Winter 2017 Edition
Alumni & Friends Magazine
Welcome to the hilltop!
Graduates from 51社区鈥檚 oldest regional campus make their mark in diverse fields ranging from medicine to finance to education and from public service to performing arts to mass communication. Here are examples of leading lights from the Chillicothe Campus since its founding in 1946.
By Staff Reports | December 21, 2016
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51社区 Chillicothe Campus Notable Alumni
Ken Breidenbaugh, BFA 鈥75, MFA 鈥86, PHD 鈥95, HON 鈥16, retired Chillicothe Campus theater professor. The driving force backstage, he produced more than 50 plays during his 1989-2013 run. Breidenbaugh also co-authored and directed the play Two Ohios, performed at Chillicothe鈥檚 Majestic Theatre to commemorate the University鈥檚 bicentennial in 2004, and wrote and directed Two Ohios and More for the Chillicothe Campus鈥 60th anniversary in 2006.
Jack Everson, BGS 鈥77, politician and businessman. He served one term as mayor of Chillicothe (2011-15). Everson has been involved in community and regional economic development initiatives in addition to having a career as a business professional. Everson was a starting forward on the OU-C basketball team and helped initiate the athletic 鈥淲all of Fame鈥 in Shoemaker Center.
Stephen Gary, BBA 鈥73, banker. He joined the Savings Bank in Circleville, Ohio, in 1979 and retired in 2014 as the longest-tenured president/CEO since the bank鈥檚 founding more than 100 years ago. Gary has received the Pickaway County Sam Walton Business Award and the Ohio District Four Rotary Foundation Presidential Citation Award.
Julia Lyddon Gourley, BS 鈥84, government official. She is the senior Arctic official of the United States at the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. representative to the Arctic Council. Earlier in her career, she worked at the State Department鈥檚 Office of Environmental Policy and at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Beverly Gray, BSED 鈥71, educator. She taught mainly language arts and vocational education to area elementary-, middle-, and high-schoolers for 33 years and is cofounder and coordinator of the Chillicothe-based David Nickens Heritage Center of African-American culture. Gray is a member of the Ohio Women鈥檚 Hall of Fame and has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy for her work with disadvantaged youth.
Stephen Neal, BBA 鈥77, public servant. He is Ross County Commissioner. Prior, Neal was the longest-serving county auditor in Ross County history, holding the office for 28 years. He also served on the planning committee and was financial officer for the construction of the OU-C Child Development and Family Service Center.
Donald Raymond Pollock, AB 鈥94, writer. He drew on his Ross County roots for Knockemstiff, a collection of linked short stories named one of the top books of 2008 by Publishers Weekly and Amazon. The Devil All the Time, a 2011 novel, also garnered acclaim. The Heavenly Table, another novel, came out in July. Pollock鈥檚 awards include the PEN/Robert Bingham Fellowship for Emerging Writers and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship.
Russ Poole, ELST 鈥50, radio executive. He spent 31 years with Radio Free Europe during the Cold War and retired as vice president of management. Several scholars acknowledge or cite Poole in their books on the Cold War and Radio Free Europe.
Martha Gerber Rittinger, AB 鈥55, businesswoman. She owns and operates the regional family businesses Maple Monte Farms, producing corn, soybeans, and wheat, and Gerber Construction Company. Rittinger was a legal concern chair for the American Agri-Women for 26 years. She has received Ohio Farmer鈥檚 Master Farmer Award and Conservation Award.
Dr. Gregory Weisenberger, BS 鈥76, primary care doctor. He served as a U.S. Army flight surgeon and general medical officer (captain) in West Germany and as chairman of the U.S. Army Child and Spouse Abuse program in Germany. Weisenberger has been in private practice in internal medicine in Reynoldsburg since 1986.
Read the 60th Anniversary Commemorative Booklet
