Editor's note: Karen Kier provides a weekly article published on the Icon on Thursdays.
Karen Kier, BSPh ’82, is the drug information expert in Ohio Northern University’s Raabe College of Pharmacy. She’s taught and mentored aspiring pharmacists for 39 years, and been widely-lauded for her service to her community and profession.
Dr. Lauren Logan has created an Ohio Northern geotechnical engineering class with an entrepreneurial twist: junior civil and environmental engineering students learn techniques from museum exhibit designers and then create their own soil study displays. In November, the exhibits were featured in a showcase that was evaluated by student and faculty judges from across campus.
Borrowing restaurant terminology, Logan notes that the course’s “soft open” was conducted last year and that she hopes to make this an ongoing opportunity for students. The course and showcase were developed during an Engineering Unleashed Fellowship. The award comes from the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN), which “focuses on developing an entrepreneurial mindset in undergraduate engineering students.”
Students were encouraged to find ways a general audience can relate to soil issues. Logan noted that museum displays are also becoming more interactive. KEEN funding gave groups up to $50 to create their displays.
Kathleen DeVault remembers being interested in Egypt even before she wrote a book report on the Pharoh Tutankhamun—popularly known as King Tut – when she was in fifth grade.
Ohio Northern University dedicated new state-of-the-art bleachers at Dial-Roberson Stadium on November 2, 2024. The bleachers, gifted by alumnus Ted Stambaugh, BS ’77, add nearly 500 seats to the stadium, more than doubling the capacity on the visitor side.
“We are extremely grateful for Ted Stambaugh’s generosity and support,” said ONU President Melissa Baumann, Ph.D. “Completing the visitor side seating takes Dial-Roberson stadium to the next level and will benefit generations of student athletes and fans.”
Ada-Liberty Township paramedics, forensic nurse/alumna and ONU theatre student stage the scene
Ohio Northern University’s nursing program seeks to produce nurses who are effective caregivers and problem-solvers in the face of any challenge.
To that end, every fall semester the program collaborates with the broader community to stage a simulation of a drug overdose/potential sexual assault case for its senior nursing students.
If a scenario is unsettling or even shocking, it’s all the more reason to first encounter it in a safe learning environment versus under pressure while on the job, said Megan Lieb, associate professor of nursing.
“Our goal is to give our students a lot of different experiences in the tool kit to draw upon,” she explained.