.edu

artsandsciences.osu.edu

a message from dean steinmetz Some of you may know that I will be assuming the duties of Ohio State’s Executive Vice President and Provost in July. Over the past four years, introducing you to each edition of ASCENT has been one of my real pleasures. So, for one last time, I proudly present the spring 2013 issue. As always, I am overwhelmed and gratified by the enthusiastic commitment of our many friends and alumni who generously support our students, programs, facilities and initiatives. In this issue, there are many examples of the amazing ways you reach out to help us stay sharp, focused, and on the upward trajectory we have promised. Among them, Dennis Costello’s contribution to bring much-needed light to the Byrd Polar Center; David Price’s gift that enhances planetarium outreach programs; and Jack and Zoe Johnstone’s ongoing commitment to helping School of Music graduate students. We have come a long way in four short years, but we are still at the beginning of a joyous upward climb. I look forward to working with the new Executive Dean, who—rest assured—will share my passion and dedication to our goal of making this the nation’s preeminent College of Arts and Sciences. My conviction that the arts and sciences are at the core of this great institution and their continued development is critical to its future is absolute. My advocacy remains undiminished. It has been a pleasure and privilege to lead this college.

Joseph e. Steinmetz, Phd Executive Dean and Vice Provost College of Arts and Sciences, The Ohio State University

tHE SUM IS GREATER

Backed by the power of your generosity, our faculty and students are engaged in significant work and study that impact our community, our state, and the world around us. Last autumn, Ohio State kicked off the $2.5 billion But for Ohio State capital campaign. Each area of the university takes initiative to raise a share, and the College of Arts and Sciences is dedicated to raising $200 million. We wanted to highlight a few of the fantastic gifts that have been made and some updates on major projects that support our campaign initiatives and our ascent from academic excellence to eminence. The college has identified key fundraising priorities—you can view the complete overview brochure at go.osu.edu/campaign-priorities.

1) PLACE STUDENTS FIRST — $40 million Students, both undergraduate and graduate, are the heart of the college’s strength. A key focus of the campaign will be to increase funding to recruit and retain talented students from Ohio and around the world who are focused, competitive, and who welcome challenges. 2) ELEVATE FACULTY AND THE ACADEMIC ENTERPRISE — $48 million The campaign will have a major impact on our ability to recruit and retain preeminent faculty members, as well as invest in targeted programs that reach across traditional boundaries of teaching and research. 3) CREATE MODERN LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS — $47 million The creation of new and renovation of existing spaces for our students and faculty to conduct research, teach and learn, and congregate is critical to the continued success of the college. From projects like renovating Sullivant Hall and vastly improving spaces for arts programs to building a new, state-of-the-art chemistry building, our facilities must be improved to keep pace with students and faculty on campus. 4) EMBOLDEN THE RESEARCH AGENDA — $55 million With more than 40 world-class research centers and institutes that cover the full range of the arts and sciences, opportunities exist to support the research efforts of leading faculty as well as new and mid-career faculty. 5) DRIVE HIGH-IMPACT INNOVATION — $10 million The true strength of a robust College of Arts and Sciences is the ability to drive innovation in teaching, outreach, and research. This will include selective investment in interdisciplinary programs and research, which will help set the path for future discoveries.

Costellos Light up THE Byrd Polar Research Center Alumnus Dennis Costello (MA, economics, 1973) and his wife, Kathryn, donated LED lighting to Ohio State’s Byrd Polar Research Center, transforming one of the most precious research and storage spaces on the Ohio State campus—and perhaps in the world. “The Byrd Polar Research Center has amassed one of the largest archives of prehistoric ice core samples and the most extensive archive of tropical ice core samples in the world,” said Ellen Mosley-Thompson, geography, director of the center and Distinguished University Professor.

The creation of new and renovation of existing spaces for our faculty, scientists, and students to conduct research, teach and learn, and congregate is critical to the continued success of the College of Arts and Sciences.

For the last four decades, Mosley-Thompson, along with her husband and research partner, Lonnie Thompson, earth sciences, Distinguished University Professor and Byrd Polar senior research scientist, have been collecting ice cores from Earth’s polar ice sheets and highest tropical peaks, storing them at minus 30ºF in two large freezers at Scott Hall on Ohio State’s west campus. Until recently, the facility was dim and poorly illuminated by inefficient incandescent bulbs. However, that all changed when Costello, managing partner for Braemar Energy Ventures, a company dedicated exclusively to energy development, visited the Thompsons and took his first-ever tour of the storage units. Costello has more than 30 years of experience in the energy and venture capital industries. He began his career in alternative energy with positions as a project manager at Midwest Research Institute and was a member of the original staff of the National Solar Energy Research Institute, now the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

“Dennis is a passionate advocate for the environment and for alternative energy,” said Mosley-Thompson. “Within days of his visit he called and offered to purchase and pay for the installation of new lighting fixtures in both freezers and the three cold-work rooms at Byrd Polar.”

lighting was produced and installed by Albeo Technologies, an energy company launched with the help of Braemar Energy Ventures and the first company to bring the advantages of energy efficient LED lighting to the industrial and commercial marketplace.

The Costellos’ gift included replacing all 120W Halogens with 40W LED Surface Wraps, resulting in a 90 percent energy reduction with 100 percent improved light levels. The LED

“I am deeply honored to be able to provide a gift that will illuminate and showcase one of the most impressive libraries of Earth’s climate history,” said Costello.

The Thompsons show off an ice core in one of the newly illuminated freezers at the Byrd Polar Research Center.

From projects like renovating Sullivant Hall and vastly improving spaces for arts programs to building a new, state-of-theart chemistry building, our facilities must be improved to keep pace with students and faculty on campus.

CBEC Building MILESTONE A cheering group of faculty, students, and alumni celebrated a milestone in early March. The “toppingout” of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry (CBEC) Building signaled the completion of an important phase of its construction. CBEC, scheduled to open in 2014, is designed to provide a stunning backdrop to meet the challenges of science today and tomorrow. The LEED*-certified facility will accommodate a community of scientists, engineers, postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate and graduate students, and technical staff working collaboratively in the critical areas of nano/bioscience and technology; energy-related materials; energy and the environment; and theory, modeling, and simulations. Research teams will benefit from laboratories that have open, connective space to promote a comprehensive interdisciplinary research enterprise. *Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

A PIECE OF HISTORY In January, 19 undergraduate students embarked on a journey beginning in classrooms around campus and ending in May at the Berlin Wall. The Department of History’s new interdisciplinary undergraduate World War II Study Abroad Program supports Ohio State’s motto: disciplina in civitatem (education for citizenship). This exceptional educational experience for both history and non-history majors combines four academic courses with a three-week tour of European battle sites, memorials, and museums. Students from across campus competed to take part in this life-changing experience, which was made possible by generous gifts to the World War II Scholarship Fund in History.

Students, both undergraduate and graduate, are the heart of the college’s strength. A key focus of the campaign will be to increase funding to establish a comprehensive program to provide international educational opportunities for students. 6

EYE ON THE SKY Good news for Star Show fans. Ohio State’s planetarium is expected to reopen this fall. A recent $100,000 gift from David Price (pictured below on left with Executive Dean Steinmetz), longtime friend of the astronomy department and member of the ASC Advisory Committee, is more good news. Bradley Peterson, astronomy professor and chair, said, “This generous gift from David Price provides a cornerstone for our new programs in public education and outreach and for exciting new opportunities for our general education courses. A visit to this spectacular new facility will be an event people will remember.” Astronomy graduate students Kate Grier, Calen Henderson, Rebecca Stoll, Jill Gerke, and Courtney Epstein run the Planetarium programs. They have trained and practiced using the new Spitz SciDome XD equipment. They’re ready to start the show.

Ohio State is one of only four institutions in the nation to install the XD, which uses two projectors to

ALUMNI NOTES

photo courtesy of Henry Panion III

In each issue of ASCENT, we ask our alumni to send us updates—we have received some great letters and feedback and many are included here. Tell us your stories! Submit online at asc. osu.edu/alumni-story, via email to asccomm@ osu.edu, or by mail to ASC Communications, 154 N. Oval Mall, 1010 Derby Hall, Columbus, Ohio 43210. Go Bucks! DONNA BARR (German, 1978) Owner and Chief Peon, A Fine Line Press Most well known and ongoing: the author, artist, publisher and owner of drawn book series such as The Desert Peach and Stinz. German learned at Ohio State continues to come in handy in all forms of writing. As an author, the first piece of advice I give to a novice writer is: Learn a foreign language. It will help you understand, deconstruct, and strongly rebuild your own language. One of my German professors still keeps contact, and recently visited; we had just as much fun as we’d had in class!

