ODK inducts new members March 22

Omicron Delta Kappa, the nation’s most prestigious collegiate leadership honor society, has inducted 26 new members from Bowling Green State University. Three faculty, three staff members, one alumnus and 18 students became members of the University ODK circle at a ceremony on March 22.

Samuel Cooper, a long-time member of ODK, was named Retired Faculty Member of the Year.

Faculty members selected for membership were George Bullerjahn, biology and photochemical sciences; Kathryn Hoff, visual education and technology education, and Deanne Snavely, chemistry and photochemical sciences.

The staff members inducted were Darren Hamilton, athletics; Rebecca McOmber, registration and records, and Anne Tracy, music library.

James Meyer of Shelby Township, Michigan, was inducted as an alumnus.

The students, all juniors or seniors, were selected on the basis of excellence in one of five categories: creative and performing arts; social, service, religious and campus government activities; scholarship; athletics; and journalism, speech and mass media.

Cooper served as chair of the department of Health and Physical Education for 25 years at BGSU. He was a member of the BGSU faculty from 1946-75 and produced six Mid-American Conference championships as coach of the swim team from 1946-63. Cooper was instrumental in the effort for an ice arena to be built on campus and was honored in 1977 when the Olympic-sized swimming pool in the Student Recreation Center was named after the former coach. In 1995 Cooper started the BGSU Retirees Association. A 1936 graduate of Oberlin College, he holds a master’s degree from New York University and earned his doctorate from Case Western Reserve University.

Bullerjahn, who received his A.B. degree from Dartmouth College and his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, joined the University faculty in 1988. He served as chair of the biology department from 1996-2000. He is also affiliated with the BGSU Center for Photochemical Sciences. From 1996-99, he was a member of a National Science Foundation Review Panel for Pre-doctoral Fellows.

In the biology department, Bullerjahn has conducted research in photosynthesis and microbial physiology, and has published more than 40 research papers on those two topics. His work may help define universal rules in the adaptation of bacteria to changing and extreme environments. He has also received, as principal or co-principal investigator, approximately $1.2 million in external funding to support research projects and fund graduate students.

Hoff holds a master's of education degree in visual communication technology education and a doctoral degree in higher education administration, both from BGSU. She joined the University faculty in 1998 and teaches career and technology education, advanced technological education, technology management and higher education administration. Hoff has been a visiting professor at Mendeleyev University of Chemical Technology in Moscow.

She is a member of Epsilon Pi Tau, an international technology honorary, and is the managing director of the Academy of Human Resource Development. Hoff co-chaired the BGSU Distance Learning Strategic Planning Task Force and serves on numerous committees involving distance learning and instructional technology. President of the Greater Toledo Area Chapter of the American Society for Training and Development, she also serves as a consultant to several universities on process re-engineering and training development. She has published widely and made many invited presentations in her field.

Snavely, who has chaired the BGSU chemistry department since 1999, joined the chemistry faculty in 1986. She received her bachelor of science degree from Ohio State University and her Ph.D. from Yale University. She has written more than 35 refereed journal articles, and has served on numerous review panels, including those for the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowships; the Department of Energy Review of Basic Energy Science, and the National Science Foundation Research Opportunities for Women.

In 1988, she was named a Naval Young Investigator and served as chairperson and organizer of the Great Lakes Symposium in Photochemistry.
An outstanding athlete and scholar in college, Hamilton was inducted into the High School Hall of Fame. A Pennsylvania State University football letter-winner, he played on the national championship football team in 1982, as well as in the Sugar, Aloha and Orange Bowls. He holds a doctorate of black history and the sociology of sport.

Hamilton came to BGSU in 2000 as athletic academic coordinator and was promoted to assistant athletic director of academic affairs in January 2001. He directs academic support services to more than 450 student athletes and monitors their continued eligibility to play. He was selected to participate in the 2001-02 NCAA Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Males.

He has received the Mid-American Conference Institutional Academic Award and the Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Chamber of Commerce Community Award. He has served as faculty adviser for Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. and on the executive board of the Erie Shores Council of Boy Scouts of America. He is co-adviser for the Student-athlete Advisory Committee as well as a member of the Fellowship for Christian Athletes. He has also published journal articles on student-athlete development and issues affecting African-American student-athletes.

McOmber, who earned two degrees at BGSU, has served as a member of the administrative staff in the Office of Registration and Records since 1978. She was named registrar in 1995.

She has been a member of the Ohio Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers since 1978, serving as secretary in 1999-2001. She has also been a member of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers since 1978. At BGSU, she has been on the advisory board of the Medici Circle, patrons of the BGSU School of Art, since 1998.

Tracy, a library associate in the music library, has served the University in diverse capacities. The chair of Classified Staff Council since 2001, she also has been an instructor in freshman student-success courses. She has been a member of the University Task Force on Diversity since 1997. Since 1997 she has been Pagemaster for the Music Library and Sound Recordings Archives, and was co-editor of the Libraries and Learning Resources quarterly newsletter from 1995-99, to which she has contributed several articles.

Tracy is also a promoter of folk music, and hosts a weekly show on WBGU-FM. She is the founder of A Trace of Folk Productions, an acoustic music concert series, and was a member of the “Agent, Performer, Promoter Roundtable” at the Folk Alliance Midwest Chapter in Akron in 1998.

Meyer, currently dean of students at the Utica (Mich.) Center for Mathematics, Science and Technology, Utica Community Schools, had a stellar academic career at Bowling Green, where he majored in English. He was a BGSU Presidential Scholar and a National Science Foundation Scholar. He was also a member of Sigma Tau Delta English honorary. He went on to receive a master’s of education degree from Wayne State University in 1974.

He is a recipient of the BGSU Alumni Service Award as well as the BGSU Distinguished Service Award. He was named in “Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities,” and was a member of Antaens, a national Greek men’s leadership honorary. Meyer served as varsity cross country and varsity track coach at Stevenson High School in Sterling Heights, Mich., from 1967-98, and was named coach of the year in 1978, ’82, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’92 and ’94. He is also the recipient of the Michigan School Public Relations Association Award.