2000s
Jamie Holcomb, BM ’00, Stafford, Va., has been appointed vice president of instructional design and innovation for Escoffier and Triumph Higher Education Group by Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, a leading accredited provider of online and campus-based culinary training and education. Previously Holcomb held faculty positions at Southern New Hampshire University, Viterbo University, Ocean County College, Park University and Walsh University. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in educational leadership at Liberty University.
Josh West, BBA ’01, Touchet, Wa., has been appointed vice president of trading and chief commercial officer at The Energy Authority (TEA), a public power–owned portfolio management, energy trading and advanced analytics company headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., with an office in Bellevue, Wa. Previously, he served as managing director of trading and commercial strategies at TEA. In his new role, he is responsible for all energy marketing and trading within the organization, across all markets and all commodities, including power, natural gas, environmental attributes, and related products. He leads efforts focused on the identification and execution of commercial strategies to optimize client assets, the development of commodity risk management strategies, and the execution of financial and physical transactions used to hedge client portfolios.
Ryan Dezember, BS ’02, Brooklyn, NY, recently published Underwater: How Our American Dream of Homeownership Became a Nightmare (Thomas Dunne Books, July 2020), a powerful, personal and incisive story that chronicles the 2008 housing crash and its aftermath from the perspective of a middle-class homeowner.
A reporter for The Wall Street Journal, writing about financial markets and investors, Dezember previously wrote about the oil industry from the Journal’s Houston bureau. Before that he worked as a reporter for the Mobile Register, reporting on the real-estate boom and bust for coastal Alabama’s daily newspaper.
When asked what inspired him to write Underwater, he responded: “I had always thought there was a fun book to be written on the colorful characters and real-estate frenzy along Alabama's beaches, which I covered for the Mobile Register after graduating. I got my chance after The Wall Street Journal published a lengthy first-person story (“My 10-Year Odyssey Through America’s Housing Crisis,” Jan. 26, 2018) about my getting caught up in the ensuing housing bust with a comically ill-timed home purchase.
“A literary agent read the story and suggested I turn it into a book, combining my personal story with my years of real-estate reporting. Writing a book was a way to wrap together a lot of my best reporting over the years to tell the story of an entire market cycle as I had experienced it in a way that would be impossible at a newspaper. Plus, writing it was an entry into the book business, which is an excellent side hustle for people like me who want to be reporters for as long as possible.”
Kristine Haag, BFA ’03, North Hollywood, Calif., was nominated for a Television Academy 2020 Primetime Emmy Award in the Outstanding Contemporary Costumes category for her work as assistant costume designer on Netflix’s hit series Grace and Frankie, starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. Haag is nominated for her work on the season 6 episode “The Tank.” She was previously nominated in 2019, also for her work on Grace and Frankie.
After graduating from Kent State, Haag earned an MFA in costume design from the University of California, Irvine. Her credits include costume design work on National Geographic/Disney+’s upcoming The Right Stuff, ABC’s The Fix, TVLand’s Nobodies, NBC’s Good Girls, Netflix’s Girlboss, The Legacy and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Edmund A. Rossman, III, MLIS ’03, Cleveland, has retired from Shaker Heights Public Library. A cancer survivor, he recently released A Guy's Guide to Throat Cancer: Do's and Don'ts for Recovery (Christian Faith Publishing), an inspirational book for patients and their caregivers battling any illness.
Samuel “Blitz” Bazawule, BBA ’04, Brooklyn, NY, Ghanaian-born filmmaker and musician, recently co-directed Beyonce’s Disney+ visual album feature Black is King with the pop star and Emmanuel Adjei. He helmed the South African shoot of the project, which debuted on July 31. He is set to direct Warner Bros. musical film The Color Purple, based on the Tony-winning Broadway musical of the same name. Producers of the musical feature—Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones—selected him after watching his award-winning 2019 feature directorial debut, The Burial of Kojo, on Netflix, acquired through Ava DuVernay’s Array Films.
Bazawule is a 2020 Fellow (in film-video) of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, a 2016 Senior TED Fellow, and recipient of the Vilcek Prize. As a composer and musician, ‘Blitz the Ambassador’ has released four studio Afrobeat albums: Stereotype (2009), Native Sun (2011), Afropolitan Dreams (2014) and Diasporadical (2016). He is on the faculty, MFA in Film, of the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Learn more here.
Kathleen Hale, PhD ’05, Auburn, Ala., professor and director of the Graduate Program in Election Administration at Auburn University, and co-author Mitchell Brown, wrote How We Vote: Innovation in American Elections (Georgetown University Press, 2020). Using original data gathered from state and local election officials and policymakers across the United States, they analyzed innovation in voter registration, voting options, voter convenience, support for voting in languages other than English, the integrity of the voting process and voting system technology. The result is a fascinating picture of how we vote now and will vote in the future.
Janet Lynn Gbur, BS ‘06, Canfield, Ohio, research associate at Case Western Reserve University and investigator, Advanced Platform Technology Center at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, was elected treasurer of the Leadership Council of the Microscopy Society of America (MSA), in January 2020. The MSA champions all forms of microscopy and the development of new imaging technologies through its annual meeting, publication and educational outreach.
