MANSFIELD - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Mansfield Board
- Deputy
Christopher Lake Brown Chris is the Deputy Law Director for his hometown, the City of Mansfield, Ohio. As a municipal government attorney, he sees a variety of state and local government law issues including ยง1983 claims, labor and employment disputes, public records law, zoning and planning, and real estate issues including transfers of city-owned land and foreclosures.
Chris is active in the ABA, Ohio State Bar Association, and his local bar association. He is currently Chair of the ABA Young Lawyers Division, a Past-Chair of the OSBA Young Lawyers Section, and Immediate Past-President of the Richland County Bar Association. He also serves in the ABA House of Delegates, the OSBA Board of Governors, and is active in the Ohio Municipal Attorneys Association. In 2016, he was awarded the ABA Section of State and Local Government Law's Jefferson B. Fordham Up & Comer Award. Chris earned his B.A. in English from The Ohio State University and his J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law.
When he's not practicing law, Chris can be found spending time reading and watching movies with his wife Rachel and their three dogs Bella, Birdee, and Carla. He also enjoys traveling and being outdoors running, hiking, and cycling. Chris is committed to public service and serves on the Board of Directors of the United Way of Richland County, Ohio and the Richland County OSU Alumni Association Board.
Job Titles:
- Director of Community Relations and Development at Ohio State
- Director of Development and Community Relations
Cindy Wood is the Director of Community Relations and Development at Ohio State Mansfield, overseeing Mansfield's advancement strategies with focus on increasing resources to address the campus's programming and capital priorities. Cindy works at a high collaborative level with the community as the campus seeks to grow and expand stakeholder and community partner engagement. She brings 25 years of diverse experience in non-profit management, workforce development, and in the private sector. All of her work experiences had recurring themes of program innovation, community partnerships, and organizational change management.
Prior to moving to Mansfield in 2016, she served as the CEO of the Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center of Lima/Allen County, a performing arts and convention center. Part of her tenure included successfully lobbying for state legislation (HB 483) enabling Allen County Commissioners to increase lodging tax for operations and capital needs of the VMCC.
She is a graduate of The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business and Bowling Green State University. Her professional background includes workforce development partnerships with JFS/Allen County, as corporate training coordinator with a local two-year college onsite at Ford Lima Engine Plant, and as Regional Director with the local Girl Scout Council through its merger process. She served with the US Army Reserve from 1988 to 1996, serving with the 346th Psychological Operations Company in Columbus, Ohio as Psychological Operations Sergeant and Interrogation Sergeant.
Job Titles:
- Superintendent, Highland Local School
Dan Freund, Superintendent, Highland Local School District. Dan brings a wealth of public school experience to the Math Literacy team, as a teacher, elementary principal, middle school principal, director special education/federal programs, and superintendent. Awards include Middle Level Educator of the Year Central Arizona Region 1988, Buckeye Association of School Administrators Exemplary Leadership Award 2004, Richland County Chamber of Commerce Extraordinary Leadership Award 2012 and Honorary State FFA Degree 2016. Dan's role as Leadership Consultant with the Mathematics Literacy Initiative is facilitating the Leadership Academy and working with district administrators.
Debe Adams, Math Content Specialist, earned a BS and MS in mathematics at Southern Illinois University and a certification in secondary mathematics at Eastern Illinois University. In 2009, she began teaching The Algebra Project pedagogy in the high school classroom and she has continued to work in various capacities with The Algebra Project since that time. After teaching math part-time at her local Illinois community college and then full time at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Debe moved to Mansfield, Ohio in 2017 to work with the Math Literacy Initiative (MLI). The MLI provides professional development that is grounded in the pedagogy of The Algebra Project for K-12 in-service math teachers. In addition to the MLI work, Debe teaches college-level math courses including courses for pre-service teachers at The Ohio State University, Mansfield.
Dr. Dawn Kitchen completed a bachelor's degree in Biology from a regional campus of the University of Wisconsin, a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota's Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, and a post-doctoral research position in the University of Pennsylvania's Psychology Department. She conducted her dissertation research in Belize, Central America on howler monkey vocal communication and her post-doctoral research on the social and vocal behavior of baboons in Botswana, Africa. Dr. Kitchen joined Ohio State in 2004. She is a Professor of Anthropology, holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, and serves as the Associate Dean of academic affairs on the Mansfield campus. Dr. Kitchen has advised nine PhD and master's students, is the author of 25 journal articles and 10 book chapters, and the recipient of Ohio State Mansfield's Excellence in Scholarship, Teaching, and Service Awards. Dr. Kitchen teaches courses in Physical and Cultural Anthropology and Comparative Psychology. She and her husband live in Mansfield and their sons attend Mansfield City Schools and Ohio State University.
Job Titles:
- Director of the Ohio State University at Mansfield
- Interim Deam and Director
Eric Anderman is the Interim Dean and Director of The Ohio State University at Mansfield. He previously served on the Columbus campus as the Chair of the Department of Educational Studies and the Director of the School of Educational Policy and Leadership. Prior to his arrival at OSU in 2007, Dr. Anderman was the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky. He is a Professor of Educational Psychology. His research, which has been featured in numerous media outlets (e.g., CBS News, CNN, Dateline NBC, NPR, The Wall Street Journal), focuses on (a) adolescent risk-taking behaviors, (b) academic integrity (i.e., cheating), and (c) school violence.
