5X����

2000s

Aaron Calvert, BFA ’00, Russellville, AR, ceramic artist, is the recipient of an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Arkansas Arts Council. The fellowships are unconditional $4,000 awards made directly to individual Arkansas artists working in categories that rotate each year. This year, the categories were cinematic arts, poetry and crafts. He was honored in a virtual evening program on Oct. 6, 2021. 

He also was featured, along with another artist, in an exhibit titled, “Gone to Seed,” which ran from May 14 to Aug. 22, 2021, at Historic Arkansas Museum’s Trinity Gallery. His colorful ceramic figures on display included a raccoon, deer, bear, squirrel and a pair of rabbits. Each is brightly decorated with drawings of patterns, figures, codes and phrases—some of the things he thinks about as he works on the figures. A similar figure, “Rocket Rabbit,” won the Grand Award in the Arkansas Arts Center’s 2020 Delta Exhibition.

Calvert has a Master of Fine Arts in ceramics from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and teaches art at Henderson State University. He grew up in Litchfield, Ohio, was an Eagle Scout and is a competitive fisherman—so bobbers, fish and lures also show up on some of his pieces. He lives with his wife and two daughters.

Kelly Harris-DeBerry, BA ’00, Baton Rouge, LA, is an author, poet and digital storyteller. She published a second edition of her collection of poems, Freedom Knows My Name (Xavier Review Press, August 2020), which combines the truths of her Midwest upbringing with her adult life in the South, bearing witness to a changing America. The back cover includes a QR code that gives access to free audio versions of select poems, plus bonus content. The book is available at . 

Harris-DeBerry received an MFA in creative writing from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has received fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and the Cave Canem Foundation and has been published in numerous journals and magazines. Her podcast episode for About Place Journal, “Congo Square: Sustaining the Sacred Post-Katrina,” highlights her talents as a producer and researcher. She is a former guest poetry editor for Bayou Magazine at the University of New Orleans. A cultural leader with business savvy, she serves her literary community as the New Orleans Poets & Writers’ literary coordinator and on various boards.

Cari Root, BA ’00, MEd ’01, EDS ’03, Macedonia, OH, a school psychologist for Solon City Schools since 2003, was named the district’s next director of pupil services, effective Aug. 1, 2021. She was school psychologist at Solon Middle School. In her new position, Root coordinates services for students in special education, gifted and enrichment programs, English as a second language and centralized registration. She also oversees compliance with Ohio’s complex Education Management Information System, a collection and reporting system of financial data and information regarding student demographics, attendance, course offerings and testing results.

Rachel Carosello, BA ’01, MA ’11, Canton, OH, a Louisville police officer, was chosen the 2021 School Resource Officer/D.A.R.E. Officer of the Year by the Ohio School Resource Officer Association. She was honored at the group’s annual conference in June at the Great Wolf Lodge near Cincinnati.  

According to an article in The Repository, the principal, guidance counselor, family support specialist and intervention specialist at Louisville Middle School nominated her for the award. Their nomination letter included statements written by students and noted, “She builds relationships, she dedicates her time, she changes lives.”

After earning undergraduate and graduate degrees in criminal justice from Kent State, Carosello worked part time for the Victim Assistance Program of Summit County and then full time for Stark County Adult Probation. She was hired at the Louisville Police Department as a patrol officer and has worked there for nine years, eight as the Louisville School District school resource officer. She also serves as the department’s domestic violence officer.

Carosello, who has twin 13-year-old daughters, speaks with students at Louisville schools and St. Thomas Aquinas High School about internet safety, drug prevention and anti-vaping. She participates daily with students in the multiple disability classroom and is part of the Stark County CARE Team initiative, which focuses on struggling children. 

Scott Clymire, BS ’01, BArc ’02, Akron, OH, was appointed CEO at Whitacre Engineering. He joined Whitacre in 2013 as chief operating officer. He now directs operations and resources for the 101-year-old company. Headquartered in Canton, Whitacre has an office in Syracuse, New York, and works with customers in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan and West Virginia. The company initially provided hollow clay tile fillers, steel and other building materials for structural floor slabs. Its focus evolved to providing complete rebar services.

Amie Cochran, MEd ’01, Salem, Ohio, a seventh-grade science teacher at Salem Junior High School, received the 2021 Golden Apple Award from the Salem Rotary Club and the Salem Rotary Foundation for her dedication to her students and teaching. Cochran received the award and $1,000 in award money during a science class. She graduated from Salem High in 1990 and received a bachelor’s degree from Slippery Rock University. She began her teaching career in Salem in 1994. She is an advisor for the Salem High School Key Club and recently completed a 17-year stint as head coach of the girls track and field team.

