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Top 3 on 2, 11/19/09

November 18, 2009

Why did you choose to work at Ohio State?
I joined Ohio State as a student employee. I was actually offered a position with a local company and accepted it a few short hours before I was hired by Ohio State, so I worked both jobs for a while. It didn’t take long to determine that Ohio State would be my permanent home and I’ve been here ever since.

What do you like about your job?
The greatest part of my job is the opportunity it affords me to interface with some of the greatest minds in higher education. Every day is a learning experience, and I’ve been exposed to new ideas and experiences I would have never enjoyed anywhere else.

What would you improve at Ohio State?
If there is one thing I could change, it would be to introduce a higher level of cooperation and collaboration between colleges/business units. I believe President Gee’s vision of “One University” is spot on.

If you weren’t working at Ohio State, what would you be doing?
I would probably be a ship’s captain. Or, perhaps, flying commercial airliners. Since I don’t have a captain’s or pilot’s license, I suppose I’ll stay at Ohio State.

What advice would you give a new employee?
Communicate. The key to success at this university is communication. Don’t be afraid to ask questions; you may be surprised by the answers you receive.

What is your favorite activity outside of work?
I have too many favorite activities to list; let’s just say I keep a full schedule. The real headliners would have to be camping, boating, ATVing and tinkering with antique tractors. I’m also a huge fan of my pet rabbit.

Of what honor or recognition are you most proud?
Certificates, medals, plaques: They’re all nice things to hang on the walls, but a true honor is to, every day, have the opportunity to serve the mission of a great college and a great university.

Who is your hero?
My heroes would have to be Mom and Dad.  Without their hard work and dedication, I would have never had many of the opportunities I have experienced.

What are you going to do when you retire?
My hobbies could easily take the place of a full-time job if I would let them, so I’ll probably just pick up a few more.

If you were the university president for a day, what would you do?
I would merge vacation and sick leave for staff into one category called “paid time off.” I think employees should have the choice to use earned time as they see fit.

To nominate a staff member for an upcoming issue, e-mail oncampus@osu.edu.

The Ohio Union’s grand ballroom, at 17,716 square feet, will hold up to 1,700 patrons once it’s opened to the public this spring. For now, the floors are prepped for staining and the massive chandeliers have been put in place.

Sure, top 10 lists are entirely subjective, but Time magazine thought enough of Ohio State President Gordon Gee and his push to reshape the university, and ultimately higher education, to name him one of the nation’s top college presidents and devote the main story to his vision. The featured issue hit newsstands Nov. 13 (also visit time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1937938_1937934,00.html)

Of Gee, Time wrote, “A poll a while back found that he could easily be elected governor in a state that calls itself the Cradle of Presidents. Gee, however, has something different in mind. As president of the Ohio State University and one of the most experienced university executives in the US, he is campaigning for a revolution in higher education at a time when the field is more important, and perhaps more troubled, than ever before.” Time touched on Gee’s prolific political efforts to keep higher education a state priority, his hectic scheduling to fit as much as he can into a single day and willingness to buck the status quo.

Also on the list were the presidents of New York University, the University of Michigan, Arizona State University, Tulane University, Middlebury College, the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Miami Dade College, the University of Texas-Brownsville and the University of California-Oakland.

Faculty & Staff, 11/05/09

November 4, 2009

Books
Andrea Goldblum, Student Judicial Affairs, was invited to write a chapter on “Restorative Justice Theory to Practice” in Reframing Campus Conflict: Student Conduct Practice Through a Social Justice Lens, Jennifer Schrage and Nancy Geist Giacomini, eds. (Sterling, Va.: Stylus, 2009).

Graham Walden, University Libraries, Focus Groups, Volume II. A Selective Annotated Bibliography: Medical and Health Sciences (Scarecrow Press, 2009).

Elizabeth Weiser, English, edited Engaging Audience: Writing in an Age of New Literacies (Chicago: NCTE Press, 2009).

