Wendie Malick ’72 Completes Six ‘Hot in Cleveland’ Seasons
Also in this edition: Sean Kay, Sean Williams ’11, Patrick Embleton ’12, Ross McDonald ’11, Elizabeth Whyte Schulze ’70, William H. Coles ’58, Charles V. Brown ’58, Ana Piquinela ’99, Sommer Sheely ’99, Doug Gordin ’78, Hannah Morgan ’88, and Dick Cromwell ’69.
Wendie Malick ’72
Wendie D. Malick ’72
Wendie Malick, award-winning actress, finishes her six-season run with the TV Land sit-com “Hot in Cleveland.”
Malick, who majored in fine arts and minored in theatre at Ohio Wesleyan, played Victoria Chase, a former soap opera star, and co-starred with Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, and Betty White. The show’s final episode aired June 3, 2015.
After graduating from OWU, Malick worked as a Wilhelmina model. She also starred in the HBO comedy “Dream On.” In addition, Malick won a Golden Globe and two Emmy Award nominations as Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as a pretentious ex-model struggling with middle age on the sitcom “Just Shoot Me!”
Read more about Malick and “Hot in Cleveland” in US Weekly.
Sean Kay, Ph.D.
Sean Kay
Sean Kay, Ph.D., Ohio Wesleyan professor of politics and government, participates in a panel discussion with HuffPost Live, sharing his thoughts on a plan by the United States to store heavy weaponry in multiple Eastern European countries to deter Russia from attacking NATO allies in the region.
Russian officials have said implementation of the plan would be “the most aggressive step by the Pentagon and NATO since the Cold War.” Kay, author of “America’s Search for Security: The Triumph of Idealism and the Return of Realism,” says the plan is “important symbolically. … If there were a crisis, you could use the pre-positioning of equipment, but it’s a very small act.”
Kay says the plan is intended to help reassure Russia’s neighbors of the ability and commitment of NATO to support them in times of crises. In addition to “America’s Search for Security,” Kay also is the author of “Global Security in the Twenty-first Century: The Quest for Power and the Search for Peace (Third Edition).”
The HuffPost Live discussion, moderated by Marc Lamont Hill, one of the founding hosts of HuffPost Live and a faculty member at Columbia University, also includes Steven Bucci, director of The Heritage Foundation’s Douglas & Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, and Matthew Rojansky, director of the Kennan Institute at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Watch the complete HuffPost Live discussion, “U.S. Planning To Store Weapons Near Russia.”
Kay also shares his thoughts on the topic with Bloomberg Business writer David J. Lynch. Read Lynch’s article, “NATO Maneuvers to Keep Cool War With Russia From Becoming Hot.”
Sean Williams ’11
Sean Williams ’11
Sean Williams, a graduate student at Michigan State University, leads a team in the Peruvian Amazon on Global Big Day, an effort to tally half of the world’s bird species in a single day to benefit bird conservation.
Williams logs 282 species in 18 hours and his teammates find an additional 26 species, bringing their total to 308. Almost 6,000 of 10,000 bird species are recorded worldwide on Global Big Day thanks to 12,000 participants. Peru is the No. 1 country in the world for species with almost 1,200, and 308 is one of the highest species counts recorded for Peru.
Williams graduated from Ohio Wesleyan as a pre-professional zoology major. While still an OWU student, he was awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship to help fund his graduate studies. During his time at OWU, Williams presented research at national meetings of both the American Ornithologists’ Union and the Wilson Ornithological Society.
Read Williams’ first-hand account of Global Big Day.
Patrick Embleton ’12
Patrick Embleton ’12
Patrick Embleton, former Ohio Wesleyan assistant football coach, is named director of football student-athlete development at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
“Patrick has spent the last two years on staff as a graduate assistant and has been instrumental in recruiting, alumni relations and several other areas of the program,” Illinois head football coach Tim Beckman says in making the announcement. “We’re excited for him to take on an even bigger role for the Fighting Illini.”
Embleton says: “I am very honored and blessed to be a part of such an unbelievable program and university. Over the past two seasons, I’ve seen just how close this family-oriented program is and can’t wait to continue working with this staff to move the Illinois program, with all its tradition and history, forward.”
At Ohio Wesleyan, Embleton served as the wide receivers coach and assistant academic coordinator. He majored in health and human kinetics and was a four-year starter at tight end for the Battling Bishops, earning All-NCAC honors and serving as team captain in 2011.
Read more Embleton’s new role on scout.com.
Ross McDonald ’11
Ross McDonald ’11
Robert “Ross” McDonald is named deputy director for the Lake County (Ohio) Board of Elections. He previously served as election services manager for the Delaware County Board of Elections.
“I am thrilled the board chose someone with experience and knowledge,” Janet Clair, elections board director, tells News-Herald writer Simon Husted.
McDonald says the Lake County elections job appeals to him because the office uses the same equipment and software as Delaware County. “These kinds of opportunities don’t come often in this profession, and this was the right opportunity,” he notes.
McDonald earned his bachelor’s degree in American politics and government.
Read the full News-Herald article, “Lake County Elections Board hires Delaware County man for deputy post.”
Elizabeth Whyte Schulze ’70
Elizabeth Whyte Schulze ’70
Artist Elizabeth Schulze displays her woven-fiber forms in the exhibit “Bound” at James Gallery in Pittsburgh. Schulze creates painted baskets that are evocative of primitive art.
Schulze says she was drawn to fiber-art, specifically basketry, in the 1970s. “I was drawn to it, partly because of its history in various cultures, but also because I liked the idea of making a shape that is solid and beautiful to touch,” she tells Trib Total Media art critic Kurt Shaw.
