2020 Retiring Faculty

Professor of Fine Arts
(1987-2020)

Cynthia Cetlin began teaching jewelry and metals at Ohio Wesleyan in the fall of 1987, retiring in 2020 after 33 years of service to the University. A native of Massachusetts, Professor Cetlin received her B.A. in art history from Barnard College and her M.F.A. in jewelry/metals from the State University of New York, New Paltz. While at OWU, Professor Cetlin served for many years as the campus liaison to the New York Arts Program. She planned and led several travel-study programs abroad, taking students to Ireland and Portugal to study with notable artists.

Professor of Theatre & Dance
(1992-2020)

Elane Denny-Todd, M.F.A., C.L.C., served as a professor of performance in the Department of Theatre & Dance at OWU from 1992–2020. She was chairperson of the department from 2008–2010 and served as chairperson of the Committee on Admission & Financial Aid for three terms. She received the Sherwood Dodge Shankland Award for teaching and served on various university committees and university searches for faculty and administrators. She served as an EEO Compliance Officer for the university in recent years. Elane directed main season theatre productions and supervised senior projects in the department every year.

Professor of English
(1995-2020)

In his career at Ohio Wesleyan, Marty Hipsky has been an inspiring teacher, respected scholar, and dedicated participant in the administration of the university. He earned his Ph.D. in English at Duke University, and the OWU Department of English selected him for a position teaching modern and contemporary British literature before he left the Duke campus. Dr. Hipsky taught a number of courses in his early years, from the First-Year Writing Seminar to the advanced seminar in critical methods. Later, having published on popular television shows such as The Sopranos, he was instrumental in constructing the film studies major.

Allen Trimble Professor of Botany/Microbiology
(1989-2020)

“The trip to the Smokies was amazing! I can’t believe all the plants we saw and learned. I don’t think anything can stop Dr. Johnson, not even the shutdown of the entire United States government!” (from a fall 2013 student). Indeed, nothing could stop David Johnson or his research collaborator and wife, Dr. Nancy Murray, after their arrival at OWU in 1989. For 31 years, Dr. Johnson was a favorite professor of countless students, teaching introductory classes in botany and organismal biology and upper-level classes in plant biodiversity, plant morphology, the biology of the fungi, and tropical biology.

Professor of Theatre
(2004-2020)

Ed Kahn—educator, scholar, artist, activist—created a lasting mark during the 16 years he served this University community. His quiet but cheerful demeanor belies a deep compassion for the arts, justice, diversity, and learning. A versatile artist and scholar, Dr. Kahn’s primary expertise at OWU was directing, but he also taught acting, theory, theatre history, and political theatre. As a teacher, director, administrator, advisor, and colleague, Dr. Kahn inspires community wherever he goes, bringing out the best of every stakeholder. His greatest tribute will certainly be the enduring gratitude from years of students who thrived in his sphere.

Nancy La Porte Meek Professor of Fine Arts
(1986-2020)

James Krehbiel retired in May 2020 after 34 years at OWU. Hired in 1986 to teach printmaking and drawing, Professor Krehbiel also developed the computer imaging component of the fine arts curriculum and for 21 years served as chair of the Department of Fine Arts. Professor Krehbiel received his M.F.A. in printmaking in 1984 from Indiana University, graduating with distinction. His B.A.A. in painting and sculpture is from Montana State University, where he graduated with honors in 1978. He also studied in 1977 at L’Universite’ des Lettres et Sciences, Avignon, France.

Professor of Geology and Geography
(1998-2020)

Keith Olin Mann retired after 22 years on the faculty. Dr. Mann taught courses focused on earth history, paleontology, stratigraphy, and hydrogeology. He pursued research within these fields, often with students, and edited a much-referenced monograph on stratigraphic techniques that help elucidate details of mass extinctions and climatic change rates in the geologic record. Prior to joining OWU, Dr. Mann was a research geologist with the Iowa Geological Survey and earned tenure at Juniata College. Dr. Mann’s breadth of experience and deep concern for students provided them with skills and knowledge to pursue their dreams.