Grants
Kevin Evans, Allied Medicine, and Carolyn Sommerich, Integrated Systems Engineering and Allied Medicine, received a $2,500 GE Healthcare Excellence in Sonography Award for their proposal, “Utilizing a HCU System to Investigate Ergonomic Injury among Autoworkers.”

Winston Ho, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, received a $205,558 National Science Foundation Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems grant for “Liquid Membranes in Nanopores with Strip Dispersion for Antibiotic Recovery.”

Ethan Kubatko, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science, received a $223,849 National Science Foundation Division of Mathematical Sciences grant for “Collaborative Research: Computational Methods for Coupled Wave, Current, Sediment Transport and Morphological Evolution.”

Giorgio Rizzoni, Mechanical Engineering and Center for Automotive Research, and Ümit Özgüner, Electrical and Computer Engineering, received a $49,965 National Science Foundation grant funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for a workshop, “The Future of Intelligent Transportation Systems and its Implication with Regard to Mobility and Sustainability.”

Keith Warren, Social Work, and more than 20 faculty including David Woods, Engineering, Virginia Folcik, Internal Medicine, Ian Hamilton, Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology and Mathematics, and Mark Moritz, Anthropology, form the newly created Innovation Group, “Complexity in Human, Natural and Engineered Systems,” and will receive $20,000 per year for a three-year period and is part of what will be a multi-year, $16.7 million investment by the university in research that tackles global issues.

David Woods, Integrated Systems Engineering; Industrial, Interior and Visual Communication Design; Anesthesiology; and Speech and Hearing, along with Sharon Schweikhart, Health Services Management and Policy, and Michael Smith, Cognitive Systems Engineering Lab, received a $75,000 Google Research Award to study “Public Health Records and Coordination of Distributed Care in Emergency Medical Systems” to discover ways to get added value from public health records so they are more beneficial at point-of-care.

Presentations
Gary Allread, Integrated Systems Engineering, spoke on “Proving the Case: Cost-Justifying an Ergonomics Intervention” at the 2009 Ohio Safety Congress, Columbus, March 31-April 2.

Morris Beja, English, “Iconic and Filmic Joyce,” plenary address at the International Association for the Study of Irish Literature-Japan conference at Shiga University, Hikone, Japan, Oct. 11.

Steven Glaser, Music, composed and recorded the music for “A Bridge Life,” a documentary about Hurricane Katrina shown at the Newport Film Festival, California, April 23-30.

Claudio Gonzalez-Vega, Economics, was the keynote speaker and lectured on “The Impact of the Crisis on Financial Inclusion,” at the Congress of the Latin American Bankers Association, Mexico City, Mexico, April 23.

Margarita Mazo, Music, presented a paper, “Igor Stravinsky Performing the Self and Les Noces’ Shifting and Conceptualization,” at the symposium “Between Neoclassisim and Surrealism: Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in the Context of the Russian-French Connections, 1900s-1920s,” at the Harriman Institute, Columbia University, New York, N.Y., April 25.

Koritha Mitchell, English, was an invited panelist for “Quest for Diversity: What Awaits Faculty of Color at Predominantly White Universities,” at A Callaloo Symposium, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, Oct. 5.

Robert Rapp, Materials Science and Engineering, gave invited lectures “Hot Corrosion of Materials,” “Thermodynamics of Complex Fused Salt Solutions,” and “Interfacial Dynamics in Scaling Reactions,” at Isfahan University of Technology, Iran, May.

Publications
Franco Barchiesi, African American & African Studies, “Hybrid Social Citizenship and the Normative Centrality of Wage Labor in Post-Apartheid South Africa,” Mediations, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 53-67.

Terry Barrett, Art Education, “Interactive Touring in Art Museums: Constructing Meanings and Creating Communities of Understanding,” Visual Arts Research, Vol. 34, No. 2.