HENRY PANION III (MA, Music, 1983; PhD, Music, 1989) Professor of Music University of Alabama at Birmingham Panion premiered two new compositions in January to commemorate the 50th anniversary of events in Birmingham’s civil rights history. The Alabama Symphony Orchestra (ASO) performed the works at its annual Reflect and Rejoice tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

JOHN W. BARRON (History, 1997; JD, Law, 2001) Deputy Executive Director & General Counsel, Ohio Casino Control Commission Ohio State is a great institution that provided me with a quality education. I am proud to have been a part of both the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Law. I hope to be a part of the Ohio State community and contribute in many different ways for many years. I have a beautiful wife, who also graduated from Ohio State, and three beautiful daughters.

CLAUDE L. DALLAS, JR. (Zoology, 1968) Adjunct Professor, National College A Legacy in Poems: Bridging the Gap, published October 2012, is the result of my ambitious path to success. From an early age, I was determined to attend

“Henry’s two new pieces are both deeply personal and speak for Alabamians’ struggle toward equality and justice,” said ASO Executive Director Curt Long. “They will also help inaugurate Birmingham’s city-wide year of remembrance for the events of 1963.” The first work, Here We Are, is composed for a small girls ensemble or female lead with choir and orchestra, and is based on the spiritual Give Me Jesus. It opens with music that is “reflective of what was the probable scene of the church service the Sunday morning the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed,” Panion said. The second, Send Me Hope, is a gospel song that Panion arranged and orchestrated as a bookend with Here We Are and features gospel singer Maquita Anthony, who co-wrote the song with Panion, Clinton Green, and Marc Raby.

continued on pg. 8

display 2560x2560 pixels (that’s over 6.5 million) onto the planetarium dome.

Alumni Notes continued from pg. 7

a prestigious university. I chose The Ohio State University because it is well known around the world. I have always enjoyed the instant rapport that can be established with anyone around the world when The Ohio State University is mentioned. Ohio State means a great deal both in terms of success and family pride. I met my wife of 43 years as a freshman. She came from Washington, D.C., and I came from Cincinnati. We were married after we both completed our undergraduate educations. One of my poems, She Walks As My Queen, speaks of our meeting at OSU. We met in the cafeteria of what is now the Hale Center.

gymnastics career as an OSU division 1 athlete, and accepted my invitation to serve in the Peace Corps (departed March 2013). Ohio State is an embodiment of opportunity, team, and pride. The Ohio State University prepared me so well for my future. It educated me, disciplined me, but did it all with spirit and community. There are professors at OSU who really reached out to me and helped me to discover more of what I’m passionate about. I am eternally grateful for their compassion and inspiration in the classroom. I also want to note that Buckeye athletics shaped me into a more motivated person. I know the tradition of excellence will continue to affect both athletes and fans for years to come. Go Bucks!

MIRANDA DER (International Studies, 2012) Peace Corps Volunteer

GEORGIA DUPUIS (Fine Art, 1963)

I graduated from OSU with honors, finished my

Re: Eye on the Sky, Planetarium article

I had to laugh out loud when I read the article about the new planetarium (I told my husband this story, and he couldn’t believe how innocent I was.) In my first quarter at OSU, I saw the planetarium and was fascinated by it. I told my roommate Joanie, “Hey, let’s go and look out of the telescope at the planetarium tonight … there is some kind of a star show going on at 8:00.” So, we trudged over in the snow and got in line to look at the stars. As we shuffled along in line, a professor came to us and said that he didn’t recognize us and asked us to introduce ourselves. Only, after telling our story, did we realize that this was a class!! For some reason we newbies from a small Ohio town thought we could just use the telescope at our leisure. I wish I remembered his name, but bless his heart, he allowed us to climb that long stairway and look at the stars! To this day I thank him, I am still interested in space, and all that goes with it. Only at Ohio State! continued on pg. 10

L.A. STORY Lights! Camera! Spring Break! Twenty Arts and Sciences students spent spring break in Los Angeles, connecting with Ohio State alumni and broadening their knowledge about the world of film, television and fine arts. Pictured at right is Dylan Dunphy (front) paying a visit to Jack Kindberg, center, producer and former president of Sony Pictures at his current studio, Digital Fusion. The group also toured film studios Sony, Warner Brothers, Fox, Universal and Disney, and visited art galleries including the Getty Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Students were paired with alumni mentors throughout the week.

It’s elementary

An undergraduate researcher’s life in the lab

The feat that earned Bianco the $3,000 first place award was her sophisticated exploration of the properties of a one-atom thick layer of germanium, which she was the first ever to synthesize and then characterize. “The project required a lot of work and is unique in that it had never been produced in a two-dimensional fashion before,” Bianco said. Her triumph would not have been possible without Ohio State’s commitment to providing undergraduate research opportunities or the guidance of her faculty advisor, who gives the same thoughtful attention to his undergraduate researchers as he does to his graduate students. Bianco remembers the exact date she started her undergraduate research career in Assistant Professor Josh Goldberger’s lab—March 5, 2011. “That’s because I was so excited to have the opportunity to do ‘real’ research.” That she did—beginning work on germanium, which became the basis for her Notre Dame competition research. “She actually spearheaded this project,“ Goldberger said, “which could have many practical applications, including developing new transistors for computers, as well as solar cell materials. “The major focus of our lab is to learn how to design new materials that synergistically unite and organize inorganic and organic components for applications in energy conversion and medicine.” But doing award-winning research is one thing. Publishing results in a scientific journal is another.

Undergraduate chemistry major Elisabeth Bianco made big news last October when she won a national nanoscience and nanoengineering competition. For one thing, she was the only chemist among the finalists— the other six were engineers.

“To publish a paper,“ Bianco said, “you have to have a story and there is always a story, even if it is not what you thought it would be.” In order to publish, results need to be verified and replicated, but something is off. “We know something is changing in the sample—and we’re trying to figure out what, and why,” Goldberger said. A typical day for Bianco starts in Goldberger’s office in Evans Lab where the two review problems, progress, and questions for resolution. continued on pg. 10

Alumni Notes continued from pg. 8 PAUL HANSTEDT (PhD, English, 1996) Professor of English; Roanoke College In February, Paul Hanstedt received Virginia’s highest honor—the State Council of Higher Education’s Outstanding Faculty Award.

Bianco took glass-blowing lessons to learn to make her own pipettes to order.

As they settle in, they talk about work to be done before publication, “Beginning with making sure we understand the stability of the material we’re working with,” Goldberger said. “This is a bit like the TV show House,” Goldberger continued, “where everyone sits around and tries to determine the root of a mysterious medical problem based on a limited number of experiments—but this is a good representation of the daily process of how science is done—every measurement that we do gives us only a small glimpse of the structure and properties of our sample. “It’s great when the results of different sets of experiments all point toward a particular direction; however, when they don’t, oftentimes something even more interesting is going on. It’s a lot like putting a puzzle together, testing properties over and over, and comparing results.” Ideas are put up on the white board and debated. Do they need better methods of purification? They talk about things that don’t make sense and what they should be seeing. Bianco’s computer data is consulted. They go back to the board. They talk about previous work. It’s a needle in a haystack situation—lots of hypotheses and only one way to find out. They make a to-do list and Bianco heads into the lab to face a long afternoon. “Research builds on other research—reading papers, checking with scientists in various related areas for insight,” Goldberger said. Bianco, who graduated this semester, is philosophical, “Lab work goes in phases.” And she’s ready for more; Bianco looks forward to graduate work at Berkeley in the fall. She will have her name on a brand-new journal article recently accepted for publication by ACS Nano. “Materials chemistry is my passion; it’s exciting and dynamic with so many questions still to be answered. The potential for future work is wide open and the possibilities are boundless.”

“There’s so much emphasis these days on education as certification—it doesn’t matter what you learn, just as long as you get that degree,” Hanstedt said. “I disagree with this—I want students to push themselves, to learn about the subject, but also to learn about who they are, about what they value, about what drives them. Every day I’m in the classroom, I’m reminded that working with them as they make that discovery is an honor.” Hanstedt was one of the campus leaders in Roanoke’s revision of its general education program, serving as director of general education for five years. He now consults with colleges and universities in the United States and abroad about curricular matters. In 2009, Hanstedt spent a year in Hong Kong as a Fulbright Scholar.

RICHARD ALLAN JONES (Speech, 1968; MA, Journalism, 1976) Actor/Author/Musician Lot of miles since Ohio State: traveling the world; serving as an Army Lt. in the Vietnam War era; writing my first novel (Drafted); 30 years working in corporate America; meeting hundreds of people (many celebrities); getting invited to the White House; getting to act on stage, movies, and TV; and performing the music of my generation in front of an audience. Currently preparing for the release of my second novel, Party Favors, a political thriller, and looking forward to another continued on pg. 17

View more images of life in the lab at asc.osu.edu/ascent.

