Fall/Winter 2022-23 Class Notes
1930s
1930s
Miriam Grace (Schnitzer) Wiles, BS ’31, MA ’31, Burbank, OH, a resident of Burbank Parke Care Center, turned 106 on July 10, 2022. [See previous class note about her turning 105 in the fall/winter 2021-22 issue of Kent State Magazine.] According to this year’s story in The Daily Record in Wooster, she has three children, 11 grandchildren and soon-to-be 32 great-grandchildren.
1940s
1940s
Bea McPherson, BA ’43, Hartville, OH, is featured in a new temporary traveling exhibit, Military Mapping Maidens, on display at the MAPS Air Museum in Green, Ohio, from May 7 through Oct. 5, 2022. The exhibit, created by the Arizona-based firm Museum Pros, tells the story of 224 young college women recruited by the Army Map Service in 1943 to research and draw maps by hand for the Allied effort in World War II.
McPherson was studying at Kent State to become an elementary education teacher when her geography professor, Edna Eisen, advised her to take a 60-hour Military Mapmaking course devised for the government by noted cartographer Edith Putnam Parker. After successfully completing the course, McPherson and fellow students journeyed by train to Virginia, where they commuted from Civil Service housing to work for the Army Map Service—now called the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency—based in Springfield, Virginia.
McPherson, who celebrated her 100th birthday on Dec. 14, 2021, was the subject of a profile about her military mapping efforts in the winter 2018 issue of Kent State Magazine.
1950s
1950s
Maj. Gen. Robert Haas, MEd ’56, Massillon, OH, received a Strasburg Tiger Foundation Distinguished Alumni award during the May 2022 graduation ceremony at Strasburg-Franklin High School.
Haas was in the ROTC at The University of Akron and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He commanded a combat platoon in Korea, earning six medals for his leadership, including the Bronze Star and a Combat Infantryman Badge. After earning a master’s degree in education at Kent State, he taught and coached at Strasburg-Franklin High School in Strasburg, Ohio. He continued to teach at Massillon City Schools and was promoted to principal, then assistant superintendent.
Haas joined the Army Reserves and the Ohio Military Reserves and was promoted to the rank of major general. His 50-year military career spanned World War II, the Korean War and the Persian Gulf War. He was inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame (located in Columbus, Ohio) in 2008.
Lois Youngen, BS ’55, Eugene, OR, who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the early 1950s and taught at the University of Oregon, was honored by Kent State’s Varsity “K” Athletic Hall of Fame as the 2022 Distinguished Athletic Alumna on Sept. 16, 2022.
She also was inducted into the Tuscarawas County Sports Hall of Fame on June 18, 2022. Two days later, she spoke at the Dover Public Library in Tuscarawas County for a program titled “Lois Youngen—Still in a League of Her Own.”
Youngen received a doctorate degree from The Ohio State University in 1971. She taught for 36 years in the physical education department at the University of Oregon, where she coached or taught 26 sports and recreational activities and was an exemplary professor and administrator. In 1988, Youngen and other women of the league became part of the permanent display at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Doris “Rae” Badertscher, BS ’57, Marion, OH, arranged for the Marion County Historical Society to display a collection of toothpick sculptures by her late husband, James Badertscher, BA ’57, who died in 2017. The pandemic delayed the exhibit, but 75 of his toothpick structures were finally displayed at the historical society from July through November 2021. The detailed structures included trains, cars, steamships, a castle, Cinderella’s pumpkin coach, flowers, a wheelbarrow and a push lawn mower.
She says her husband, who spent most of his career in health care administration, began creating toothpick structures during his time at Kent State, where the couple first met. After they married in 1958, he built pieces on a regular basis, focusing on this hobby during the winter months when he couldn’t pursue his other hobby, gardening.
1960s
1960s
Robert Archer, MBA ’61, Ashland, OH, and his wife, Janet, were commencement speakers at Ashland University on May 7, 2022, and university President Carlos Campo presented each with an honorary degree (Doctor of Humane Letters).
Robert Archer also received an Alumnus Achievement Award from the Claymont Foundation (Claymont City School District) on May 14, 2022. He is a 1953 graduate of Uhrichsville High School. (Uhrichsville consolidated with other area schools to form the Claymont district in 1965.)
He and five partners purchased Kent Watersports from Brown Group in 1980 and grew the business, which sells its products worldwide, via 35 acquisitions. Archer serves on the Board of Trustees at Ashland University, the Canton-Akron Advisory Board of Huntington Bank and the Business College Advisory Board of Kent State University. He is a lifetime member of the Ashland Family YMCA Board of Trustees.
Fred Packard, MA ’61, Lafayette, LA, artist and retired professor of visual arts at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, has a retrospective show of his career as an artist at the university’s Hilliard Art Museum. The exhibit, Little Things: Drawings and Photographs by Fred Packard, features pieces of art created by Packard from each decade since the ’50s. The show runs from July 2022 to April 2023.
Packard, who was drafted into the US Army in 1956, was an Army photographer during his tours of duty in Europe. He began as an art instructor at Louisiana State University in 1964 and spent most of the next 30 years teaching at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, now known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. There he also served as department head and founded the photography concentration in the Department of Visual Arts. He retired from teaching in 1996.
Donald Lowe, BS ’64, MA ’69, Eatonton, GA, was inducted into the Mid-Ohio Valley Sports Hall of Fame on June 11, 2022. He was coordinator of sports medicine at Syracuse University, in Syracuse, New York, for 25 years. The athletic training area in the university’s Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center is named the Donald and Mary Lowe Sports Medicine Center. In 2000, Lowe became the director of sports medicine at Georgia Tech and, in 2003, he created Sports Medicine Management Consultants. The winner of several awards from the Athletic Trainers Association, Lowe was athletic trainer for the 1983 Pan American Games men’s basketball team and was on the US Olympic Committee’s athletic training staff for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
Donald Stafford, BBA ’65, BS ’84, Minerva, OH, was inducted into Minerva High School’s Alumni Hall of Fame on June 11, 2022. Stafford graduated from the US Army officer training program in 1965, the US Army aviation training program in 1966, and had advanced helicopter training. As a pilot of a Huey helicopter, he was assigned to Vietnam, where he survived crashes and was shot down by the Viet Cong. He returned to the States and became a flight instructor at Fort Rucker, Alabama. He retired from the military in 1990. In 2008, he received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award from the Federal Aviation Administration for 50 years of civilian flying without an accident.
John Sinclair, BS ’66, MEd ’66, Howland, OH, spent 25 years as a science teacher and assistant principal at various Trumbull County schools, most of the time within the Liberty Local School District. He also had a second career as a tour bus driver, driving for Anderson Tours from 1969 to 1986, and eventually opened his own business, Sinclair Tours Inc., which he closed in 2013. He still does short trips for Anderson Tours and helps arrange tours for senior citizens through the SCOPE (Senior Citizens Opportunity for Personal Endeavor) program in Trumbull County.
So far, Sinclair has logged more than 1.5 million miles and has been to all the states (except Hawaii) and all the Canadian provinces at least twice. In 2019, he was one of only six people to receive the Outstanding Driver/Tour Operator Award from the Pennsylvania Bus Association.
Bonnie (Cox) Trubee, BS ’67, MEd ’72, Millersburg, OH, and her husband, the Rev. R. Eldon Trubee, celebrated their golden anniversary (and 51st anniversary) at a surprise dinner party hosted by their children and grandchildren in June 2022. They were married June 26, 1971, but due to the pandemic were unable to gather with family to celebrate until this year.
Bonnie Trubee also earned certification in gifted education from Ashland University and has taught in public schools in Columbiana County and in West and East Holmes local school districts for more than 30 years. Following retirement from the public education systems, she taught in a Montessori school system.
Benette Waugh DeCoux, MEd ’68, Clayton, OH, was a school social worker and Head Start director before retiring as an administrator for Dayton Public Schools. She also spent 17 years as a volunteer court-appointed special advocate for children. She is a member of Twentig Inc., a small sisterhood of community-minded members that supports other nonprofit organizations. She is also president of the Wayman Civic Association, which encourages voter registration, advocates for voter rights and does good deeds for members of the Wayman Chapel AME Church and the Dayton community. Her goal is to improve the lives of others.
Carol Klingel, BS ’69, Lodi, OH, exhibited her artwork in the Beeghly Hall Gallery in Alliance, Ohio, from February through May 2022. Klingel taught in the Medina Public Schools, Brunswick High School and at the University of Akron. She has led workshops on creativity and drawing, and her work has been included in numerous group and solo exhibitions.
1970s
1970s
Raj Aggarwal, MBA ’70, DBA ’75, Chesterland, OH, was named to Notables in Finance 2022 by Crain’s Cleveland Business in April 2022. He also received the 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award, presented by the Kent State Alumni Association at a celebration on Sept. 30, 2022, at the Kent State University Hotel and Conference Center.
Aggarwal currently sits on the boards of Kent State University Foundation, ERC Inc. and Ideastream Public Media. He is also a member of the professional advisory board of the Read Center for International and Intercultural Education in the College of Education, Health and Human Services at Kent State. He has been a finance professor at John Carroll University, Kent State University and The University of Akron. His time at UA included a stint as dean of the College of Business Administration. He is a fellow and a former vice president and program chair of the Academy of International Business.
Timothy App, BFA ’70, Baltimore, MD, has a 2005 painting, “Bacchanal,” on exhibit in the Akron Art Museum’s centennial celebration Share the Past, Create the Future: Selections from the Akron Art Museum Collection, on view through April 2023. His art has been widely exhibited throughout the US and in Poland and Japan, and it appears in numerous public and corporate collections.
An Akron native, App took classes at the Akron Art Institute (now the museum) and later studied at Kent State with Leroy Flint, the institute’s former director. App received an MFA in 1974 from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. He was an assistant professor of art at Pomona College from 1974–78 and an associate professor of art at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque from 1978–90. Since 1990, he has been a professor of art at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and was the institute’s interim director of the Hoffberger School of Painting from 2009–2010.
Michael Chanak Jr., BS ’71, Cincinnati, OH, wrote, “It’s been 30 years since the change I advocated for [to include sexual orientation] was made to P&G’s non-discrimination policy. P&G is hosting a 30th anniversary celebration on Oct. 13 for the North American GABLE (Gay Ally Bisexual Lesbian & Transgender Employees) affinity group during LGBT History Month. On June 23, I spoke on queer history at the Pride Multifaith service at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. On Dec. 1, I will be speaking at the regional World AIDs remembrance at First Christian Church in Covington, Kentucky.
Last October, I was invited to speak to a group of 16 students at Northern Kentucky University who enrolled in the course Queer Activism, hosted by the Honors College and taught by Dr. Bonnie Meyer, former director of LGBTQ Programs and Services. I also spoke at the city of Cincinnati’s LGBTQIA+ employee resource group in October 2021.
The two P&G videos on the history of inclusion at P&G that I appeared in (The Words Matter and Out of the Shadows) have been subtitled in Mandarin and 14 other languages.”
John de Lancie, BA ’71, South Pasadena, CA, appeared at Cleveland’s Huntington Convention Center for Fan Expo, a pop culture convention, on April 30 and May 1, 2022. He has once again appeared as Q, a god-like, malevolent being, in the second season of Star Trek: Picard, which streamed on Paramount+ in spring 2022. He has appeared as Q over seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, made one appearance on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and several appearances on Star Trek: Voyager.
De Lancie’s career encompasses daytime dramas (Days of Our Lives); performances with various orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and appearances on stage with the American Shakespeare Festival, The Seattle Repertory Company, The South Coast Repertory and the Cleveland Play House. At Kent State, he won a scholarship to Juilliard, where he earned a BFA.
Robert E. Falcone, BA ’71, medical doctor and chief executive officer of the Columbus Medical Association and Affiliates, has been included in Marquis Who’s Who for his expertise in the health care field. Serving as CEO since 2016, he has championed physician-led initiatives to improve the health of patients and the Columbus community.
Falcone also is an artist and recording musician who has been creating visual art and music since the 1960s. He serves as a board member of the Columbus College of Art & Design (where he earned an MFA in visual art in 2016) and for the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts.
Clare Murray Adams, BS ’72, MEd ’76, BFA ’93, Southington, OH, had a solo exhibition, A Common Thread, presented by ART26201 at M.I.B. Gallery in the Colonial Arts Center, Buckhannon, West Virginia, from July 29–Aug. 20, 2022. She is a professor emeritus of at and former chair of the visual art department at Malone University in Canton, Ohio. She maintains an active studio practice in rural Southington.
Raymond Fete, AA ’73, BA ’75, Navarre, OH, has served for five years as executive director of Hammer & Nails Inc., an ecumenical Christian nonprofit outreach organization based in Canton, Ohio, that helps struggling Stark County homeowners with maintenance and repairs.
Early in his career, he served as the director of housing rehabilitation for the Stark County Regional Planning Commission. More recently, he was the director of the Family Living Center, a homeless shelter in Massillon. Fete previously served as director of alumni relations for Kent State University (1985-1987), director of development for Timken Mercy Medical Center and vice president for marketing and fund development for Community Services of Stark County.
Berri Kramer, BFA ’73, Kennebunkport, ME, a fiber/collage artist, collaborated with printmaker Susan Wilder in a bird-themed exhibit, Capturing the Wind, at Mass Audubon’s Habitat Education Center & Wildlife Sanctuary Gallery in Belmont, Massachusetts, which ran from July 1–30, 2022.
Kramer earned a master’s degree in fiber exploration from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and worked as a designer for Better Homes and Gardens for more than 20 years. She founded Heartwood College of Art in Kennebunk, Maine, and has been its president for 25 years.
Ruth E. Ludwick, BSN ’73, MSN ’81, PhD ’93, Kent, OH, is one of three co-editors of the textbook Nurses Making Policy, Third Edition: From Bedside to Boardroom (Springer Publishing Company, February 2022). This updated edition of the American Journal of Nursing award-winning book illuminates the extensive impact of nurses on health policy. The editors are donating all book royalties to help endow the $2 million Washington Fellows program, administered by the American Nurses Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the American Nurses Association.
Ludwick is Professor Emerita of Kent State University’s College of Nursing and an adjunct graduate faculty at Northeast Ohio Medical University.
Nick Saban, BS ’73, MEd ’75, Tuscaloosa, AL, began his 16th season as head football coach at the University of Alabama in September. Alabama Crimson Tide teams have played in the national title game in six of the last seven seasons. Saban started his coaching career at Kent State in 1973 as a graduate assistant with the Golden Flashes.
On April 19, 2022, he appeared at a fundraiser for Team Focus, in Mobile, Alabama, a youth-mentoring organization founded in 2001 by former college football coach and broadcaster Mike Gottfried. Team Focus helps provide mentors for young men who grew up without a father figure, a cause near to Saban’s heart. His father, Nick Sr., died just as he was finishing college at Kent State.
Carter Strang, BS ’73, MEd ’79, Shaker Heights, OH, was named president of the Shaker Schools Foundation, Ohio’s first public school foundation, effective July 1, 2022. A recently retired founding partner of the Tucker Ellis law firm, he previously was an award-winning Shaker Heights High School teacher and coach. He is board chair of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs and a Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Leader in Residence.
Strang, who was a member of the Kent State University football and ice hockey teams, is an Honors College graduate and past chair of the college’s advisory board. He received the 2014 Kent State University Distinguished Alumni Award and the 2011 Kent State University Distinguished Honors College Alumni Award.
Ron Young, BA ’73, Mentor, OH, was selected as 2022 Lake County Fair Parade Grand Marshal. The opening day parade took place on July 26 and the fair ran through July 31. Young recently retired as a Lake County commissioner, having served since 2019. He is the president and founder of Technical Employment Services Inc., which has focused on engineering, scientific and industrial recruiting since 1981. He served in the Ohio General Assembly from 1997 to 2004 and was elected again in 2010 to another eight-year term.
John Mansfield, BA ’74, Munroe Falls, OH, recently released The Protectors and the Motorcyclists (Christian Faith Publishing, June 2022), a novel that explores supernatural occurrences in one man’s life.
L.P. Snowe II, AAS ’74, Warren, OH, had his artwork exhibited at the Thomases Family Endowment of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation Art Gallery in the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown from June 16 through Aug. 1, 2022. Cats Infiltrate the Optic Nerve included 15 pencil-and-ink drawings.
Snowe has shown his award-winning work—influenced by artwork featuring spacecraft, alien planets and futuristic architecture, as well as cartoons in Mad Magazine—in 27 juried art shows at such venues as the Erie Art Museum, The Butler Institute of American Art, Cleveland Institute of Art and the Ohio State Fair.
Snowe received an associate degree in law enforcement from Kent State University at Trumbull. He works in private security and as a warehouse worker and is shop steward for Teamsters Local 377.
Lawrence Terkel, MA ’74, Hudson, OH, a member of the Ohio Masters Swim Club, won two gold medals, one silver and one bronze in the age 75 to 79 category at the 2022 National Senior Games, held May 13–16 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The two gold medals—in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle—both came with record times.
Dom Capers, MEd ’75, Green Bay, WI, and his wife, Karen, donated $2 million to the University of Mount Union (his alma mater) in Alliance, Ohio, for a new football facility, which opened in 2020. The university dedicated the Dom and Karen Capers Football Coaching Center on June 11, 2022. The press box at Kehres Stadium is also named in Capers’ honor.
Capers, who was a graduate assistant for Kent State football coach Don James, is known for his work as an NFL coach for the Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans and Green Bay Packers. He currently works as a senior defensive assistant for the Denver Broncos.