Bharat Bhushan, Mechanical Engineering, “Role of Lubricants, Scanning Velocity, and Environment on Adhesion, Friction and Wear of Pt-Ir coated Probes for Atomic Force Microscopy Probe-based Ferroelectric Recording Technology,” Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, Vol. 20, No. 32, p. 13 with K. Kwak; “Effect of Ethnicity and Treatments on In Situ Tensile Response and Morphological Changes of Human Hair Characterized by Atomic Force Microscopy,” Acta Materialia, Vol. 56, No. 14, pp. 3585-97, with I. Seshadri; and “Effect of Rubbing Load on Nanoscale Charging Characteristics of Human Hair Characterized by AFM Based Kelvin Probe,” Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Vol. 325, No. 2, pp. 580-87, with I. Seshadri.

Frank Donoghue, English, “Why Academic Freedom Doesn’t Matter,” Special Issue of The South Atlantic Quarterly: Academic Freedom, Vol. 108, No. 4, pp. 601-21.

Michelle Herman, English, “Foreign Excellent,” New Ohio Review, Vol. 6, pp. 114-29.

Amanda Nahlik and William Mitsch, Environment and Natural Resources, “The Effect of River Pulsing on Sedimentation and Nutrients in Created Riparian Wetlands,” Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 634-43.

Danielle Pyun, East Asian Languages and Literatures, reviewed Teaching Chinese, Japanese and Korean Heritage Language Students: Curriculum Needs, Materials and Assessment, in The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 93, No. 2, pp. 319-21.

Doug Sutton-Ramspeck, English, “The End of Self,” Freefall: Canada’s Magazine of Exquisite Writing, Vol. 19, No. 2, p. 57; “Field Guide in Winter,” San Pedro River Review, Vol. 1, No. 2; “Louisiana Wife,” The Midwest Quarterly, Vol. 51, No. 1, pp. 63-4; “Mudbank” and “The River,” Manorborn, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 123-4; and “Napoleon Writes Again to Josephine,” The South Carolina Review, Vol. 42, No. 1, p. 144.

Kevin Tavin, Art Education, “The Chiasma of Art Education: Finnish and US Approaches to Teaching Visual Culture,” published in the Finnish art education journal Stylus: Taidekasvatuslehti Perustettu Vionna, Vol. 1.

Robyn Warhol-Down, English, “Academics Anonymous: A Meditation on Anonymity, Power and Powerlessness,” Symploke, Vol. 16, Nos. 1-2.

Recognition
Maurice Eastridge, Animal Sciences, received the Outstanding Service to Students award at the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences annual recognition banquet, given by the CFAES Student Council to recognize a faculty or staff member who shows outstanding support to students and their activities.

Ryan Irwin, History, won the 2009-10 SHAFR Dissertation Completion Fellowship from the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations.

Soonok Kim, Plant Pathology, was awarded a “Eukaryotic Cell Outstanding Young Investigator Award” sponsored by the American Society of Microbiology for her research poster presentation with Thomas Mitchell, Plant Pathology, and collaborators from Seoul National University and North Carolina State University, “Using ChIP-chip to Characterize Ca++/calcineurin Transcription Factor Binding Sites in Magnaporthe oryzae,” at the 25th Fungal Genetics Conference, Asilomar, Calif., March 17-22.

Dorothy Noyes, English, has been awarded the 2009 Siddens Award for Distinguished Faculty Advising by the Council of Graduate Students.

Mohammad Samimy, Mechanical Engineering, was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society for his outstanding contributions to the physical understanding and control of high-speed and high Reynolds number free shear flows through his development and use of novel control techniques and advanced laser-based flow diagnostics.

Service
Simone Drake, African American & African Studies, was an invited participant at the National Women’s Studies Association’s Ford Foundation-funded “Women of Color: Theory, Scholarship and Activism” institute held at Spelman College, Atlanta, Ga., June 14-17.

Robert Gillespie, Music, was clinician and adjudicator for Disney in Tampa, Fla., and for the American String Teachers Association at its national conference in March.

Patrick Osmer, Astronomy, participated in the assessment review process for the Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope project, Pasadena, Calif., April 27-May 2, organized by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory on behalf of the National Science Foundation.