Job Titles:
- Co - Director of the OSU Mathematics Literacy Initiative
- Professor Emeritus of Mathematics
Dr. Lee McEwan, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and co-director of the OSU Mathematics Literacy Initiative, leads professional development workshops and supports teachers in classrooms. He applies experience-based mathematics learning for making sense of mathematics, based on the pedagogical tools of the Algebra Project. He has helped write many successful grants for the Mathematics Literacy Initiative, and is currently writing articles with mathematics educators about the effectiveness of the MLI program. Dr. McEwan is finishing his 30th year as a research mathematician at OSU, with research in topological aspects of singularity theory.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor of Math Education
Dr. Terri Bucci, Associate Professor of Math Education, is co-director of the OSU Mathematics Literacy Initiative. Areas of expertise are in the fields of mathematics education and international teacher education, particularly in Haiti. She has spent the last six years working with the Mathematics Literacy Initiative, translating the Algebra Project grades 7-12 work into applications in K-8 mathematics instruction. Holder of teaching certificates in elementary, secondary mathematics and general science, she has 14 years of public school teaching in grades 6-12 and 18 years at Ohio State Mansfield, teaching early and middle childhood courses to in-service and pre-service mathematics educators
Job Titles:
- Member of the Mansfield Board
Fred Cooke and wife Lynn have lived at their Shelby farm since 1978. Fred holds the BS and MA in Agriculture Education from The Ohio State University and has extensive teaching experience including at Ohio State, Greene County Vocational School, Southern State College, Willard High School, and Shelby Senior High School. While at Shelby High School, he initiated and built the Strauch Agriscience Learning Center, a facility for advanced livestock training for their students and the first such program in the State of Ohio. He has extensive community service, only some of which includes being past president of the Richland County Farm Bureau, a member of the Richland County Soil and Water Advisory Board, the Farm Credit Service Advisory Board, and being selected by then Attorney General Mike DeWine to serve on the Ohio Consumer Council Governing Board in Columbus representing the agriculture sector of the State of Ohio (2013-present). Some of his past awards include Outstanding Educator of the Year in Richland County by the Richland Soil and Water Conservation District, the Outstanding Soil and Water Conservationist Award in 2008, and the Murray Lincoln Award by the Ohio Farm Bureau (2016).
Job Titles:
- Member of the Mansfield Board
James A Goudy II, M.D. began his first three-year term on the Mansfield Board in 2015. He is a graduate of Mt. Vernon High School and completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees at The Ohio State University. He served his residency at Riverside Methodist Hospital. Formerly Chief of Staff at Galion Community Hospital, he now serves as Chief Medical Officer at Avita Health System while continuing his practice at Galion Internal Medicine. He has been a proctor for Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants at Findley and Otterbein from 2000 to present. He is currently serving on the board's Finance and Facilities Committee.
Job Titles:
- Director of Enrollment Services
Job Titles:
- Vice - Chair of the Mansfield Board
joined the Mansfield Board in 2017 after 25 years of highly successful sales and operations experience in the telecommunication industry. She received the BS in Finance from The Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business and the MBA in Marketing from Bowling Green State University. She is currently a member of the faculty in the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship in the College of Business at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Kelly is a Faculty Advisor for Pi Sigma Epsilon, and an active community leader with a substantial record of board and volunteer service. She is a past winner of The Ohio State University's Pacesetter Award and Buckeye Leadership Award, Wooster's Chamber of Commerce Board of Director Award, the Governor's Ohio Reads Award, a recipient of the YWCA's Tribute to Women in Industry Award, and more.
Job Titles:
- Marketing and Communications Specialist
Kidron Stamper is a 2019 graduate of Ohio State Mansfield with a bachelor's degree in Psychology and is nearing completion of a master's degree in Public Administration and Leadership from Glenn College at Ohio State University. In 2020, he began working for the Mansfield campus in Student Life as the Student Engagement Coordinator. There he spent two years managing co-curricular programs for students of both Ohio State Mansfield and North Central College. In May 2022, he transitioned to a new role with the Mansfield campus as the Marketing and Communications Specialist. In this role, he activates all marketing efforts including recruitment, advancement, brand awareness, and more. He is responsible for many communications efforts, including social media, local/regional media relationships, website management, and more. When not on campus, he can be found spending time with his wife and newborn daughter or watching a Buckeyes, Browns, Guardians, or Cavs game.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Mansfield Board
Nicholas Gesouras joined the Mansfield Board on July 1, 2018. A long-time area resident, he is the Senior Vice President of Trust Services at Mechanics Bank. Active in the community, he currently chairs the Richland County Board of Development Disabilities and the Mansfield-Richland Area Education Foundation, and serves on the boards of the Richland Area Chamber of Commerce, Raemelton Therapeutic Equestrian Center, and several more organizations. He holds the BSBA in Marketing and International Business and the MBA in Finance from Bowling Green State University, completing his education at the Graduate Trust School, at Northwestern University. A Certified Financial Services Counselor, he has also taught at Midwest Trust Schools.
