By Dr. Joseph Shields
Interim Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences
As I write this letter, the emerging signs of spring provide a harbinger of new beginnings as another group of students takes flight for the next stage of their life following Commencement in early May.
At the College of Arts & Sciences we are continuing our efforts to ensure that students are aware of the expansive opportunities available to them as they complete their degrees. A highlight was our Career and Networking Event held on Jan. 31, the conclusion of a week-long series of events focused on equipping our students with information and skills to ensure their success as they pursue future employment. I would like to convey my sincere thanks to our alumni and friends who very generously volunteered their time to talk to students about career options, search strategies, resume reviews, and interview preparation. Both students and volunteers were uniformly enthusiastic about the experience. Next year the fourth annual Career and Networking Event will take place on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020 – mark your calendar now and please let us know if you would like to join us as a volunteer.
Alumni, your alma mater also seeks to harness your passion as advocates who can speak about your experience at Ohio University and the value of a liberal arts education. Prospective students, like those already at OHIO, connect in a special way with others who have gone before them in weighing college options. Through your lived experience, you are in a unique position to respond to concerns that students and parents have about career pathways for holders of an Arts & Sciences degree. Please see how you can help as a part of the Volunteer Alumni Admissions Network.
The accomplishments of our alumni are central to defining the college’s success in pursuing its mission. At our Graduate Commencement on May 3, the university will confer an honorary degree recognizing the accomplishments of one of our most distinguished alumni, Venki Ramakrishnan, 2009 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. Dr. Ramakrishnan received a Ph.D. from OHIO in theoretical condensed matter physics in 1976 and subsequently shifted his focus to molecular biology, leading to seminal work on the structure of the ribosome. He is currently a group leader at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, and President of the Royal Society, the oldest national scientific institution in the world. Dr. Ramakrishnan recently published a lively memoir, Gene Machine (Basic Books, 2018), describing his career and the race to understand the ribosome. He will be presenting a public lecture summarizing this story on Thursday May 2, 2019, at 7:30 p.m., available for viewing live or after the fact at the college’s livestream website.
Dr. Ramakrishnan was recognized by the College of Arts & Sciences in 2006 with an Outstanding Alumni Award. Today we seek to recognize other accomplished graduates with the Arts & Sciences Notable Alumni Award. Please consider nominating yourself or other successful alumni for this honor. We are proud of your achievements and want to tell the story of how Arts & Sciences graduates continue to make an outsized and positive difference in the world.
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