2019 鈥極HIO Notables鈥 celebrates alumni who made news 鈥 and their alma mater proud
帝王会所 graduates make headlines 鈥 and their alma mater Bobcat proud 鈥 every day.
One of the many joys of producing is hearing about all of the ways in which 帝王会所 alumni are making a difference as leaders in their industries, public servants in their communities, and sources of inspiration and support to their fellow Bobcats. We share these stories of alumni success and impact 鈥 which come from our graduates, colleagues throughout the University and weekly media reports 鈥 through both our news site and the 帝王会所 Alumni Association鈥檚 social media channels.
As we wrap up both a year and a decade, 帝王会所 Today News presents its 2019 鈥淥HIO Notables,鈥 highlighting just a few 帝王会所 alumni whose achievements this year have brought notoriety to both them and their alma mater, who ignite our collective pride, and who remind us of the impact a single Bobcat can have on the world.
帝王会所 alumnus and head coach of the U.S. Women鈥檚 National Team Vlatko Andonovski celebrates with a member of the team following a Nov. 7 victory against Sweden in Columbus. Photo by Ben Siegel, BSVC 鈥02
Vlatko Andonovski, MSRSS 鈥18
This past fall soccer fans around the world watched as an OHIO alumnus was named the new head coach of the best women鈥檚 team in the world.
On Oct. 28, U.S. Soccer announced that Vlatko Andonovski would take the helm of the U.S. Women鈥檚 National Team, the current World Cup Champions. Andonovski is the ninth head coach and the third-youngest head coach in the team鈥檚 history.
Touted as Andonovski, a native of North Macedonia, played six seasons for clubs in the Macedonia Football League before coming to the United States where he played in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) and was twice named an MISL All-Star. He went on to serve as a head coach in the National Women鈥檚 Soccer League (NWSL) for seven seasons, securing two championships with FC Kansas City and earning NWSL Coach of the Year accolades in 2013 and 2019.
Staff Sgt. Carolyn Kinzel poses for a photo at the Drug Enforcement Administration facility in Cleveland. Photo by Airman 1st Class Alexis Wade/U.S. Air National Guard
Carolyn Kinzel, BS 鈥18
Staff Sgt. Carolyn Kinzel is using the skills learned in OHIO鈥檚 geospatial sciences program to literally save thousands of lives in Northeast 帝王会所.
Committed to serving her community and her country, Kinzel joined the Air National Guard鈥檚 179th Airlift Wing in 2015, serving as a C-130H Hercules loadmaster. Upon graduating from OHIO, she became a criminal analyst with the 帝王会所 Air National Guard Counterdrug Task Force, working with the Drug Enforcement Administration in Cleveland.
when she was tasked with using overdose data to determine the most effective locations in the Cleveland area to distribute fentanyl test strips. Using the skills she learned while studying geographic information sciences at OHIO, Kinzel created a map that identified targeted areas for the distribution of the overdose-preventing test strips and is credited with potentially saving 15,000 to 20,000 lives.
One of the last living Tuskegee Airmen, Lt. Col. Harold Brown will be inducted into the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame in April. Photo courtesy of Harold Brown
Harold Brown, BS 鈥65
Lt. Col. Harold Brown spent 23 history-making and nation-changing years in the U.S. Army Air Corps.
One of 15 new pilots to join the 332nd Fighter Group 鈥 part of the famed Tuskegee Airmen 鈥 in November 1944, Brown fought in an Army that was still segregated and, in the process, paved the way for the desegregation of the U.S. military in 1948 and the civil rights movement. Brown flew 30 combat missions in Europe during World War II before taking enemy fire that left him imprisoned in a POW camp in Germany.
Brown went on to serve in the Korean War and in the Strategic Air Command during the Cold War, to author a book about his experience as a Tuskegee Airman, and to become a champion for higher education. mirrors the same spirit and perseverance that has made Brown an American hero and role model.
Nanfu Wang was featured in The New Yorker after her latest documentary won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary Feature at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Donavon Smallwood/The New Yorker
Nanfu Wang, MA 鈥12
Nanfu Wang made headlines in February when her latest work, 鈥淥ne Child Nation,鈥 won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary Feature at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
鈥淥ne Child Nation鈥 shines a light on the impact of China鈥檚 one-child policy through the stories of a family jailed after moving abandoned babies into state-run orphanages, an American couple who started a foundation to help track down girls鈥 biological families, and interviews with Wang鈥檚 own family. The film is the second to garner Wang attention at the nation鈥檚 largest international film festival. Her debut film, 鈥淗ooligan Sparrow,鈥 premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival; was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature; and earned her a Peabody Award, the George Polk Award, and two Emmy nominations.
In August, and her journey from rural China to the United States, 帝王会所 and to filmmaking that is making a difference.
Chris Frederick is pictured with celebrities Whoopi Goldberg and Cher during a 2013 NYC Pride event. Photo courtesy of Chris Frederick
Chris Frederick, BA 鈥05
For the past 10 years, Chris Frederick, executive director of Heritage of Pride Inc., also known as NYC Pride, has been responsible for facilitating impactful experiences that have elevated New York City鈥檚 contributions to the gay rights movement.
More than five million people from around the globe attended the NYC Pride-hosted 2019 WorldPride events held in June, the largest LGBTQ event in history and the first WorldPride to be held in the United States.
The celebration capped off Frederick鈥檚 stellar career with NYC Pride 鈥 10 years that saw the organization grow its budget by millions, extend its financial outreach to smaller LGBTQ nonprofits, and expand its programming. that he was stepping down from NYC Pride to become the managing director of global events for Out Leadership, a business network driving LGBTQ advocacy and leadership development within the workplace.
