Fall 2023 Class Notes
1940s
1940s
Alita Boecker Neff-Dupuis, BA ’43, Beverly Hills, FL, celebrated her 102nd birthday on Feb. 17, 2023. According to her daughter, Susan, “Mom remains healthy, happy, active and is still going strong and living independently in her own home. Her gardens, books, puzzles and daily chocolate indulgences keep her entertained and quite content. She remains the glue that binds our extended family.”
1960s
1960s
Harry Fitch, BFA ’68, Peachtree City, GA, has published his third novel, Desk Pilot (under his pen name, Harry Ernest Fitch), through Amazon Publishing. Although it deals primarily with events that take place while its protagonist serves in the Air Force during the 1960s, Kent State plays a prominent role in the story of its first-person narrator.
Tom Batiuk, BFA ’69, Medina, OH, announced last year that he would end his award-winning comic strip Funky Winkerbean on Dec. 31, 2022 (after 50 years of publication) because there was no succession plan in place. However, he continues to work on completing the Winkerbean compilation book series, published by Kent State University Press, which will take the series through its end in 2022. (Volume 12, the most recent, covers 2005–2007. Volume 13, slated to drop the first of next year, covers 2008–2010.)
He also plans to organize all his Winkerbean strips and research materials so they’re ready for donating to Kent State University Libraries, where they will be archived and saved for research purposes. He keeps in touch with fans through a monthly email newsletter, blog and social media posts. Learn more at www.tombatiuk.com.
Read about Batiuk’s collaboration with grade school students in the spring/summer 2020 issue of Kent State Magazine.
1970s
1970s
Carter E. Strang, BS ’73, MEd ’79, Shaker Heights, OH, received the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Living Legacy Award, given for “extraordinary leadership, innovation and professional excellence.” He is a Leader-in-Residence at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University, a retired founding partner at Tucker Ellis LLP, and past president of the CMBA, the CMBA Foundation and the Federal Bar Association Northern District of Ohio Chapter.
Herb Page, BS ’74, MA ’76, Kent, OH, legendary head golf coach at Kent State, was inducted into the 2023 MAC Hall of Fame Class in June. It’s the latest accolade in a long list of honors.
Page is the first member of the Varsity “K” Hall of Fame to be inducted as both a student-athlete (golf, football, ice hockey, 1985) and as a coach (2019).
His storied career as head coach earned him 23 MAC Coach of the Year honors. He was instrumental in founding the woman’s golf program in 1998 (which has since won 20 consecutive MAC Championships) and in developing the Ferrara and Page Golf Training and Learning Center, dedicated in 2007. The state-of-the-art $2.2 million facility remains one of the best in the nation. In August 2012, Page delivered Kent State University’s commencement address. In 2019, he was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.
1980s
1980s
David L. McMahan, BA ’87, Columbia, PA, has published a new book, Rethinking Meditation: Buddhist Meditative Practice in Ancient and Modern Worlds (Oxford University Press, July 28, 2023). In the book, McMahan, the Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious Studies at Franklin & Marshall College, argues that the standard articulation of mindfulness did not come down to us unchanged from the time of the Buddha. Rather, it is a distillation of particular strands of Buddhist thought that have combined with Western ideas to create a unique practice tailored to modern life. The book demonstrates that most of the vast array of meditative practices that have emerged in Buddhist traditions have been filtered out of typical contemporary practice, allowing only a trickle of meditative practices through.
1990s
1990s
Paul Putman, BA ’92, Cleveland, OH, is the new president and CEO of Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund (TREE Fund). TREE Fund is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge in urban forestry and arboriculture. Since 2002, TREE Fund has distributed over $5.1 million in research grants, scholarships, and funding for environmental education to advance the science, practice and safety of tree care and engage the next generation of tree stewards.
Putman, who earned a doctorate in urban education from Cleveland State University, came to TREE Fund from Cleveland Foundation, the world’s first community foundation, where he has served in both the grantmaking and philanthropy departments for nearly 15 years.
Sandy Cross, MA ’93, Frisco, TX, chief people officer at Professional Golfers’ Association of America, was named in June to DiversityGlobal Magazine’s “2023 Top 15 Influential Women in Diversity” list. It honors women leaders advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging as core principles of humanity and organizational success.
