Alissa Bodner (BME, choral music, 2015)

Choral director, Newbury Local Schools, Newbury, Ohio. Bodner specializes in voice and piano and was an active member in The Ohio State University Marching Band and other university concert bands.

Ohio State was not only my home of four years, but will continue to be my home through the people that I have met and continue to call my friends. Ohio State has provided opportunity that my former small, Appalachian school and community could not, and has opened my eyes to the world.

Gaylord Brewer (PhD, English, 1992)



Professor of English, Middle Tennessee State University.

He is the author of a new book of poetry, Country of Ghost, and a cookbook-memoir The Poet’s Guide to Food, Drink, & Desire, both in 2015.

Robert (Bob) Adamcik (BA, history, 1989)

Test and evaluation analyst with Gryphon Technologies in Virginia. A retired U.S. Navy lieutenant commander, Adamcik has written two books about spaceflight history, Voyages of Discovery and America's Great Endeavour, published by Apogee Books.

My time at Ohio State has always been a great source of pride to me. When I interviewed people for my books and mentioned I was commissioned in the U.S. Navy out of Ohio State, they all said, "Ah, The Ohio State University!"

Lori Piotrowski (MA, Romance Languages, 1980; BA, Spanish, 1978)

Teacher, Spanish and Portuguese, College of Southern Nevada (Las Vegas). 

Piotrowski is the author of the new book, Revolutionary Heart (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform). 

Ohio State was an eye-opening experience for me for two reasons. First, I was raised in Nebraska and had moved to Worthington, OH, only as a senior. Within two years, my class size had gone from 100 students to over 7,000! Second, the variety of course offerings was a blessing and led me to study topics I never would have imagined taking.

CHRIS JONES (PHD, 1989; MA, 1986; THEATRE)

Theatre critic, Chicago Tribune

Jones is one of two drama critics awarded the 2015 George Jean Nathan Award, honoring the best pieces of dramatic criticism of the year, both scholarly and journalistic. The award is presented by the heads of the English departments of Cornell, Princeton and Yale Universities. Jones was recognized for his review of The Projects, a new play addressing conditions facing residents of Chicago’s housing projects. He shares the $10,000 prize with Princeton Professor Brian Eugenio Herrera.

Doug Nagle (BA, Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies, 1983)

School counselor, Coshocton County Career Center
 
Nagle was named the top guidance counselor for career-tech programs in the Midwest regions by the Association for Career and Technical Education. In 2011, he was name the top school counselor in Ohio by the Ohio School Counselors Association.

Jennifer Christner (BS, biology, 1991)

Dean of the School of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.

At Ohio State I discovered everything I love - a diverse campus with incredible spirit and the best football team in the country! My passion for medicine and education and finally - my husband! I served as an officer in the Honors Biology organization Helix under Dean Ann Ackerman-Brown. I wanted to be just like her. I wish I could tell her that I achieved my goal and how much she influenced that!

Charles Doarn (BS, microbiology, 1980)

Research professor, family and community medicine; director, Telemedicine and e-Health Program, University of Cincinnati. Doarn also serves as the lead of the governance team of a NATO Multinational Telemedicine System for Emergency Response.

Having my degree from Ohio State is an amazing part of my life. No matter where I am in the world, being associated with Ohio State has been a wonderful blessing.

Allison Maderia (MA, theatre, 2005; BA, English, 2002)

Senior academic advisor II, Texas A&M University. Maderia was recently awarded The President's Award for Academic Advising at Texas A&M University.

I attribute so much of what I've learned in my professional, academic and personal life to my professors, work colleagues and peers at Ohio State. I wear and display everything Ohio State with pride in my university office. I take great pride in my education and show my current students that you should walk with pride every day to represent your university.

ERNIE KEEN (BA, PSYCHOLOGY, 2014)

After 20 years of service in the United States Navy, Keen spent some time in Brazil, and then returned to Ohio, working as a 9-1-1 dispatcher and then lead dispatcher at the Mount Vernon City Police Station. 

My experience at Ohio State Newark was wonderful and filled with good times and hard studying, but nothing a student couldn’t handle. The professors were great and always ready to help when you asked for it. Newark, being smaller than the main campus, made it much easier to have more contact with your professor throughout the whole semester. 

James Vander Hooven (BA, English, 1993)

President, Tohono O'odham Community College, a small Tribal College in Southern Arizona.

The Ohio State University put me on my path towards leadership with every opportunity it offered. Being a non-Native President of a small Tribal College can have its challenges. However, I truly believe that my understanding of diverse populations was born during my time at Ohio State. I also know that The Ohio State University readies its graduates for leadership in a dynamic, changing and "globalized" world.

Margaret Meps Schulte (BFA, painting and sculpture, 1985)

Author of the travelogue, Strangers Have the Best Candy, chronicling Schulte’s experiences of talking to strangers while traveling the U.S. The book was selected for the Diagram Prize, an online vote run by the Bookseller magazine, for the oddest book title of the year (2014). Strangers is the first ever self-published book to win the award. 

Shauna Vey (BFA, Theatre, 1974)

Associate professor at New York City College of Technology

Her new book is titled Childhood and Nineteenth-Century American Theatre (Southern Illinois University Press, 2015). 

OSU nurtured my love of theatre - such great memories of shows in the old Derby Hall Theatre and the brand new Drake Union.