Athena Dixon, BA ’01, Philadelphia, PA, is a poet, essayist and editor. She is the author of The Incredible Shrinking Woman (Split/Lip Press 2020) and No God in This Room (Argus House Press 2018). Her work has also appeared in various publications online and in print, including The BreakBeat Poets, Vol. 2: Black Girl Magic (Haymarket Books). 

She is a Pushcart Prize nominee (2016, 2017), a Best of the Net nominee (2017), a Callaloo fellow (Oxford 2017), a VONA fellow (2018) and a Tin House Workshop attendee (Winter 2019). A member of the Moving Forewords Memoir Writers Collective, she also has presented at AWP (2013, 2020), HippoCamp (2016–2020) and The Muse and the Marketplace (2019), among other panels and conferences. She is founder of Linden Avenue Literary Journal, which she launched in 2012, and is the co-host of the New Books in Poetry podcast via the New Books Network.

Dixon was born and raised in Northeast Ohio. She was an Oscar Ritchie Memorial scholar while majoring in sociology at Kent State. She has bachelor’s in English from Youngstown State University (2005) and an MFA in creative writing from Queens University of Charlotte (2008).

Colleen Longshaw Jackson, BFA ’01, MFA ’15, Cleveland, OH, was appointed the city of Shaker Heights’ first chief officer for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), effective June 1, 2021. She previously was the director of community partnerships and programming at Cleveland Play House, where she was part of the team to develop and implement the Compassionate Arts Remaking Education program. She managed community programs such as Say Yes Cleveland and MYCom, which has had a presence in South Shaker Heights. She also performed in the Play House’s last virtual play of the season, Blackademics. 

 Well-known on the stages of Cain Park, Great Lakes Theater, Karamu House, Dobama Theatre and the Ohio Shakespeare Festival, Jackson has worked behind the scenes at Cleveland Play House since 2015, including on DEI-related issues for professional development initiatives. 

A certified trauma professional, Jackson also has extensive experience as a facilitator and trainer. She has helped organizations, including the Play House, Kent State and Baldwin Wallace University, with strategic planning around diversity, equity and inclusion. 

After graduating from Kent State, she lived and worked in New York City for 10 years. She also earned a certificate in diversity and inclusion from Cornell University.

Amy M. Arbogast, BBA ’02, MBA ’05, Sheffield Village, OH, was hired as the new vice president for finance and administration at Thiel College, following a national search. As vice president, she is a member of the president’s cabinet and will be chief financial and administrative officer. She will provide financial leadership to the campus community and collaborate with other members of the cabinet to accomplish strategic priorities. She will supervise business and account services functions, human resources, maintenance and facilities, and information technology.

Most recently, she was chief financial officer and treasurer at Vocational Guidance Services in Cleveland, where she directed financial, budgetary and accounting practices and coordinated its relationships with lending institutions and the financial community. Arbogast spent six years as vice president of finance and administration at Magnificat High School, an all-girls Catholic, college-preparatory high school. Before that, she worked for seven years at the Sherwin-Williams headquarters in downtown Cleveland in various financial roles. 

Arbogast recently earned an executive scholar certificate in nonprofit management from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. A graduate of the Cleveland Leadership Center’s Leadership Cleveland Class of 2019, she is also a member of the finance council for St. Joseph Parish in Avon Lake and is active with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Amanda Clark, AAS ’03, BSN ’11, Jefferson, OH, director of emergency services at Ashtabula County Medical Center, leads the emergency department, nursing supervisors and behavioral medicine unit teams. She is also part of ACMC’s hospital incident command team for COVID-19 crisis response, according to an article in Ashtabula’s daily newspaper, the Star Beacon. 

Clark started her career with an associate degree and worked as a pediatric intensive care unit nurse and in a cardiac catheterization lab. She completed a bachelor’s in nursing at 5X���� at Ashtabula and a master’s in the science of nursing with a focus on executive leadership at Saint Xavier University in Chicago. She has worked at ACMC since 2010.

Scott Maidman, BS ’02, Mt. Lebanon, PA, senior vice president and wealth management advisor at Merrill, the brokerage affiliate of Bank of America, was named to the 2021 Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Advisors” list. (He also appeared on the list in 2020 and 2019.) 