Matt Likens, BBA ’75, Mesa, AZ, is president and CEO of GT Medical Technologies, which was named Company of the Year for Health Products & Services in the 2022 American Business Awards. This honor acknowledges GT Medical Technologies’ pioneering technology GammaTile® Therapy, FDA-cleared for treating newly diagnosed malignant and recurrent brain tumors. Over 60 US hospitals now offer the therapy as a radiation option for patients with operable brain tumors. Tiles are implanted during the last five minutes of brain tumor resection procedures to eliminate residual tumor cells. This therapy allows patients to resume normal activities rapidly after surgery.
Gary Pinkel, BS ’75, Columbia, MO, will be inducted into the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame in the Class of 2022. Named Jan. 10, 2022, the class will be inducted Dec. 6 during the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner in Las Vegas.
Pinkel is the winningest head football coach at the University of Missouri (2001–2015) and at the University of Toledo (1991–2000). He retired from Mizzou following the 2015 season after announcing he has non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Among his previous honors are inductions into halls of fame for the State of Missouri Sports, St. Louis Sports Commission, Mid-American Conference, Toledo Athletics, Kent State Athletics and Kenmore High School. Active in the community, he created the GP Made Foundation to help youth facing difficult challenges, and he has raised more than $10 million for charitable causes.
Pinkel played football at Kent State for the late, legendary coach Don James (who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1997). James made Pinkel a graduate assistant and then hired him as position coach when James became head coach at the University of Washington (1975–1992). Pinkel was a coordinator for James’ Huskies before leaving for his own head-coaching roles.
Joseph Valencic, BA ’76, BFA ’76, Cleveland, OH, was inducted into the Cleveland International Hall of Fame on June 7, 2022. He is a founder and past president of the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame, where he currently is vice president and director of the museum and archives. When Slovenia declared independence in 1991, he led the communications campaign of United Americans for Slovenia to lobby for US recognition and repeated the effort to encourage the White House to accept Slovenia into NATO.
Valencic is the longtime president of the Cleveland Federation of Lodges of the Slovene National Benefit Society, America’s largest Slovenian organization. Each year, he organizes Slovenian programs in the Cleveland area and emcees special events. His Saturday radio broadcast (on WINT 1330 AM and 101.5 FM) features music and news from Slovenia. He writes, lectures and produces television documentaries on Slovenian American history and culture in the United States and Europe.
Gary F. Bengier, BBA ’77, San Francisco, CA, received a 2022 Independent Press Award for his book Unfettered Journey (Chiliagon Press, Sept. 5, 2020) in the category of Visionary Fiction. The international competition is judged by experts from different aspects of the book industry, and awards are based on overall excellence.
As described in the book’s trailer, “In 2161, an AI scientist seeks to understand the conscious mind. He meets a fighter on a personal mission against unjust forces. Together they struggle to find purpose in an imperfect world.” A No. 1 bestseller on Amazon, the book has won seven awards and is available in American English, plus seven other languages.
After a career in Silicon Valley, where he worked in a variety of tech companies, Bengier pursued passion projects, studying astrophysics and philosophy. He’s spent the last two decades thinking about how to live a balanced, meaningful life in a rapidly evolving technological world. Bengier was eBay’s chief financial officer and led the company’s initial and secondary public offerings. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MA in philosophy from San Francisco State University.
Terry Calaway, BS ’77, Lenexa, KS, has been elected to serve a three-year term on the Board of Trustees of Park University, a private university in Parkville, Missouri.
Calaway, who has had a 36-year career in higher education, was named president emeritus of Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas, after serving JCCC as its president from 2007-13. He was president of Central Arizona College in Coolidge from 2003-07 after spending the previous four years as CAC’s vice president of academic and student services. He currently serves as a professor of practice in the Community College Leadership Program within Kansas State University's College of Education.
He earned a doctorate in education administration from the University of Texas and a master’s degree in public administration from Cleveland State University.
Barbara Easlick, BS ’77, Wildwood, FL, was this year’s honoree at the annual Zoar Memorial Amateur Championship, which honors those who have contributed to the game of golf. She was a three-sport star at Kent State University. Upon graduation, she worked at Bent Tree Golf and Racquet Club in Sarasota, Florida, and began her quest to join the LPGA Tour, coming close several times. A native of Dover, Ohio, she came home to become the golf instructor at Zoar Golf Club for more than 25 years.
She also served as the women’s basketball coach and started the softball program at Malone University in Canton, Ohio, before becoming a professor in the School of Business. Easlick was inducted into the Malone Hall of Fame in 2002 and retired from the university in 2015 after 30 years of service. She spends winters in Wildwood, Florida, and summers in Grand Junction, Colorado.
Anthony Schepis, MA ’77, Winter Haven, FL, had two of his paintings donated by John Nativio to the Zanesville Museum of Art. The realist artist, an Ohio native, studied at the Cooper School of Art and the Cleveland Institute of Art before earning a master’s degree in fine art from Kent State. In 1979, he became the professor of drawing and painting at the Cleveland Institute of Art, and in 1998, the institute honored him with professor emeritus status.
Albert Miller, BA ’78, Dothan, AL, left his Amish roots in Holmes County, Ohio, to become a doctor and he recently published a book about the experience with his daughter, Liz. He is an emergency room doctor at Flowers Hospital in Dothan. His self-published memoir, You Can’t Do That!, is available in area bookstores and on Amazon.
Wendy Patton, BA ’78, Columbus, OH, is the new director of the Columbus Program in State Issues. She replaced state Sen. Vernon Sykes, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Kent State, who stepped down as inaugural director in June 2020 after 19 years.
Patton has a 35-year career in state and local government—including 15 years with Policy Matters Ohio—and she has worked in and around the Ohio Statehouse since 1987. She is working with Kent State’s Department of Political Science to get the Columbus program up and running after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
Wayne Dawson, BA ’79, Cleveland, OH, celebrated 40 years with Fox 8 Cleveland on July 15, 2022. Roseann “Chic” Canfora, BS ’76, MA ’87, PhD ’01, professional-in-residence with Kent State’s School of Media and Journalism, appeared on the Fox 8 News broadcast to present him with a gift basket and recall his honors from the university’s Alumni Association over the past 40 years: He was Kent State’s 2018 Homecoming parade grand marshal, and has received the William D. Taylor Journalism Alumnus of the Year Award (2014), the Diversity in Media Distinguished Leadership Award (2006) and the Cultural Diversity Award (1994). “Kent State played a big role in my life,” Dawson says. “When I graduated from Kent State, I had all the skills necessary to move right here to Fox 8.”
Douglas Hanzel, BS ’79, and Andrew Hanzel, BS ’10, Savannah, GA, won their seventh championship on July 24, 2022, in the 53rd edition of the National Father-Son Invitational at the Country Club of North Carolina. The elder Hanzel is the 2013 US Senior Amateur champion and was the low amateur at the 2012 and 2013 US Senior Open. Both Hanzels played college golf at Kent State University, where Doug, a physician, endowed a golf scholarship.
Nan Jenks-Jay, BA ’79, Sudbury, VT, received an honorary degree from Middlebury College at the commencement ceremony on May 29, 2022. She served as dean of environmental affairs and taught in the Environmental Studies program at the college for 23 years before retiring in 2019. Jenks-Jay fostered an integrated institutional vision for sustainability, launching numerous successful initiatives, including achieving carbon neutrality, establishing the LEED Platinum-certified Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest, developing a school program and labs, participating in a Global Partnerships for Sustainability program in four countries and playing a key role in the conservation of 2,400 acres of Bread Loaf lands.
She also helped create the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), which presented her with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. She received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Kent State and an MES from the Yale University School of the Environment, which honored her with its Distinguished Alumna Award during Reunion Weekend 2021.
Connie Schultz, BA ’79, Cleveland, OH, delivered the keynote address at Denison University’s 181st commencement ceremony on May 14, 2022. She also was awarded an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa. She joined Denison in Fall 2023 as Professor of Practice.
Schultz is a Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist for USA Today and author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Daughters of Erietown. She previously was a professional-in-residence at Kent State University’s School of Media and Journalism, where she taught opinion writing, feature writing and ethics.
1980s
1980s
Dave Edmonds, BBA ’80, Memphis, TN, has joined the board of directors of VerifyMe’s wholly owned subsidiary, PeriShip Global LLC, as of June 2022. He retired as senior vice president of FedEx World Wide Services in December 2020, after a 41-year career in the transportation and logistics field.
Lucinda “Cindy” Einhouse, BA ’80, Lakewood, OH, president and CEO of Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood, Ohio, has completed and published Celebrating Our Past – Creating Our Future: 90 Years of Creating Arts Experiences at Beck Center for the Arts, the first comprehensive history of the center, covering the organization’s nearly 90 years as a professional theatre and arts education nonprofit. The book is available on Amazon and all proceeds go to Beck Center’s endowment.
Einhouse served on the center’s board before she was tapped to be its president and CEO in 2007. Previously, she had been director of development for the Cleveland Institute of Music and senior development officer for the Cleveland Clinic after starting her career at Playhouse Square. She earned an MBA from Cleveland State University in 1986.
Rebecca M. Patton, BSN ’80, Lakewood, OH, is one of three co-editors of the textbook Nurses Making Policy, Third Edition: From Bedside to Boardroom (Springer Publishing Company, February 2022). This updated edition of the American Journal of Nursing award-winning book illuminates the extensive impact of nurses on health policy. The editors are donating all book royalties to help endow the $2 million Washington Fellows program, administered by the American Nurses Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the American Nurses Association.
Patton is the past two-term president of the association (ANA; 2006–2010) and holds the inaugural Endowed Perioperative Nursing Chair, Lucy Jo Atkinson Professorship in Perioperative Nursing at Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University.
Ed Donatell, MA ’81, Minneapolis, MN, joined the Minnesota Vikings as defensive coordinator, effective February 2022. He brings 31 years of NFL coaching experience to Minnesota, where he’s trying to lead a defensive turnaround.
Donatell got his first coaching job as a graduate assistant at Kent State University in 1979 and broke into the NFL as the New York Jets’ defensive backs coach in 1990. He has been a defensive backs coach for the Denver Broncos (2019–2021), Chicago Bears (2015–2018) and San Francisco 49ers (2011–2014). He was a defensive coordinator for eight seasons with the Green Bay Packers (2000–2003), Atlanta Falcons (2004–2006), University of Washington (2008) and the Denver Broncos (2019–2021).
Jeffrey Kurtz, BA ’81, MA ’89, Ravenna, OH, is a lecturer in leadership training programs for the National Interscholastic Association of Athletic Administrators. The NIAAA’s national leadership training institute offers more than 50 professional development courses for athletic administrators. Kurtz is national course chair for “Management of Game and Event Announcing” and is certified to teach other courses.
President of the board of directors for Summit County Sports Hall of Fame, Kurtz also serves as a member of the national board of directors and instructor in the National Association of Sports Public Address Announcers training/certification program. He has been an announcer for Kent State University football and basketball games and has been a softball coach in various roles with the Hudson City School District since 2007.
Rita Perea, BS ’81 MEd ’90, Des Moines, IA, president and CEO of Rita Perea Leadership Coaching and Consulting, was named one of the 2022 Women of Influence by the Business Record on Aug. 4, 2022. The awards celebrate the work of Central Iowa women who have made a difference and blazed a trail for other women. Previously, Perea had served as superintendent of two Iowa school districts, helping them recover from financial difficulty, and she developed school improvement software while working for Heartland Area Education Agency. Now, with her passion for finance and experience as a commodities trader, she’s helping women understand digital assets like cryptocurrency.
Denise McEnroe-Petitte, AS ’82, BSN ’83, CER8 ’08, New Philadelphia, OH, associate professor of nursing at Kent State University at Tuscarawas, was part of a Leadership Tuscarawas project team that partnered with the Tuscarawas County Health Department to hold a “Tobacco Take-Back” event at Cleveland Clinic Union Hospital on April 30, 2022. Currently, 16 million Americans are living with a disease caused by smoking, and studies show that those who quit begin to experience health benefits within the first 24 hours.
McEnroe-Petitte was inducted into the Academy for Associate Degree Nursing by the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing in 2020. A registered nurse since 1978, she has been teaching undergraduate nursing programs since 1996 at Kent State Tuscarawas, where she was awarded the exceptional Service-Learning Faculty Award in 2013. She earned a doctorate degree at Capella University in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2014.
Geraldine Radcliffe, MEd ’82, Canton, OH, spoke at the Salem Historical Society on March 8, 2022, about a book she co-wrote, African Americans of Canton, Ohio: Treasures of Black History (The History Press, 2019). A retired registered nurse and community health educator, Radcliffe is a frequent contributor on local Black history to the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum in Canton, Ohio.
Lisa Brindley, MEd ’83, New Philadelphia, OH, received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Claymont Foundation (Claymont City School District) on May 14, 2022. She is a 1976 graduate of Claymont High School.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1980 from The University of Akron and a master’s in early childhood education from Kent State, and did additional graduate work as well. She worked at numerous hospitals in Ohio, Arkansas and Tennessee as a cardiac nurse and nursing educator. She also worked in education at Head Start, Early Intervention and as an associate lecturer in early childhood education technology at Kent State University at Tuscarawas, retiring in May 2022.
Rochelle Broome, BS ’83, Black Mountain, NC, is medical director, virtual health, at Premise Health since January 2021. For the past seven years, she has focused on creating effective strategies and providing leadership to teams that maximize use and reporting capabilities of all technological interfaces between clinicians and patients.
She relocated to Black Mountain several years ago, where she is involved in family practice, singing at the local Unitarian Universalist church and embodying her Native American spiritual roots.
Broome earned an MD from Northeast Ohio Medical University in 1983 and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2014.
Gary Harwood, BS ’83, Kent, OH, had photos on display at the Tiger Legacy: The Story Continues exhibition in the Paul Brown Museum, within the Massillon Museum, which ran from Feb. 28 through July 10, 2022. It featured 69 photographs of players, traditions and special moments from the Massillon Tigers’ 2021 Washington High School football season.
It also included unpublished images not displayed in an earlier exhibition, Tiger Legacy II, or published in the full-color award-winning book about the football team and the community’s embrace and celebration of this tradition. Tiger Legacy: Stories of Massillon Football (Daylight Books, July 2016)—which Harwood co-edited with David Foster, BS ’08, MA ’14, associate professor of multimedia and photojournalism at Kent State University’s School of Media and Journalism—was selected as one of the 10 best photography books of summer 2016 by American Photo Magazine.
Harwood, a member of the Teach Arts Roster for the Ohio Arts Council, taught visual storytelling at Kent State University. He also is photographer and author (with David Hassler, director of Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center) of Growing Season: The Life of a Migrant Community (The Kent State University Press, Aug. 11, 2006).
Bruce Hartley, BA ’84, Tallmadge, OH, has been named new pastor at Hudson United Methodist Church, effective July 1, 2022. He had served at Granger United Methodist Church since 2017. Previous assignments have included Elyria/Lorain, Strasburg, Trinity/Mt. Gilead and Lakewood. He graduated from United Theological Seminary.
John Wagner, BS ’84, MA ’87, Forest Lake, MN, was promoted to managing editor of the County News Review by Adams Publishing Group, the newspaper’s parent company. The weekly newspaper is based in Cambridge, Minnesota. Wagner has served as sports editor of the paper since February 2019, and in February 2020 he added the responsibility of sports editor of the Forest Lake Times.
Prior to moving to Minnesota in 2018, Wagner spent 25 years on the staff of The Blade, Toledo’s daily newspaper. Before that, Wagner worked for seven years in the Kent State University athletics department, including five years as sports information director. He also helped record stats on game days with the Cleveland Indians (now the Cleveland Guardians) for two seasons and with the Cleveland Cavaliers for six seasons.
A native of Napoleon, Ohio, Wagner has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in athletic administration.
Thomas Botzman, MA ’85, PhD ’91, Alliance, Ohio, retired as president of the University of Mount Union, effective June 30, 2022. He was president since July 2020. Previously, he had been a faculty member and administrator there (1989–2004), serving as director of international studies and associate academic dean.
Botzman was a visiting professor and Fulbright Scholar at the University of the Americas in Mexico City, Mexico, teaching there for four terms (1992–1996). He also was named an American Council on Education Fellow in 2002.
Prior to becoming president at Mount Union, he served as president of Misericordia University in Dallas, Pennsylvania, for seven years.
John Hippley, BS ’85, Columbiana, OH, is the owner/operator of The Gardens at Hippley Village—a three-acre homestead on the northern edge of Columbiana County that features eight gardens and eight waterfall features. Available (via appointment) for free, self-guided tours, the private gardens have received visitors from at least 44 states and many countries since 1999—and have been a venue for weddings and wedding showers.
The site is operated and funded by The Hippley Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Its mission is to inspire good stewards of the environment while building and maintaining a venue that promotes art, enjoyment and knowledge of horticulture.
Hippley earned a bachelor’s degree in horticulture/landscaping from Kent State, and he taught and coached basketball at various area schools, retiring in 2013. He’s been a part-time assistant basketball coach at Walsh University in Canton for the past 17 seasons.
Christopher Verich, BA ’85, MA ’91, Akron, OH, marked the 25th anniversary of Ohio Brewing Co. in July 2022. Verich was the original brewer and co-owner when the brewery opened in 1997 in Trumbull County. Located in several places over the years, Ohio Brewing is now in Cuyahoga Falls.