LIVING LANGUAGE

Ohio State Creates Student Language-Learning Opportunities in East Asia

To make a change in one life is wonderful, but to have an opportunity to change hundreds is huge! {Mari Noda}

where they can learn to effectively function with the people who live and work there and help them negotiate a global marketplace.”

Mari Noda (above right), professor and chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures (DEALL), and DEALL Professor Galal Walker (above left), have made changing students’ lives a calling. Ohio State’s program in East Asian languages is at the forefront in teaching students to be successful in putting their language skills to work. Last fall, Ohio State became the only university in the country to receive a three-year U.S. Department of State grant for $9.6 million to administer its Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program in East Asia. The CLS Program is administered in select countries in Europe, South/Central Asia, and the Middle East by American Councils for International Education. “The main objective of the CLS program is not just to create an intensive language program,” Walker said, “but to put students into communities

Noda and Walker wrote the winning proposal to set up and administer seven intensive summer language institutes over a three-year period in partner universities: four in China and one each in Japan, Korea, and Indonesia. And everything is ready for kickoff. Students around the country competed for the CLS scholarships and approximately 235 of them, including five from Ohio State, will begin their studies at the new institutes in June. “These are fabulous scholarships,” Noda said. “They’re designed to give opportunities to diverse groups of students who might not otherwise have them. This is big in a way that can make a long-term impact.” The institutes are expected to become self-sufficient after three years. Walker believes they will be ready. “The process involves a lot of cross-fertilization— and we are planting seeds,” he said.

LIVING IN A GLOBAL WORLD Ohio State is home to the U.S. China Flagship Program, an intensive two-year MA program in Chinese language and culture that prepares American students to build successful China-related careers by developing the ability to interact with others in their native language. Students compete for internships in Chinese companies that can last up to a year.

GREENING THE GLOBE New Plant Sciences Partnerships Sow Seeds for Change

Never in the history of humankind have plants been as appreciated as they are today. There is a growing awareness of their importance—to energy, global warming and achieving carbon balance, and feeding nine billion people. {Erich Grotewold} “Yet people are not so aware that plant research can have an important impact on these global challenges,” said Erich Grotewold, who is director of the Center for Applied Plant Sciences (CAPS). “These are problems that affect lives everywhere—in energy and the environment, food safety and security, and long-term sustainability of resources worldwide.” Fortunately, leadership at the university level and in two colleges, Arts and Sciences (ASC) and Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (FAES), recognized the time was right for a new center that would be a catalyst for interdisciplinary plant science research. “ASC Executive Dean Joe Steinmetz and ASC’s Natural and Mathematical Sciences Divisional Dean Peter March, along with FAES Associate Dean Steve Slack were quick to see this would be a game-changer,” Grotewold said.

Indeed, Grotewold spends a lot of time reaching beyond “the silos,” to talk about collaborations with researchers in chemistry and biochemistry, engineering, computer science, anthropology, geography, health science, geology, education—ultimately, no discipline is out of the mix. It is no longer news that plants affect everything and everyone on earth—and have done so throughout time.

The focus at CAPS headquarters is on making connections and starting conversations across campus.

Grotewold feels as if he’s engaged in a great experiment. The CAPS mantra is to find practical solutions to challenging problems by supporting interdisciplinary teams that can span the continuum between basic and applied research.

“A large part of my job,” Grotewold said, “is getting people to talk to each other.” With appointments as full professor in two college departments: molecular genetics and horticulture and crop science, Grotewold is no stranger to generating conversations, building relationships, and leading teams.

“We believe in the power of true team science—not individual talent bent upon one’s own goals—what is needed right now is deliberate creative problem solving by a team of experts based on strategic areas in plant sciences, “ Grotewold said.

View more images of greening the globe at asc.osu.edu/ascent.

Erich Grotewald (left) appreciates having gardens in the Biotech Greenhouse on west campus. Spectators can get a sense of the wonders within. The Biotech Greenhouse (right) shimmers in the winter sun.

Center membership is driven by teams of investigators coming together from many different areas to tackle specific problems—in photosynthesis and carbon fixation; biomass and bio-products; crop production enhancement; and plant-microbe interactions—and to figure out how to translate basic research to real-world application. To that end, groups are divided into scientific teams that translate basic into applied concepts with a long-term view and opportunity teams that can take research to the next level by taking advantage of emerging opportunities that sometimes might fit a particular industry’s needs. Initiatives such as the short-symposium format of Morning Gatherings and the ambitious three-day CAPS Synergy Workshop are exploring ways to build productive research partnerships around the four strategic areas and catapult plant sciences research onto a local, national, and global stage. Meanwhile, Grotewold is well-recognized for his own plant research. In early

2012, he received $4.2 million from the National Science Foundation for work to establish gene regulatory networks and link system components to agronomic traits—an important area in plant systems biology. This is the first concerted effort to do a comprehensive dissection of the gene regulatory networks that target the metabolism of phenolic compounds, found in maize, other cereal crops and commonly consumed vegetables. These compounds include those that are fundamentally important in feedstock for biofuel production and the generation of bio-chemicals and bio-materials, protecting plants from stress, and providing essential nutrients in crop plants. Grotewold also is director of the Arabidopsis Biological Resources Center (ABRC), which provides genetic plant stock to researchers worldwide. As part of their overall educational outreach, Grotewold and ABRC Associate Director Jelena Brkjlacic developed the Greening the Classroom Initiative that offers workshops for teachers and classroom teaching modules.

Go online to learn more about Grotewold’s lab (eglab.osu.edu) and the Arabidopsis Biological Resources Center (abrc.osu.edu).

WORKING THEIR WAY UP

Ohio State students have many important learning opportunities outside the classroom, such as internships, with a wide range of employers. Here, we’ve interviewed six out of the thousands of Arts and Sciences students who have taken advantage of this invaluable way to expand their college experience while working in the field.

CAMILLE CROFT believes that experience is invaluable to understanding your field of study. The fourth-year criminology major and Columbus, Ohio, native is getting plenty of it in the field of rehabilitation and corrections while interning at Alvis House.

It allows me to see firsthand aspects of the criminal justice system that I have not learned from my classes. Croft works 10 hours a week attending and evaluating treatment sessions designed to help men reenter the community and reunite with their families. Alvis House’s programs provide community supervision and case management services such as behavior assessment, help with decision making and goal development, and counseling. The demands and pressures of working in a field that so many others wouldn’t even contemplate don’t even make Croft hesitate. An Iraq War veteran, Croft was deployed in 2010 and served as a transport operator in the Army Reserve. She returned to Ohio State in 2011.

DANIEL FREEDMAN’s internships spring semester at Congregation Beth Tikvah and the Columbus Jewish Federation are perfect—the Jewish studies and psychology major plans to be a rabbi. But before Rabbinical School, he thinks, “more

experience working in the Jewish community will help me make good decisions—so I’m looking for paid fellowships with Jewish organizations.“ At the Federation, Freedman developed a risk assessment plan and workshops to train people about security issues. At Beth Tikvah, Freedman shadows the rabbi. “Going to various meetings with him helped me better understand the role of a Reform rabbi in the community. “ Freedman, from St. Louis, Missouri, belongs to the congregation of the first Reform synagogue west of the Mississippi. “I never knew it, but my rabbi, Howard Kaplansky, is a Buckeye. When he heard I was coming here, he showed me the Ohio State jersey he keeps in his study!” Freedman graduated spring semester.

Last summer, KIMBERLY GOMBITA, a fourth-year visual communications design major, headed to Florida to work as one of two interns in the graphics department at Walt Disney Imagineering, the design and development arm of the Walt Disney Company. “My boss there was actually an Ohio State alumnus who graduated with a master’s degree in design,” she said. “I got to work on a wide range of projects. “For instance, I designed a sign that was installed in Epcot, created a new menu layout for a restaurant at the Beach Club Resort, and made preliminary logo sketches for the newest ride coming out in 2014—the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.”

Gombita said the internship enriched her education by giving her a real-world perspective on what the professional design field will look like when she graduates.

Knowing what companies like Disney are looking for in recent graduates, I have now tailored my senior year projects to ones that will strengthen my portfolio and show my wide range of skills.

NATE KRALIK’s internship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital Emergency Department will help him make the transition to medical school. The Hudson, Ohio, native was inspired by the book Mountains Beyond Mountains about health care systems in Peru. The comparative studies/ French major, who has “always loved the French language,” plans to put his medical degree to work in sub-Saharan Africa. At Children’s, Kralik worked on several medical studies. “The great thing is that I wasn’t shut up all the time in a lab—I was out in the ER where I had lots of interactions with doctors and nurses. And I got to go into patients’ rooms to talk to families and help answer questions. I’m lucky to have had this level of involvement and been an active part of the ER department environment.”

ASC Career Services reports that 6,200 Arts and Sciences students pa

Kralik was involved in many campus activities, especially at the Recreation and Physical Activity Center (RPAC), where he was the lead lifeguard. Kralik graduated this May.

