2025 Awards

John Hunter, PhD, associate professor of biology, received this year’s Robert A. Barnes Award for Exemplary Teaching. The honor is presented annually to an Ohio State Newark tenured faculty member who has established at least a decade-long record of excellent teaching at the Newark campus. Nominees are chosen anonymously by fellow faculty members. Since 2005, Hunter has taught courses at Newark that cover human anatomy, biology and evolution. “John has had a very distinguished career and has served this institution well,” said Matt Smith, PhD, Ohio State Newark dean and director. “The fact that the other faculty members chose to recognize him shows how highly he’s regarded within this community.”

Ohio State Newark honored Jodie Wheeler with this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award. Since graduating with a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Ohio State in 1990, Wheeler has worked at Wilson, Shannon and Snow, an accounting firm in downtown Newark. She is also an involved and dedicated community member, sitting on the alumni council of Central Ohio Technical College, from which she graduated with an associate degree in 1983, as well as several other community and non-profit boards. Wheeler is a wonderful case study in the co-located campus’s ability to produce prepared professionals. “I’m a good example of how this place can launch you into your career,” she said. “It has helped me get to where I am today.”