Since arriving at Merrill in 2007, he has become a certified financial planner, a designation awarded by the Certified Planner Board of Standards Inc. He is a qualified portfolio manager who, in addition to providing traditional advice and guidance, can help clients pursue their objectives by building and managing his own personalized or defined strategies, which may incorporate individual stocks and bonds, Merrill model portfolios and third-party investment strategies.

Maidman earned a bachelor’s in finance from Kent State, where he also played hockey. He interned at Morgan Stanley and Merrill while earning an MBA in corporate finance from Robert Morris University. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have a son and a daughter.

Ben Curtis, BS ’03, Kent, OH, former British Open champion, is the namesake of a golf training center, Ben Curtis Golf Academy at The Bunker, which opened in October 2021 as part of the Debartolo Commons at the reimagined Southern Park Mall in Boardman, Ohio. The Bunker includes a front bar and lounge, family dining and an area for indoor golf lessons and practice. The Bunker’s owner, Jonah Karzmer (who attended Kent State in 1999–2001 and transferred to Youngstown State University as a sophomore), played golf with Curtis for Kent State. (Karzmer is also co-founder and president at The Karzmer Insurance Agency, Youngstown, Ohio.) According to an article in the , Curtis plans to spend a few days a month at the center and will be available for golf lessons. 

Curtis was inducted into the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame in October 2021. He was inducted into the Mid-American Hall of Fame in 2012. In 2018, Curtis retired from the PGA Tour and launched the Ben Curtis Golf Academy at The Country Club of Hudson (Ohio). He and his wife, Candace, established the Ben Curtis Family Foundation in 2013 with a mission to end childhood hunger in Portage and Summit counties.

Geoff Hagan, BA ’03, Avon Lake, OH, was promoted to vice president of operations at Tecta America, the nation’s leading commercial roofing company based in Rosemont, Illinois, with 70 locations nationwide. Hagan, who earned a degree in justice studies from Kent State, has been with Tecta for nearly 15 of his 25 years in the roofing industry. Starting as a project manager and estimator in 2006 in Central Florida, he was promoted to operations manager and soon started the environmental solutions division. In 2010, he became environmental solutions director and SE regional sales manager. He helped revive the national business unit in 2013 as an account manager and joined the service team in 2019 as director of service.

Charissa N. Walker, BA ’03, Copley, OH, was named by Tucker Ellis LLP as a member of the class of 2021 in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity. A counsel in the firm’s Cleveland office, she is among the 404 attorneys named to the 2021 class of pathfinders, a program to train high-performing, early-career attorneys in critical career development strategies, including leadership and the building of professional networks. Founded in 2009, the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity is a growing organization of more than 350 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners who are committed to creating a more diverse and inclusive legal profession.

Brandee (McClenic) Wilkinson, BA ’03, Akron, OH, is the first Black woman to own a funeral home in Akron, according to a Feb. 21, 2021, article in the Akron Beacon Journal. Wilkinson and her husband opened the Wilkinson Funeral Home in April 2019, after buying and renovating a building that housed the former J.E. Scott Funeral Home after its owner, also a Black funeral director, retired. During the pandemic, they were one of the first to offer livestreaming of funerals so family members could watch the service without attending physically.

Wilkinson pursued a career in the field after she earned a bachelor’s in psychology and became interested in grief counseling. She earned a mortuary degree from the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science in 2005. Now a licensed funeral director and embalmer, her experience includes work at Stewart & Calhoun funeral homes in Akron and Cleveland, as well as Newcomer Funeral Home.

Terry Armstrong, BSE ’04, Howland, OH, and his daughter, Moira, a Kent State senior majoring in English and US history, recently published Aerosmith to ZZ Top: A Dad & Daughter’s Rock & Roll Journey (Noodle Salad Publishing, June 2021). The book chronicles their mutual love of classic rock and the memories they’ve made together while listening to music and attending concerts. He and his daughter have traveled as far as Florida to see a concert and have seen 59 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees perform live. 

Armstrong has worked as a teacher, principal, superintendent and administrator in several area school districts and is currently treasurer/chief financial officer for Boardman Local Schools. According to an article in the Kimberly Armstrong, BS ’96, MA ’96, gave her husband and daughter The Reading Promise, a memoir by Alice Ozma, about how her father read to her every night and the books they shared. It inspired the idea for the Armstrongs’ book about the music they’ve shared.

Moira Armstrong, who also has published a chapbook of her poetry, has kept a color-coded spreadsheet of all the shows they’ve seen, when and where they saw them and which acts have been inducted into music-related halls of fame, which helped the process. They enjoyed writing and reliving their experiences, especially during the pandemic when they couldn’t go to shows. The break during the pandemic is the longest they’ve gone between concerts.