MARAH TAVANELLO knows that great customer service requires great relationship building skills. That’s why the fourth-year student from Wadsworth, Ohio, is majoring in psychology and putting her studies to the test as a financial representative intern with Northwestern Mutual.

camille croft

daniel freedman

kimberly gombita

nate kralik

marah tavenello

vivian wang

Tavanello spends 16 hours a week working alongside financial representatives to address client needs and concerns for life insurance, education funding alternatives, and retirement and estate planning. “What I have learned in social and developmental psychology has given me such an edge in knowing how to build long-term relationships,” Tavanello said. “It really makes me feel good when I know I have helped someone.” When Tavanello isn’t interning at Northwestern, she is balancing full-time schoolwork with a parttime job in a pharmacy and a spot on Ohio State’s dance team. She would like to remain at Ohio State for graduate school in human resources.

I will be the first in my family to obtain a college degree and I’m thrilled that it will be here at Ohio State.

VIVIAN WANG, an industrial design major, spent six months last year in Shanghai, China, completing an internship at United Imaging Healthcare—a relatively new company that develops, manufactures, and sells high-end and innovative medical imaging equipment. ”I worked in the design department, helping to design accessories that could be used with the magnetic resonance imaging and computer tomography equipment,” she said. In Shanghai—China’s largest city and one of the largest in the world with almost 20 million residents—Wang shared an apartment with another student who also was working at United Imaging Healthcare. “It’s a really, really big city,” she said, “I definitely got a lot of experience through the internship,” she added. “I wasn’t sure what the design atmosphere would be like in China, but the other designers really taught me a lot.”

articipated in internships and experiential learning opportunities during 2012-13 autumn and spring semesters.

Wang, who grew up in Shenyang, China, graduated from high school in Erie, Pennsylvania, through a high school exchange program. She chose Ohio State because of the reputation of its design program. After graduation in May, she plans to work in the U.S. for a few years, maybe go to graduate school, and eventually return to work in China.

ASC Career Services helps students find internships, explore career options, and plan a strategic job search. Career Services extends help to students for four years after graduation through FutureLink, a service that connects recent graduates with employers and internship sites in the corporate, nonprofit, and government sectors that are interested in recruiting Ohio State students. Follow @ascareer on Twitter or learn more at asccareerservices.osu.edu.

alaskan adventure

photo courtesy of Valerie Saiki

One man. 16 dogs. 14 days. 1,049 miles of frozen Alaskan terrain.

Dog sledding is such a part of Alaskan history and culture, like football is a part of Ohio State and the Midwest. It is a way of life.

Matthew Failor (BFA, Art, 2007) embarked on his second Iditarod this year. When asked how an art major from Mansfield, Ohio, ended up training and racing sled dogs in Alaska, he jokingly said, “by airplane.”

“Before last year’s Iditarod,” Failor explained, “the plan was one and done, but that changed the moment I crossed the finish line. I built a bond with the dogs that can’t be explained; it can’t be torn.”

Failor was attending Ohio State when he heard about summer employment opportunities with the Alaskan tourism industry. His first trip to Alaska was in 2006 to work as a dog handler— with no experience.

A typical day on the trail, if everything goes as planned, consists of a run/rest schedule. The dogs are trained to run 40 or 80 miles without stopping for extended periods of time. They run about 10 miles per hour for four to eight hours. When the team stops, Failor puts down straw, feeds the dogs, gives them massages, and checks to make sure they are healthy and able to continue.

“I just kept coming back. I enjoy the scenery and lifestyle, and love working with the dogs.

The musher eats and sleeps last. His main focus is to keep his dogs happy and healthy. “We coexist together; unhappy dogs won’t run.” The biggest surprise to Failor has been the outpouring of support from Ohio. As a good luck charm, he carried a buckeye in his sled during both races. “Ohio doesn’t leave me,” he said. When asked what he misses about Ohio State and Columbus, Failor said, “I miss all of my friends, walking down the Oval, the Wexner Center, Catfish Biff’s, Adriatico’s, the camaraderie of being on campus, yelling O-H and always

Kibbles & Bits

Alumni Notes continued from pg. 10

The Iditarod is called “The Last Great Race.” year as lead singer/bass player of my band, Revolution Road.

More people have climbed Mount Everest than have completed the Iditarod.

I spent seven years at OSU in multiple disciplines, working my way through undergraduate school and getting my master’s on the G.I. Bill. Made many lifetime friends and memories I will never forget. Got to perform in the Roy Bowen Theatre with Academy Award winner Eileen Heckhart (reviewed in The Lantern), swim for Ohio State, perform Smothers Brothers routines in Mershon Auditorium for Greek Week Lambda Chi Alpha, and be a DJ at top-40 WCOL radio. How could the college experience be any better?

The race began in 1973. 1,049 miles long, the Iditarod runs from Anchorage to Nome. There are two routes: odd years/Northern, even years/Southern. The race was started to save Alaskan sled dog culture and preserve the historical Iditarod Trail. The Iditarod takes place every March.

WILLIAM (BILL) KONVES (Sociology, 1994) CEO, Generations Concrete, Powell, Ohio

The race lasts from nine to 12 days, but is not considered over until the last musher crosses the finish line.

(right, top to bottom) 1,049 miles is quite a journey. Failor maps out the Iditarod trail for his grandpa in 2011. And, they’re off! Excited, the Happy Trails Kennel B team begins the 2013 race. Failor pauses for a moment to pose with two pups and the Ohio flag.

photo courtesy of Jesse Davis

This is Alaska: Failor and team leave the Rohn Check Point, Egypt Mountain in the distance. (left)

GREGORY MCGRUDER (Journalism, 1979) Vice President, Public Programs National Geographic Society

His family runs an active Facebook page to keep friends and fans from Ohio and beyond updated on his progress on the trail.

photo courtesy of Keith Brown

getting an I-O in response, and knowing any time of day somewhere, some basketball pick-up game is going on.” Failor races for Happy Trails Kennel, owned by four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser. He finished the 2013 Iditarod in 28th place, after starting 59th. His future plans? He hopes to start a kennel in Alaska and see where this adventure takes him.

Sitting in sociology class at Ohio State, I never would have thought the logic, critical thinking, and statistics I was learning would help launch my corporate marketing career, and later play a crucial role in various entrepreneurial ventures from construction to restaurants to retail. Opportunity comes from many places and it pays to have a well-rounded set of skills. You have to constantly step back, evaluate the big picture, and focus on ways to take advantage of the lessons each experience offers.

In my role as vice president for public programs at National Geographic, I work at one of the largest scientific and educational organizations in the world where continued on pg. 21

Buckeyes and the Bard Shakespeare took center stage at Ohio State this spring, thanks to a newly expanded partnership between the university and Great Britain’s Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). The two organizations are broadening their relationship – increasing efforts to bring Shakespeare to schoolchildren across the state and boosting efforts to bring more of the RSC’s Shakespeare productions to cities across the U.S. The collaborative partnership, which recently wrapped up its first three years of programming, will be extended for an additional three years with expanded activities to support Ohio State’s aspiration to be a destination for the innovative teaching, research, and performance of Shakespeare.

the new agreement will: Enhance innovative K-12 teacher training based upon the RSC’s Stand Up for Shakespeare manifesto: Start it Early, See it Live, and Do it on Your Feet, which promotes active teaching methods drawn from the RSC’s rehearsal room practice. In its first three years, the program has provided professional development for 38 teachers in Columbus City and Reynoldsburg City Schools, reaching more than 3,500 students and involving them in 150 studies of 15 different Shakespeare plays. A new group of 16 teachers from local elementary, middle, and high schools have recently joined the program. Bring more of the RSC’s work to the U.S. This will position Ohio State as a presenting partner for RSC Shakespeare productions in the U.S., allowing more people across the country to gain access to the troupe’s world-class productions. The endeavor will support the university’s fundraising and advancement strategies, enabling Ohio State to connect in meaningful ways with alumni, donors, friends, and potential Buckeyes in cities across the country. The first RSC Shakespeare production to come to America under the arrangement was the acclaimed full-scale production of Julius Caesar in early May.

In addition, the partnership offers opportunities for Ohio State faculty and students, community artists, and teachers and their schoolchildren to engage in research and professional development centered on Shakespeare.

Learn more about the Ohio State/RSC partnership at shakespeare.osu.edu.