Cross was promoted in 2019 to serve as the first chief people officer in the association’s history. She developed and deployed its first-ever shared values statements, a “by the people, for the people approach” in which shared values are anchored in inclusion, equity and diversity. She also developed and deployed PGA LEAD, an intentional effort to diversify the board rooms at the chapter, section and national levels.
Sonia Karkare, BS ’93, MS ’96, Kent, OH, is a doctoral candidate in the Interprofessional Leadership program with a concentration in cultural foundations of education at the College of Education, Health and Human Services. She also is an adjunct faculty member in the Executive MBA program and the Department of Management at the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship. She is teaching a variety of courses, including Digital Transformation in Healthcare.
Karkare, a native of Mumbai, India, came to Kent State in 1990 and majored in computer science. Among her many international endeavors, she has worked with the American Red Cross, The Global Fund and Doctors Without Borders, leading various digital technology and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
In 2021, she earned an MBA from the Roxbourg Institute of Social Entrepreneurship in Switzerland with a specialization in humanitarian innovation. She was awarded the 2021 “Hidden Figures” Award for supporting women in technology in the nonprofit sector by TechFace.ch in Switzerland. She wants other women of color to know they can succeed in STEM fields.
Read about how Karkare learned to use the backspace key to move forward in Kent State Today.
Lillian Kuri, BS ’93, BArc ’94, Cleveland, OH, was elected the 10th president and CEO of The Cleveland Foundation Board of Directors, effective Aug. 1, 2023. Kuri was promoted to the newly created position of executive vice president and chief operation officer at the foundation in March 2021. A year earlier, she was elevated to senior vice president for strategy for her work on the planning and design of the foundation’s new home in Midtown at the corner of Euclid Avenue and East 66th Street.
Kuri joined the foundation in 2005 as a project consultant for the revitalization of Greater University Circle—including a comprehensive set of anchor institution development strategies and the launch of Evergreen Cooperatives, where community members have an ownership stake. These efforts have been cited as a national model by outlets such as The Guardian, Forbes, CNBC, U.S. News & World Report, and Fast Company, among others.
She officially joined the foundation staff in 2007 as a program director and in 2016 was promoted to vice president for strategic grantmaking, arts & urban design. In that role, Kuri focused her work on arts, culture and placemaking, including the foundation’s arts mastery initiatives, which bring year-round, rigorous, mastery-based programs in theater, music, and visual arts to 5,000 underserved children each year.
Over the past several years, Kuri also has played a key role in the foundation’s support for development in under-resourced neighborhoods to benefit longtime residents; economic and workforce development efforts; and environmental initiatives in historically red-lined communities. She also co-leads the foundation’s impact investing strategy, which now includes a portfolio of nearly $385 million in direct and indirect investments that deliver both a financial and social return.
Read a Q&A with Kuri on the alumni website.
Mulatu Lemma, MA ’93, PhD ’94, Savannah, GA, was the dedicatee of the Dr. Mulatu Lemma Maths Day at Pharo School Homosha, BGRS (Benishangul Gumuz regional state), Ethiopia, on Feb. 17, 2023. This year’s theme was Mathematics Unites. In the opening speech, the head of the school highlighted the famous Ethiopian mathematician’s work and read Lemma’s personal message of support to the students and staff.
Lemma, a professor of mathematics at Savannah State University, was among 12 recipients of the 2020 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. The award recognizes the critical role mentors have outside the traditional classroom setting in the academic and professional development of the future STEM workforce.
David R. Sizemore, BS ’93, Dublin, OH, majored in aerospace flight technology at Kent State. He was promoted to lieutenant in July 2022 and assumed the role of assistant commander of the aviation section for the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Erica Wilson-Domer, BA ’96, MSA ’01, Middlebranch, OH, was named president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, effective July 1, 2023. She has been a partner and leader with PPGOH for more than two decades, most recently as chief strategy and transformation officer. In that role, she led PPGOH’s reinstatement into the Title X funding program, a critical initiative that increased access and improved patient experience.
Prior to joining PPGOH, she worked within the healthcare section, including Ohio-based AultCare and Alliance Community Hospital, specifically focused on financial analysis.