Keith B. Wilson, BA ’85, Lexington, KY, received a 2022 ACA Fellows Award by the American Counseling Association in April 2022. The award recognizes ACA members who have advanced the counseling profession throughout their career.
Wilson is a professor of rehabilitation and counselor education in the Department of Early Childhood, Special Education and Counselor Education at the University of Kentucky College of Education. Information about his career and previous awards appeared in Class Notes for the Fall/Winter 2021-22 issue of Kent State Magazine.
Matthew Fantin, BBA ’86, MA ’88, New Philadelphia, OH, was elected to the board of the Tuscarawas Clinic for the Working Uninsured. The mission of the nonprofit organization, which celebrated its 13th year in 2022, is to improve access to health care for working, uninsured residents of Tuscarawas County who are 18–64 and at or below 199% of the federal poverty level.
Fantin also volunteers with the Tuscarawas Central Catholic Foundation, Central Catholic Finance Council, Central Catholic Board and with the Kent State University National Board of Alumni.
Charles Esque Fleming, BBA ’86, Bedford, OH, was sworn in as a judge in the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on March 11, 2022. He was nominated to serve a life term on the bench by President Joe Biden. Recently, Fleming was appointed as a judge in the court’s STAR (Successful Transitions-Accelerated Reentry) Program, which helps citizens returning from incarceration get the tools they need to find and maintain employment, avoid recidivism and live productive lives.
Fleming earned a juris doctorate from Case Western University School of Law and began his career as an associate at the Cleveland firm of Forbes, Forbes & Associates, focusing on civil litigation. In 1991, he became assistant federal public defender for the Northern District of Ohio. In 2010, he was promoted to supervisor of the investigative and paralegal staff, and six years later became supervisor of the Cleveland trial team. He also served as an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law (2007–2008).
Glenn Davis, MBA ’87, Bellefonte, PA, has an expanded role at Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Glass), as of July 2022. He continues to lead Vitro’s international sales business and now also leads the company’s sales leadership and development efforts.
Frank Janik, BA ’87, Amherst, OH, Lorain County Domestic Relations/Juvenile Court judge, was elected vice president of the Ohio Association of Juvenile Court Judges for 2022 by his peers in January. As vice president, he serves on the executive committee of the Ohio Judicial Conference serving all judges in the state.
Janik was elected judge in 2012. Prior to that, he practiced civil and criminal law for 23 years in both private practice and as an assistant Lorain County prosecutor. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law.
Sara Lee, MA ’87, Granville, OH, was promoted to senior associate director of athletics, deputy Title IX coordinator for athletics and senior woman administrator for the athletics department at Denison University, as of April 2022. Lee announced that she is stepping down as Denison’s head women’s basketball coach after 33 years leading the program.
John Rush, BS ’87, Potomac, MD, was recognized by Continental Who’s Who as a Top Healthcare Professional in the medical field in June 2022. Well-established as a physician and entrepreneur, Rush is the owner, CEO and chief medical officer of Arthritis Knee Pain Centers, a nationwide network of medical practices focused on advanced therapies to treat osteoarthritis of the knee.
Steven A. Sayers, BS ’87, Amherst, OH, was named interim superintendent for Kenston Schools for the 2022-2023 school year, effective Aug. 1, 2022.
Sayers, who received a master’s degree in school administration from Ashland University, is a veteran educator and administrator who began his career in 1987 as a math teacher, athletic director and varsity basketball coach at Keystone High School in LaGrange, Ohio. He went on to serve as high school principal at Wellington High School and Midview High School. In 2001, he was named director of personnel for Lakewood City Schools and, in 2003, became superintendent of Southeast Schools in Apple Creek. In 2008, he was named superintendent of Amherst Exempted Village Schools—after he retired from there, he was rehired in 2015. During his tenure, Amherst Schools earned a national Blue Ribbon Schools Award and the Ohio Department of Education Momentum Award.
Dana Addis, BA ’88, BSE ’92, Seville, OH, was named superintendent of the Hudson City School District in Hudson, Ohio, as of March 2022. Most recently, he was superintendent of Norton City Schools since 2017. Previously, he worked for six years as the principal of Highland High School in Medina County’s Highland Local Schools.
He spent 15 years as an English teacher and three as an athletics administrator at Copley High School and one year as assistant principal at Strongsville High School. He has a master’s degree in educational administration from The University of Akron and earned an Ohio superintendent licensure certificate from Kent State.
Mark Alexander, BFA ’88, MA ’93, Killbuck, OH, an artist and wood collector, has a semi-permanent sculpture featured at an imagination-themed art show that premiered June 12, 2022, at Holmes Center for the Arts in Millersburg, Ohio. The show and Alexander’s sculpture were made possible through a grant from the Ohio Arts Council.
Alexander did his undergraduate work in sculpture and received a master’s degree in experimental film from Kent State. He was also part of the performance art collaborative Knectiv.
Thomas Chiappini, BS ’88, Canton, OH, was inducted into Stark State College’s 2022 Alumni Hall of Fame. He joined the college in 2004 and serves as vice president of business, finance and information technology. He also served as the college’s interim president in 2011.
Chiappini earned an associate of applied science degree in electrical engineering from Stark State College in 1985, a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology from Kent State and a master’s degree in business administration from Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio. He also holds a certificate in historic preservation technology from Belmont Technical College in St. Clairsville, Ohio.
Rebecca Corbin, BA ’88, Raleigh, NC, was awarded the Triangle Business Journal Women in Business Award in March 2022. She is president and CEO for the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship, a leading nonprofit membership organization dedicated to advancing entrepreneurship education in community colleges across the US and abroad. She has raised millions of dollars to pilot, expand and scale STEM, educational and entrepreneurship initiatives.
Prior to NACCE, she served as vice president of institutional advancement and executive director of Burlington County College’s BCC Foundation and oversaw institutional advancement for the Foundation for New Jersey Public Broadcasting Inc.
She earned a master’s degree in public administration from The University of Akron and a doctorate in organizational leadership and innovation from Wilmington University in New Castle, Delaware.
Vipal Patel, BS ’88, Dayton, OH, joined the global litigation practice at Squire Patton Boggs LLP as a partner. Previously, he spent 22 years as a federal prosecutor specializing in civil litigation, white collar cases, and False Claim Act investigations. He was named acting US attorney in March 2021. He represented the United States in the investigation stemming from the August 2019 mass shooting in Dayton and in the prosecution of weapons-related charges against a friend of the shooter. He is being recognized for that work with the Attorney General’s Award, the top honor of the Department of Justice. In 2018, he was lead prosecutor in the first international terrorism trial in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
Philip Wagner, BA ’88, MEd ’90, EDS ’92, PhD ’06, Lewis Center, OH, was named the superintendent of Johnstown-Monroe School District, in Johnstown, Ohio, as of May 9, 2022. Previously, he was Licking Heights superintendent for 11 years. Wagner came to Licking Heights from Beachwood City Schools in Northeast Ohio, where he held various administrative positions, including assistant superintendent. He also served as director of pupil personnel services for the Hudson City School District and was a school psychologist for the Solon City and the Cleveland City school districts earlier in his career.
Wagner is a recipient of the Hall of Fame Alumni Leadership Award from Kent State University, as well as the William L. Hunter Distinguished Professional Award from the Ohio Association of School Personnel Administrators for his work with the Ohio Minority Recruitment Consortium. He is a past recipient of the Bowman Fellow Award in Educational Administration from Kent State University and the Distinguished Leadership Award from the Hudson City School District.
Deidra Mitchell, BS ’89, Grand Rapids, MI, was named among the 50 Most Influential Women in West Michigan and the Top 200 Most Powerful Business Leaders in West Michigan in 2022 by the Grand Rapids Business Journal. She was also named Investor Dealmaker of the Year by MIBiz.
Mitchell is president and CEO of Waséyabek Development Co., LLC, a 100% tribally owned economic development entity of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi. Since joining WDC in April 2016 and opening the Grand Rapids office, she has aligned resources, gained consensus from stakeholders, orchestrated the acquisition of seven real estate properties, four commercial businesses and two passive investments; and has expanded the federal division to over $170 million in contracts.
A recognized leader in Indian Country, she has developed and implemented tribal economic diversification stratagems. She has served as panelist and speaker at numerous local and national conferences and as cohost of Tribal Talks, a podcast focused on tribal economic development. In 2019, Mitchell organized nine of 12 federally recognized tribes in Michigan to complete a study on tribal non-gaming economic impact in the state.
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Cindee Case, BGS ’90, Canfield, OH, was named social media minister for the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, which recently established a new department of communications. She has served the diocese as director of youth and young adult ministry since 2002. She earned a master’s degree in pastoral studies with a focus on youth ministry/parish administration from Loyola University New Orleans.
Joseph French, BSE ’90, Canton, OH, received a Community Service Award for the 21st Masonic District at the Historic Canton Masonic Temple. French is CEO of Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health, the first mental health agency to pilot the Six Sigma process. A graduate of Leadership Stark County, he is a community activist who serves on the boards of Stark County District Library, Ohio Children’s Trust Fund’s Northeast Ohio Regional Committee, Adventure Place Advisory Board, Leadership Stark County, Family Council of Stark County and JRC, a nonprofit agency serving low- to moderate-income families, children and seniors. In addition, he is a two-term elected Meyers Lake Village councilman.
Mary Yacovone, MEd ’90, Youngstown, OH, is a professor of respiratory care and chair of the Department of Health Professions at Youngstown State University. She was the macebearer for the university’s spring commencement on May 7, 2022.
Daniel Borgia, PhD ’91, Dudley, MA, was named provost at Nichols College in Dudley, effective April 1, 2022. Most recently, he was dean and professor of finance at Bryant University–Beijing Institute of Technology Zhuhai, since 2017. Previously, he was dean of the Richard J. Wehle School of Business at Canisius College, associate dean in the College of Business at the University of Idaho, initial associate dean at Nottingham University Business School China, founding faculty member at Florida Gulf Coast University and founding director of its Institute of Chinese Studies.
A former China Fulbright Scholar, Borgia has written extensively on international business and finance with reference to China, working capital financing, entrepreneurial finance and financial education.
Timothy Carnahan, BSE ’91, Pawleys Island, SC, was named principal of Midway Elementary School in Lexington, South Carolina, in June 2022. An award-winning educator with 30 years of experience, Carnahan had served as principal of Lexington Elementary School since joining Lexington County School District One in 2020.
Carnahan received a master’s degree in elementary education from The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, and a doctorate in educational leadership from Nova Southeastern University in Broward County, Florida.
Stacey Drennen, BA ’91, Coshocton, OH, now owns and operates Huck’s Tavern in Coshocton. She had worked for two TV and radio stations prior to having children. Settling in Coshocton, she had wished for many years that the town had a place to grab a drink after work or meet up with friends and hang out. When an opportunity presented itself, she decided to build it herself.
Robert Gavalier, BA ’91, Youngstown, OH, joined the new department of communications for the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown as its senior multimedia production specialist, effective July 1. Previously, he served at the Catholic Telecommunications Network of Youngstown for more than 25 years, most recently as general manager.
Lynn Shimko, BFA ’91, North Canton, OH, co-founded 720 Market with her husband, David, to showcase artists and local businesses at North Canton city lots that were empty on weekends. (The name came from North Canton’s ZIP code, 44720.) Vendors at the traveling markets include local brewers (coffee and craft beer), food trucks and live music.
Shimko also has had her own graphic design business, ShimkoDesign, for more than 28 years. Work has included branding and design for all 91 Restaurant Group concepts, packaging for Harry London Chocolates, design support for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Allen Schulman & Associates and Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, to name a few.
She and her husband also were recruited by ArtsInStark to plan, organize and rebrand First Fridays in Downtown Canton for 2022.
Chris Williams, BBA ’91, Chesterfield, MO, was appointed executive vice president of Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, a preeminent distributor of beverage alcohol, effective June 1, 2022. Previously, he served in various roles at Anheuser-Busch InBev for more than 20 years. He has completed an executive MBA program through the INSEAD-Wharton Alliance. He has served on the board of directors for the Folds of Honor Foundation for eight years.
Craig Heath, BSE ’92, Dublin, OH, was selected as superintendent of Mentor Public Schools, effective Aug. 1, 2022. Recently he was the assistant superintendent in Delaware, Ohio, and previously taught Spanish at Lake Catholic High School in Mentor.
Laurie McClellan, AS ’92, AS ’93, Minerva, OH, was inducted into the Minerva High School Hall of Fame on June 11, 2022. After earning a degree in radiology technology, she worked as a radiology technologist at Alliance City Hospital and Westwood Urgent Care Center. In 1987, she joined the board of directors of Consumers National Bank. In 1998, she was appointed chairman of the board, and under her leadership the bank increased its assets from $131 million to $500 million. She is active in community service, supporting many Minerva area charities as well as Kent State University at Salem.
Teresa Simons, BBA ’92, Willoughby, OH, was named executive director of the Alliance for Working Together Foundation, as of January 2022. The foundation, based in Mentor, promotes the development of rewarding careers in manufacturing to support the long-term success and growth of the manufacturing community in Northeast Ohio.
Kathryn Tschiegg, BBA ’92, Orrville, OH, a graduate of Kent State University at Stark, is executive director and founder of Central American Medical Outreach Inc., a nondenominational, Christian-based humanitarian organization that brings life-saving medical services, education and community development to Central America.
She received the 2022 Distinguished Citizen Award, presented by the Kent State Alumni Association at a celebration on Sept. 30, 2022, at the Kent State University Hotel and Conference Center.
Tschiegg launched CAMO in 1993 after serving in the Peace Corps as a nurse in Honduras, where she witnessed the daily loss of infants due to the lack of basic life-saving resources. The organization is based on a “counterpart” model, which connects professionals as international partners with others in the same field. CAMO-USA professionals commit to a minimum of five years to develop counterpart relationships with CAMO’s Honduras professionals to promote positive change.
Ellen McWilliams-Woods, MEd ’92, PhD ’10, Kent, OH, retired at the end of June 2022 from Akron Public Schools as assistant superintendent and chief of academics after 30-plus years as a special education teacher and administrator who oversaw massive changes in academics for the district.
She also leaves a legacy of leadership as a member of the LGBTQ community, along with her wife, Wendy McWilliams-Woods, BA ’86, MEd ’88. Wendy taught in deaf education programs at Akron Public Schools and has worked at Kent State as a lecturer in special education at the School of Lifespan Development and Educational Sciences since retiring from the Akron schools 10 years ago.
The couple met at Kent State in graduate school for deaf education, and both landed student teaching positions in Akron schools that turned into permanent jobs. During their extensive careers, the couple pushed the Akron district from the inside for over three decades to be more inclusive of families like theirs.
Eric Baltrinic, MEd ’93, PhD ’14, and Heather Fye, PhD ’16, Syracuse, NY, formerly professors from the University of Alabama, joined the Syracuse University School of Education’s department of counseling and human services as associate professor and visiting assistant professor, respectively, in April 2022. The couple are graduates of Kent State’s School of Lifespan Development and Educational Sciences in the College of Education, Health and Human Services.
Baltrinic has over 20 years of counseling, research and teaching experience and is currently a qualitative evaluator for Veterans Recovery Resources funded by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. He is also one of the founding members of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision’s Teaching Interest Network.
Fye previously held faculty appointments at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Winona State University and the University of Alabama. Her work centers on school and clinical mental health professional issues. She is a co-editor of Critical Incidents in School Counseling, and serves as a peer reviewer on the editorial boards for the Journal of Counseling & Development, Measure and Evaluation in Counseling and Development and Professional School Counseling.
Paul Haynes, BA ’93, St. Paul, MN, was promoted to co-defensive coordinator in the football program at the University of Minnesota. He has been on the Gophers staff since February 2020 and will continue to coach the Gophers’ cornerbacks. He helped Minnesota’s defense finish third nationally in total defense in 2021.
Haynes was Kent State’s head football coach from 2013–17 and joined Minnesota’s staff after three seasons as Michigan State’s defensive backs coach. He was defensive coordinator at University of Arkansas in 2012 and was co-defensive coordinator at The Ohio State University in 2011.
Sylvia Radziszewski, MBA ’93, Lakewood, OH, was named chief operating officer at University Hospitals Samaritan Medical Center in Ashland, Ohio, effective Feb. 28, 2022. Most recently, she served as the regional vice president of Ohio for ChenMed’s Dedicated Senior Medical Centers in Miami, Florida. Prior to that she led numerous teams in Northeast Ohio as chief operating officer of Orthopedic One in Columbus, vice president of the Oncology Institute at Summa Health in Akron and executive director at Mercy Health Cancer Center in Lorain. She is a registered respiratory therapist.
Ted Yates, BBA ’93, Islamorada, FL, accepted the village manager position at Islamorada: Village of Islands, Florida, effective July 2022. He had served as Twinsburg, Ohio, mayor and public safety director since January 2015 and was re-elected in November 2019.
Yates has an MBA from Cleveland State University and a Juris Doctor degree from CSU’s Marshall College of Law. He practiced law with the Mansour Gavin firm in Cleveland from 2005–2010 and the Reitz, Paul & Shorr firm in Aurora, from 2010–19. Prior to that, he was a State Farm Insurance agent and associate accountant for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
Cathleen Morris, PhD ’94, Wilton, WI, was named pastor at the Florence Parish, a Christian ministry between Bethlehem Lutheran Church and the First Presbyterian Church of Florence in Florence, Wisconsin. She conducted her first worship services with the parish on Palm Sunday in April 2022.