Frank L. & Eva L. Packard Professor of Fine Arts
(1988-2020)

A native New Yorker, Dr. Neuman de Vegvar received her B.A. in art history from Bryn Mawr College and her Ph.D. in art history from the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to teaching art history at OWU, Dr. Neuman de Vegvar and the late and much-missed Dr. Sally Livingston co-led a travel-learning class, “Italian Renaissance Art and Thought” to Siena and Florence, and Dr. Neuman de Vegvar initiated the History of the Book course for the Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program. Her research centered on early medieval art and archaeology in England and Ireland.

Parrott Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science
(1985-2020)

Jeff Nunemacher graduated from Oberlin College with a B.A. in mathematics. He earned his M.Phil. and Ph.D. from Yale University, where he specialized in the area of several complex variables under the direction of Yum-Tong Siu. Dr. Nunemacher had academic appointments at the University of Texas at Austin, Kenyon College, and Oberlin College before joining Ohio Wesleyan in 1985. He has broad mathematical interests and taught courses covering the entire range of undergraduate mathematics and many courses in computer science. He was awarded the Bishop Herbert Welch Meritorious Teaching Award in 2018.

Professor of English
(2002-2020)

Karen M. Poremski—a beloved teacher, mentor, and scholar—did much to diversify the curriculum within and beyond the classroom. Dr. Poremski received her B.A. from the University of Maryland-College Park, M.A. from San Francisco State University, and Ph.D. from Emory University. At OWU, Dr. Poremski regularly taught courses in early American, 19th-century American, and women’s literature, and she swiftly established herself as an exceptional—and exceptionally dedicated—teacher, receiving the Sherwood Dodge Shankland Award in 2006. Her impressive run of teaching awards culminated in 2011, when the United Methodist Church bestowed its national Exemplary Teacher Award upon her.

Associate Professor of English
(1998-2020)

Judylyn S. Ryan is the first African American woman to be awarded tenure at Ohio Wesleyan. She received her A.B. from Georgetown University and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Ryan brought a broad and rich academic experience to OWU, having taught at Hunter College, the Divinity School at Harvard University, and Rutgers University-New Brunswick. At OWU, she taught a wide array of courses in 19th- and 20th-century African American literature and film, African diasporic literatures and cinema, and Black women’s literature and film. She broadened OWU’s curriculum to embrace Caribbean and African diasporic cultural production.

Beatrice K. McDowell Professor of Mathematics
(1986-2020)

Mark Schwartz graduated from the University of Colorado with a B.A. in mathematics. He completed a Ph.D. in mathematics at Northwestern University, specializing in probability theory under the direction of Alexandra Bellow. At OWU, Dr. Schwartz’s teaching and research interests varied from the continuous to the discrete, and spanned virtually the whole of the mathematics curriculum, and some of computer science. In encouraging his students to learn through curiosity and reflection, in challenging himself to renew his courses through new discovery, in discovering deep connections between seemingly disparate subdisciplines, his teaching and scholarship truly personified the liberal arts tradition.

Professor of Psychology
(1992-2020)

Dale Swartzentruber received his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Vermont and joined the OWU Psychology Department in 1992 to teach research methods, learning theory, and introductory psychology. He served on numerous faculty and university committees and took on increasing administrative responsibilities, eventually becoming OWU’s Associate Provost for Institutional Research. His research focused on the mechanisms through which organisms form associations between events they experience. He is perhaps best remembered by students for his “rat lab” in the Research Methods in Psychology course. OWU psychology alumni frequently cite that lab as one of their most memorable college experiences.

Professor of Theatre
(1983-2020)

Glen Vanderbilt—educator, designer, director—was born in Hawaii but grew up in Michigan and Ohio. He earned his B.A. at Heidelberg University and M.F.A. at Northwestern University. For 37 years, Professor Vanderbilt taught and worked in all areas of theater at OWU, while primarily anchoring the design and technical needs of the department: scenic design, lights, costumes, sound, props, and stage management. He was instrumental in developing and maintaining the facilities in Chappelear Drama Center, created most of the departmental publications, and developed a complete digital archive for a century of production photos and events.