Michele S. Gorman is a graduate of The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science in Education earned entirely at Ohio State Mansfield. Married with two children, she is co-founder of the Richland School of Academic Arts and currently serves as the school's Principal. She explains, "I believe our greatest asset in our society is our children. I have dedicated my life to making sure that all children have the opportunity to receive an education filled with rigor, surrounded by the beauty of the arts, and taught by loving educators." These values are strongly evident in her years of professional experience not only with the Richland School of Academic Arts but also with the Richland Academy and Discovery School. Her extensive community service includes serving on the Boards of the Miss Ohio Scholarship Program, the Children's Theatre Foundation, Richland Academy, Pioneer Performing Arts Academy, and the Little Buckeye Children's Museum. One of her personal accomplishments is earning her private pilot's license in 2009.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Mansfield Board
Nicholas Gesouras joined the Mansfield Board on July 1, 2018. A long-time area resident, he is the Senior Vice President of Trust Services at Mechanics Bank. Active in the community, he currently chairs the Richland County Board of Development Disabilities and the Mansfield-Richland Area Education Foundation, and serves on the boards of the Richland Area Chamber of Commerce, Raemelton Therapeutic Equestrian Center, and several more organizations. He holds the BSBA in Marketing and International Business and the MBA in Finance from Bowling Green State University, completing his education at the Graduate Trust School, at Northwestern University. A Certified Financial Services Counselor, he has also taught at Midwest Trust Schools.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Mansfield Board
Renda Cline (Chair) is currently the President of the Mansfield City Schools Board of Education. She earned the Bachelor of Science in Allied Healthcare Management from Franklin University and is a Recovery Manager at CareStar. Some of her previous work experience includes work at Kindred Hospital Central Ohio, and as an Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education at North Central State College. She has a heart for service as evidenced by being a Girl Scout leader, Boy Scout den mother, past member of the Tyger Booster Club, PTO President, and currently Leader of Women of Destiny in addition to other service commitments to her church.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Mansfield Board
Samuel Ratvasky graduated Summa Cum Laude from Lutheran West High School in Rocky River, Ohio, and is enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology (BSET) program at Ohio State Mansfield. In addition to his courses here, he tutors algebra through calculus at the Conard Learning Center. He will graduate in the spring of 2025. From 2021 to present he owns and manages a small business that coordinates supplies and financing and researches products to assist in supply and demand for businesses. For over six years he managed eight employees in his lawn care business while still in high school. The winner of many awards in high school and at the state level, and a community service volunteer, Sam strives to graduate with an engineering degree and have considerable business experience to align with his degree.
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant to the Dean & Director
As Executive Assistant to the Dean and Director at The Ohio State University at Mansfield, Shelly directly supports the daily operation of this campus in all areas managed by the dean. This includes all departments and services that assist students, faculty, staff, our Mansfield Board, all Ohio State University offices, our alumni, our co-located campus, and the communities we serve locally and throughout northeast Ohio. Her previous experiences in banking and law have been valuable in this position. She also supervises our faculty services office staff.
Job Titles:
- Administrative Specialist to the Associate Dean
Tina began her Ohio State career in 2014. She maintains the semesterly schedule of classes for the Mansfield campus, allocates classroom usage, and coordinates final exam schedules. She serves as the administrative specialist to the Associate Dean. Tina is a proud OSU Mom, with a daughter who began her Ohio State career on the Mansfield campus as both a student and student worker.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Mansfield Board
- Small Business Owner of PR Machine Works
Samuel Ratvasky graduated Summa Cum Laude from Lutheran West High School in Rocky River, Ohio, and is enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology (BSET) program at Ohio State Mansfield. In addition to his courses here, he tutors algebra through calculus at the Conard Learning Center. He will graduate in the spring of 2025. From 2021 to present he owns and manages a small business that coordinates supplies and financing and researches products to assist in supply and demand for businesses. For over six years he managed eight employees in his lawn care business while still in high school. The winner of many awards in high school and at the state level, and a community service volunteer, Sam strives to graduate with an engineering degree and have considerable business experience to align with his degree.
Zoi Romanchuk, small business owner of PR Machine Works and Slick Automated Solutions, Inc., is serving her second three-year term on The Ohio State University Mansfield Board. She and husband, Mark, are long-time residents of this area. She holds the BA and MA in Slavic Languages and Literature from UCLA and has previous work experience as an International Admissions Officer at USC and as Senior Russian translator with the US Department of Defense. She is extremely active in workforce development activities on the local, state, and national levels. Just a few of her service commitments include being a member of the Ohio Manufacturer's Association, the Mansfield Military Affairs Group, Vice Chair of the Regional Manufacturing Coalition, national board member of Women in Manufacturing, and as past national Chair of the National OneVoice Manufacturing Government Affairs Committee. She is the past winner of the TWIN Award, and the Chamber Extraordinary Leadership Award, and is the 2020 ATHENA Leadership Award winner.