Morris, who earned a doctorate in philosophy from Kent State, worked as director of Carroll University Outreach Programs in Waukesha for 14 years before she pursued ministry as a second career. She earned a Master of Divinity degree at McCormick Theological Seminary (a Presbyterian college) in Chicago and she also studied at Wartburg Theological Seminary (a Lutheran college) in Dubuque, Iowa. She is ordained as a Lutheran minister and has served in the La Crosse Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Gregory Beals, BS ’95, MA ’99, Columbus, OH, was recently chosen as head baseball coach at The University of Akron. Beals was a star catcher for the Golden Flashes from 1989–91, and went on to have a three-year run in the New York Mets’ minor league system. He then started his coaching career at Kent State, working as an assistant coach from 1994–2002. He was head coach at Ball State University from 2003–2010, and head coach at The Ohio State University from 2011–2022.
Kinley (Stalker) Bryan, BA ’95, Hilton Head Island, SC, has published her debut historical novel, Sisters of the Sweetwater Fury (Blue Mug Press, October 2021). The book was inspired by the stories of her great-grandparents, a schooner captain and ship’s cook, who survived the Great Lakes Storm of 1913 with their young children.
Danielle Dixon, BA ’95, Cleveland, OH, artist-in-residence at Akron Soul Train Gallery, displayed her new work at the gallery July 20–Aug. 17, 2022. For “Exhibit A,” she curated 40 years of objects from her family home, which she inherited, and used them to show how her grandparents survived the Depression. The exhibit also included poems and short stories to explain the significance of the objects.
LaDonna Dulemba, MSN ’95, New Paris, OH, received tenure and was promoted to associate professor of nursing in the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at Indiana University East in Richmond, Indiana, effective July 1, 2022. She was selected to the Class of 2020 by the Faculty Academy on Excellence in Teaching.
She earned a doctorate degree in nursing practice from the University of Cincinnati, and her research interests include rural health concerns, RN to BSN student issues and community health disparities.
Roz Lipsey, MBA ’95, Los Angeles, CA, was appointed in June 2022 as executive vice president of operations and wholesale at TPCO Holding Corp., a leading consumer-focused California cannabis company. In this newly created role, she will focus on implementing operational efficiencies and cost-saving initiatives, as well as the continued growth of the company’s omni-channel retail platform. Previously, she served as chief operating officer of MedMen, a US-based cannabis company.
Terri Miller, MLS ’95, Okemos, MI, was appointed interim dean of Michigan State University Libraries, effective July 1, 2022. She has worked in a variety of roles at the MSU Libraries for 23 years, most recently as associate dean for teaching, learning and research engagement and Slavic, East European and Central Asian bibliographer.
Vicki (Bonner) Williams, BA ’95, MEd ’98, Chesapeake, VA, was appointed dean of students and associate vice president of engagement at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, effective July 2022. She had been interim dean since February 2021. She earned a doctorate in organizational leadership from Regent University in Virginia Beach.
Shayne (Blum) Borenstein, BA ’96, Tucker, GA, earned two industry awards for editing and producing original content for HBO Max while working for WarnerMedia. She was awarded a Gold Clio Award for Original Streaming Content and a Promax Silver Award in the Behind the Scenes Campaign category. Both awards were connected to her work on the series Raised by Wolves from executive producer Ridley Scott.
John Grove, BA ’96, Seattle, WA, was appointed chief evaluation and learning officer at the Global Fund, effective Oct. 1, 2022. With more than two decades of global expertise in public health and monitoring and evaluation, he joins the Global Fund from the World Health Organization, where he has been founding director of quality assurance for norms and standards for the last three years. Prior to that, he was WHO director of information, evidence and research.
He earned a doctorate degree in health services research and evaluation from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in applied anthropology from the University of San Francisco and a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Kent State.
Shane Mizicko, BM ’96, Cape Girardeau, MO, spoke at Southeast Missouri State University’s commencement ceremony on May 14, 2022. Mizicko is professor, director of percussion and equipment manager for the university’s music department. He also leads various community outreach programs, including an afterschool drumming ensemble for middle and junior high school students and a monthly drum circle with Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation.
He has performed regularly with the Paducah Symphony Orchestra, the Jackson Tennessee Symphony, the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band and as a pit musician for more than a dozen musicals at Southeast. He is currently treasurer for the Missouri Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society and on the board of directors for the municipal band.
Before joining the faculty at Southeast, he was the director of percussion at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. He earned a master’s degree in music from Indiana University and a doctorate degree in music from Northwestern University.
Michelle L. Patrick, PhD ’96, Sewickley, PA, has been named the first woman president of Robert Morris University, effective July 2022. She had served as interim president since April. The university celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2021. Previously, Patrick served as the dean of the RMU School of Business for six years. She also was dean of the College of Business and Public Management at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, where she oversaw the transformation of the MBA program.
John Patterson Jr., PhD ’96, Jefferson, OH, was appointed as USDA state executive director, Farm Service Agency, Ohio, by President Joe Biden on April 14, 2022. The administration said these key regional leadership roles at the US Department of Agriculture and the Small Business Administration are critical to efforts to rebuild communities most impacted by the pandemic, the economic recovery and climate change.
Kevin L. Smith, MLIS ’96, Waterville, ME, was appointed director of the Colby College Libraries, effective Aug. 1, 2022. Colby is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. An authority on intellectual property, Smith previously served as dean of libraries at the University of Kansas and director of the University Press of Kansas. Smith also holds an MA from Yale Divinity School and a JD from Capital University in Ohio. He did doctoral work in theology and literature at the University of Chicago and has been admitted to the bar in Ohio and North Carolina.
Anjuman Ali-Bogaert, PhD ’97, Washington, DC, was promoted to deputy wellness editor with The Washington Post, effective July 11, 2022. She supervises a staff of writers and freelancers who create science-based service journalism focused on personal health topics.
Prior to joining The Post in 2010, she worked as an editor at the Wall Street Journal Europe and as an interactive editor, foreign editor and editorial writer for the Wisconsin State Journal, where she was part of an editorial writing team named a finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize.
Born in India, she moved to the United States to earn a doctorate in political science from Kent State. Recently, she was selected for the 2022 Health Coverage Fellowship, which focuses on issues such as public health, mental health and covering the uninsured. She has also completed fellowships at the Knight Digital Media Center and the International Women’s Media Foundation.
Christine Bowman, AA ’97, BA ’99, MA ’04, Canton, OH, local history and genealogy specialist at Massillon Public Library, presented “Why Ohio? The Move West Following the Revolutionary War” at Massillon Museum’s Brown Bag Lunch in Gessner Hall on July 25, 2022.
Prior to her current position, she taught history and humanities courses at Kent State University at Stark and The University of Akron, while working at the Tuscarawas County Public Library. She continues to teach at Kent State Stark and maintains the Massillon Heritage Foundation archives.
Timothy B. Clepper, BBA ’97, Hudson, OH, president and CEO of Kaulig Companies, and Matt Kaulig, executive chairman, announced that Kaulig Companies will replace Bridgestone as the title sponsor of the PGA Tour Champions’ Senior Players Championship at Firestone Country Club, with a four-year agreement starting in 2023.
Clepper also accepted a position on the Foundation Board of Akron Children’s Hospital, as of April 29, 2022. He will serve on multiple committees involving marketing and finance. His philanthropic support of the hospital began in 2012, with the founding of Santa PICsU, an organization dedicated to helping children and families in traumatic situations. He was one of three recipients of the 2020 Champion for Children award from the hospital.
Bryan Farson, BSE ’97, Wadsworth, OH, was selected as superintendent of Norton City Schools, effective Aug. 1, 2022. He was principal of Medina City Schools’ A.I. Root Middle School. Previously, he had been principal of Medina High School, administrator with North Olmsted City Schools and a teacher in the Independence and Maple Heights school districts. He has a master’s degree from John Carroll University and a superintendent’s license from Ashland University.
Jennifer Hermann, BA ’97, Kent, OH, brewmaster at Bell Tower Brewing in Kent, has named a lager (Hermann-ator Doppelbock) after her late father, Kenneth Wayne Hermann, PhD ’99, who taught at Kent State from 1980 to 2008. (He died Oct. 31, 2009.) She says her conversations with her father, over a beer, often became philosophical and are some of her favorite memories of time spent with her dad. As a further tribute, she’s put the initials KWH on a brewery kettle.
In March 2022, Bell Tower Brewing announced its intention to take part in a collaborative, nationwide anti-harassment and discrimination movement called Brave Noise that has called out toxic actions against women in the craft beer world. Breweries deciding to participate are given a basic recipe to use in creating their own Brave Noise beer and asked to craft a policy to address harassment and discrimination. Bell Tower’s iteration of Brave Noise is a New England hazy India Pale Ale and the brewery’s policy states there will be no tolerance for predatory behavior from customers, vendors or employees. A majority of the proceeds from sale of the beer is donated to organizations supporting the initiative’s goals.
Todd Herman, BS ’97, Dover, OH, was named the 13th superintendent of the Noble Local School District in Noble County, Ohio, on April 19, 2022. He started his career as a history teacher in the Indian Valley Local School District (1997) and then at River View High School (2003–2012). He coached several sports at various levels while at Indian Valley and was the head boys basketball coach at River View for three years. He served as principal of Conotton Valley High School for almost seven years (2012–2019) before he was named superintendent of the Conotton Valley Union Local School District in Bowerston, Ohio, in 2019. He earned a master’s degree in educational leadership from Salem International University in 2010.
Justin Hilton, BArc ’97, BS ’97, MArc ’97, Ravenna, OH, was named president of Leadership Akron, which was founded in 1984 to help develop and connect community leaders. Hilton, a former Kent State University administrator, has been on the Leadership Akron board of directors since 2020 and is a graduate of the organization’s Signature Program.
Hilton is program director at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. He is also on the leadership advisory board of the LeBron James Family Foundation, on the executive committee and board of directors of Building Bridges Foundation and on the executive committee and board of directors of the Akron/Canton chapter of 100 Who Care.
Lorenzo Jones, BGS ’97, Bedford, OH, was named principal of Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School by the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, effective Aug. 1, 2022. He had served as interim principal for the past year.
Jones has had a variety of leadership roles in education during his career, including as principal of Holy Name School in Cleveland, lead teacher at St. Thomas Aquinas Elementary School in Cleveland, developer and manager of the Chance for Change program, and as an associate teacher/counselor at the Positive Education Program in Northeast Ohio. He earned a master’s degree in education from Cleveland State University in 2001 and completed educational administration courses at Ursuline College.
Precarious Balance, watercolor on paper
Maria Ruggiero, MFA ’97, Okemos, MI, had a solo exhibition, Precarious Balance, at the Umpqua Community College Art Gallery, in Roseburg, Oregon, which ran from March 28 to April 28, 2022. The exhibit presented her series of watercolor paintings in the still life genre. Some paintings focus on personal loss while others wrestle with large-scale losses of the pandemic or explore damage inflicted on the natural world.
Ruggiero is a professor of art at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. She earned a BFA in studio art and English in 1995 at Michigan State University before coming to Kent State to study for an MFA in studio art. Her work has been exhibited across the United States and in Germany and is part of several permanent collections, including those of Michigan State University and Eastern Michigan University.
Leslie Vano, MLS ’97, Kewanee, IL, was hired as director of the Kewanee Public Library in Kewanee, effective July 5, 2022. Previously she was the patron service manager for the Morris Area Public Library in Morris, Illinois, and the information service manager for the Rockford Public Library in Rockford, Illinois.
John Wiler, MA ’97, Akron, OH, was appointed in April 2022 as senior director, M&A project manager, by Sequoia Financial Group LLC, an SEC-registered advisor providing financial planning, family wealth and asset management services. Sequoia was recently recognized by Barron’s as one of the top 100 RIA firms in the US for 2021.
Before joining Sequoia, Wiler was marketing director at MAI Capital Management in Cleveland. He has also worked for the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland and for IMG (originally International Management Group) and predecessor firm Icon Sports Management.
John Baker, BSN ’98, MN ’07, MBA ’11, Ravenna, OH, was named chief nursing officer at Cleveland Clinic Union Hospital in Dover, Ohio, effective June 1, 2022. Most recently, he was vice president of nursing and operations for Cleveland Clinic Akron General Lodi Hospital, where he oversaw clinical and operational management for nursing services, ancillary clinical areas and support services.
Kelly Manthey, BBA ’98, Mokena, IL, was appointed CEO of Kin + Carta, effective Aug. 1, 2022. She is based in the digital transformation consultancy’s US headquarters in Chicago. Manthey joined the firm in 2015 when predecessor firm St. Ives bought digital agency Solstice. In 2018 St. Ives combined its legacy agency acquisitions and rebranded as Kin + Carta, becoming the first certified B Corporation on the London Stock Exchange.
Manthey brings 25 years of digital transformation experience to the role. Most recently, she led the firm’s Americas region, growing headcount from 400 to 1,100 and expanding its share of overall revenue to 70%. Before that she was CEO and chief strategy officer of Solstice. Earlier in her career, Manthey was a manager of marketing systems at pharma firm Bristol Myers Squibb and a consultant at Accenture.
Kenneth Speegle, BA ’98, Lake Worth, FL, was named chief operating officer for Storage Rentals of America by SROA Capital LLC, its owner/operator, as of June 2022. Prior to joining SROA, Speegle spent 18 years at Extra Space Storage in various roles, most recently as senior vice president of operations, managing five divisions and over 825 property locations across the Southeast and Texas.
Shampa Banerjee, PhD ’99, San Carlos, CA, was named chief product and technology officer at Hispanic-focused Canela Media, which operates a portfolio of websites as well as free, ad-supported streaming services Canela TV and Canela Music.
Banerjee previously held senior posts at Eros International and Pluto. Before working at Eros Digital, she helped prepare social enterprise collaboration platform Socialtext for a $1.4 billion sale and was CTO at Ziff Davis Media. A trained theoretical physicist with an extensive background in technology, she will lead Canela’s Innovation Lab in addition to her executive duties. The lab was created to develop new revenue models for industry areas like production and distribution.
Larissa Carrick, BA ’99, Dover, OH, played one of the main characters, a stage mother, in “Ruthless! The Musical” at the Little Theatre of Tuscarawas County in New Philadelphia, Ohio. The production ran from April 22 through May 8, 2022. Carrick’s husband, Micah, served as music director and daughter, Elena, ran lights. Although the family has been involved in music and theatre all their lives, it was the first time they did a show together.
Michelle Doll, BFA ’99, Hoboken, NJ, lectured at the Spring Visiting Artist Series at the University of Kentucky’s School of Art and Visual Studies on March 10, 2022. Her paintings—which capture quiet, intimate moments and explore themes of love, desire and connection—have been exhibited in the United States and internationally. She earned an MFA from the New York Academy of Art.
Tameka Ellington, BA ’99, PhD ’11, Akron, OH, spoke on the art and history of Black hair at the Massillon Museum Brown Bag Lunch program on Feb. 22, 2022. Her largest project to date, TEXTURES: The History and Art of Black Hair, was exhibited at the Kent State University Museum from Sept. 10, 2021, to Aug. 14, 2022. She recently started the Ellington Foundation with the mission of supporting first-generation students studying the arts.
Mike Haney, BA ’99, Kent, OH, is in his 20th year as head coach of Kent Roosevelt High School’s baseball team. He won his 250th career game on March 30, 2022, and the program celebrated all-time win No. 600 on April 5, becoming the sixth school in Portage County history to reach that landmark number. But Haney knows that relationships are equally important. This year, he’s dedicating the season to celebrating his best friend at Kent State, Shannon Swaino, who played catcher at Kent State for two years before the Montreal Expos drafted him in 1996. The two remained close friends until Swaino died Dec. 25, 2021, following complications from COVID-19.
Priscilla Roggenkamp, MFA ’99, Alliance, OH, an artist and teacher, had a solo exhibit, The Things We Carry, at the M.I.B. Gallery in the Colonial Arts Center in Buckhannon, West Virginia, from Aug. 21 to Sept. 11, 2022. She says, “In my textile sculptures, I am often asking the question, ‘What do we carry through life, and how does that affect us? My sculptures often refer to functional forms used for carrying, such as buckets and luggage. . . . With these artworks, I explore the ways in which we carry our loads—with grace, strength and hope.”
Joseph A. Salem Jr., MLS ’99, MA ’05, PhD ’14, Apex, NC, was named the Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian and vice provost for library affairs for Duke University Libraries in Durham, North Carolina, effective Aug. 15, 2022. Most recently, he served since 2018 as dean of libraries and interim associate provost for teaching and learning innovation at Michigan State University.
Salem is active in library affairs on the national level, chairing the Association of Research Libraries Research & Analytics Committee and serving on the Big Ten Academic Alliance Big Collection Steering Committee and Library Director Executive Team. He also served as a leadership fellow of the Association of Research Libraries from 2016 to 2017.
In 2017, he was recognized as the Kent State School of Library and Information Science Alumnus of the Year.
2000s
2000s
Evan Bailey, Nicole Jabbour Awad, Charlotte Varney and Mike Beder are co-owners of the Cleveland Bagel Café.
Mike Beder, BGS ’00, Kent, OH, and Evan Bailey BS ’03, MA ’09, Shaker Heights, OH, are part owners of the Cleveland Bagel Café, now housed in the historic building on the corner of Lincoln Avenue and East Main Street in Kent. The café opened for business in its new location on Sept. 6, 2022. The Tudor-style building (designed by Kent architect Charles G. Kistler) has long been a hangout for Kent State students and faculty, as well as Kent residents. It once housed the Robin Hood Tea Room (1920s–30s), the Capt. Brady Restaurant (1940s–90s), Brady’s Café (1990s–2003) and most recently Starbucks (which closed in 2020).