Michael Faehnel, BFA ’04, Kent, OH, opened in downtown Kent in 2019, taking over the space when the owners of Standing Rock Jewelers retired. The shop features jewelry from local artists, including Faehnel’s pieces. He majored in jewelry, metals, enameling and glass at Kent State.

Monique M. Pizzute, BS ’04, MBA ’14, Copley, OH, was appointed director of franchise support for SarahCare Adult Day Services, a subsidiary of Innovative MedTech Inc., a provider of health and wellness services based in Blue Island, Illinois. SarahCare offers older adults daytime care and activities ranging from daily exercise and medical needs to nursing care and salon services. In this newly created position, Pizzute will also oversee the development and launch of new programs and ensure that SarahCare franchises comply with changes in state regulations.

Pizzute joins the corporate office of SarahCare after serving as an executive director at its Stow, Ohio, location. She previously served as executive director of Brookdale Senior Living Center in Richmond Heights, Ohio. She has served as an administrator for multiple adult care and nursing homes throughout Ohio since 2004. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in gerontology and long-term care administration from Kent State.

Daniel Schlegel Jr., BA ’04, Monroe County, IN, is the new director of the Monroe County History Center, effective July 6, 2021. Schlegel is an experienced museum professional with 20 years in the field. The history center is a nonprofit whose mission is to collect, preserve, research, interpret and present the genealogy, history and artifacts of Monroe County and provide an accessible learning environment.

Schlegel began his career in his home state of Ohio, completing a bachelor’s degree in history with a minor in anthropology at Kent State and a master’s degree in public history from Wright State University (2009). Following stints in local interpretation, visitor experience, archiving and exhibits in Dayton and at Wright State, Schlegel served as the executive director of the Scurry County Museum in Snyder, Texas, from 2010 to 2018. He comes to Monroe County after serving as the director of operations at the Mines Museum of Earth Science in Golden, Colorado.

Kim Yoak, MA ’04, PhD ’14, Stow, OH, is a mathematical education consultant and executive director of the Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics. According to an article in the Akron Beacon Journal, as a child she played games that involved math (dice, counting, problem-solving or pattern recognition) and developed confidence in her mathematical abilities. Now she works to instill that same confidence in both teachers and students—with the goal of democratizing the discipline and bringing equity into the classroom.

Yoak studied math education at Bowling Green State University and taught at Kimpton Middle School as an eighth-grade math teacher. She earned a master’s degree at Kent State and became the Stow-Munroe Falls School District’s math specialist, a role she held for 10 years. In 2014, she earned a doctorate in curriculum and instruction/mathematics education and started Summit Mathematics Education Enterprises LLC to help districts and math teachers all over Northeast Ohio reexamine how they teach math.

According to Yoak, data shows that by eliminating tracking (putting students into honors, general and lower levels, where white and Asian students are overrepresented in the honors track and students of color are overrepresented in the lower tracks) and replacing it with a student-focused, equity-centered and reason-based math experience, all students improve.

Sam Harper, BBA 05, Washington, DC, was recently hired as vice president of data intelligence and technology at the Colorectal Cancer Alliance. According to an article in Kent Wired, Steve Bushong, BS ’09, Tallmadge, OH, senior manager of strategic communications at the Alliance, contacted Harper before announcing the new hire in a press release. Harper then looked Bushong up on LinkedIn and discovered the Golden Flash connection. The small organization of 45 now employs two Kent State alumni.

The Colorectal Cancer Alliance, formerly the Colon Cancer Alliance, is the nation’s oldest and largest colorectal cancer advocacy nonprofit organization. It was founded in Washington, DC, in 1999 by 41 patients, survivors and caregivers, according to the Alliance website.

Kenneth Johnson, MTec ’05, Rosburg, WA, was named chief executive officer/general manager of Western Wahkiakum Telephone Co. by WWest Communications, based in Rosburg, effective June 2021. Johnson spent more than two decades with Conneaut Telephone Co., doing business as GreatWave Communications in Ohio. He worked in multiple roles, including network engineer, product manager and chief executive officer for 10 years. Johnson also served as executive vice president of broadband business at Valley Electric Association in Nevada.

Brandon LaGanke, BS ’05, West Orange, NJ, co-directed a feature film, Drunk Bus, which debuted in theaters and online in May 2021. The film won both Best Feature and the Audience Award at the 2020 San Diego Film Festival and appeared in the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque’s virtual screening room.