Last May, Ohio State hosted a Young People’s Stand Up for Shakespeare Festival, where teachers participating in the program brought their students, who performed scenes from Shakespeare. In all, 101 students from 11 teachers’ classrooms and seven schools performed parts of Macbeth. Seventy-five students from nine teachers’ classrooms in eight different schools performed scenes from Romeo and Juliet. (below)

Shakespeare comes to Life in the Classroom Allison Volz uses Shakespeare in active, up-on-your-feet lessons with 100 sixth-grade students in four sections of her English/language arts class at Hilltonia Middle School in Columbus. And the students absolutely love it. “They ask me almost every day when we’re going to do Shakespeare again,” said Volz, who so far this year has worked with A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night. Volz has been involved with Stand Up for Shakespeare, at the center of the Ohio State/Royal Shakespeare Company partnership, for three years and uses the active teaching methods promoted by the program, which advocates that children learn Shakespeare by “Starting it Early, Doing it on their Feet, and Seeing it Live.” “It has definitely been transformational in terms of how I teach,” she added. “The students are using active ways of thinking and learning, and active ways of engaging with the text and with each other. They literally put themselves in the story so they understand it more and remember it better than if they were just reading Shakespeare’s words on a page.” Likewise Megan Ballinger, who taught ninth-grade English last year at LindenMcKinley High School, said her students groaned when she first told them they were going to be studying Shakespeare. “All I heard was how boring it was going to be and how they wouldn’t understand it,” she said.

As they got up and got active and also saw some live performances, with actors not much older than they were, the world of Macbeth really came alive for them. {Megan Ballinger} She added the students particularly enjoyed studying Romeo and Juliet. “Anything with a murder, a little love, and a crazy character is right up their alley,” she said. continued on pg. 20

View more images of Shakespeare in the classroom at asc.osu.edu/ascent.

SHAKESPEARE IN THE CLASSROOM continued from pg. 19

I can tell you, my students absolutely love coming to my class. It’s a high energy environment. {Lorraine Gaughenbaugh}

they can relate to their own lives. Such as, when is it OK to have a secret? When is it OK to play a trick on someone?”

In Reynoldsburg, Lorraine Gaughenbaugh has introduced Shakespeare and active learning to 400 students in grades 1-4 that she sees each week as a “special area” teacher at Summit STEM Elementary. “Right now, we’re discussing Twelfth Night because the Ohio State Department of Theatre’s school tour will be coming to our school,” she said. “We’re talking about the plot, the characters, what motivates the characters, and how the characters interact with each other. “We’re also using the play as a springboard to get into good discussions with the children on issues

Gaughenbaugh says the process helps the children learn how to work collaboratively, how to use communications skills, and how to use complex thinking and reasoning skills. For Gaughenbaugh, the Stand Up for Shakespeare program has changed her. “After teaching for 26 years, it’s really amazing to be able to find something new that’s inspired me and that I’m now passionate about,” she explained. “It’s way too much fun!”

JULIUS CAESAR

photo courtesy of Kwame Lestrade

Ohio State and CAPA presented the “triumphantly staged” production of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Julius Caesar in Columbus May 1-5 in the Southern Theatre. The show, directed with a new twist by RSC artistic director Gregory Doran, is set in present-day Africa with a cast of highlyacclaimed, black British actors and live, contemporary West African music. Having opened to five-star reviews in the UK last year, the Columbus run was the production’s only North American engagement following its New York City premiere in April. “As we continue to work to make the study and teaching of Shakespeare a key priority at Ohio State, we were proud to welcome this powerful production of Julius Caesar to our city. We’re delighted to be working closely with CAPA, and other professional arts organizations, to advocate for the arts in Columbus and bring the visionary talent of the RSC to the broader local community,” said Joseph Steinmetz, executive dean and vice provost, College of Arts and Sciences.

(left) Theo Ogundipe and the cast of Julius Caesar. Photo credit: Kwame Lestrade

Triple Threat

SOmboon making his dreams a reality in the big city

Alumni Notes continued from pg. 17 I oversee many of the programs that give the public an opportunity to have a personal experience with the adventure of geography. These programs include the National Geographic Museum and its traveling exhibitions; National Geographic Live, a series of lectures, film, and other events taking place in more than 17 cities around the world; the National Geographic Speakers Bureau, which represents more than 75 National Geographic photographers, writers, researchers, and explorers; and the National Geographic Bee, now in its 25th year, which engages almost 500,000 young children in a yearly geography competition.

Ohio State prepared me to be a performer, through dance, theatre, and music. The things I learned at Ohio State, I’m embodying every day in New York.

Ohio State played a major role in shaping so much of my life. The 1970s was an exciting time to be on a campus that reflected the political and social changes taking place in the rest of the world. To a kid from Toledo, arriving at Ohio State was like being let loose in a treasure house of opportunities.

THEODORE B. PRATT (MA, Sociology, 1947) An excellent new publication from OSU! Good focus, layout, photography. In his mid-20s, Sai Somboon was working as a university administrator in Philadelphia when the allure of the stage prompted him to change his career. “I asked myself, do I want to perform? Yes! Do I want to teach? Yes!” So, it was on to Ohio State where Somboon, who grew up in Saudi Arabia and Thailand, earned an MFA in dance in June 2011 and also took classes in the School of Music and Department of Theatre. “I went back to school to fully commit myself to a creative program,” he said. “I wanted a diverse skill set so when I moved to New York City, I’d have a lot to offer.” And those plans have paid off. Today, Somboon is living his bright lights, big city dream in New York, where he is performing in the OffBroadway production of Sleep No More, a unique performance that takes place in the McKittrick Hotel on West 27th Street, and is loosely based on

Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Hitchcock’s Rebecca. Audience members freely wander through the hotel, where performers create a collage of the story along the way. Audience members choose where to go and what to see, creating an individualized experience for themselves. “It’s an incredible show, exhilarating,” said Somboon, who performs as the Speakeasy Bartender, Bellhop/Taxidermist, Cunning Man, and Nurse in the show. “It’s a challenge because the audience is completely immersed in this environment. Around 400 audience members meander through the building each night.” Somboon performs six shows per week and is scheduled to continue through August. “That’s a pretty heavy performance load, but I am so very grateful that this is my full-time job,” he said.

After my MA at OSU in 1947, I earned my PhD at Syracuse. I’ve lived in 10 states and have followed Buckeye football and basketball since I started ushering at the Horseshoe as a Boy Scout. Retirement? It’s challenging but great. Keep up your good work.

HARRY ROZMIAREK (MS, Veterinary Medicine, 1969; PhD, Microbiology, 1976) Professor Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania Director, Fox Chase Cancer Center At its annual meeting of the Board of Trustees, AAALAC International presented its highest honor, the Bennett J. Cohen Award, to Dr. Harry Rozmiarek, D.V.M., Ph.D., DACLAM. The Bennett J. Cohen Award recognizes outstanding individuals who have provided exceptional service and continued on pg. 23

a Mind for business

a neuroscience major puts his brain to work creating a new private social network

Suprasanna Mishra, a third-year honors student majoring in neuroscience, happens to have a talent for business and technology. He became an entrepreneur in high school. He started his own web design firm, Kite5, when he was a sophomore at Madison High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. Then—because he missed a chance to see his favorite band Coldplay—Mishra developed an application to notify users when their favorite bands were in town. With a $10,000 Cincinnati Innovates award, Mishra’s second company, Stageshark, was born.

When I was in high school, I learned how to create websites on my own,” said Mishra. “From there, I developed sites for friends, family, and some small businesses—things just kept moving and growing. In 2010, Mishra enrolled at Ohio State and met Dustin Studer, his roommate and a fellow honors student. Studer also started his own landscaping and lawn-care business in high school. Both Mishra and Studer were making plans for medical school. During their first year, the roommates went to California. On the way, they got an idea for a web application to allow friends to aggregate mobile-generated photos and text messages from multiple users into private “capsules.” “Friends had been complaining for a while about the lack of online privacy,” Mishra said. “Dustin and I wanted to create an application that would allow them to share and pull photos, statuses, and messages safely and privately.” With a $100,000 investment grant from CincyTech, a public-private venture development organization that invests in startup businesses in high-tech industries in southwest Ohio, Mishra and Studer completed the user interface and mobile version of the application. Capstory operates as an enhanced shared photo album. It allows users to set up an easy-to-use online interface called a capsule. Users then send invites to friends by text message or email, inviting them to contribute photos and

text messages to the capsule. Only users and their friends are able to access capsules. “Capstory is the best way for people to grab all the media from any group of people and keep them private to only that group,” explained Mishra. “If you can text a picture to a friend on your phone, you can use Capstory—no smartphone app, complicated sign-up process, or data plan is required and it is completely free.” Mishra and Studer have been testing Capstory with Ohio State students since October 2012. The verdict?

Alumni Notes continued from pg. 21 significant contributions to AAALAC International, and have demonstrated a strong and abiding commitment to advancing science through the promotion of the highest standards of laboratory animal care in research, testing, and education. His contributions to the wider laboratory animal science community are many. Rozmiarek joined the University of Pennsylvania in 1987 as professor of Laboratory Animal Medicine and director of University Laboratory Animal Resources. He has also served as University Veterinarian and Associate Director of the Office of Regulatory Affairs, and as director of postdoctoral residency training for veterinarians in laboratory animal medicine from 1987-2007. Rozmiarek is author of more than 60 scientific publications and presentations and was co-recipient of the AALAS Research Award in 1980. He has published extensively in the fields of immunology, toxicology, virology and infectious disease, and laboratory animal management and husbandry.