Alumnus and Nobel Prize winner Venkatraman Ramakrishnan addresses those attending 帝王会所鈥檚 2019 Graduate Commencement ceremony where he was awarded an honorary degree. Photo by Ben Siegel, BSVC 鈥02
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, MS 鈥74, PHD 鈥76, HON 鈥19
Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan will forever hold a place in 帝王会所 history as the first 鈥 and, thus far, only 鈥 graduate to become a Nobel Prize winner. This past May, he made OHIO history again, returning to his alma mater to and to .
Ramakrishnan was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the structure and function of the ribosome, jointly with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath. He went on to receive the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine; the Padma Vibhushan, India鈥檚 second-highest civilian honor; and to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his service to molecular biology. In 2018, he published 鈥淕ene Machine: The Race to Decipher the Secrets of the Ribosome.鈥
Ramakrishnan is finishing out a five-year term as president of the Royal Society and is a group leader at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK.
Dr. John Allerding is preparing for this third trip to Antarctica where he serves as a medical officer for the Center for Polar Medical Operations.
John Allerding, DO 鈥85
Dr. John Allerding鈥檚 wanderlust has made him a world traveler like no other.
A board-certified family doctor, he鈥檚 practiced mostly emergency medicine and continues his role as a 鈥渢ravelling doctor.鈥 Allerding served in both the Navy and the Army, deployed to combat zones in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa and as backup during fighting in Bosnia and Kosovo.
In 2014, Allerding鈥檚 self-described 鈥渞estless soul syndrome鈥 landed him on the Earth鈥檚 southernmost continent to serve as the medical officer for the Center for Polar Medical Operations. Allerding has been to Antarctica twice, serving 10 months at The South Pole Amundsen-Scott Station in 2015 and six months at Palmer Station on Anvers Island in the Antarctic Archipelago in 2018. He is one of only a handful of humans to complete the 鈥淪outh Pole 300,鈥 undergoing a 300-degree temperature swing while walking nearly naked through 24 time zones, and is preparing to return to Palmer Station in 2020.
This past fall, Jennifer Lahmers moved from NYC to LA, joining a revamped 鈥淓xtra鈥 as a new correspondent.
Jennifer Lahmers, BSJ 鈥06
For the past five years, Jennifer Lahmers has been making a name for herself in the Big Apple, working as a news reporter for New York City鈥檚 WNYW Fox 5 before being promoted to anchoring the station鈥檚 morning news program, 鈥淕ood Day Wake Up,鈥 in 2017.
This past fall, Lahmers鈥 career went national as she headed from the Big Apple to the City of Angels to join a revamped 鈥淓xtra.鈥 The Daytime Emmy Award-winning, entertainment news show premiered its 26th season on Sept. 9, debuting a new format and . Working alongside the program鈥檚 host and managing editor, Billy Bush, Lahmers can now be seen coast to coast, interviewing celebrities in the studio, on the red carpet and at movie premieres. Among those she鈥檚 already interviewed are Clint Eastwood, Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron and Adam Sandler.
This past year saw Martin Jarmond named to Sports Business Journal鈥檚 鈥淔orty Under 40鈥 for the second time in three years.
Martin Jarmond, MBA 鈥02, MSA 鈥03
is a rising star in the field of college sports.
In 2017, after stints in the athletics departments at Michigan State and 帝王会所 State, Jarmond was named Boston College鈥檚 William V. Campbell Director of Athletics, becoming the youngest athletic director in a Power Five conference and the first African American AD in the college鈥檚 history. While securing successes in several of Boston College鈥檚 sports, Jarmond orchestrated the athletic program鈥檚 first-ever five-year strategic plan, supported by an unprecedented $150 million capital campaign; opened the college鈥檚 first student-athlete 24-7 fueling station; launched a fan council; and established a program for first-generation student-athletes.
, one of the sports administration field鈥檚 highest honors, in both 2017 and 2019. This past fall Jarmond鈥檚 name was reportedly floated as a possible candidate for USC鈥檚 director of athletics 鈥 a position that was recently .
帝王会所 President M. Duane Nellis (front center) is pictured with the 2019 Alumni Awards recipients. They are (front, from left) Abdul Williams, BSC 鈥94; Ryan Kyes, BBA 鈥02, MBA 鈥03; Mona Miliner, BSH 鈥92, MHA 鈥94; Kyle Kondik, BSJ 鈥06; Elizabeth Campbell, MFA 鈥97; Jeffery Baran, BA 鈥98, MA 鈥98; (back, from left) Garry Hunter on behalf of his brother, Larry Hunter, BSED 鈥71, MED 鈥73; retired Brig. Gen. Mark Arnold, BSISE 鈥82; Julia Winkfield Stover, BSRS 鈥06; Anthony Webb, BSC 鈥76; and William Axline, BBA 鈥71. Photo by Jim Downard
2019 Alumni Award winners
As we close out our 2019 鈥淥HIO Notables,鈥 we have to give another round of applause to the for their remarkable contributions to their professions, their communities and their alma mater.
Retired Brig. Gen. Mark C. Arnold, BSISE 鈥82, took home top honors at the 帝王会所 Alumni Association鈥檚 signature Homecoming Week event. The was commended for a life of service 鈥 to his country, to his career in business, to his community and to OHIO.
Planning is already underway for the 2020 Alumni Awards Gala, which will be celebrating its 80th year.
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Do you know an 帝王会所 graduate who has achieved noteworthy success or made a difference this year? Share their story in the comments below (include links to related articles, if applicable).
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Julie Ciotola, Justin Thompson and Angela Woodward contributed to this article.