Francisca B. Ugalde Z., BFA ’06, Hudson, Ohio, is a curator at the Institute for Human Science and Culture at The University of Akron, which is devoted to hands-on education and research in the history, preservation, documentation and interpretation of the human experience through cultural materials and from multiple perspectives—psychological, anthropological, artistic and historical.
Ugalde Z., who earned a master’s degree in arts administration in 2012 at The University of Akron, manages The Jim and Vanita Oelschlager Native American Ethnographic Collection, a large collection of Native American artifacts and art. She oversaw the design and implementation of the collection’s new gallery spaces at the National Museum of Psychology at the Drs. Nicholas and Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology, which opened in September 2019.
Jennifer Hallos, BBA ’07, Wadsworth, Ohio, has joined McCarthy, Lebit, Crystal & Liffman Co., LPA, as a principal in the practice areas of trusts & estates, taxation, and business & corporate. Hallos, who earned a JD and MA at The University of Akron and is also a certified public accountant, has 10 years of experience formulating, reviewing and updating estate plans; drafting wills and trusts; estate and trust administration; tax research and consulting; and managing tax controversy at federal, state and local levels. She is involved in a number of activities, including co-founder and director of Women in Finance and director of Piece by Peace, a nonprofit organization in the Youngstown area dedicated to connecting families affected by autism with available local resources. She also teaches tax and accounting classes as an adjunct professor at Hiram College.
Andrew R. Laurence, BS ’08, Aurora, Ill., was named a top-five finalist for the 2020 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals, People’s Choice Winner, by the Partnership for Public Service. Also known as the “Oscars” of government service, the “Sammies” recognize the unsung heroes in our federal government who have made phenomenal contributions to the health, safety and prosperity of our country.
Laurence, who earned a PhD in anthropology from Texas A&M University in 2013, is a pollen analysis expert (palynologist) at the US Customs and Border Protection’s Chicago office and a 2020 Emerging Leaders Medal finalist, a category that recognizes the significant contributions of federal professionals under the age of 35. He and fellow coworker and Sammies finalist, Shannon Ferguson, PhD, provided critical information to help law enforcement solve hundreds of drug smuggling cases and other crimes by analyzing microscopic pollen grains to determine where drugs were produced, and the routes taken, as well as the travel histories of crime victims.
Lavette (Shirley) Elee, BS ’09, Charlotte, NC, wrote, “After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in biology, I continued on to PA [physician’s assistant] school and am currently working toward my doctorate in PA studies. I am an urgent care PA and recently wrote a children’s book, I Saw My PA Today, available on Amazon, to quell a child’s fears of going to a medical facility. Children are our future, and during these uncertain times, they have fears like we all do. Helping to ease those fears through writing brings me joy.”
Corey Fowler, BM ’09, MM ’16, Kent, Ohio, was named assistant conductor of the Cleveland Chamber Choir, Cleveland's premiere vocal ensemble, in May, by the organization's board of directors. He has been a singing member of the choir since its inception in 2015. Working alongside Scott MacPherson, artistic director, (who is a professor of music and director of Choral Studies at Kent State’s Hugh A. Glauser School of Music), Fowler will help choose repertoire, manage rehearsals, and conduct select pieces during concerts.
He is also the choir director at Roosevelt High School in Kent and the music director and organist at Kent United Church of Christ, where the Cleveland Chamber Choir presented a social justice concert as part of the university's official May 4 50th commemoration events.
Mark Greer, MM ’09, Akron, Ohio, was recently announced as a new board member for Tuesday Musical of Akron. Currently, he coordinates the City of Akron's Great Streets initiative, managing 12 neighborhood business districts to promote increased business development and retention, safer neighborhoods, enhanced aesthetics, urban design and public space, improved transportation conditions, and greater community engagement.
He also serves on the Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance Planning Committee and is a member of Torchbearers Class of 2020, serving on both the Leadership and Development Committee and the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force. He previously served as Program Coordinator at Leadership Akron, where he led the Diversity on Board program, aimed at increasing minority representation on public and nonprofit boards. A past winner of Tuesday Musical’s Annual Scholarship Competition, Greer is an accomplished pianist and composer, making his Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall in 2006.
Trey Kauffman, BA ’09, Columbus, Ohio, wrote, “I host The Mosaic Life Podcast, which breaks down the fundamental question, ‘How can we be better?’ As of August 2020, The Mosaic Life Podcast has released more than 50 episodes, and with its growing success has pivoted to focus on our greatest pursuit as humans: happiness. The Mosaic Life Podcast releases episodes every Sunday, and you can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to find us on Instagram, Facebook and One Mosaic Life.
“I’m also an entrepreneur running my web design firm full-time. I help coordinate Red, White & BOOM! each year, in which we put on the biggest fireworks event in the Midwest, and I volunteer with Community Refugee & Immigration Services (CRIS) to help plan their annual fundraising 5K, which happened virtually this September. CRIS, helps refugees resettle into the Central Ohio community by providing resources not given to them by the government.
“Recently, I was selected to take part in the fall Columbus Impact Academy, which is a four-month program designed to provide a comprehensive experience for emerging leaders, facilitated by the Columbus Young Professionals (CYP) Club twice per year.
“My warm regards to anyone who was around Black Squirrel Radio or the Kent Stater 10 years ago.”