Beder operates several other businesses in the city, including Water Street Tavern, Venice Café and Kent Sportswear. He also owned Tree City Café, which carried Cleveland Bagel Co.’s bagels, until he sold the business in 2021.
Bailey is a professor at Kent State’s School of Media and Journalism. He has overseen production of the Daily Kent Stater and five student-run magazines, and he has been operations manager for IdeaBase, an experiential learning experience modeling a real-life agency setting and structure.
Kenneth Cooper, DPM ’00, Woodsfield, OH, owner of the Swiss Valley Foot and Ankle Center, celebrated 20 years in practice in July 2022 at the Barnesville and Woodsfield locations. Swiss Valley staff and patients celebrated the milestone with lunch, cake, refreshments and reminiscences. A third location in St. Clairsville opened in 2015.
Christine Higham BA ’00, Tallmadge, OH, was selected as Summit County Council District 6 representative by the Summit County Democratic Party, effective June 13. She will be on the ballot in the Nov. 8 general election to keep the seat (vacated by the death of former Summit County Councilman Jerry Feeman) and complete the unexpired term (through 2024).
Higham is director of human resources and administration for Mustard Seed Market and Café and was formerly deputy director of Human Resources Summit County. She has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Kent State and a master’s degree in business administration from Tiffin University.
Gregory Lewis, AA ’00, Sacramento, CA, is a podcast creator and family history record keeper. He and his relatives recount the history of their family (based on years of research) on My American Family Tree Podcast, hosted by David Allen. The purpose of the podcast is to raise money and awareness about the African American Moncure family, who claim to be related to George Washington’s mother, Mary Ball Washington. Lewis says documentation of his DNA can be traced to Pharaoh Ramses III.
“I want the story of the Moncure family and our relationship to our nation’s founding fathers to bring new light to the ways slavery in America has impacted my ancestry from the very beginning of our nation’s history,” says Lewis, who earned an associate degree in communication from Kent State University at Stark.
Brian Meng, BS ’00, BArc ’01, Lakewood, OH, has been appointed as a board member for Lakewood Alive, a community-centered nonprofit that aims to foster and sustain vibrant neighborhoods in Lakewood, Ohio. As a licensed architect and associate principal at Bialosky Cleveland, Brian has managed nationally acclaimed mixed-use developments, including Crocker Park in Westlake and the Van Aken District in Shaker Heights. He is working on Belle Oaks in Richmond Heights and the $300 million development of Circle Square in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland.
Angela Emmons, BSE ’01, Louisville, OH, an algebra and advanced math teacher at Louisville High School, was named the Canton Repository Walsh University Teacher of the Month for April 2022.
Erin Weston, BA ’01, MEd ’04, Gordon, GA, director of the Office of First-Year Experience at Georgia College in Milledgeville, was recognized as one of 10 Outstanding First-Year Student Advocates by the National Resource Center and Cengage. Director since the office’s inception in 2019, Weston received the award at the 41st Annual Conference on The First-Year Experience in Orlando, Florida, in February 2022. She earned a doctorate in college student affairs administration from the University of Georgia in 2022.
Christine Bowser, BS ’02, Streetsboro, OH, was appointed president of Pinnacle Media, a full-service marketing communications agency based in Stow, Ohio, that serves clients in the global automotive, commercial vehicle, industrial and financial services sectors. Bowser joined Pinnacle in 2002 as a public relations account executive and most recently served as its vice president and director of account service.
Scott Bowser, BA ’02, Wilmington, NC, was promoted to market president of the Myrtle Beach and Wilmington markets for Mungo Homes, a family-run business that builds new homes throughout South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia. Mungo Homes became part of the Berkshire-Hathaway family of companies in 2018.
As market president, Bowser provides oversight and management of all daily operations. He joined the organization in late 2019 as the market vice president for Myrtle Beach and Wilmington. Under his leadership, the number of closings has increased by 210%.
Tiffany Capeles, AS ’02, BS ’04, Salt Lake City, UT, graduate of Kent State University at Stark, was named first chief equity officer at Intermountain Healthcare, a Utah-based, not-for-profit system of 33 hospitals and the largest health care provider in the Intermountain West of the United States. In addition to her focus on community inclusion, Capeles will work closely with Intermountain’s office of equity and inclusion to refine caregiver strategy, focusing on caregiver environments and creating equity and belonging in the workplace.
Most recently, she was director of health equity, diversity and inclusion for Christus Health, an international health system based in Texas, where her work led to numerous national awards, designations and recognition for the organization in the areas of health equity, diversity and inclusion.
In 2021, she earned the career achievement award from the National Association of Latino Healthcare Executives; in 2020, she was named among the Top 25 emerging leaders by Modern Healthcare; and in 2019, she received the Tomorrow’s Leaders Award from the Catholic Health Association of the United States.
Brandon Kline, BS ’02, Indianapolis, IN, was hired as marketing and communications director at The Crossroads of America Council in April 2022. Most recently, he was creative content manager for the Indiana Secretary of State.
Julianna Medina-Politsky, BA ’02, BBA ’02, Los Angeles, CA, spent nearly 10 years with Legendary Entertainment and now is a co-owner of Redbird Entertainment. The film and television production company’s first film, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain (2019), won a Gotham Award, an NAACP Image Award and Independent Spirit Award nominations. Morgan Freeman and his production company came on board as executive producers. She was a guest speaker at a “Women in Film” evening hosted by Kent State’s Female Filmmakers’ Initiative on May 2, 2022.
Jon Mills, BS ’02, Kent, OH, Kent State’s head golf coach, was inducted into the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame on July 24, 2022, at the Woodington Lake Golf Club in Tottenham, Ontario, as part of the Sotheby’s International Realty Canada Ontario Open week. A native of Belleville, Ontario, Mills was honored for his outstanding amateur and professional career, including winning the 2001 Ontario Men’s Amateur Championships as the No. 1 ranked amateur golfer.
At Kent State, he was a Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year in 1998 and All Mid-American Conference team member from 1998-2001. He also earned All-America honors, making the first team in 2000 and the third team in 2001. In 2002, he was a medalist at the NCAA Division 1 Central Regional. He was inducted into the Kent State Varsity “K” Hall of Fame in 2007, the same year he was named Score’s Canadian Male Golfer of the Year.
Mills was appointed head coach of the men’s golf program at Kent State in July 2019, after serving as assistant coach since 2016. He helped lead the team to five collegiate championships and the Mid-American Conference title in 2016–2017. In 2019, the team advanced to the NCAA Championship.
Kacie V. Armstrong, MLIS ’03, North Olmsted, OH, director of the Euclid Public Library, has been named the 2022 Librarian of the Year by the Ohio Library Council. She was recognized for her efforts to identify and address socioeconomic disparities, bridge the digital divide and increase access to social services in her community. She was honored at a special ceremony and luncheon on Sept. 28, during the 2022 OLC Convention and Expo in downtown Toledo.
During the pandemic, her efforts with print campaigns, programming and computer access led to a considerable increase in reporting of hard-to-count sections of Euclid for the 2020 census. To address the learning loss caused by the pandemic, Armstrong partnered with College Now Greater Cleveland, Euclid City Schools, and local parochial and private schools to develop academic readiness programs at the library. She even secured Euclid Public Library a designation as an ACT/SAT Boot Camp site. Armstrong worked closely with Euclid’s mayor, Police Athletic League and other organizations to provide engaging and enriching after-school activities for Euclid’s children and teens.
Armstrong also champions recruitment and retainment efforts for African American librarians and other minorities. She collaborates with library leaders and boards to develop new strategies for diversity, equity and inclusion in public libraries.
Dante Capers, BSE ’03, MEd ’06, Warren, OH, delivered the commencement speech during Kent State University at Trumbull’s ceremony on May 13, 2022. Capers, in his 15th year as an administrator in the Warren City School District, last year was named associate superintendent of student service, student wellness and success. He spent 14 years as an administrator at Warren G. Harding High School, nine as building principal and five as an assistant principal.
Melissa Coultas, BA ’03, North Canton, OH, was named vice president of development by the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce. Previously, she was chief advancement officer for Child & Adolescent Behavioral Health in Canton. She is a graduate of the 32nd class of Leadership Stark County and a member of the advisor’s committee for The Women’s Fund endowment of Stark Community Foundation.
Antonio Gates, attended fall 2001 through spring 2003, Costa Mesa, CA, was recently inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in the class of 2022. The inductees were honored at the Sound Board Theater at MotorCity Casino Hotel on Sept. 10, 2022.
Gates was a basketball standout at Kent State. He pursued a career in football, signing with the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent, and became one of the best tight ends in NFL history. Gates, who spent his 15-year career (2003-18) with the Chargers, finished as the all-time leader among tight ends in touchdowns (116). He also finished third all-time among tight ends in career receptions (955) and yards (11,841).
Damon Hays, DPM ’03, formerly of Gresham, OR, was named assistant vice president of the Iredell Physician Network in Statesville, North Carolina, in June 2022. He will oversee operations for Iredell Mooresville, the Iredell Wellness & Diabetes Center and Iredell’s ambulatory surgery center in Statesville.
A practicing podiatrist for 13 years (including his own practices for 10), Hays was president of Hays Foot and Ankle Centers and a podiatry-focused home health agency. Later, he was the director of operations for Adventist Health in Tillamook, Oregon, overseeing outpatient clinics and urgent care facilities.
Bryce Kujat, BS ’03, North Ridgeville, OH, a Navy contract pilot, is club president for Cleveland Soaring Society, which marks its 60th anniversary in 2022. The club offers a chance to pilot or ride in gliders that soar above Northeast Ohio.
Merrill Rainey, BA ’03, Whitehouse, OH, is the author and illustrator for a new interactive board book series with HarperCollins. The first book, Roar! I’m a Dinosaur (HarperFestival, July 2022), uses simple rhymes and unique eyeholes that invite young dinosaur fans (baby to 4 years) to stomp, chomp and soar like dinosaurs. The second book, Oink! I’m a Pig, launched in September and invites readers to transform into friendly farm animals.
Rainey’s previous titles include the Color, Cut, Create paper toy series (OddDot, Macmillan Publishers). He also works for many children’s magazines like Highlights, Cricket, Ranger Rick, and Humpty Dumpty. He has served on faculty at the Highlights Foundation retreat center and is currently the illustrator coordinator for the Northern Ohio chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Visit littlerainey.com or follow him on Instagram @littlerainey.
Nicole Thorne, AAB ’03, BS ’04, Empire, OH, is engaged to Michael David Buchanan and planning a fall wedding this year. She has worked at East Liverpool City Hospital as a clerk for 17 years.
Valerie (Lindon) Tracey, AAA ’03, BBA ’06, Marysville, OH, was appointed director of case management at Memorial Hospital in Marysville, as of March 31, 2022. Tracey joined the team at Memorial in 2017. In 2012, she earned a BSN from Capital University and has received an accredited case manager certification. In 2021, she passed the case management administrator certification exam. She also serves on the Ohio American Case Management Association Education Committee.
Jill Christoff, BA ’04, Shaker Heights, OH, has been promoted to senior designer at Bialosky Cleveland. Trained in architecture and interior design, she joined Bialosky in 2011 with the ability to approach projects from a fully integrated design perspective. Her experience in complex renovations led her to notable projects, including the historic Shaker Heights Public Library renovation, the relocation of Kent State University’s School of Visual Communication Design and the award-winning Lorain County Community College project. Christoff earned a Master of Architecture from the University of Notre Dame in 2009. She is certified through the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) and is a member of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and an associate of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
Sabah Drabu, MTEC ’04, Hudson, OH, is co-founder of CookinGenie, a Hudson-based company with a web platform that connects diners and personal chefs. CookinGenie gives clients the option to hire a personal chef (or “Genie”) for an occasion—such as a two-person date night dinner, family gathering, brunch or elaborate dinner party.
Customers choose from a menu of available meals and schedule a date and time. Their Genie does all the rest—shopping, meal prep, cooking and cleaning up. The chefs, who design their own menu based on mutual culinary preferences, will cook for intimate dinners, small groups or special occasions at customers’ homes.
In June 2022, the company received a $2 million seed investment from Houston-based Allison Wood Ventures that will enable it to expand to new markets nationwide.
Scott Durst, BS ’04, BArc ’05, Chicago, IL, joined Mary Cook Associates as vice president of operations for the Chicago-based commercial interior design firm as of February 2022.
Brad Gable, BS ’04, MS ’05, Dublin, OH, was recognized by the Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association as one of the 25 most influential emergency physicians under the age of 45 in the country. In addition to being a 2021 EMRA 25 Under 45 honoree, Gable also was selected by Columbus Business First for its 2022 40 Under 40 award as one of Central Ohio’s most talented young professionals. He is an attending physician with Mid-Ohio Emergency Services and medical director of simulation for the OhioHealth System.
Dustin Lent, BBA ’04, MA ’06, Rockwood, MI, is the new city manager for St. Clair Shores, Michigan, effective July 2022. Previously, he was administrator for Southgate, Michigan, where he’d begun as parks and recreation director. Lent has been involved in local government for more than 15 years.
Heather Mix, BSE ’04, MEd ’16, Diamond, OH, has been named supervisor of Helping Hands Preschool at Eliza Northrop Elementary School in Medina, Ohio. Mix has spent many years as a special education preschool teacher.
Jeremy Reed, MEd ’04, Aberdeen, SD, was named executive director of enrollment management at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minnesota. Most recently, Reed served as director of enrollment at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Previously, he was the vice president for enrollment management and student affairs at Northern State University, Aberdeen, South Dakota, and the director of undergraduate admissions at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He has a doctorate in higher education and student affairs from the University of Iowa.
Kimberly Rohr, BS ’04, MBA ’07, and Christopher Rohr, AAS ’17, Canton, OH, held a grand opening for Lost Trail Winery and Vineyard in May 2022. The winery is on 13 acres in Marlboro Township, on the outskirts of Canton. Since purchasing the property in 2008, the couple have transformed the site from a vacant lot to one with a 3,899-square-foot production facility and a 500-square-foot Adirondack-inspired tasting room with views of wildlife and an adjacent 5-acre pond. The winery is open Fridays from 5 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 to 8 p.m. For details and information on private tastings or events, visit https://losttrailwinery.com.
Garrison Wollam, BSE ’04, MEd ’10, Kent, OH, has created an anti-cancer brand called Cancer is Dumb to provide lighthearted and humorous merchandise options for supporting loved ones who have cancer. The trademarked slogan appears on a line of apparel and other items Wollam designed after he was diagnosed with leukemia in October 2019. He sells the products on a website he created while undergoing treatment.
As a father and third grade teacher at Holden Elementary School in Kent, Wollam wanted a message he would feel comfortable wearing anywhere. Believing that laughter is the best medicine, he’s recently added other slogans, such as “Cancer Skips Leg Day” (a meme reference) and “Cancer Voted for Putin.”
The type of cancer Wollam has (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) is the No. 1 form of cancer in children, and he donates 20% of all proceeds to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
Ryan Burley, MLIS ’05, Columbus, OH, was promoted to manager of the New Albany branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library as of February 2022. He had been youth services director at the branch since 2012. Most recently, he served as interim manager at the South High and Franklinton branches.
Grace Dobush, BS ’05, Berlin, Germany, has been awarded the 2022 Ohio Writer’s Scholarship, sponsored by the Sandra Carpenter Memorial Fund (SCMF)/Stockholm Writers Festival. The award is to support an Ohio woman writer (defined as anyone who is native, a long-time resident and/or Ohio educated) who is pursuing the publication of a book.
The SCMF selected Dobush on the merits of her comic novel, Dayton Beach, which she describes as a “love letter to the Midwest and to queer friendship.” She was awarded a $1,500 prize and entry and travel allowance to the Stockholm Writers Festival, which took place in Stockholm, August 12–14, 2022. The award included a meeting with a literary agent.
A freelance journalist, Dobush is the editor of ADP ReThink Quarterly, a global business publication for payroll and finance executives.
Mark Hensler, BA ’05, MArch ’06, Trafford, PA, was elevated to senior associate from associate at Strada, a cross-disciplinary design firm in Pittsburgh. The promotion was given in recognition of his leadership, project management and technological prowess.
Ben Johnson, BFA ’05, Chesterland, OH, received the Labino Award for Excellence in Glass for his artwork titled Wheat Field, in the Best of 2022 Exhibition at the Ohio Craft Museum, May 8–June 26, 2022.
Johnson earned an MFA in glass from Ball State University. His work is widely exhibited and held in the collections of the Indiana State Museum, the Evansville Art Museum and the Glick Eye Institute. His work has received numerous best-in-show awards and he has been recognized as a Rising Star in contemporary glass at the Museum of American Glass in Millville, NJ. He has taught at the Herron School of Art, Indianapolis Art Center and the Pittsburgh Glass Center. He is currently chair of Craft + Design and academic coordinator of glass at the Cleveland Institute of Art.
Jarrod Mulheman, BSE ’05, Chagrin Falls, OH, was hired as Chagrin Falls Schools director of student advancement, a newly created position. He received a two-year contract, effective Aug. 1, 2022. He has worked at Mayfield City Schools for the past 11 years, serving as associate principal of Mayfield High School and before that as the high school’s assistant principal for curriculum, instruction and staff development.