According to an article in , the film taps into LaGanke’s past at 5X����, where as a student he drove a late-night bus that shuttled drunk students to and from campus. Pineapple, the heavily tattooed Samoan security guard who protects the driver in the movie, was LaGanke’s actual bodyguard nearly 20 years ago when he drove the campus bus loop. They lived in Dunbar Hall and were in a band together. The film also gives a nod to rock band Devo, which LaGanke credits as a huge influence. “I think Mark Mothersbaugh would probably be like my ‘fanboy-can’t-talk’ moment if I met him.”

Aman Ali, BS ’06, New York, NY, co-produced a documentary highlighting the experience of Black-American Muslims with his brother, NYU film graduate Zeshawn Ali. According to Kent Wired, Two Gods tells the story of Hanif Muhammad, a casket maker and ritual body washer, as he coaches two young boys into his work. 

While growing up in the Columbus suburbs, the Ali brothers faced a lack of diverse representation in their community and in the media. They wanted to tell a story that had nothing to do with terrorism or current events and to encourage people to be more prepared when it comes to death. 

The film has won multiple film festival awards and is a New York Times Critic’s Pick. It was shown in theatres nationwide and was available to view on PBS.

Matthew Montgomery, BSE ’06, MEd ’09, PhD ’20, Chicago, IL, became superintendent at Lake Forest Schools in a northern suburb of Chicago, effective July 1. He was superintendent of the Revere Local School District in Bath, Ohio, since 2015, after serving more than a year as superintendent of his hometown district, Waterloo Local Schools in Portage County.

Corrie Slawson, MFA ’06, Cleveland, OH, visual artist, received a 2021 Mid-Career Artist Award from the Cleveland Arts Prize for expanding the role of the arts in the community. After earning a BFA from Parsons School of Design, Slawson earned an MFA at Kent State. Her work representing environmental and social equities has been featured at the Akron Art Museum and the Toledo Museum of Art. She currently teaches painting and drawing part time at Kent State’s School of Art. Learn more about her work at .

Sarah Spy, BS ’06, Reno, NV, a major in the Air National Guard, has become the first female flight instructor for the Nevada Air National Guard, after completing instructor pilot school in May. According to a story in the , Spy says it took years of training to qualify as an instructor. She completed various pilot training courses and over 4,500 flight hours, served multiple deployments and spent over 750 hours as a co-pilot before upgrading to aircraft commander and now instructor pilot. Delta Air Lines hired her as a pilot in 2019, but she continued in the Guard as well.

Janel (Iden) Blankespoor, BACC ’07, MEd ’12, Wilmington, OH, has been named head coach of the Wilmington College women’s basketball program, after serving as the program’s interim head coach over the last year. She led the program through an odd COVID-19 season to a 7-7 mark. Prior to that, she was an assistant under head coach Jerry Scheve, who recently retired after leading the program for 30 years.

Blankespoor came to Wilmington in 2018 from Georgetown High School, where she served as head girls basketball coach as well as career and college advisor for the 2017-18 academic year. She previously had spent five seasons with the women’s basketball program at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, the last three years as acting head coach.

Courtney Gumpf, BA ’07, Coraopolis, PA, executive producer and co-owner of Flying Scooter Productions, created a digital experience for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s 125th anniversary season, when it had to shut down during the pandemic. Flying Scooter conceived Front Row, a series of hour-long episodes to highlight the artistry of the orchestra’s musicians. 

The series also was a platform to reach the community and shine a spotlight on other artists, spaces and places around Heinz Hall, the orchestra’s home. Subscribers and donors have free access to the series on the orchestra’s website, and it streamed for free on Comcast six months following its release. 

Heralded as one of the best producers in Pittsburgh, Gumpf has extensive background in feature, small screen and commercial projects. Flying Scooter also was recognized in 2019 and 2020 with Telly Awards (Gold, Silver and Bronze) for its work in partnership with Light of Life Rescue Mission to raise the discussion around addiction and homelessness and to highlight the mission’s work in changing lives.

Anthony Blanchard, DPM ’08, Cincinnati, OH, foot and ankle podiatric surgeon, joined the medical staff of the Adams County Regional Medical Center in June 2021. The ACRMC is a 25-bed public hospital near Seaman, Ohio. Blanchard will practice at ACRMC’s outpatient clinic on the main campus, offering podiatric services including diabetic foot care and treatment of fractures, trauma, arthritis, wounds and sports injuries.