“They love it.” Mishra said.

GRANT UNDERWOOD (Music/English, 2009)

“One of the main reasons students love Capstory is that it mimics real-life relationships. Everyone has a core group of friends and sharing in small groups instead of hundreds of friends allows people to be themselves and share content they would otherwise be unable to share more publicly.”

I love the ASCENT magazine! What a wonderful way to keep in touch with OSU ASC folks. The alumni magazines are great, but the specific college updates are much more specific and meaningful. Thanks for keeping in touch!

Since launching Capstory in 2012, Mishra has been going nonstop. He took a break from classes spring semester to focus his time on developing a variety of vertical platforms for the company. Capstory Weddings is the first new platform on the horizon. In addition, he and Studer are working with Ohio State to identify ways to use Capstory in residence halls and among other student groups and organizations. And where does neuroscience fit in to all this? “I am fascinated by the scientific mindset approach to business,” said Mishra. “It absolutely makes sense that one informs and drives the other.”

For information on Capstory, visit capstory.com

DEBORAH HOMZAK WYLD (Journalism, 1972) Chairman, Virginia Commission for the Arts Although my interest in the arts pre-dated my years at Ohio State (I grew up in the Cleveland area when it had a robust arts environment), the university provided significant opportunities to share in and participate in the arts. As a J-major, I was required to take many liberal arts electives, and my chosen courses included dance appreciation, pottery, and drawing. I saw my first Broadway touring show at Mershon Auditorium–Company with George Chakiris–and a few years ago, while my son was in grad school there, I was lucky enough to catch the William Wegman exhibit at the Wexner Center (I treasure the poster of two of his Weimaraners in Ohio State sweatshirts!). While my journalism degree provided me with a wonderful career that included corporate and government public relations, speechwriting, investor relations and, ultimately, 12 years running a Fortune 500 corporation’s charitable foundation (which provided considerable funding to the arts), it is the arts exposure for which I am most grateful. Since retiring more than two years ago, I now have a second career doing what I love—supporting, leading and advocating for the arts, and traveling the U.S. and the world to attend arts events. I also like to think my enthusiasm rubbed off on my daughter, who is a scenic designer working on Broadway musicals. I proudly fly my Ohio State flag to counter a neighborhood full of Virginia Tech grads!

like a fine wine

it takes time to develop your passion and find your way Though politics had been her first love since she was a little girl, Worobiec decided it was time for to take a new direction in life. “I came back from that vacation, quit my plans to go to graduate school, and went to work in a wine shop north of campus.” Inevitably, Worobiec made the trip west toward wine country, “At some point though, I just decided I wasn’t supposed to live in Ohio for the rest of my life.” She pursued her passion by working first at a winery, then landing a job as an assistant tasting coordinator for Wine Spectator magazine. By the time she nabbed this job, Worobiec had experienced the wine industry from all angles, from restaurant and retail to business and production. Wine Spectator is widely regarded as a leading authority on wine and wine culture in the United States and around the world. The magazine is unique in its approach to reviews, as all its tastings are blind—meaning that all producers have a fair shot at getting a great score irrespective of price or production history. Though she still supervises the tasting department, Worobiec’s current primary responsibilities lie in tasting and writing. She reviews wine from New Zealand and California, writes vintage reports, news stories, and business trend pieces. Her favorite function as senior editor is profiling new producers and introducing them to the readers.

For many students, the most daunting part of the college experience can be deciding how best to utilize your degree when graduation day arrives, yet there are many who flourish in fields far outside their chosen major. Alumna MaryAnn Worobiec (political science, sociology, 1993) is a shining example that your major does not necessarily determine your future. Like many young adults fresh out of college, Worobiec found herself at a crossroads. The Parma, Ohio, native came to Ohio State to study political science, and quickly found herself in a supervisory position for a constituent services program and leading volunteer efforts during State Representative Mike Stinziano’s campaign. However, it was during a fateful post-graduation trip to the Finger Lakes region of New York when MaryAnn found a new passion—wine. “Wine combines art, agriculture, history, self-expression, weather, and chemistry—it’s such a limitless topic, every year there’s a new vintage to learn about.”

I love that part because I get to tell the American dream over and over again. People who have been successful from all different walks of life have come to a wine region somewhere in the United States wanting to make their mark on the world of wine. This often means interviewing athletes, musicians, and other high profile individuals that have “already made an impact on the world in some fashion, but now just want to make the best wine.” In particular, she loves spreading the word about wine culture in America, since elsewhere it’s exceedingly exclusive. “In other parts of the world, many more families pass [vineyards] down, and the wine regions are just more established, so it’s much harder to found a new winery.” However, Worobiec explained, “We have wineries in every state in the country right now, and that’s because of the people who are very passionate about the subject and all the different expressions of it.”

MaryAnn Worobiec followed her passion and now spreads the word about America’s wine culture.

summer camp roundup Summertime for kids can mean lots of playtime outside, ice cream trucks, trips to the swimming pool . . . and going to camp at Ohio State. The College of Arts and Sciences reaches out to young people in the community, offering a range of camps to sharpen their skills, from physics to flute playing, as well as a chance to experience the university campus for a few days. Morning Strings Workshop June 10-26 More than 1,750 students in grades 4-8 from throughout central Ohio have attended the Ohio State Morning String Student Workshop in the past 28 years. The camp, which meets in the Steinbrenner Band Center in Ohio Stadium, includes daily string instrument skill development, motivational activities, chamber music, large orchestra experience, and more. go.osu.edu/stringworkshop Flute Workshop June 16-20 This year marks the 28th year for the Flute Workshop for high school flute students. The camp includes private lessons, master classes, technique classes, chamber ensembles, a student solo night, recitals, and a closing concert. go.osu.edu/fluteworkshop

GRASP (Girls Reaching to Achieve in Sports & Physics) Camp, June 3-7 or June 17-21 The five-day GRASP camp for middle school girls is hosted by the Department of Physics and offers hands-on, interactive physics demonstrations and projects, followed by physical activities that show how physics relates to everyday life. go.osu.edu/graspcamp

GRASP Camp encourages middle school girls to get interactive to see firsthand how physics powers the world.

Ross Mathematics Program June 17-July 26 This intensive summer experience is designed to encourage pre-college (ages 14-18) students to explore mathematics during a six-week program. The program has been offered at Ohio State since 1964 and is sponsored by the university in partnership with the Clay Mathematics Institute. Its goal is to instruct students in the art of mathematical thinking and to inspire them to discover that abstract ideas are valuable and important. go.osu.edu/rossmathprogram Summer Linguistic Institute for Youth Scholars (SLIYS), July 7-12 and July 14-19 This weeklong summer program for high school students provides students with tools to better understand how languages work. SLIYS scholars learn similarities and differences in sounds, words, and sentence structure across languages; tips for learning a language and avoiding typical language learner mistakes; and how languages and cultures interact. go.osu.edu/sliys

Jazz Camp June 16-20 The annual jazz camp offers students in grades 9-12 an in-depth study of jazz in a fun-filled environment. It includes combo and big band performances, master classes, jazz history, jazz improvisation, arranging and composition, career exploration, and a grand finale concert featuring all participants. go.osu.edu/jazzcamp Superhero Summer Arts Camp June 11-14 or June 18-21 This one-week arts day camp for children in grades 3-5 offers an in-depth look at superhero culture through various forms of art making. Students will design their own superhero or villain while considering alter egos, the idea of the anti-hero, and relevant world issues. go.osu.edu/superhero

View more images of GRASP at asc.osu.edu/ascent.

on Capitol Hill

Speech and Hearing Science Students TAKE THEIR CAUSE TO CAPIToL HILL

I hope that other SAA chapters will follow our lead and meet with their legislators and advocate for important issues that benefit both audiologists and patients with hearing loss. {Jessica Middaugh} Last February, 15 graduate students from the Department of Speech and Hearing Science, all members of the Ohio State Student Academy of Audiology (SAA), took to Capitol Hill to lobby on behalf of audiology issues. Jessica Middaugh, a third-year year doctor of audiology (AuD) student from Zanesville, Ohio, organized and planned the trip. “I believe that students need to recognize the importance of advocating for our profession,” said Middaugh. “The two main goals that I wanted for the students were to become more comfortable with speaking to legislators about issues related to audiology and to recognize the importance of advocacy early in their careers.” The students met with Krista Lambo, health legislative assistant to Ohio Sen. Rob Portman; Val Molaison, health legislative aide to Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown; and Donnica Hawes-Saunders, legislative assistant to Ohio Congresswoman Joyce Beatty. The trip, which was funded by the students, allowed them an opportunity to advance audiology on a national level while providing education and advocacy—all integral parts of SAA’s mission.