He has a Master of Education in school counseling from John Carroll University in University Heights and a Master of Science in educational leadership from Ursuline College in Pepper Pike. He is a part-time instructor at Cleveland State University for the counseling, administration, supervision and adult learning department.
John Paul, BS ’05, South Bend, IN, joined WSBT-TV 22 (covering the South Bend area) as evening co-anchor, as of July 25, 2022. Paul, an Emmy-nominated journalist, previously worked as a reporter for WSBT from 2008–2012.
Most recently, he spent seven years as anchor and consumer reporter at WATN-TV in Memphis, Tennessee, and prior to that he launched and anchored top-rated newscasts at the ABC station in Northwest Arkansas.
Benjamin Pfouts, BA ’05, Chagrin Falls, OH, joined the Fairlawn office of Kisling, Nestico & Redick, a plaintiff-side personal injury law firm, in February 2022. He previously was an attorney at the plaintiff-side personal injury and bankruptcy law firm Amourgis & Associates in Akron. He is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, the Ohio Association for Justice and the American Association for Justice.
A native of Geauga County, Pfouts earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Dayton School of Law in 2008 and began representing juveniles charged with low-level criminal offenses. He then joined the Chester Law Group in Akron, representing injured individuals.
Maria Sheakley, PhD ’05, Richland, MI, was named associate dean for student affairs for the Homer Stryker School of Medicine at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, as of April 2022. Sheakley, a founding faculty member, has chaired a variety of committees, mentored many students and, since 2020, served as assistant dean for academic success. She will lead the student affairs and academic advising teams and continue to teach physiology.
Stephanie Sweany, BS ’05, Canton, OH, was appointed executive director of the Stark County Hunger Task Force in March 2022. She has been with the organization since 2017, most recently as assistant director.
She is a graduate of the 34th Leadership Stark County’s Signature Class, a 2018 recipient of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce’s ystark! Twenty under 40! award and the 2020 recipient of the Kent State University Alumni Association’s Advocacy Award. She is engaged in various community activities, including the Canton Kindness Coalition, which she founded in 2018.
Janet Gbur, BS ’06, Canfield, OH, research biomedical engineer and investigator in the Advanced Platform Technology Center at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, will serve a three-year term on the ASTM (formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials) International board of directors.
Gbur is senior research associate in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and a member of the Advanced Manufacturing and Mechanical Reliability Center at Case Western Reserve University. She also is an adjunct faculty member in mechanical engineering at Youngstown State University. Her work focuses on fatigue and fracture behavior of materials used in biomedical applications and the development of emerging technologies to improve devices used in neural-interfacing systems.
Toby Keeton, BS ’06, BArc ’07, Wilmington, NC, has been elevated to partner-principal at Kersting Architecture in Wilmington. He joined the firm in 2008 and has been involved in the design and construction of several award-winning projects. He has won several competitions, including Architecture for Humanity’s 2008 international design competition and Dwell magazine’s 2009 Innovate It! industrial design challenge. From 2010–2020, he volunteered as a design team leader with the nonprofit The Full Belly Project, where he helped develop low cost agricultural and sanitation technologies that have been deployed to Southeast Asia, Africa and Appalachia.
Chad Lensman, BBA ’06, St. Paris, OH, has been named superintendent of Graham Local Schools in Champaign County, Ohio, by the Graham Local Board of Education, effective Aug. 1, 2022. A 2000 graduate of Graham High School, Lensman began his career with Urbana City Schools as an elementary teacher and then returned to Graham Local as an elementary assistant principal. He has also served as principal of Graham Middle School and is the director of learning for the district. He holds a master’s in early childhood education from Antioch University and a master’s in school leadership from Concordia University.
Stefanie Prevatt, BA ’06, Gainesville, FL, was honored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars as the 2021-22 VFW District 2 High School Teacher of the Year at an awards luncheon on April 23, 2022. Prevatt, who teaches agriculture at Jefferson County K-12: a Somerset School in Monticello, Florida, previously was named VFW Post 251 Middle/High Elementary Teacher of the Year. She started her career as a 4-H extension educator and became a classroom teacher about four years ago.
Sarah Shendy, BA ’06, Cuyahoga Falls, OH, was selected as one of the International Association of Chiefs of Police 40 Under 40 award winners for 2022. The annual awards program honors 40 law enforcement leaders under the age of 40 from around the world who demonstrate leadership and exemplify a deep commitment to the profession. The winners will be recognized on the IACP’s website and featured in the November 2022 issue of Police Chief magazine. Awardees will be honored during the 2022 IACP Annual Conference and Exposition in Dallas on Oct. 17, 2022.
Shendy was featured in the spring/summer 2021 issue of Kent State Magazine and in recent articles in the Akron Beacon Journal and Record-Courier.
Danielle Renee Smeach, BA ’06, Cleveland, OH, graduated in April 2022 from Ohio University with a master’s degree in business administration.
Mark Treen, BSE ’06, Akron, OH, was selected as principal of Tallmadge High School, effective Aug. 1, 2022. He previously served as assistant principal at Stow-Munroe Falls High School. He has more than 16 years in education, starting with Stow-Munroe Falls schools in 2006 as a physics instructor and advancing to assistant principal and career technical director at Stow-Munroe Falls High School. He has a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Cleveland State.
Kristin Walls, BA ’06, Crestwood, KY, is an American Meteorological Society Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and the morning meteorologist for Spectrum News 1 in Kentucky. Most recently, she and the Spectrum News 1 team had continuous live coverage of the December 2021 Mayfield tornado outbreak in Kentucky. Walls began her career as a television meteorologist at WTOV in Steubenville, Ohio, later moving to WHAS in Louisville, Kentucky. She then became chief meteorologist at KVEW/KAPP in Washington state.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in geography from Kent State, she earned a master’s degree in atmospheric science from The Ohio State University.
Sunny (Brick) Wilhelm, BSE ’06, Wellsville, OH, married Eric Wilhelm on Dec. 18, 2021, in East Liverpool, Ohio. She is a geometry teacher at East Liverpool High School and her husband is chief meteorologist at WFMJ-TV in Youngstown.
Arianna (Neading) DeGeorge, BSE ’07, Cleveland, OH, has been named principal at Bryden Elementary School in Beachwood, Ohio, as of June 2022. She served the past eight years as principal of Perry Elementary School in Perry, Ohio.
Harley King, BS ’07, Memphis, TN, was hired as associate athletic director for compliance at the University of Memphis. Most recently he was associate athletic director for compliance at Bowling Green State University. He also served as the sport administrator for Bowling Green’s men’s and women’s soccer programs and served on the department’s senior and executive staffs. King graduated from Kent State with a bachelor’s degree in sports management and earned a master’s degree in recreation and sport sciences from Ohio University in 2009.
Wendy Tietz, PhD ’07, Kent, OH, professor of accounting in Kent State’s Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship, received a 2022 Bea Sanders/AICPA Teaching Innovation Award in the first accounting sequence (first- and second-year studies) from the American Institute of CPAs in July. She was a previous winner in 2017 and 2014. She also received the prestigious 2020 American Accounting Association’s J. Michael and Mary Anne Cook/Deloitte Foundation Prize for superior undergraduate teaching in accounting.
Derek Varansky, AS ’07, BSE ’09, Bolivar, OH, was approved as superintendent of Tuscarawas Valley Local Schools, as of July 1, 2022. He completed a Doctor of Education degree from Walden University in November 2020.
At Tuscarawas Valley, he has served in the past 10 years as a fourth grade teacher, middle school dean of students and most recently as director of curriculum, instruction and federal programs. He oversees the district’s 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant after-school program.
April “Ape” Bleakney, BA ’08, BFA ’08, Cleveland, OH, a graphic designer specializing in screen printing, was selected by online voters as the winner of Round 3 in the CrossCountry Mortgage “Paint the District” competition in April 2022. Each finalist in four rounds of the year-long competition, which ended in July, received a $1,500 award from the mortgage company.
One of four finalists will receive $5,000 plus expenses and the opportunity to create a work for permanent display in CrossCountry’s new corporate headquarters in Cleveland’s Superior Arts District. A company employee panel was to select the winning proposal and award the grand prize this fall.
Bleakney launched her one-woman creative business, “APE MADE,” in 2011. She works primarily as a screen printer and utilizes only eco-friendly, hand-printing techniques. She completed residencies in Chile and Scotland and has created multiple public art and commissioned pieces.
Colin Brockett, BS ’08, Great Falls, MT, emergency medicine physician, joined the ER team at the Great Falls Clinic Hospital as of February 2022. He completed a doctorate at Ohio University’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine in Athens, Ohio, in 2014; a family medicine internship at Charleston Area Medical Center in Charleston, West Virginia, in 2015; and an emergency medicine residency at Marietta Memorial Hospital in Marietta, Ohio, in 2019.
Hallie Crouch, BS ’08, MArc ’09, Akron, OH, has been chosen for the Cleveland Bridge Builders Class of 2023, a selective leadership program hosted by the Cleveland Leadership Center. She is an associate principal at Bialosky Cleveland, the first nontraditional practitioner to hold the title. She contributes and advises on many dimensions of the practice, including business development, marketing and strategic planning. She has presented on the topics of equity and alternative careers at design schools and architecture conferences, including the 2019 National Women’s Leadership Summit. She is a frequent juror of student work at Kent State University.
Douglas Holtzman, BBA ’08, Red Bank, NJ, has joined First National Realty Partners as vice president of triple-net leasing and acquisitions, a new division. Founded in 2015, FNRP, based in Red Bank, continues to grow its nationwide portfolio of grocery-anchored, open-air retail centers in primary and key secondary markets. Holtzman is a 14-year industry veteran who specializes in investment sales and leasing of single-tenant retail properties with net leases. He began his career at Site Centers as a leasing intern while earning a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Kent State. He then joined Anchor Cleveland, where he most recently served as a vice president.
Meagan Shaheen, BS ’08, Canton, OH, was named the new chief executive officer of the Tuscarawas YMCA, effective Oct. 31. Previously, she was the district executive director of the YMCA of Central Stark County's Meyers Lake and Eric Snow Family branches. In that role, she was named a “Twenty under 40!” honoree for 2022 by the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce and The Repository. The award recognizes Stark County leaders under age 40 who have demonstrated dynamic leadership and social responsibility. Winners were recognized in the June 2022 issue of The Repository’s ABOUT magazine.
Cathryn Siegal-Berman, MA ’08, Cleveland, OH, is founder of Clevo Books, which opened a brick-and-mortar bookstore in downtown Cleveland’s 5th Street Arcades on March 31, 2022. The shop focuses on texts from around the world translated into English, along with a small selection of local literature, puzzles and accessories. The brand’s publishing arm originally focused on translated versions of German works written by women and is now expanding into other languages and including works written by men. It’s set to release several new translated titles, including cookbooks about Jewish and Korean cuisine.
Siegal-Berman, who earned a Master of Arts degree in translation studies from the Institute for Applied Linguistics at Kent State, began the publishing side of the company in 2015 after working in freelance German translation for years. Her mission for Clevo Books is to bring translators to the forefront by publishing new translations and selling other previously translated works.
Sara J. Wilson, BA ’08, Canal Fulton, OH, was sworn in as chief of the Canal Fulton Police Department in July 2022. She is the city’s first woman police chief and may be the first woman to lead a police force in Stark County (but such information is not tracked). Wilson earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Kent State University at Stark and graduated from the Stark State Police Academy in 2013. She worked as a police officer for the Canal Fulton Police for nine years before her promotion.
Ashley Johnson, BA ’09, Cleveland, OH, was named a “Twenty under 40!” honoree for 2022 by the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce and The Repository. Johnson is senior project manager at Innis Maggiore, an ad agency in Canton. The award recognizes Stark County leaders under age 40 who have demonstrated dynamic leadership and social responsibility. Winners were recognized in the June 2022 issue of The Repository’s ABOUT magazine.
With Innis Maggiore since 2017, Johnson leads a team of managers for digital, web and creative to keep projects on track in terms of time and budget. She also has been a board member with the Domestic Violence Project Inc. since 2019.
Kolter Kiess, MA ’09, Bucyrus, OH, served with the Peace Corps for several years in Mandalay, Myanmar, the last year and a half as country director of the Teacher Training Center, until the military staged a coup in February 2021. He came home in April 2021 to apply for a visa for his fiancée, who is from Myanmar and has had to hide from the military.
In October 2021, Kiess became the young adult librarian at the Bucyrus Public Library, where he uses his experiences and expertise from living abroad (he also served with the Peace Corps in Ukraine and China). He has a master’s degree in literature from Kent State and a master’s degree in teaching from Teachers College at Columbia University.
Anna Kowalksa, BA ’09, MA ’14, Smyrna, GA, was announced as the head women’s basketball coach for Wheeling University in West Virginia on May 23, 2022. She is the 13th head coach in program history and takes over a Wheeling team that made it to the quarterfinals of the Mountain East Conference playoffs last season.
She was the head women’s basketball coach at Life University in Marietta, Georgia, for the 2021-22 season. She led her team to the 2022 Mid-South Conference playoffs, setting them up for future success. Off the court, she places a strong emphasis on academics.
Yvonne R. Lee, BA ’09, PhD ’20, Easton, PA, assistant director of the Graduate Writers’ Studio at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, introduced “From Left to Write” this spring, a program that encourages graduate and doctoral students to participate in the studio’s programs and receive emotional support while writing their theses and dissertations.
Jason Mogus, BA ’09, Waynesburg, OH, was named a “Twenty under 40!” honoree for 2022 by the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce and The Repository in Canton. Mogus is owner and clinical director of the Center for Renewed Minds LLC. The award honors Stark County leaders under age 40 who have demonstrated dynamic leadership and social responsibility. Winners were recognized in the June 2022 issue of The Repository’s ABOUT magazine.
Christian Palich, BA ’09, Plain City, OH, was appointed by Gov. Mike DeWine to the Kent State University Board of Trustees in June 2022. He will serve through May 16, 2031. Palich is vice president of public affairs for Taft, Stettinus & Hollister, where he advocates on behalf of clients in multiple sectors in Washington, DC; Columbus, Ohio; and states across the nation.
Ikeshia Smith, BS ’09, Canton, OH, a clinical psychologist, hosted the first Stark County Minority Mental Health Gala: Bridging the Gap Between Mental Health Agencies and Minority Churches, at First Christian Church’s Heritage Hall on July 8, 2022. The free event was sponsored by the Stark County Blessing Box Initiative and Primary Residential Mortgage.
Smith is chief strategist for Mind Your Business, a religious nonprofit organization dedicated to the psychological well-being of communities and churches. She also has a private telehealth practice based in Mentor and is a psychological resident with OhioGuidestone, a behavioral health service. She was spurred to increase awareness about minority mental health in 2021 after a minority social worker she knew died by suicide.
While working on a doctorate in clinical psychology at Capella University, Smith uncovered research on minorities’ reluctance to seek mental health care. More than 90% of African Americans use their faith or spirituality to cope with mental health issues and various stressors. For some it is successful, for others it is not enough. Smith created No Judgment Zones in 2020 to increase awareness of the issue and to provide pastors with resources to help their parishioners.
2010s
2010s
Kent Hamilton, BS ’10, Canton, OH, was named a “Twenty under 40!” honoree for 2022 by the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce and The Repository. Hamilton is a physical education teacher for Plain Local Schools. The award recognizes Stark County leaders under age 40 who have demonstrated dynamic leadership and social responsibility. Winners were recognized in the June 2022 issue of The Repository’s ABOUT magazine.
Stephanie Hand-Cannane, BA ’10, Massillon, OH, has been selected to participate in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity’s Pathfinder Program, which offers resources to early-career attorneys for developing foundational leadership skills. She is an associate in the Cleveland office of McGlinchey Stafford, representing a wide range of financial institutions in litigated matters. She defends lending and servicing clients against alleged violations of regulatory statutes. She was named to Best Lawyers’ “Ones to Watch” list in 2021 and recognized as a “Rising Star” by Ohio Super Lawyers in 2021–2022. She is active with the Ohio State Bar Association and the Ohio Women’s Bar Association. McGlinchey has sponsored an attorney in LCLD’s Pathfinder Program since 2019.
Nitie Sroa, DPM ’10, Bryan, Ohio, a board-certified surgical podiatrist, is seeing patients at the Midwest Foot and Ankle Clinic at Paulding County Hospital in Paulding, as of May 2022. Sroa is a Fellow of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons.
Cristal Vincent, BS ’10, Archbold, OH, was named executive director at Ohio Living Dorothy Love, a retirement community in Sidney, Ohio, effective May 16, 2022. Most recently, she served as the CEO of Fairlawn Retirement Community in Archbold, and previously spent seven years at Heritage Manor in Youngstown, including three years as CEO.
In addition to her nursing home administrator license, Vincent received a bachelor’s degree in integrated health studies and health care administration from Kent State and was certified in long-term care administration by St. Joseph’s College. She is a member of the American College of Health Care Administrators.
Travis Clarke, BS ’11, MArc ’12, Cleveland, OH, has been promoted to associate at Bialosky Cleveland after five years with the firm. He has served as an architectural designer for high-profile projects, including the NASA Glenn Research Center Research Support Building in Cleveland and the US Ashley Courthouse modernization and annex in Toledo.
Jon-Erik Gilot, MLIS ’11, Dillonvale, OH, gave a lecture on the life of Dangerfield Newby, a former slave and resident of Bridgeport, Ohio, at the Civil War Round Table of the Mid-Ohio Valley, on April 16, 2022, at West Virginia Independence Hall in Wheeling.