Serving as the organization’s first Asian American CEO, Wilson-Domer is deeply respected in Ohio and across Planned Parenthood Federation of America for her insights and solution-driven mindset. Her commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion epitomizes Planned Parenthood’s values and will lead the organization into the future.
2000s
2000s
Jeffrey S. Debies-Carl, BA ’02, Webster, NY, has published If You Should Go at Midnight: Legends and Legend Tripping In America (University Press of Mississippi, May 2023). In the book, Debies-Carl, an associate professor of sociology at the University of New Haven, guides readers through an exploration of legend tripping, drawing on years of scholarship, documentary accounts and his own extensive field work. Poring over old reports and legends, sleeping in haunted inns and trekking through wilderness full of cannibal mutants and strange beasts, he provides an in-depth analysis of this social practice that has long fascinated scholars yet remains a mystery to many observers.
Elena Marquetti-Ali, BS ’03, MPA ’05, Ashtabula, OH, was crowned Ms. Ohio Woman AmeriFest in Columbus, Ohio, in April. She also received the A.L.I.C.E. Award for Community Service from the same pageant. The pageant platform is dedicated to empowering women to become stronger leaders in the community and to spread kindness and advocate for others. She competed for the national title of Ms. US Woman AmeriFest in Tennessee this July.
Marquetti-Ali is chief operating officer of ReNew Flooring, owner of Marquetti Consulting and volunteers as board president for the United Way of Ashtabula County. She is using her pageant title to support the efforts of United Way of Ashtabula County and its work with 21 local charities.
She started a Handful of Hope project to help provide supplies and resources for homeless, domestic violence and animal shelters. She is visiting businesses in the county to solicit donations of products or goods that can be packaged and distributed through United Way of Ashtabula and its partner charities. To make donations or book her to speak at an event, contact consulting@marquetti.org .
Ashley Robinson, BGS ’04, Pittsburgh, PA, was appointed assistant city clerk of Pittsburgh on May 23, 2023.
Sarah Shendy, BA ’06, Cuyahoga Falls, OH, wrote: “After over 14 years of serving Copley Township, I have decided to accept a leadership position with another police department. My last day at Copley will be Friday, April 21st. I am joining Case Western Reserve University Police Department as a sergeant, making me the first Egyptian-Muslim female sergeant in the state of Ohio!
“I value and cherish every leader, mentor, friend, sponsor, and supporter whom I have encountered along the way while working for Copley Police. I thank those who spoke to the winner in me before I started winning, believed in me before I believed in myself, held me accountable, forced me to face my fears and held me to the highest standard.
“The staff, relationships and friendships that I have made at Kent State University have been a blessing and a huge asset to my happiness, fulfillment and the advancement of my career. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
“I also wanted to let you know that I will be stepping down as director of the Office of Law Enforcement Recruitment on May 10th. It has been an amazing three-year journey and it is time to give someone else a chance to do great things.”
Read a profile of Sarah Shendy in the spring/summer 2021 issue of Kent State Magazine.
Nicholas DiSabatino, BA ’09, Boston, MA, wrote: “Since graduating Kent State with a major in English (and a double minor in LGBTQ studies and creative writing), I moved to Boston and attended graduate school at Emerson College. Graduating with an MA in publishing and writing in 2011, I began a career in book publishing. I started my career as a book publicist (moving up from assistant to associate to publicist) at the legendary nonprofit, independent publisher Beacon Press (known for the works of James Baldwin, Viktor Frankl, Mary Oliver, Cornel West, Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, Richard Blanco, Christopher Emdin, and more).
“Since 2018, I’ve been at The MIT Press. Established in 1962, the MIT Press is one of the largest and most distinguished university presses in the world and a leading publisher of books and journals at the intersection of science, technology, art, social science and design. I’ve been promoted from publicist to senior publicist, and now to global publicity and author relations manager (overseeing a team of 5 publicists and lead trade titles). During my time at MIT, I’ve worked with the former Prime Minister of Australia, former members of the Obama Administration, the creator of the theory of multiple intelligences, one of the leading women of color data scientists in the U.S., an award-winning inclusion strategist and speaker, and many other successful authors.