Middaugh decided to get involved in the world of politics after attending a national audiology conference last summer. She took part in a session to learn how to improve advocacy efforts at the national level and discovered that few professionals understand the importance of reaching out to legislators and the impact that state and national legislators have on the profession. “I decided that if we start as students, then maybe we can enhance the number of professionals who will advocate at the state and national levels for audiology as we begin to enter the field,” Middaugh said. Staff and consultants of the American Academy of Audiology accompanied the speech and hearing students on their visits to legislators’ offices. Melissa Sinden, senior director of government relations at the academy, praised the efforts of the Ohio State students as “impressive” and “inspiring.” “The Ohio State group did a tremendous job of educating decision makers on Capitol Hill,” said Sinden. “I hope that other members of the academy will echo their exceptional efforts.” Jason Wigand, a Chicago native and third-year audiology student, was among the group of students who traveled to Washington D.C.; this was his first experience lobbying on the national level. “The trip gave us the opportunity to learn about advocacy from practicing professionals and incorporate what they learned into educational

points that could be conveyed to legislators unfamiliar with the audiology profession,” said Wigand. “It was an amazing opportunity to be able to lend student and future professional voices to critical advocacy efforts for audiology and to showcase Ohio State’s program and students.” The students intend to make this an annual event and it’s expected to become a much-anticipated aspect of the department’s audiology student experience. “The trip to Capitol Hill was a success because of the tremendous support and guidance we received from our faculty and from Christy Goodman, audiology clinical supervisor, and the American Academy of Audiology government relations team,” Middaugh stated. “I hope that other SAA chapters will follow our lead and meet with their legislators and advocate for important issues that benefit both audiologists and patients with hearing loss.” Wigand echoed Middaugh’s sentiments: “Continued advocacy will always be a part of my life, fueled by my passion for audiology in order to serve the hearing-impaired population and families in particular, and for the benefit of the profession of audiology as a whole.”

ALUMNI AWARDS The College of Arts and Sciences 2013 Distinguished Alumni Awards dinner was held on April 26. The event gave us an opportunity to recognize and honor some of our outstanding alumni whose accomplishments are tangible evidence of the growing distinction of arts and sciences alumni. Kim Jacobs {Distinguished Achievement} Kim Jacobs (sociology, 1979) has had a remarkable, pioneering career inside the Columbus Division of Police. On April 6, 2012, Jacobs completed her climb from patrol officer to take the helm of the Columbus Division of Police, becoming the first woman to hold the post—one of only a handful of female chiefs in a major metropolitan area in the nation—and the first open member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered community to wear the city’s top badge. A native of Ashland, Ohio, Jacobs graduated from Ohio State in June 1979 with a degree in sociology. In October 1979, she entered the Columbus Division of Police. This was only four years after Columbus Police started training women to work in patrol. After patrolling the streets of Columbus for seven years, Jacobs was promoted to sergeant. In 1991, she was awarded the rank of lieutenant.

photo courtesy of Lorrie Cecil, ThisWeek Newspapers

In 1995, Jacobs earned the rank of commander—the first woman in the history of Columbus police to do so. She commanded the Communications, Training, and Internal Affairs Bureaus and a Patrol zone that included the Ohio State University campus area, the Short North, Clintonville, and the far northwest neighborhoods. In 2009, Jacobs attained another first—by being the first woman to be promoted to the rank of deputy chief. As a deputy chief, Jacobs oversaw the Administrative Subdivision, which handles budgeting, personnel, and other areas. She also served as the Division’s liaison to the mayor and city’s safety director.

I grew up at Ohio State. I met people from all walks of life and from different backgrounds. I found my calling in the sociology and criminology classes.

Throughout her career, Chief Jacobs has been involved in projects aimed at improving operations, community relations, and recruitment. Among those accomplishments are her work in helping to set up the Division’s Citizen Police Academy, the development of a separate Domestic Violence report, the reorganization of the Internal Affairs Bureau to focus on citizen complaints, and the establishment of new precincts. For more than 20 years, Jacobs has volunteered her time to speak to Ohio State undergraduates enrolled in sociology classes on policing and criminology. Jacobs serves on the board of directors for the Center for Family Safety and Healing, the board of trustees for the Ohio Law Enforcement Foundation, and is a member of the United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council and Pride Council.

Visit asc.osu.edu/ascent to watch video biographies of all our alumni award winners.

The quality of the scientific community I encountered during my postdoctoral training in the Department of Chemistry was simply amazing. Professor Leo Paquette set my standards for professionalism, productivity, and scientific quality. While at Emory, Liotta has authored more than 230 research publications and more than 70 issued U.S. patents.

Dennis Liotta {Distinguished Achievement} Dennis Liotta (postdoctoral research fellowship, chemistry, 1974-76) has distinguished himself as an international leader in academic organic chemistry. He is the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Chemistry at Emory University, executive director of the Emory Institute for Drug Development, and co-director of the Emory/ Republic of South Africa Drug Discovery Training Program. He also is co-inventor of several of the world’s most successful and commonly used antiHIV/AIDS drugs. As the HIV/AIDS epidemic emerged as a national and global crisis, Liotta began research and experimenting with anti-viral drugs. In the late 1980s, he and his team developed two of the major drugs in the HIV/AIDS arsenal: 3TC and FTC. These breakthrough discoveries are used by approximately 80 percent of all HIV/AIDS patients who are receiving treatment. For years, Liotta strove to establish a biotechnology company focused on the needs of the developing world. In 2008, iThemba

Pharmaceuticals officially began operations in Johannesburg, South Africa. iThemba is just one component of Liotta’s effort to foster what he considers a vital, missing element in global health— human capital in the developing world. The Emory/ Republic of South Africa Drug Discovery Training Program brings South African scholars to the U.S. for hands-on research training. Liotta is a fellow of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the recipient of a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Fellowship, an Alexander von Humboldt Senior Scientist Award, the 2005 Herty Award, and the Thomas Jefferson Award—the highest award given at Emory. Liotta was recently inducted into the American Chemical Society division of Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame. Liotta has served as a member of the scientific advisory boards and boards of directors of several biopharmaceutical companies including: Achillion, Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Altiris, Pharmasset, iThemba Pharmaceuticals, and FOB Synthesis.

During the past three decades, he has also developed a great deal of experience in the discovery and development of pharmaceuticals and has served as a consultant to many major pharmaceutical firms, including Merck, Glaxo, Burroughs Wellcome, Boehringer Ingelheim and Johnson & Johnson. He is (or has been) a member of the Scientific Advisory Boards (SAB) and Board of Directors (BOD) of several biopharmaceutical companies including: Triangle Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Gilead Sciences, SAB Chair), Altiris (scientific founder, SAB and BOD member), Pharmasset (acquired by Gilead Sciences, scientific founder and SAB member), iThemba Pharmaceuticals (scientific founder, SAB Chair and BOD member), NeurOp (SAB and BOD member), and FOB Synthesis (BOD member). In addition, he is the inventor of record for several clinically important agents, including FTC (Emtriva®, Emtricitabine), 3TC (Epivir®, Lamivudine), Reverset® (DPC-817, D-D4FC), Racivir®, Elvucitabine® (L-D4FC) and MSX-122. Liotta received his PhD in organic chemistry in 1974 from The City University of New York. He completed his post-doctoral training at Ohio State under the direction of Leo A. Paquette.

Visit asc.osu.edu/ascent to watch video biographies of all our alumni award winners.

We have a longstanding, personal, and increasingly urgent devotion to new music. Why? Because it shows us that integrity, hard work, and common purpose make a difference in life. The faculty, staff, and students of the School of Music embody these qualities through their composing, teaching, and performance. {Jack Johnstone}

Jack and Zoe Johnstone

{Distinguished Service}

Jack (PhD, musicology, 1984) and Zoe (honorary alumna) Johnstone met as music students at San Jose State University and have always shared an interest in contemporary music. In 1979, they moved Columbus from California so that Jack could pursue a PhD in musicology at Ohio State. In 2000, they established the Johnstone Award for Excellence in Musicology as an endowment fund for the School of Music. The award provides $2,000 each year to an Ohio State musicology graduate student selected by School of Music faculty. Spurred by a desire to stimulate the long-term health and vitality of the woodwind area in the School of Music, Jack, a bassoonist with the Upper Arlington Community Orchestra, and Zoe worked with faculty to develop a series that would focus on each woodwind instrument, one at a time. The result was the Johnstone Woodwind Master Series, an annual event that enhances the School of Music’s curriculum by bringing eminent teachers and performers to campus, highlighting newly commissioned works by recognized composers,

In recognition of their service to Ohio State and the College of Arts and Sciences, Jack will be presented with the Distinguished Service Award for alumni and Zoe will be made an honorary alumna of the College of Arts and Sciences. encouraging and presenting student compositions for woodwinds, and recognizing the work of an Ohio woodwind music teacher with an award.

committed to invigorating the learning experience and to advancing the energy and creativity of the faculty and students in the School of Music.