“Ideas and imagery were important to me,” she says, “so, about 15 years ago, I started painting on my baskets.”
Schulze majored in fine arts at Ohio Wesleyan and completed her master’s degree in Art Teacher Education from Tufts University in 1972. In 2009, she was the winner of the Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in Crafts.
Read Shaw’s full art review to learn more about Schulze and her exhibit, “Bound.”
William H. Coles ’58
William H. Coles ’58
William H. Coles, award-winning author, discusses his fourth novel, “Guardian of Deceit,” a finalist in the 2011 and 2012 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition.
“Great literary fiction is generated by imagining and creating not remembering and describing,” Coles says. “Imagination is what drives a story and that is what I hope readers enjoy most in this new novel.”
After earning his undergraduate degree at Ohio Wesleyan, Coles graduated from Emory University School of Medicine and completed a postdoctoral Master of Science degree in neurophysiology at Louisiana State University.
During his 27-year medical career, he specialized in ocular trauma. Coles also held academic positions as a professor at Emory University School of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, and Louisiana State University, and he served as chairman of ophthalmology at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Read more about Coles and his latest book, “Guardian of Deceit.”
Charles V. Brown ’58
Charles V. Brown ’58
Charles “Vic” Brown, award-winning author, writes “Vampire Resurrection,” a thriller about vampires searching for the key to mortality.
Brown has written numerous short stories; published 71 articles in a jazz club monthly periodical; completed a novella, memoir, and three novels; and is working on a fourth novel. His “Viking Lady” won a grand prize in the Maryland Writer’s Association annual novel contest.
Brown studied economics and international studies at Ohio Wesleyan. After graduation, he served as an officer for 30 years in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a colonel and Vietnam veteran. He earned his Master of Arts in International Studies from American University in 1972.
Read more about Brown and his writing.
Ana Piquinela ’99
Ana Piquinela ’99 and Sommer Sheely ’99
Ana Piquinela, president and owner of Smart Content LLC, and Sommer Sheely, partner at Bricker & Eckler LLP, are recognized in Columbus Business First’s “Forty Under Forty” article.
Piquinela moved to the states as an exchange student from Uruguay in high school. She applied to OWU, where she earned a full tuition scholarship and graduated with a degree in Creative Writing. “Starting my own business was exhilarating and terrifying, much like leaving home 20 years ago, but now I get to do what I love and am good at – using my creativity, my words, to convey meaning,” says Piquinela, who helps clients develop messages that help achieve business goals.
Sommer Sheely ’99
Sheely, a Youngstown native, graduated from OWU with a degree in history and pre-law. She also attended the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. She says she values balancing family life with her professional career. “The dedicated-professional-amazing-wife-and-mother role is so challenging, and I really believe absorbing my mother’s mastery of that role all these years has been the greatest mentoring I could have,” Sheely says.
Read more about Piquinela and Sheely at bizjournals.com.
Doug Gordin ’78
Doug Gordin ’78
Doug Gordin, head men’s golf coach at Florida Southern College, coached a team this spring made entirely of underclassmen: three freshmen and two sophomores. His young team made it to the 2015 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II National Championships.
“The biggest dynamic is leadership,” Gordin tells NCAA.com writer Rick Houston. “It’s tough to have a leader when they’re all freshmen and sophomores.” Gordin is not only their coach, but also the team captain, a role he hasn’t played since he was the captain of Ohio Wesleyan’s golf team in 1978.
The Florida Southern men’s golf team concluded play on May 21 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II National Championships. Gordin, son of former OWU Athletic Director Richard Gordin, believes his team’s ability to make it into match play this season will help the players going forward.
Doug Gordin has been men’s head golf coach at Florida Southern since 1995. He has led the team to five National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II championships.
Read the full NCAA.com article, “The future is now for Florida Southern’s three freshmen, two sophomores.”
Hannah Morgan ’88
Hannah Morgan ’88
Hannah Morgan, co-founder of CareerSherpa.net, discusses job hunting in the digital age with Democrat & Chronicle writer Marci Diehl.
Morgan says job seekers should build a strong “digital identity” rather than relying on cover letters and résumés.
“The concept started as a blog with free advice, and doing speaking,” Morgan says of CareerSherpa.
In 2009, she was asked to write for JobHunt.org and Undercover Recruiter on personal branding and social media. Morgan also wrote a weekly blog for the U.S. News & World Report and is the co-author of the book, “Social Networking for Business Success.”
At Ohio Wesleyan, Morgan majored in humanities.
Read the complete Democrat & Chronicle article, “Career Sherpa is changing the way people look for work.”
Dick Cromwell ’69
Dick Cromwell ’69
Dick Cromwell, former Toledo St. Francis de Sales football coach, is inducted into the Medina County Sports Hall of Fame. Cromwell graduated from Medina High School in 1965 and went on to coach for more than 30 years.
“The best thing was when you knew you helped a kid that needed some help, whether it was on the field or academics or in his personal life,” Cromwell tells Medina-Gazette writer Rick Noland. “You were there for him and he respected and liked you enough that he would let you help him through some situations.”
Raised in Delaware, Ohio, Cromwell was a mathematics major and quarterback on the OWU football team. He is a member of the Ohio High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame and now works as an educational consultant for High Schools at Work, a branch of the Ohio Department of Education that helps schools develop improvement plans.
Read the full Medina-Gazette article, “Hall of Fame: Dick Cromwell’s formula for winning football games worked for 30-plus years.”