Staff opportunities ‘limitless,’ says Gee

November 4, 2009

By Adam King

Though changes to the Ohio State culture are in their infancy stage and might not be tangible, President Gordon Gee reiterated that staff would only see their opportunities blossom once the changes are fully implemented.

Gee made the statement during the Staff Conversation with President Gee, which the University Staff Advisory Committee hosted on Nov. 2. Staff could ask any question of the president from the Fawcett Center auditorium floor or via e-mail, and one person asked how Gee’s “One University” concept embraces staff.

Gee said Ohio State currently is a confederation of colleges that look out for their own success and compete with one another in how to shift money around. Eventually, however, those walls will disappear.

“The impact on our staff will be enormous,” Gee said, “because instead of your job being just one part of this confederation, all of a sudden you have limitless opportunities to make a difference at the institution in terms of creative energy and being members of task forces outside your normal learning circle. I think that’s what’s important. It’s a powerful idea, but it’s going to take a lot for us to get there because it’s so embedded in academic concrete.”

University leaders, managers and staff continue to alter their approach, Gee said, to be more accountable to each other. Ohio State, he said, has to toss out old habits of organizing itself horizontally and rewarding employees vertically.

“It’s about developing a much different reward and recognition structure,” Gee said.

To that end, as an example, senior human resources officers now have a dotted line to the vice president of human resources; senior fiscal officers now have a dotted line to the senior vice president for business and finance.

“We’re now going to have some commonality in our resources, values and direction,” Gee said.

Gee also touched on change athe university when one woman noted it was frustrating to see how her unit in charge of health services to students wasn’t as well funded as it should be. Gee said the university’s master planning process is looking at how to improve the quality of life in all areas of campus life as well as how best to organize OSU to be most efficient.

“We’re finding out with student health, as we discovered with the H1N1 virus and its impact in an enormously important area of this institution, sometimes we don’t realize some of the real treasures because we just take them for granted, and we’ll try not to take anyone for granted like we should.”

For an archived streaming video of the event, visit streaming.osu.edu/mediawww2/presentations/townmeeting/110209.

Top 3 on 2, 10/08/09

October 7, 2009

Why did you choose to work at Ohio State?
It seemed like a natural transition; from student, to student employee to full-time employee. Ohio State has so much to offer for someone who wants to make a difference every day.

What do you like about your job?
My job is primarily to help people do their jobs better. In Extension we help Ohioans live, work and play as healthier, happier individuals. It’s extremely rewarding.

What would you improve at Ohio State?
I believe protecting the environment should be one of our highest priorities. From rain gardens and green roofs to solar panels and wind turbines, I think OSU could make a big impact on the community and be a leader in green living.

If you weren’t working at Ohio State, what would you be doing?
Selling plants. I love gardening and although the weeds in my garden might argue with that statement, being in nature makes me very happy.

What is your favorite activity outside of work?
Video games! My husband and I can’t get enough of them, and if you tell me that is a boring hobby then I will know that you have never been to my house for game night.

What advice would you give a new employee?
My advice would include encouraging new employees to be patient. We are a large university with so much to offer. Giving up too soon is a mistake; finding your place takes time.

Of what honor or recognition are you most proud?
That is a tough question. I think that any honor or recognition that I receive is due in large part to my co-workers and family who provide amazing strength and support.

Who is your hero?
I would have to say my mom. Every time I start to get discouraged I think about all that she and my dad have gone through to raise four lucky kids and I realize just how fortunate I am.

What are you going to do when you retire?
First, I intend to sleep in. Then I would eat breakfast on a balcony overlooking the ocean before taking my dog Sophie for a walk on the beach. Finally, I’d relax in a hammock for some light reading and a nap. Repeat.

If you were the university president for a day, what would you do?
I would take my dad to a football game. Box seats on the 50-yard line anyone?

To nominate a staff member for an upcoming issue, e-mail oncampus@osu.edu.

Researchers at the Ohio State University Medical Center are partnering with one of the world’s most prestigious and leading biomedical research institutions to provide personal genetic information to more than 100,000 people.