In 2007, Jack and Zoe established the Johnstone Fund for New Music at the Columbus Foundation. Designed to generate new collaborations between local composers and musicians and to introduce new music to wider audiences, the fund offers grants to commission new art music, which includes contemporary classical music, some forms of jazz, and dance. The Fund for New Music provides support for performances by Ohio State’s New Music Collective, an ensemble of student and faculty musicians; ensembles in the university’s dance department; and new works for the School of Music’s annual Contemporary Music Festival.

“We have had the privilege of meeting and working with some of the most talented and dedicated students and faculty from the School of Music – whether helping them realize their dreams of composing new music or supporting their efforts to build new collaborations and new performances. Their talent and energy inspires us and we find it so rewarding to see their works come to fruition. There is a mysterious energy at work when you bring such talented people together. What we do with our money, is, we fund energy and creativity.”

The generosity of the Johnstones has created the most exciting and successful stimulus to the support of new concert music in the cultural history of Columbus and Central Ohio. They are

Over the last several years, Jack and Joe Johnstone have helped finance nearly 200 concerts and dozens of commissions of new music and other performances by Ohio State students and faculty as well as artists from Central Ohio and all over the globe!

SCIENCE & SCHOLARSHIP Discovery never stops. Creating and sharing new knowledge is the primary mission of Arts and Sciences faculty. They lead collaborations on campus and worldwide that cut across disciplinary boundaries; teach the next generation of scientists, scholars and citizens; and solve problems affecting our communities. They change lives, one course, one project, one student at a time. Lonnie Thompson, earth sciences, Distinguished University Professor and senior research scientist, Byrd Polar Research Center, awarded the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award of the People’s Republic of China.

Recent National Endowment for the Humanities recipients: Nicholas Breyfogle, professor, history, $50,400 for An Environmental History of Siberia’s Lake Baikal; Scott Levi, associate professor, history, $50,400 for Central Asia on the Frontier of Empire: The Khanate of Khoqand, 1709-1876; and Hugh Urban, professor, comparative studies, $25,200 for The Life, Teachings, and Global Religious Following of Indian Mystic Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (1931-1990). Amy Connolly, assistant professor, physics, $650,000 NSF CAREER Award for her work in Antarctica searching for ultra-high energy neutrinos from cosmic sources using a radio detection technique. Eric Healy, associate professor, speech and hearing science; and DeLiang Wang, professor, computer science and engineering, $1.8 million from the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders to develop an algorithm to improve speech reception in noise by hearingimpaired listeners.

Galal Walker, professor, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures (DEALL), and Mari Noda, DEALL professor and chair, $9.6 million from the U.S. State Department to implement the Critical Language Scholarship Program in East Asia. Ohio State is the only university in the country to receive this award. (see story pg. 11) Jian-Qiu Wu, assistant professor, molecular genetics, $720,000 American Cancer Society Scholar Award for his work to understand the roles of cytoskeletal and signaling proteins in cellular asymmetry and cell division in normal and cancer cells.

Trevon Logan, associate professor, economics, elected president of the National Economic Association, founded in 1969 as the Caucus of Black Economists to promote the professional lives of minorities within the profession. Logan is the youngest president in its history. Barbara Piperata, associate professor, anthropology, received the Michael A. Little Early Career Award from the Human Biology Association for significant contributions to the field of human biology and the promise of future important work in the field. R. Keith Slotkin, assistant professor, molecular genetics, NSF CAREER Award for outstanding young researchers in their fields. Slotkin studies transposable elements—‘jumping genes’—stretches of DNA that can duplicate or move from one location in the genome to another. Wendy Smooth, associate professor, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, has been elected president of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists, 2013-2015. Smooth focuses on women’s experiences in political institutions and the impact of public policies on women’s lives. Her new book, Perceptions of Power and Influence: The Impact of Race and Gender in American State Legislatures, will be published next year.

Molecular geneticist Jian-Qiu Wu shows off the department’s uber-powerful spinning disk

The Distinguished Scholar Award, supported by Ohio State’s Office of Research, honors exceptional scholarly accomplishment by senior professors. Julia Andrews, professor, history of art, was the first American art historian to work in China after U.S.-China relations were established in 1979. Painters and Politics in the People’s Republic of China, 1949-1979 won the Joseph Levenson Prize for the year’s best book on modern China in 1994. William Ausich, professor, earth sciences. His research on the evolutionary dynamics of Paleozoic crinoid faunas; phylogeny and classification of Paleozoic crinoids; and paleocommunity dynamics, has earned him several awards and honors. He is published in top peer-reviewed journals and is the author of five books and monographs. Anne McCoy, professor, chemistry and biochemistry, researches theoretical and computational approaches to study energy flow in chemical systems. She has received several awards, including the NSF CAREER, and Camille Dreyfus Teacher/Scholar. She is a fellow of the American Physical Society, American Chemical Society, and American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dan Levin, SBS Distinguished Professor, economics. His work on auctions and competitive bidding has been published in top journals. He is associate editor of Games and

confocal microscope.

Economic Behavior; fellow of the Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory, and serves on NSF’s Economics Advisory Panel.

The President and Provost’s Award for Distinguished Service recognizes faculty whose service has been extensive and made a positive impact on the quality of the university. Diane W. Birckbichler, professor, French and Italian and director, Foreign Language Center. Birckbichler’s letters of support tell the story: The single driving force behind the quality of undergraduate education in foreign languages; a national campaigner for foreign language teaching; advocate of interdisciplinary education and international awareness; university treasure and role model. Brian McEnnis, professor, mathematics, Marion campus colleagues say, “McEnnis’ commitment to the university is exemplary.” Serving on University Senate; working tirelessly to extend the reach and visibility of Ohio State into our communities; making a significant impact on mathematics instruction both in the classroom, and work on policy committees.

The Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching recognizes superior teaching by faculty nominated by students and colleagues. Juan Alfonzo, associate professor, microbiology, is known for “infectious enthusiasm, positive energy, ability to connect and inspire students.” “He has a real love and knack for teaching,” one student said. Others commented on his approachability, “He treated

us like equals and colleagues.” Several wished he taught more courses. Rebeka Campos-Astorkiza, assistant professor, Spanish and Portuguese. ”Her dedication to her students is amazing—she is always available to meet with us outside the classroom,” students say. “She helps us achieve our full potential; is engaging, approachable and patient but constantly challenges us to think for ourselves.” Mathew Coleman, associate professor, geography. Coleman’s students say he changed their lives. “He encouraged me to think critically and interdisciplinarily.” “His class is the reason I switched my major to geography.” “He helped tune my brain.“ “If not for him, I wouldn’t be working on a graduate degree.” ”He’s why I came to Ohio State.” Kay Halasek, associate professor, English. Her students call her “awesome, unpretentious, engaging, inspirational.” One said, “If I hadn’t taken her course, I wouldn’t be starting a career in secondary English education.” Another commented, “She excels at fostering collaborative inquiry and genuine conversation, treating students as equal partners in learning.” David Hoffman, professor, history, changes the way students think about history. Students refer to him as, “a creative, innovative teacher, genuinely interested in both teaching his students and learning from them.“ One said, “He is passionate about his subject and every day he brought his A game.” Erin McGraw, professor, English. Students use superlatives such as, “dedicated, giving, enthusiastic, supportive.” One said, “She made every student feel welcome and important in her classroom.” Another said, “In one course, she taught me things I hadn’t learned in three years of graduate work.” Douglas Schumacher, associate professor, physics, makes learning easy and fun. One student summed it up best, “His enthusiasm for teaching other people physics is obvious— he breathes physics!” Students marvel at his accessibility and helpfulness to the point of “offering to help us prepare for the GRE!”

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Kevin Slaten would not be an advocate for legal treatment of Chinese workers. Ohio State has been home to the U.S. China Flagship Program since 2005. Former Flagship Program student Kevin Slaten is just one of its success stories. “A few months after graduating from Ohio State’s Graduate Chinese Flagship Program, I was hired by China Labor Watch (CLW) to act as their program coordinator. CLW is a nonprofit organization headquartered in New York City that advocates for the fair and legal treatment of Chinese workers,” Slaten said. “Without the language and domain training that I received in and via the Chinese Flagship Program at Ohio State, I would have been very unlikely to get this job, much less being able to successfully fulfill my duties. I conducted many interviews with workers in China during the Flagship program and wrote my thesis on the subject of defending Chinese worker rights, which directly prepared me for some of the work I do now.”

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