Blanchard completed a three-year residency at the Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati, specializing in foot and ankle surgery while focusing on emergent diabetic and complex limb deformity correction. He is certified by the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgeons and is a fellow of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons.

Elena Long, MA ’08, PhD ’12, Rochester, NH, founded in 2010. The organization is devoted to providing networking, resources and advocacy for gender and sexual minorities in physics. She was a central member of the American Physical Society’s Ad Hoc Committee on LGBT+ issues, and she chairs an )—all while continuing to study atomic nuclei as an assistant professor at the University of New Hampshire. Read more about her story in Symmetry Magazine’s recent article, “”

Mark Mothersbaugh, attended Kent State 1968–1973, Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, 2008, West Hollywood, CA, launched Postcards for Democracy in 2020, with artist/musician Beatie Wolfe, to generate funds for the US Postal Service and reaffirm its value after it was denounced as a vehicle for voter fraud during the 2020 election year. 

According to a March 12, 2021, article in , participation in the demonstration/collective art project is simple: 1) Buy stamps. 2) Make art on a postcard. 3) Mail the card to Mothersbaugh and Wolfe. The sacks of postcards the duo received were exhibited May 17 to Aug. 8 in an installation at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at Florida Southwestern State College in Fort Myers—but they never set an end date for the project itself.

Mothersbaugh has been devoted to the mail since his Devo days and before. As an art student at Kent State, he would send postcard art to artists such as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg and actually get replies. To participate in Postcards for Democracy, mail your postcard to 8760 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90069-2206.

Sharon Ware, BA ’08, Canton, OH, graduated from medical school in August 2021. According to an article in The Repository, she is among the first class of eight students to graduate as part of the Transitional Care Continuum, a program in Ohio University’s School of Osteopathic Medicine. TCC students are part of a six-year accelerated program that allows them to gain experience in a clinical setting from their first day and go on to their three-year residency there. She was at Cleveland Clinic Akron General, one of two sites hosting students in the TCC program. (Cleveland Clinic’s Lakewood Family Health Center is the other site.) 

The program aims to create a new generation of primary care physicians, a field where it’s difficult to recruit new doctors. TCC students complete a special project in addition to studies and clinical work. Ware is working with the Homeless Charity of Akron to implement a street medicine program for homeless individuals in Akron. She will work toward launching the program as she continues her residency at Akron General.

As an undergraduate, Ware attended 5X���� at Stark, where she often worked two or three jobs. She earned a master’s degree in biomedical sciences at Rutgers University. She says it’s important for people in Black communities to see a doctor who looks like them and who can help address health disparities and implicit bias. The Association of American Medical Colleges and American Medical Association have estimated that only 5% of US doctors are Black.

Anna Kowalska, BA ’09, MA ’14, Marietta, GA, was hired as the new head coach for the women’s basketball team at Life University, Marietta, Georgia, effective June 2021. She had worked since 2013 at West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, serving as acting head coach for the women’s basketball team since 2018. 

She developed the team on the court and in the classroom. She led 26 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics all-conference scholar athletes to two regular season conference championships as well as two conference tournament championships. Kowalska tallied three NAIA national tournament appearances with four NAIA All-Americans and an overall record of 61-26 at the helm of the program. She was named coach of the year twice and the WHoopDirt.com coach of the week on Feb. 25, 2020.

Prior to her coaching days, she played NCAA Division 1 basketball at Kent State, where she won All-America honors and was a first team all-conference student-athlete. She earned a bachelor’s in education with a minor in sports administration, then she stayed on at Kent State in a graduate assistant position while earning a master’s in sport administration.

Jordan Mincy, BBA ’09, Gainesville, FL, was named the 17th head coach of the Jacksonville Dolphins men’s basketball team at Jacksonville University on March 25, 2021, replacing Tony Jasick. 

He played college basketball at Kent State for both Jim Christian and Geno Ford. He was part of two Mid-American Conference regular season and conference tournament squads, making trips to the NCAA tournament in 2006 and 2008. He left as the all-time leader in MAC history in games played at 135, and in seventh place on Kent State’s all-time assists list. 

Mincy joined the staff at the University of South Carolina as a graduate assistant for one season before returning to his alma mater for a two-year stint as an assistant coach. In 2013, he joined the College of Charleston’s coaching staff for one season before moving on to an assistant coaching spot at the University of Toledo. In 2014 he joined Mike White’s staff at Louisiana Tech and followed him to the University of Florida in 2015 as an assistant coach.