The Medical Center and the Coriell Institute for Medical Research, home of the world’s foremost biobank resource for human cells and DNA, announced their partnership in the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative (CPMC). The personalized genetics study will involve an integrated approach to recruiting and enrolling 2,000 study participants at Ohio State, free of charge.

The CPMC brings together doctors, patients, geneticists, counselors and information technology experts to create a protected environment for participants to see and understand their personal genomic information and allow them to make individualized decisions about their health care. This platform also will enable health care providers to utilize the genetic-based information of participants to develop tailored medical and therapeutic treatments. OSU Medical Center is one of only five centers in the country participating in the project with Coriell.

Faculty & Staff, 10/08/09

October 7, 2009

Books
Charles Atkinson, Music, The Critical Nexus: Tone-System, Mode and Notation in Early Medieval Music (Oxford University Press, 2008).

Bharat Bhushan, professor, Mechanical Engineering, co-edited Applied Scanning Probe Methods XI – Scanning Probe Microscopy Techniques, Applied Scanning Probe Methods XII – Characterization and Applied Scanning Probe Methods XIII – Biomimetics and Industrial Applications (Springer-Verlag: Heidelberg, Germany, 2009), with H. Fuchs.

Maria Conroy and Jennifer Evans-Cowley, Architecture, wrote a chapter, “Local Government Experiences with ICT for Participation,” in Handbook of Research on Strategies for Local E-Government Adoption and Implementation: Comparative Studies, Christopher Reddick, editor (Hershey, Pa.: IGI Global, 2009).

David Woods, Integrated Systems Engineering; Industrial, Interior and Visual Communication Design; Anesthesiology; and Speech and Hearing, wrote two chapters, “Emergence of the Communities of Practice,” pp. 69-90, and “Methodological Challenges for Cognitive Task Analysis,” pp. 379-98, in Perspectives on Cognitive Task Analysis: Historical Origins and Modern Communities of Practice, both with the book authors, R.R. Hoffman and  L. Militello (New York: Psychology Press, 2009).

Grants
Gil Bohrer, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science, received a three-year, $237,293 National Science Foundation ecosystem science grant for “Collaborative Research: Linking Heterogeneity of Above-Ground and Subsurface Processes at the Gap-Canopy Patch Scales to Ecosystem Level Dynamics” and a two-year, $24,412 National Science Foundation ecological biology grant for “Collaborative Research: How Structural Heterogeneity and Connectivity of Landscapes affect Wind Dispersal.”

Presentations
Bharat Bhushan, Mechanical Engineering, gave the institute colloquium “Nanotribology, Nanomechanics and Materials Characterization Studies and Applications to Bio/Nanotechnology and Biomimetics,” at the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems, Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., March; the keynote lecture “Nanotribology, Nanomechanics and Materials Characterization Studies and Applications to Bio/Nanotechnology and Biomimetics,” at Viennano 09, 3rd Vienna International Conference on Nano Technology, Vienna, Austria, March; and the plenary lecture, “Nanotribology and Nanomechanics of MEMS/NEMS and BioMEMS/BioNEMS Materials and Devices and Biomimetics,” at the IEEE Fifth Encounter with Biomedical Engineering – New Biomedical Technologies, Unidad Professional Interdiscipliaria en Biotecnologia of the Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Mexico City, April.

Claudio Gonzalez, Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, gave three lectures on “The Evolution of Microfinance: A Comparison of Asia and Latin America,” at the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, March 23-25.

Richard Meyer, Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, presented “Savings by the Poor for Sustainable Microfinance: A Win-Win Strategy?” at the XXII Congress of the World Savings Banks Institute held in Santiago, Chile, April 30-May 1.

Dorothy Noyes, English, presented “Culture as Cover: Imperial Self-Expression in the Neoliberal Moment,” at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies and the Center for Folklore Studies, Columbus, May 2.