“My time at Kent State was integral to my success in publishing. The most important person to me during my time at KSU was the late, great Dr. Kimberly Winebrenner. She was my professor, undergraduate honors thesis advisor, mentor and work studies employer. She is the reason I have a career.”
2010s
2010s
Jasmine Woolfork, BS ’10, Los Angeles, CA, graduated from the fashion merchandising program at Kent State. Her education abroad was in New York and her paid internship was with Dots Corporate Office in Independence, Ohio, where she was eventually hired. Upon the dissolution of Dots, she was hired as a buyer at the Cleveland Cavaliers Team Shop. She steered away from merchandising but has made a mark in the world of fashion. Prior to moving to Los Angeles, Woolfork was featured on FOX8, Channel 3 News, Channel 19 and Kickin’ It with Kenny (many times).
Although she has her own personal styling company, she also styles with Wayman + Micah (Ohio natives) and has styled many A-List celebs in LA. She spent 14 days at the Venice Film Festival styling actress Jodie Turner-Smith. There is current buzz surrounding the fashions worn by Steven Capele Jr., film director for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. As he works the red carpet and press conferences, his outfits are styled by Woolfork.
See much of her work on Instagram @jasminewoolfork or at https://www.jasminewoolfork.com/.
Eric Mansfield, MA ’12, Akron, OH, enjoyed a public reading of his original drama, Trial By Fire, at the Akron-Summit County Public Library auditorium on July 6, 2023. It was the first public performance of the script, which follows a young woman of color in Ohio who is put on trial for allowing banned books to be used by her students. Actors from the Millennial Theatre Project brought the play to life. The Summit County Library system supported and programmed the event as banned books have become a growing issue of debate across the country.
In April, the playwright was featured in the Akron Beacon Journal, which recognized his prolific storytelling—he’s written eight full-length plays in the past two years. In September, Ractors, a short film based on his original stage play, Date Night, premiered at the Akron Civic Theatre. The script was optioned last spring by a Cleveland production company that cast and filmed the movie in early May at Johnny Mango’s restaurant in Cleveland.
Whittney Bowers, MA ’13, Amanda, OH, has been named director of state policy and grassroots engagement for the Ohio Farm Bureau, as of July 6, 2023. The Ohio Farm Bureau’s mission is “working together for Ohio farmers to advance agriculture and strengthen our communities.”
Bowers, a Fairfield County Farm Bureau member, returns to the Ohio Farm Bureau policy team after previously serving as director of grassroots and political outreach from 2015–2017, then as a contract employee to manage the organization’s Agriculture for Good Government Political Action Committee activities.
She and her husband and two children reside on a multi-generation family grain farm with a cattle feedlot operation.
2020s
2020s
Bob Christy, BS ’95, MA ’22, Green, OH, longtime Kent State University photographer, walked the stage to receive a Master of Arts in media and journalism with a concentration in journalism education at Kent State’s advanced degrees commencement ceremony on May 11, 2023. He had “officially” graduated in December 2022 but was ill on the day of the fall commencement ceremony and unable to attend. So he and his family and friends shared the spring ceremony with the Class of 2023.
Christy is the senior photography coordinator in Kent State’s Division of University Communications and Marketing (UCM). In his 23 years with the university, it seems as if he has met nearly everyone in Kent State’s eight-campus system. He has taken many of the photos that appear in Kent State Magazine and Kent State Today, as well as other university publications and online outlets.
He also has been a mentor to UCM photography interns and Kent State photography students in Ohio and abroad. He visited the American Academy at the Pontifical Catholic University of Parana in Curitiba, Brazil, in March. Most recently, he was in Rwanda with a team from Kent State attending the Peace Education in an Era of Crisis conference in July. He is teaching Flashes 101 through University College and Preproduction in Media and Digital Communication at the School of Media and Journalism in the College of Communication and Information this fall.
Christy graduated from Kent State with a bachelor’s degree in photojournalism in 1995 after serving in the US Air Force. He covered the 1996 New Hampshire Primary for UPI and then returned to Ohio to work for the New Philadelphia Times-Reporter before joining UCM in 2000. His work has appeared in newspapers across the country and Northeast Ohio and received honors from the Ohio News Photographer’s Association and the University Photographers of America Association.
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