Gilot has worked in the field of public history for more than 15 years and is active in numerous historical organizations. He has been a contributing historian at Emerging Civil War since 2018. His first book in the Emerging Civil War Series, John Brown’s Raid: Harpers Ferry and the Coming of the Civil War (with co-author Kevin Pawlak), will be published Feb. 15, 2023, by Savas Beatie.
He serves as curator of the Captain Thomas Espy Post No. 153 of the Grand Army of the Republic at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. He also works as an archivist and records manager in Wheeling.
Chris Mobley, BSE ’11, Dayton, OH, was named head football coach at West Carrollton High School near Dayton, effective Feb. 28, 2022. Previously, he was head football coach at Hughes STEM High School in Cincinnati, beginning in 2016. He had the best winning percentage of any coach in that school’s history.
Sandy (Weigel) Tilberg, BA ’11, Lakewood, OH, has been promoted to senior interior designer at Bialosky Cleveland. Over her 10 years at the firm, she’s brought a sophisticated and detailed design approach to projects ranging from interior renovations to new construction. Notable works include John Carroll University’s Student Success Center in University Heights and the 375-unit mixed-use development, Belle Oaks, in Richmond Heights. She earned a bachelor’s degree in interior design from Kent State.
Brittany House Conrad, MEd ’12, CER6 ’12, Marengo, OH, was named the COMPASS team’s executive director of career engagement and professional development at Wittenberg University on March 20, 2022. She previously was assistant dean, advocacy and intervention, in the Dean of Students’ Office at the University of Dayton. House Conrad earned a PhD in higher education administration from Bowling Green University in April 2022.
Jessica Leveto, PhD ’12, CER6 ’21, Conneaut, OH, associate professor of sociology at Kent State University at Ashtabula, is examining the impact of COVID-19 on mothers in academia and policies that will make higher education more accessible for caregiving faculty and students. A mother of three, she is the founder and administrator of PhD Mamas, an online support community of more than 14,000 mothers in academia worldwide. She is a proud first-generation college graduate committed to diversity, equity and inclusion of historically underrepresented and marginalized groups.
Leveto was quoted in a May 31, 2022, story in the journal Nature, titled “Has the ‘great resignation’ hit academia?” She has surveyed roughly 1,000 US university faculty members over the past two years to monitor how the pandemic affected career outlook, but has not yet published the results. In 2021, she says, respondents were angry and frustrated because they felt universities were too eager to put them back into classrooms amid pandemic safety concerns.
Kayla Thompson, BSN ’12, Martinsburg, PA, joined Mount Nittany Physician Group Pediatrics, which has family medicine and pediatric practices at six locations throughout the State College, Pennsylvania, region. Thompson is a certified pediatric nurse practitioner–primary care and is certified in pediatric advanced life support, advanced cardiac life support and advanced trauma care for nurses.
She has an MSN from Drexel University and has experience at community and specialized pediatric care centers in Central Pennsylvania and Ohio, most notably at Akron Children’s Hospital and Cleveland Clinic.
Coty Giannelli, BS ’13, and Hayley Bennett, BFA ’08, MA ’14, Kent, OH, are renovating the unique brick building at the corner of Depeyster and Summit streets to house their new business, Board and Bevy, to open in October or November 2022*. Board and Bevy will be a family-friendly alternative to Kent’s downtown venues, with a focus on playing board games geared toward all age and skill levels, in addition to food and unique local beverages. Drink choices will include cocktails, mocktails, kombucha and craft sodas from an old-style soda fountain (all spiked or straight) plus sandwiches and snacks.
The couple have enjoyed learning about the history of the building, which was designed by Charles G. Kistler, Kent’s first licensed architect. In the past, the building has housed Ferrara’s Market, a doctor’s office, and boutiques and other service-oriented businesses. They hope to host about 50 gamers at any given time, and will be open Thursdays through Sundays, roughly from 1 to 10 p.m. or midnight, depending on the day.
*The opening is now planned for summer 2023; for updates see their Facebook page.
Rome Marinelli, AA ’13, Dover, OH, has been a drainage specialist at the Stark Soil & Water Conservation District since April 21. He provides technical advice and resources to residents of Stark County with drainage concerns such as runoff, ponding water in the backyard, neighbor’s downspouts, stream erosion and flooding.
Marinelli has worked in the natural resources field since 2017 with previous work as a horticulturist, landscaper, community advocate, grant writer and president of a pollinator habitat nonprofit organization.
Erik Mathis, MA ’13, Strongsville, OH, joined Cleveland State University as senior associate athletics director for compliance in June 2022. Previously, he was assistant athletics director for compliance at The University of Akron since November 2015.
Rich Pierce, BS ’13, Aliquippa, PA, joined WPXI-TV (Pittsburgh, PA) as a general assignment reporter, effective June 27, 2022. He studied broadcast journalism at Kent State, where he won multiple awards in both news and sports broadcasting. Upon graduation, he joined WTOV9 in Steubenville, Ohio, anchoring NEWS9Live at Five, NEWS9 at Six Monday through Friday and NEWS9 Midday.
Codi Pilkington, BA ’13, BA ’13, MLIS ’22, Geneva OH, was promoted to public services manager at Geneva Public Library in July 2022. He previously was the library’s circulation manager since 2020. He began his career with the Ashtabula County District Library as a part-time circulation assistant at the Ashtabula Public Library in 2017. Pilkington earned bachelor’s degrees in English and sociology from Kent State University at Ashtabula.
Jeffrey Rothweiler, MLIS ’13, Newark, OH, is the director and fiscal officer for the Pataskala Public Library as well as president of the Pataskala Area Chamber of Commerce and the fiscal officer for Alexandria Public Library.
Corey Conners, BS ’14, Jupiter, FL, PGA Tour golfer, joined DemandScience as brand ambassador for the global B2B data company in June 2022. The company now has partnerships with 15 elite professional golfers from North America and Europe who use DemandScience–branded yardage books during play as they determine their best competitive moves.
Conners, who majored in actuarial mathematics at Kent State and turned pro in 2015, says “using data and analysis as part of my decision-making on the golf course has been a key to success.”
As of Sept. 1, Connors ranks 26th in the FedExCup standings and his yearly earnings total $3,876,590.
Chelsea (McIntire) Gayre, AAS ’14, BSN ’19, Juliette, GA, a graduate student in the College of Nursing at Auburn University, was named to the 2022-23 class of Albert Schweitzer Fellows, the largest cohort to date for the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship of Alabama. The class of 20 students will spend 13 months immersed in community public health projects. Gayre’s fellowship project involves implementing telehealth services within primary care offices. She currently holds a part-time registered nurse position in the cardiac catheterization lab at Wellstar Health System in Georgia.
Diandra N. (Proctor) Harvin, BS ’14, Tampa, FL, launched a Black-woman-owned luxurious loungewear brand, Noite Rose, in October 2021. Pieces in the collection include dresses, rompers and sets, in sizes S-XXL. Most recently, she was brand marketing manager at Tech Data in Clearwater, Florida. She earned a bachelor’s degree in fashion merchandising from Kent State and an MBA from the University of Tampa in 2016.
Laura Catherine McIntosh, BA ’14, Astoria, NY, was hired as impact marketing manager of Harvard Medical School in June 2022. Most recently, she was global strategic marketing manager, medical device and pathology, at Charles River Laboratories since January 2021. She earned a master’s degree in global marketing management from Boston University in 2022.
Louis Myers, BA ’14, MLIS ’20, Washington, DC, legal reference librarian at the Law Library of Congress, presented a webinar, “An Overview of Treaty Research,” in August 2022. The webinar introduced resources and strategies to effectively research three areas of treaty practice: US bilateral treaties, foreign bilateral treaties and multilateral treaties.
Taylor Pendrith, BS ’14, Richmond Hill, ON, made a successful return to the PGA Tour in July 2022, after recovering from a rib injury he suffered while golfing in March.
He tied for 2nd at the Rocket Mortgage Classic held July 28–31 at the Detroit Golf Club in Michigan and tied for 8th at the BMW Championship held Aug. 16–21 at the Wilmington Country Club in Delaware.
As of Sept. 1, Pendrith ranks 47th in the FedExCup standings and his yearly earnings total $2,330,840, despite missing a large chunk of the 2021-22 season.
Dylan Ratell, BFA ’14, MFA ’22, Bay City, MI, was director and choreographer for a hit production of Godspell at Porthouse Theatre in July 2022. The rendition was the Broadway revival version, which ran in 2011-2012. (The original Stephen Schwartz musical premiered on Broadway in 1976.)
The cast was mostly made up of current Kent State students or graduates. Receiving special note in an Akron Beacon Journal review were the performances of Ben Richardson-Piché, BFA ’22, of Durham, NC, as Jesus; Brian Hirsch, BFA ’22, of Akron, who sang “Light of the World” as George, and Kent State junior Charles Kadair of Bath, who sang “All Good Gifts” as Telly.
Tyler Vallinger, MA ’14, MAT ’15, Youngstown, OH, married Ericka Leigh Bella on April 22, 2022, at Holy Family Church in Poland, Ohio. He is an assistant principal with Brookfield Local Schools.
Krandall Brantley, BS ’15, Zanesville, OH, is diversity outreach coordinator at Zane State College in Zanesville. After earning a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Kent State, which led to internships in Cleveland and Dallas, he earned a master’s degree in sports journalism from Arizona State in 2016. When sports shut down during the pandemic, he returned to Zanesville. At Zane State College, his role is to recruit and retain students of color and to work with Zanesville community leaders.
Joe Chenevey, XAS ’15, BTAS ’16, Akron, OH, has been promoted to director of web services at Innis Maggiore, where he recently served as director of technology. In his new role, he will manage the implementation of all web initiatives for the Northeast Ohio advertising agency and its clients.
Katie Clark and family; Mike Cardew, Akron Beacon Journal
Kathryn “Katie” Clark, BS ’15, Silver Lake, OH, finished her residency training in family medicine at Cleveland Clinic Akron General hospital in May 2022. She started her position as a staff physician in family medicine at the Akron General Health and Wellness Center in Stow in June.
She had wanted to be a physician since she was in the third grade, but she became a single mom at age 15 and had another child as a college freshman. She raised two sons on her own until marrying her husband, a medical student, in 2000. He adopted her boys, and the couple moved several times during his residency training. During that time, she had two more sons and earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology at the University of Kentucky.
By 2013, when her youngest son was in preschool, the mother of four decided to pursue her long-held dream of becoming a doctor. She and her eldest son, Brian, took classes at Kent State at the same time. After earning a bachelor’s degree in biology from Kent State, she was accepted into a new Ohio University program in Cleveland that is affiliated with Cleveland Clinic. She decided to share her story to encourage others to “pursue their dreams in spite of barriers that are bound to come up for anyone at any time.”
Alexandra “Alex” Dowell, XAA ’15, BA ’16, Canton, OH, event manager with the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, managed the Canton Repository Grand Parade during Pro Football Hall of Fame Week, on Aug. 6, 2022. Planning for the parade, one of Stark County’s longest held traditions, begins in January and takes roughly 850 hours of work.
Prior to joining the chamber of commerce, Dowell completed Leadership Stark County’s Spotlight for Young Professionals program.
Alyssa Haberman, BS ’15, San Diego, CA, returned to Audacy Alternative radio “Alt 94.9” KBZT San Diego, as the station’s midday host, effective March 14, 2022. She had previously hosted middays at the station from 2016 to 2020 and served as music director from 2018 to 2020. Prior to that she had hosted nights at CHR “Q92” WDJQ Canton, Ohio, and was on-air at Kent State University’s Black Squirrel Radio.
Patricia Hartley, MA ’15, Florence, AL, is now content director for Ad4! Group. She has been part of the team for the last five years as their blogger. Ad4! is a full-service agency based in Madison, Alabama, specializing in branding, marketing strategies, digital marketing campaigns, social media and more.
Hartley, a freelance writer since 2018, holds a master’s degree in English from the University of North Alabama, as well as a master’s degree in mass communication/public relations from Kent State.
In addition to her work with Ad4! Group, she also serves as the managing editor of Connecting Directors, an online newsletter for death care professionals, and is a regular contributor to Family History Daily, a genealogy publication.
Trevor Householder, XAS ’15, BSE ’15, Canton, OH, is education programmer for Stark Parks. In that role, he develops, coordinates and presents interpretive and educational programming and events in the areas of nature, history and recreation throughout various locations within the Stark County Park District.
Kayla Ivey, BS ’15, Akron, OH, is a product development chemist at Gojo Industries, where she is lead formulator for the Purell brand of hand sanitizer. The company, located in Cuyahoga Falls, activated its demand surge preparedness team in December 2019 in response to news of COVID-19, and over subsequent months responded to staggering demand by activating more manufacturing space, adding multiple new facilities and hiring more than 500 additional employees.
Meanwhile, Ivey launched multiple hand sanitizer products, including a moisturizing two-in-one product. In August 2021, she introduced herself on Twitter using #BlackInChemRollCall—a hashtag for Black scientists to talk about their expertise and their journey in chemistry—and shared photos of two products she had developed. The tweet generated thousands of likes and invitations to speak at high school and college chemistry classes.
“One of the things I try to get across is how far you can go with a bachelor’s degree, like me. Then I bring in friends with advanced degrees to show how far you can go with your master’s or your PhD,” she says. “My transition to getting hired at Gojo was pretty seamless, because the company already has a relationship with my university.”
Marc Majers, MS ’15, Broadview Heights, OH, Kent State iSchool UXD adjunct professor, released his second book, Make Your Customers Dance: The Key to User Experience is Knowing Your Audience (independently published, December 2020). The book outlines a step-by-step process to design persuasive and effective user interfaces.
Todd McCormick, AAB ’15, Mineral Ridge, OH, was named manager of the 717 Credit Union’s newest downtown Warren branch. McCormick has over four years of credit union experience and holds an associate degree in business management from Kent State.
Ashley Moore, BBA ’15, XXA ’15, Mount Vernon, OH, was named a “Twenty under 40!” honoree for 2022 by the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce and The Repository. Moore is the Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital coordinator of community outreach. The award recognizes Stark County leaders under age 40 who have demonstrated dynamic leadership and social responsibility. Winners were recognized in the June 2022 issue of The Repository’s ABOUT magazine.
Cyrus Moore, MA ’15, Guysville, OH, discussed the impact of the Civilian Conservation Corps at the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum in Loudonville, Ohio, on April 18, 2022. The CCC began with the Emergency Conservation Work Act passed in March 1933 as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Through the program, young unemployed men between the ages of 17 and 25 were employed in projects to conserve natural resources and reverse the effects of over-farming and industrial farming that were degrading land and soil.
Moore is the director of the Baltimore Community Museum in Baltimore, Ohio. In addition to research and writing, he is involved in living history, most often portraying soldiers in WWI and enrollees in the CCC.
Zach Nowak, BSE ’15, MA ’17, Concord, OH, joined USA Hockey as coordinator of coaching education and player development assistant, effective April 11, 2022. Most recently, he served as head coach of the Kent State University D1 club ice hockey team in 2021–22 and previously was head coach of the inaugural D3 club team for Kent State.
Since 2017, Nowak has volunteered as the goalie coach-in-chief for USA Hockey’s Mid-American District where, among other things, he helped develop curriculum and research-based learning activities. He has worked as an intervention specialist with Stow City Schools since 2019.
Christopher Persons, BS ’15, MArc ’16, Cleveland, OH, has become a licensed architect in Ohio. He is an associate at Bialosky Cleveland, where he has designed and managed projects since 2015. His graduate project, Drydock No. 2, earned a Merit Award from AIA Cleveland in 2016. His current projects include Library Lofts in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland and MAGNET, an innovation hub for manufacturing and workforce development in Cleveland’s Midtown neighborhood.
Ethan Rothermel, BS ’15, MArc ’16, Cleveland, OH, has become a licensed architect in Ohio. He joined Bialosky Cleveland last year with a design portfolio that spanned architecture and furniture design. Rothermel earned a master’s degree in architecture from Kent State, which included a semester abroad in Florence, Italy. He is currently a project architect on two significant projects—Library Lofts in Cleveland’s University Circle neighborhood and the Walz Library Branch/Karam Senior Housing development in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood in Cleveland. Both projects host a Cleveland Public Library branch on the ground floor and have apartments above.
Gabriella “Gabby” Stanek, XAA ’15, BBA ’17, Dellroy, OH, was promoted to retail banking manager of Unified Bank, headquartered in Martins Ferry, Ohio, since 1902. Stanek has served as a customer service supervisor with Unified’s Dellroy Banking Center for the past five years. In her new position, Stanek—a graduate of Kent State University at Tuscarawas—will facilitate mortgage and home loans in addition to auto and personal loans. Her service areas have been expanded to include Dellroy, Sherrodsville and Jewett.
Alexander Wigoda, BS ’15, Sedro-Woolley, WA, is the principal of schedule optimization for Alaska Airlines. The airline launched its first nonstop flight from Cleveland to Seattle on June 16, 2022. Wigoda was on the inaugural eastbound flight from Seattle, which was greeted with a water-cannon salute upon landing.
The Pittsburgh native and Kent State graduate chose the numbers for the new Cleveland flights, playing off the region’s area codes: The eastbound flight is AS 216, westbound is AS 330. Wigoda, whose wife is from Hudson and who has family and friends in the area, says he’s been pushing for a Cleveland flight—and initial bookings have exceeded the carrier’s expectations.
Abby Arnold, MPA ’16, Toledo, OH, is a deputy mayor for the city of Toledo. She serves on the mayor’s cabinet in a co-management team, directly overseeing the infrastructure departments of Transportation, Parks and Youth Services, Public Service and Public Utilities.
Greta (Cukrov) Babakhanova, MS ’16, PhD ’19, North Potomac, MD, is a physicist in the Biomaterials Group of the Biosystems and Biomaterials Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland, where she secured a National Research Council postdoctoral fellowship in 2019–2021.
In her article “How Henrietta Lacks Changed My View of Human Cells as a Physicist” (YubaNet.com, June 2022), Babakhanova wrote about how reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (Crown, March 2011) gave her a new appreciation for the donors of the human biological cells she studies in the lab.
At Kent State, she performed her dissertation research in chemical physics in the lab of Oleg D. Lavrentovich, PhD, and she won the Graduate Student Research Award in 2017 and 2018.
Jennifer Coventry, MLIS ’16, Columbus, OH, is now a digital instructional accessibility specialist at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy, effective January 2022. She collaborates with pharmacy faculty and the Office of Educational Innovation and Scholarship to help ensure that all online course materials are accessible to students with disabilities. Previously, she was a librarian at Wadsworth Public Library, youth services coordinator at Newcomerstown Public Library and library assistant at Claymont Public Library.
From left to right: Brandon Lazenko, Shelby Wyant, Marcy King and Robert Kurtzman
Brandon Lazenko, BS ’16, Kent, OH, is co-producing and directing an adaptation of Stephen King’s short story “Nona,” published in King’s 1978 Shadows anthology. In the story, a young professor is hitchhiking back to his hometown after being fired and gets involved with a woman who is seeking vengeance.
The project is part of King’s Dollar Baby program, which allows students and independent filmmakers to apply for the rights to adapt a lesser-known King story for $1.
Lazenko and others involved in the project—including co-writer and producer Shelby Wyant, BSE ’18, Bexley, OH, and executive producers Robert Kurtzman and his wife, Marcy King, (who have worked on other King adaptations)—secured funding and began production in mid-August. Information about the film’s release will be posted on its social media pages: https://www.instagram.com/nonafilmofficial/ and https://www.facebook.com/nonafilmofficial.
Most of the crew met in college at Kent State. So far, Lazenko has made two miniseries and four short films, including 2021’s award-winning A Serpent by the Nest.
Amy Numrich, MLIS ’16, Hamilton, OH, assistant branch manager of the Lane Library in Hamilton’s German Village, launched a cooking series called “Soup’s On,” which runs in the fall and winter months, but can be seen year-round thanks to the Lane Libraries’ official YouTube Channel. It’s just one of the ways that Numrich—who also attended the Midwest Culinary Institute in Cincinnati—shares her love of cooking with her community.
Danniel Thomas-Dodd, BS ’16, MA ’17, Kent, OH, former Kent State national shot put champion, placed 10th in the World Athletics Championships at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field. She recorded a top throw of 18.29 meters (just over 60 feet). Thomas-Dodd placed sixth at the World Indoor Championships held earlier this year in Serbia with a top toss of 19.12 meters.
Amanda Tidwell, BFA ’16, North Royalton, OH, was part of the ensemble cast for Sondheim on Sondheim, which ran Aug. 4-14 at the Cain Park Alma Theater in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
Katelyn Walker, BA ’16, Cleveland, OH, an interior designer with Bialosky Cleveland, was named to the “20 in Their Twenties” list by Crain’s Cleveland Business in June 2022. She joined Bialosky Cleveland in 2016 and has established her reputation as an accomplished interior designer, a selfless volunteer and an advocate for wellness in the built environment.
Alexis Walters, BA ’16, BS ’16, Cleveland, OH, joined Fox 8 News as a meteorologist on March 30, 2022. Previously, she worked at WKBN-TV in Youngstown for five years, delivering weather forecasts and anchoring the weekday evening news. Her bachelor’s degrees from Kent State are in applied communication and broadcast journalism. She also earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast and operational meteorology from Mississippi State University in 2020.
Matthew Fernandez, DPM ’17, Elkin, NC, joined Hugh Chatham Medical Group in Elkin, effective Dec. 6, 2021. His clinical interests include sports medicine, diabetic limb treatment and trauma. Most recently, he was at Carolina Foot Centers in Charleston, South Carolina. Fernandez earned a doctorate at Kent State University College of Podiatric Medicine. He completed his podiatry residency at the University of Florida, where he earned the leadership role of chief resident.
Nicholas Holley, BBA ’17, Ottawa Lake, MI, was signed to the Calgary Stampeders as a receiver in February 2022. At Kent State, Holley was a member of the Football Academic All-MAC (Mid-American Conference) Team in 2014 and 2016.
Rachel Mangan, BBA ’17, Lebanon, TN, recently joined Nashville-based Dirickson Law as an associate attorney. She received her JD with a concentration in entertainment and music business from Belmont University College of Law in Nashville. While there, she was on the Dean’s List and served as managing editor of the Belmont Law Review.
Sarah Matthews, BS ’17, Washington, DC, who served as deputy press secretary for President Donald Trump, appeared on July 21, 2022, before the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack. She had resigned from her position shortly after a mob stormed and vandalized the Capitol. She now works as the communications director for Republicans on the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, a position she has held since February 2021.
Devvon Dettra, CER8 ’18, Pleasant City, OH, was named superintendent of Rolling Hills School District in Cambridge, Ohio, as of July 31, 2022. Most recently, he was principal of the district’s Meadowbrook High School for four years.
Von E. Jones Jr., BS ’18, Stow, OH, was inducted into Marquis Who’s Who in March 2022. He earned a bachelor’s degree in applied engineering and technology management at Kent State and has worked as a building mechanic contractor for FirstEnergy since 2018. In addition, he has owned and operated Mobile Foamzone & Detailing since 2019. His successful Black-owned business has been featured in the Akron Beacon Journal, Cleveland Magazine and The Stow Sentry.
Talia Hodge, BS ’18, Coventry Township, OH, was awarded a fellowship grant for a project sponsored by the Akron Black Artist Guild, with funding from the Ohio Arts Council. The goal of the Reimagine Fellowship is to bring people together. It pairs three artists with community organizations in three neighborhoods to create something that will continue each neighborhood’s momentum. The fellowship awards the artists a $4,000 stipend and $2,000 for materials. Hodge, who earned a degree in photography at Kent State, plans to create a portrait series of people who are symbolic of the Kenmore community’s character.
Paige Bennett, XAS ’19, BS ’20, Olmsted Township, OH, began working for The Repository in Canton in November 2020 as a reporter who covers Alliance and western Mahoning County. She previously worked as an intern for the Collaborative NewsLab at Kent State.
Loubens Delice, BSN ’19, Falling Waters, WV, is the administrator for The Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute-East and Orthopaedic Service Line at West Virginia University Medicine Berkeley Medical Center and Jefferson Medical Center. The Florida native, whose parents immigrated from Haiti, is passionate about using his bedside nursing experience to empower and educate people about social determinants of health. He earned a master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Central Florida.
Lacy Talley, BA ’19, Cleveland, OH, and Jason Garrett, BA ’12, Cleveland Heights, OH, were two of three Clevelanders who helped design the NBA’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Trophy, which was unveiled on April 3, 2022. The trophy, which depicts the NBA legend holding a basketball, will be awarded each year to the league’s Social Justice Champion. Los Angeles Laker Carmelo Anthony was the first player to win the award.
Talley was the art director, Garrett was the creative director, and James Adams Jr. (who graduated from Lakeland Community College and Cleveland State University) was the graphic designer. The trio worked with Abdul-Jabbar and Anthony on the project. Local artists were connected to the trophy work by the Marcus Graham Project, a nonprofit organization focused on building diversity among the next generation of designers and marketing leaders.
Charles Daniel “Danny” Reiman, MEd ’19, Cuyahoga Falls, OH, was appointed as the new treasurer at East Holmes Local School District in Holmes County, effective Aug. 1, 2022. Reiman graduated from Miami of Ohio in 2009 and earned a master’s degree in K-12 educational administration from Kent State. Previously, he was the director at Scope Academy in Summit County.
Lily Grace Schaffer, AS ’19, BS ’20, Mount Vernon, OH, joined The Business Journal reporting team in Youngstown, Ohio, to cover technology-related business news, as of June 2022. Most recently, she reported for the Tribune Chronicle/Vindicator in Warren.
Kyle Stotzer, AAS ’19, BSE ’21, Mineral City, OH, was named head varsity baseball coach at Malvern High School in Malvern, Ohio. He served as the school’s assistant varsity baseball coach during the 2022 season and teaches at Malvern Elementary School. He also has experience as a baseball umpire and has been a middle school basketball coach for both Malvern and Tusky Valley.
Stotzer earned five varsity letters as a player at Kent State University at Tuscarawas, where he played middle infield, earned 2020 USCAA All-American honors and was named team captain for three seasons.
2020s
2020s
Nick Anello, BS ’20, North Olmsted, OH, joined Bialosky Cleveland as an architectural designer in 2022, after earning a Master of Architecture from the University of Michigan. As a student he was a CNC coordinator and brings that interest in fabrication and making to his work. [CNC, or computer numerical control, is the automated control of machining tools by means of a computer.] Before joining Bialosky, he worked on the Spatial Laminated Timber (SPLAM) Pavilion for the Chicago Biennial, which received a national award from the American Institute of Architects. He is currently working on Belle Oaks, a 375-unit mixed-use development in Richmond Heights, Ohio.
Jaylin Chadwell, BS ’20, Twinsburg, OH, a phlebotomy technician at Cleveland Clinic Twinsburg Family Health and Surgery Center, donated one of her kidneys in March to a woman she’d met while doing a blood draw. In May 2022, 90,000 people across the nation were waiting for a kidney donation. Chadwell, who was given six weeks’ medical leave to recover, says she’d eventually like to be a donor advocate.
Jamal Parker Jr., BS ’20, Pennsauken, NJ, former Kent State football defensive back, signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in May 2022.
During his junior season as a Golden Flash, Parker was named a team captain and started each game. He finished his college career with 230 tackles, 28 passes broken up and 9 interceptions. Athlon Sports named him to the All-MAC First Team Defense and All-MAC Third Team Specialists in 2019.
Michael Reiner, BS ’20, Wellsville, OH, began working as a digital web producer for Youngstown’s Channel 27 WKBN in September 2021. As a journalism major at Kent State, he had two internships at WKBN: working in digital media for the Columbiana County Board of Developmental Disabilities Reach 4 More program in 2017 and web production in 2019. He also worked in sports for the Kent State student television station, TV2 KSU. Previously, he was director of social media and marketing at Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort in West Virginia.
Dave Sabo, CER1 ’20, Euclid, OH, is a business partner for North Coast Wine Club, in Solon, Ohio. The award-winning winery buys premium grapes from all over the world and makes premium, organic wines as a group (not from kits). For an annual $275 fee, members receive a case of select varietals of wines the club has made. Membership also provides privileges for a year of participation in the club’s events, including the winemaking processes, wine education and tastings.
Sabo graduated with a degree in enology from Kent State University at Ashtabula.
Molly Thomas, BIS ’20, Northfield, OH, joined Camp Christopher, a program of the Catholic Charities Diocese of Cleveland, as environmental education program manager. Her grandfather was camp director in the 1960s. Thomas earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies with a minor in sustainability from Kent State. In 2020, when the camp (located on 160 acres in Bath Township) only offered day camps due to the pandemic, she used the time to revamp the camp’s environmental program offerings. A new aspect involves training college students and going more in-depth on environmental issues.
Maria Zezzo, BBA ’20, Ashtabula, OH, was hired by BamBams as marketing manager in April 2022. BamBams is a supplier of promotional products based in Manassas, Virginia, with its own factory in China. Zezzo previously had worked since June 2020 as an account manager at FAST Platform, a cloud-based solution for the design, ordering and fulfillment of decorated apparel.
Keshunn Abram, BBA ’21, Southaven, MS, wide receiver, signed a free agent contract with the New York Jets following the 2022 NFL Draft on April 30, 2022. Abram finished last season with 47 catches for 699 yards and three touchdowns, and he caught at least one pass in all 14 games.
Dustin Crum, BS ’21, Kent, OH, quarterback, signed a free agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs following the 2022 NFL Draft on April 30, 2022. Crum was the 2021 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year. He became the first KSU quarterback to throw for over 3,000 yards in a season in 2021, while leading his team to the MAC East Division Championship. He joined Joshua Cribbs as the only Golden Flashes to top 9,000 career total yards (7,420 passing, 2,071 rushing), and finished his collegiate career with 55 touchdown passes.
Azure Fernsler, BA ’21, Reading, PA, former Kent State field hockey standout goalkeeper, was nominated for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award. She was named MAC Defensive Player of the Year after leading the Golden Flashes to a share of the 2021 regular season conference championship and a top-25 spot in the National Coaches Poll for eight consecutive weeks. She ranked eighth nationally in save percentage (.800) and 10th in saves per game (6.12). She graduated in December with a degree in environmental studies.
Cassandra Likouris, BA ’21, Washington, DC, was one of seven local people making a difference in their communities who DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton invited to the virtual State of the Union Address on March 1, 2022. Likouris works for the District of Columbia Shadow Delegation and is executive director of Students for DC Statehood.
Sandra Morgan, MBA ’21, Cleveland, OH, director of external affairs and communications for Kent State’s College of Arts and Sciences, is the granddaughter of Garrett A. Morgan. Born in Kentucky in 1877, the son of freed slaves, Garrett Morgan came up with solutions to problems he saw. Among his inventions are the gas mask that Allied troops carried into battle to protect against chemical attacks in World War I and the three-way traffic signal.
The successful Cleveland inventor is the subject of a new, short film, The Inventor, by Philip Musey, which made the film festival circuit during summer 2022. It was honored for “Best Historic Short” at the Manhattan Film Festival in June. Morgan is also the subject of a 2016 children’s book by Monica Kulling, To The Rescue! Garrett Morgan Underground, which tells how he risked his life to prove the effectiveness of his patented breathing device. Garrett Morgan was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2005.
The family believes that John Hunt Morgan, a Confederate general known for his daring raids into Union territory—and for his dalliances with the women he owned as property—is Garrett Morgan’s grandfather. Sandra Morgan says they are seeking DNA confirmation that they are related to the general.
Michael Turner, BS ’21, Warren, OH, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox with the 281st overall pick in the ninth round of the 2022 MLB Draft on July 18, 2022. After four years at Kent State, Turner used the final year of his eligibility and transferred to Arkansas for this past season, where he helped lead the Razorbacks to their third appearance in the College Baseball World Series in the past four years.
Antonio Williams, BIS ’21, Chicago, IL, signed a contract extension with the Plymouth City Patriots (Plymouth, England) for the 2022–23 season of the British Basketball League. Previously, Williams played briefly for the Estonian-Latvian Basketball League, where he managed more than 17 points and six assists per game.
Kalp Champaneri, BA ’22, BS ’22, Cleveland, OH, joined Bialosky Cleveland as a construction administrator after graduating from Kent State in 2022 with bachelor’s degrees in construction management and architectural studies. Originally from Mumbai, India, Champaneri served as a Global Ambassador at Kent State to be a cultural liaison for international students. He currently supports construction management on Laurel School projects in Northeast Ohio.
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aria Johnson, BS ’22, Richmond Heights, OH, landed a job as a metro desk intern with The Columbus Dispatch in summer 2022. Before graduating with a degree in journalism and double minors in creative writing and media advocacy, Johnson worked as writer and editor-in-chief for UHURU Magazine, the magazine for Kent State’s communities of color, and worked with The Kent Stater and KentWired as a reporter, editor and editor-in-chief.
Jenna Mar, BA ’22, Dublin, OH, was named head coach of girls tennis for the St. Francis DeSales Stallions (rival of her Bishop Watterson High School alma mater) on June 8, 2022. She had been teaching at Wickertree Tennis Club since age 15 and played for Kent State’s club team. She graduated from Kent State in three years with a degree in psychology thanks to retroactive credits earned from testing out of some courses as well as summer classes.
Jyae McWilson, BS ’22, Cleveland, OH, joined Bialosky Cleveland in 2022 as an architectural designer after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Kent State. She contributes to the firm’s projects, including Hawthorne School in Lorain, The Lincoln Tremont in Cleveland and the restoration and adaptive re-use of Park Synagogue in Cleveland Heights. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in architecture.
Cameron Olin, BFA ’22, Medina, OH, was part of the ensemble cast for Sondheim on Sondheim, which ran Aug. 4-14 at the Cain Park Alma Theater in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
Angelique Wong, BA ’22, Silver Spring, MD, participated in The Runway fashion show held at the Cleveland Museum of Art on June 19, 2022. The event showcased unique designs focused on diversity and inclusion from fashion designers around the world. Attendees also had the opportunity to shop the runway and purchase one-of-a-kind clothing and accessories from area designers.
The event gave area fashion designers like Wong—whose brand is size-inclusive—a chance to network. “I want to create an experience where every woman and every man feels celebrated and appreciated,” she says.
The second annual fashion show was put together by Fashion Talks, a group that produces events focused on creating opportunities in the fashion industry for small businesses and those who want to learn more about fashion.
Micah Young, BS ’22, Chardon, OH, was named the varsity boys basketball coach for the West Geauga Wolverines (his high school alma mater), on May 30, 2022. He had previously been the school’s freshman coach, after a year spent coaching at The National Basketball Academy. Young majored in physical education and health at Kent State.
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