Patrick Osmer, Astronomy, made a presentation during the Deans’ Panel at the 10th annual National McNair Scholars and Undergraduate Research Conference, University of Maryland, College Park, Md., March 13.

Danielle Pyun, East Asian Languages and Literatures, presented “Curricular Models for Heritage Korean Learners in US Colleges,” at the 18th International Conference on Korean Language Education, Seoul, Korea, August 2008.

Matt Roberts, Food, Agriculture and Environmental Science, presented “Existence and Use of Location Differentials in SAFEX Cash Market Settlements” at the 2009 Grain South Africa Congress, Bothaville, South Africa, via teleconference, March 4.

Mytheli Sreenivas, History, presented “‘Too Many Indians?’ Environmentalism and the Apocalyptic Politics of (Over)Population,” at the Symposium on Sustainability, Environmentalism and Eco-Criticism in South Asian Contexts, University of Hawaii, Manoa, Hawaii, April 9.

Sarah Starr, Research Foundation, presented “Research Funding Opportunities – for Faculty,” Columbus, June 4.

Mazeika Sullivan, Environment and Natural Resources, presented “Food Webs for Thought: Considering Aquatic-Terrestrial Energy Flows and Redefining Stream-Riparian Food Webs,” Ball State University Department of Biology, Muncie, Ind., April 3.

John Wenzel, Entomology, presented “The Phylogenetic Assembly of Phenotypic Plasticity in Two Model Systems: Reproductive Caste in Social Wasps and Swarm Phase in Locusts,” University of Rochester, Rochester, N.Y., Sept. 19, 2008, and University of West Virginia, Morgantown, W. Va., Oct. 20, 2008; “Behavioral Characters Perform Very Well as Indicators of Phylogeny” and “Defining Behavioral and Ecological Characters in Phylogenetic Context,” at the Societe Français de Systematique, Paris, France, Oct.1, 2008; and “Extended Consensus Outperforms Strict Consensus for Large Tree Sets,” Willi Hennig Society, Tucuman, Argentina, Oct. 29, 2008.

Publications
Meyer Benzakein, Aerospace Engineering, “Challenges for the Next Gen,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, June 15, p. 108.

Katherine Burkman, English, “The Nonarrival of Godot: Initiation into the Sacred Void,” Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot: Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations, 2008, pp. 33-53.

Vesta Daniel, Art Education, was invited to write a column, “Self-Definition: Is It Still a Racial Matter in Art Education?” for the National Art Education Association’s publication, NAEA News, April.

Heather Inwood, East Asian Languages and Literatures, “Identity Politics in Online Chinese Poetry Groups,” Postmodern China (Chinese History and Society),  Vol. 34, pp. 77-94.

William Marras, Integrated Systems Engineering; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; and Orthopaedic Surgery, “Lumbar Spine Forces during Manoeuvring of Ceiling-based and Floor-based Patient Transfer Devices,” Ergonomics, Vol. 52, No. 3 (2009), pp. 384-97, with Gregory Knapik and Sue Ferguson; and “Spine Loading at Different Lumbar Levels during Pushing and Pulling,” Ergonomics, Vol. 52, No. 1 (2009), pp. 60-70, with Knapik.

Elizabeth Weiser, English, “’As Usual I Fell on the Bias:’ Kenneth Burke’s Situated Dialectic” Philosophy and Rhetoric, Vol. 42 No. 2, pp. 134-53.

Stu Zweben, Computer Science and Engineering, “2007-2008 Taulbee Survey: Upward Trend in Undergraduate CS Enrollment; Doctoral Production Continues at Peak Levels,” Computing Research News, Vol. 21, No. 3 (May 2009), pp. 8-23.

Recognition
Lazarus Adua, Human and Community Resource Development, won the 2009 Rural Sociological Society’s Graduate Students Paper Competition Award receiving a certificate and $300 for his paper titled “Examining the Human Dimensions of Climate Change: The Consequences of Efficiency Improvement versus Social Stratification on Residential Energy Consumption.”

Steve Boyles, Animal Sciences, received the Plimpton Outstanding Young Teacher Award, which recognizes and encourages faculty who exemplify excellence in and commitment to teaching.

Stephanie Brown, English, received the Scholarly Accomplishment Award on the Newark campus.

Harvey Graff, History, was a Faculty Honoree at the President’s Salute to Undergraduate Academic Achievement on April 30.

Jim Gregory, Aerospace Engineering, received the Kenneth Harris James Prize, a best paper award from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Aerospace Industries Division, for “A Review of Pressure-Sensitive Paint for High Speed and Unsteady Aerodynamics,” Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G, Journal of Aerospace Engineering, Vol. 222, No. 2 (2008), pp. 249-90; and the Distinguished Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, Ohio State Denman Undergraduate Research Forum, May 2009.

Robert Norton, Center on Education and Training for Employment, received the Joel Magisos Exceptional Service Award for his long-term individual achievement in support of the International Vocational Education and Training Association.

Service
Chadwick Allen, English, was elected to a three-year term on the Nominations Committee for the newly formed Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA).

David Brewer, English, participated in a roundtable on “Finding Money” at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies.

Srinivasan Parthasarathy, Computer Science and Engineering, served as co-chair for the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Data Mining conference, Sparks, Nev., April 30-May 2.

Sydney Walker, Art Education, served on an external program review team for the art department at Northern Iowa University in Cedar Falls. She also is a curriculum consultant for the Bradley Bourbannais School District in Bradley, Ill.

Top 3 on 2, 9/24/09

September 23, 2009

Why did you choose to work at Ohio State?
I actually stumbled upon a posting for a job at the Medical Center; applied for it, took the Civil Service test and about a month later was called in for an interview and was offered the position. I transferred to the Periop Department about a year later. I stayed there only a short while before transferring to the College of Social Work, where I’ve been since October 1998.

What do you like about your job?

I love the atmosphere of working here, but mostly I love what I do for the College of Social Work. The people here treat me with respect and appreciate the work that I do. I’ve done faculty support for about 11 years. Next month I begin a new position within this college as the executive assistant to the dean, a job I’m very excited about. It’s a great opportunity for me.

Who is your hero?

My parents are my heroes.They taught me the important things in life.

If you weren’t working at Ohio State, what would you be doing?

If I weren’t working here I’d be retired. No place else I’d rather work. Well … maybe working for the university from home would be nice.

Of what honor or recognition are you most proud?

I received the Dianna Barret Staff Member of the Year award in 2004. I value this award because it came from my co-workers. Being recognized by the people I work with and for meant a lot to me.

What advice would you give a new employee?
Be thankful for your job, work hard and the possibilities are endless.

What is your favorite activity outside of work?

Spending time with friends. Entertaining friends in my home for dinner or cookouts is always fun. I also enjoy working in my yard and doing small remodeling work on my home.

What would you improve at Ohio State?

I think OSU is a wonderful place to work. The opportunities for advancement and training are great. I would like to be able to take more classes but most classes aren’t really very accessible for working staff. I believe that more online classes would be beneficial for staff.

What are you going to do when you retire?

Retire?? I have no idea. More relaxing I’m sure.

If you were the university president for a day, what would you do?

I’d work on making academic programs — courses — more accessible for staff … lowering parking rates sounds like a good idea too.

To nominate a staff member for an upcoming issue, e-mail oncampus@osu.edu.

The Ohio State Board of Trustees approved the naming of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum in recognition of a $7 million gift from the Elizabeth Ireland Graves Foundation to support the renovation of Sullivant Hall. The project is estimated to cost $20.6 million and will be completed in 2013, at which time Sullivant Hall will house both the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum and the Department of Dance.

“The Graves Foundation has made a critical investment to enhance the learning environment for students, faculty and visitors from around the world,” said President E. Gordon Gee. “The revitalized Sullivant Hall will be a fitting home to two university treasures — the top-ranked Department of Dance and the world-renowned Cartoon Library and Museum.

Naming the latter in Billy Ireland’s honor is a fitting tribute to a remarkable Ohioan.”

The Elizabeth Ireland Graves Foundation is managed by Billy Ireland’s granddaughter, Sayre Graves, and is based out of Bremo Bluff, Va.

The Columbus Dispatch hired Ireland, a native of Chillicothe, shortly after his high school graduation in 1898. A self-taught cartoonist, he worked for the Dispatch until his death in 1935.

Faculty-Staff, 8-13-09

August 13, 2009

Continue reading ‘Faculty-Staff, 8-13-09′

Top 3on2, 8-13-09

August 13, 2009

An endless palette of color

Gary Wenneker, who works in the Food Industries Center Pilot Plants, is a 15-year OSU employee

Why did you choose to work at Ohio State?

A friend named Joe T., working here at OSU, recommended me for the job of director of the Food Industries Center. I also needed a job that offered benefits, plus the job description looked interesting and unique. In the dairy pilot plant we can separate and pasteurize fluid milk and juice products and make cheese, yogurt and ice cream products. In the food processing pilot plant we can make cheese puffs, cheese curls, cereals and snack foods and process sauces, salsa and fruit products.

What do you like about your job?

Working and interacting with students and student groups. Interacting and working with clients within the food industry. Working with great staff members within the department and college everyday. I also help host several process-oriented short courses and training sessions throughout the year.

What would you improve at Ohio State?

More parking garages and spaces. Staff/faculty relations.

If you weren’t working at Ohio State, what would you be doing?

I think I would like to be a teacher or own a restaurant.

What is your favorite activity outside of work?

I like to cook, spend time with family and friends and participate in church activities.

What advice would you give a new employee?

I would recommend diversification in investment and retirement planning.

Of what honor or recognition are you most proud?

Being nominated to be TopSpot in onCampus! I also have received a few “thank you” notes and a couple of “good job” comments over the past few years. I do have some honors and recognitions that hang on my office walls.

Who is your hero?

I do not have a hero. I work with a lot of hard-working staff members within the College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences that have helped me do my job when I have asked for help. There are many who have gone out of their way and stopped what they were doing to assist me when needed.

What are you going to do when you retire?

Spend quality time with family and friends, do more volunteer work within the community and start that “honey do” list.

If you were the university president for a day, what would you do?

There would be too much to do in only one day. I would like to meet as many staff as possible to see what all they do to make the university work.

To nominate a staff member for an upcoming issue, e-mail oncampus@osu.edu.

Dentistry receives largest donation in its history

The College of Dentistry has received a gift of approximately $3 million to support scholarships for dentistry students. The largest single gift in the college’s history, the donation comes from the estate of the late Richard Veler and his wife, Betty Veler, both of whom were lifelong supporters of the university.

Veler, a 1946 College of Dentistry graduate whose practice was in Toledo, began his philanthropy to Ohio State with a gift of $10 in 1948. He and his wife later donated the funds that created the Richard C. Veler, DDS, and Betty G. Veler Scholarship endowment that provides financial support for dentistry students who demonstrate “merit, need and outstanding moral and ethical character.” The Velers’ recent estate gift of approximately $3 million will support and expand their existing scholarship endowment.

“Throughout their lives, the Velers were remarkably generous with the university,” said Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee.  “This latest gift from their estate provides additional resources that will enable future generations of talented young people to pursue their dreams and to earn their degrees at Ohio State. I can think of no more selfless action, and I am deeply grateful.”

Top 3 on 2, 7/16/09

July 15, 2009

Why did you choose to work at Ohio State?
Everything’s really led to this point. From growing up in the shadow of the university on North Campus, I’ve always had an affinity for the Wexner Center and was fortunate enough to have experiences and opportunities that brought me here. Continue reading ‘Top 3 on 2, 7/16/09′

OSU faculty to take part in academic leadership program

July 15, 2009

Five Ohio State faculty members will participate in an annual signature program sponsored by the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), a consortium of Big Ten institutions and the University of Chicago.

Continue reading ‘OSU faculty to take part in academic leadership program’

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