Milestone Anniversaries for Three Faculty

Vidhyanath Rao: Life by the Numbers

Vidhyanath Rao received his PhD from Case Western Reserve in 1981. He has served Ohio Newark for the past 40 years, currently as associate professor of mathematics. He likes teaching at the Newark campus especially because of the small classes and interaction with students. “And I have greater freedom to experiment with different approaches to teaching here,” he says. