Ohio University

Ninety-nine highly accomplished juniors and seniors were inducted into Ohio University's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa this spring, and seven students shared the Thomas A. Wolfe Award, a cash prize for highest GPA among the 2021 inductees.

Recent Ohio University graduate Alie Skowronski was named the 2021 Hearst Photojournalism Championship winner, with OHIO rising senior Nate Swanson being named a finalist in the same category in the 2021 Hearst Journalism Awards Program.

A rising senior in Ohio University E.W. Scripps School of Journalism received a Mark of Excellence award for a story he wrote about video game accessibility. Joseph Stanichar, from Cincinnati, Ohio, wrote the piece titled "Why Many Disabled Players Call 'The Last of Us Part II' The Most Accessible Videogame Yet" for Paste Magazine in 2020. It received the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence award in Video Game Reporting. The awards were announced in June.

Ohio University's Air Force ROTC Detachment 650 announced the awarding of In-College Scholarships to two cadets who are pursuing degrees in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology. Jasson Aguilera, a sophomore from Ironton, Ohio, is an aviation major. Brady Taylor, a junior from Gallipolis, Ohio, is an aviation flight and aviation management double major.

Ohio University student Emma Rice, an upcoming senior and physics major in the Honors Tutorial College from Marysville, Ohio, was recently named a 2021 Goldwater Scholar for her physics research. During the summer of 2020, Rice began a remote internship with the Low Energy Nuclear Structure group at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL). For the past few months, Rice has been living in California and working in person in the lab.

More than 5,200 students qualified for the fall semester 2019 Dean's List at Ohio University, including main and regional campuses. In addition, more than 2,300 students graduated with bachelor's, master's or doctorate degrees from the University. The graduates represented many areas of the United States and an abundance of countries, including: Great Britain, China, South Africa, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Mexico, Ghana, Vietnam and Bahamas. Students on the Dean's List came from an array of states, as more than 40 states were represented, including: Utah, Maryland, California, New Jersey, Kentucky, Iowa, Washington and Ohio, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. OHIO students must earn at least a 3.5 grade point average for the semester with a schedule of classes totaling at least 15 hours, 12 of which were taken for letter grades, to achieve this distinction.

More than 4,800 students graduated with bachelor's, master's or doctorate degrees from Ohio University for spring semester 2021. The graduates represented many areas of the United States and an abundance of countries, including: China, India, Saudi Arabia, Peru and Canada.

More than 7,800 students qualified for the spring semester 2021 Dean's List at Ohio University, including main and regional campuses. Over 40 states were represented on the Dean's List, including: Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Mexico, Washington and Ohio. Students also represented China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Oman, Peru and many other countries.

Six Ohio University students, five alumni and a professor have been selected as recipients for the Fulbright Program, through which they will work to promote international, educational, and cultural exchange in host countries across South America, Europe, Africa, and North America. The scholars include students Ryanne Morr, Hannah Posedel and Claire Ramsey and alumni Abby Hearne, Sue Ryu, Andrew Steinke and Dakota Tackett, who were selected for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program; students Rhea Lanier, Maya Meade, Kennedy Rasberry and alum Nile Harris, who were selected for Fulbright Canada's post-COVID-19 Challenge; and professor of political science Myra Waterbury, who will spend four months in Budapest at the Minority Studies Institute at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Ohio University master's student Sarah Liese was one of three people named as a Full Circle Fellow by the Sundance Institute to participate in their Directors and Screenwriters Labs and Native Lab. The labs, which are virtual, provide a space for the artists to develop their craft and projects.

Ohio University's Air Force ROTC Detachment 650 commissioned six cadets as officers in the United States Air Force on Saturday, May 1, 2021. During a ceremony in Baker University Center, the six cadets were commissioned as Second Lieutenants.

Ohio University's Morgan Spehar, from Auburn, Ohio, has been selected as a Udall Scholar for the 2021-22 academic year, highlighting her work in environmental journalism. She is the sole recipient in the state of Ohio from any Ohio university or college. Spehar, who will be a senior in the upcoming academic year, is an Honors Tutorial College student majoring in journalism and environmental studies. She is among 55 students from 42 colleges and universities across the United States selected as the 2021 Udall Scholars.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has appointed a new student member, Sarah O. Ladipo, to the Ohio University Board of Trustees. Ladipo, of Pickerington, Ohio, a sophomore studying philosophy with a war and peace certificate, will serve a two-year term effective on May 14, 2021, and ending on May 13, 2023.

Jacob Hain was looking for a master's degree that would help him develop leadership skills while also providing flexibility so he could work while he earned his degree. He knew he had found the right program when he came across the Master of Science in Management (MSM) in Ohio University's College of Business. "I wanted to specialize in leadership practices that will help me become an entrepreneur," Hain said. "This program provides students with flexibility in scheduling, customization, and pace. It offers both part- and full-time tracks, giving students excellent opportunities and enough time to work on their coursework, while simultaneously working, raising a family, or enjoying their personal and social lives."

University College is excited to announce the recipients of the Richard K. Brackin Scholarship to specialized studies majors Mercadies George and Ghaelyn Gold Grimes.

When Nicole Hess was a freshman at Ohio University, she was looking for a research project that was more human-focused. After discussing with her advisor, Dr. Soichi Tanda, he invited her to join his lab to conduct research on hearing loss. Hess, a Honors Tutorial College junior majoring in biological sciences from Powell, Ohio, was excited to learn more and got to work right away in Tanda's lab. Hess was recently awarded the Goldwater Scholarship for her research work.

Sarah Lifer, an Ohio University senior from Jeromesville, Ohio, has been selected by Ohio Campus Compact as a recipient of the Charles J. Ping Student Service Legacy Award. Lifer is one of 12 civic leaders and problem solvers, representing 12 colleges and universities across Ohio, to be selected for this honor.

Before Marietta, Ohio, native Madi Moore set foot on Ohio University's campus as a biochemistry major in the first full cohort of the OHIO Honors Program in fall 2019, she had earned two associate's degrees. That previous coursework, completed during her last two years of high school through the College Credit Plus program, set Moore on a path to complete her bachelor's degree at OHIO in only two years, becoming the first OHP graduate.

Students from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism were honored April 10 for their reporting, opinion writing, photography and independent media organization skills in the Region 4 Mark of Excellence awards sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists. The awards were announced in a virtual ceremony due to COVID-19. Region 4 includes Michigan, Ohio, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Ohio University competes in the large university division.

Four cinematic virtual reality (cine-VR) projects produced by Ohio University undergraduate and graduate students are gaining national and global recognition in festivals.

Emily Marino would tell you that growing up she was a germaphobe and always interested in the microbiology of germs; how they worked, the different types of bacteria, and how it affected a person's body. Today, she's taken that interest into her studies and career, researching Staphylococcus aureus, or the bacterial pathogen that causes staph infections in order to help solve bigger problems on a micro scale. Not only has her long interest in microbiology allowed her to work hands-on researching it, but she was recently named a Goldwater Scholar.

Graduate students Bharbi Hazarika and Haiyun Jiang have been admitted to the 2021 New York Times Student Journalism Institute program. The New York Times Student Journalism Institute allows students with an interest in diversity, and enrolled in organizations which promote diversity and inclusion, the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of some of the best and brightest journalists in America. This program fosters a supportive environment where aspiring journalists are given the opportunity to learn and apply their knowledge through producing material that meet the standards of the most prestigious news organizations across the nation. This program is known as one of the most successful networking opportunities for ambitious journalists.

IMG/Endeavor at Miss Universe has hired four interns from Ohio University's Scripps College of Communication. Two full-time, paid positions are available in each of two sessions: a social media and public relations internship and a web and video internship. The students selected are Abigale Clarke (session I PR/social media), Yana Durado (session I web and video), Anna Birk (session II PR/social media), and Nathan Szoch (session II web and video).

Ohio University honored some of its highest achieving graduate students, contributing to their research efforts with two presidential medals and five named graduate fellowships. "These awards celebrate several of our truly outstanding graduate students," Ohio University President M. Duane Nellis said. "They are conducting research that will have significant impact on the health and well-being of individuals and communities. They are contributing new knowledge to our understanding of history and science. And, they have creative spirits and inquisitive minds that exemplify our graduate students at OHIO."

Lacy Burke, an Ohio University senior from Albany, Ohio, and lead peer mentor for the College of Business's Emerging Leaders program, was selected as the first recipient of the Todd and Teresa Calamita Leadership Scholarship based on her outstanding commitment to the organization, demonstration of leadership skills, and dependability. This scholarship will be given to the Emerging Leaders program's lead peer mentor each year.

Four Ohio University students were selected as recipients of the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) Research Internships in Science and Engineering (RISE) Germany program, a program that offers internships in Germany for undergraduate students from North America, Great Britain and Ireland and connects students with doctoral students and researchers who serve as mentors in Germany.

Ohio University's Speech and Debate team has a long legacy of bringing home tournament wins, something that continues despite the challenges that have been brought on by COVID. Most recently, OHIO's Speech and Debate team dominated the Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament, placing second in Individual Events Sweepstakes, fifth in overall Sweepstakes and 18th in Debate Sweepstakes.

Ohio University Air Force ROTC cadet Griffin Braun has been selected to attend the Air Force Junior ROTC Flight Academy. Braun is one of only 15 Air Force ROTC Cadets nationwide to have been selected to this extremely competitive program, through which he will earn a private pilot license. Braun is a senior at Ohio University and is expected to earn his degree in civil engineering in May of 2022. Braun also has a certificate in construction management and will earn a minor in aerospace studies upon completion of the AFROTC program.

Third-year physical therapy students Spencer Edwards from Kaysville, Utah, and Kelly Rhodes from Lexington, Ohio, received high marks for their video submissions during this year's American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Geriatrics Consumer Video contest. Edwards placed third in this year's contest, and Rhodes placed fourth. Both students were able to participate in the event through the Division of Physical Therapy's "Physical Therapy for the Geriatric Population" course, an elective option offered to third-year physical therapy students interested in enhancing their foundational skills and knowledge by examining concepts related to the older adult in physical therapy practice.

Ohio University senior and Athens native Edward Drabold was recently awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP), a prestigious grant that recognizes and supports students pursuing research-based graduate degrees in the natural, social, and engineering sciences. Senior Mason Myers and alumnus Mahmoud Ramadan were also recognized this year by the NSF GRFP with honorable mentions.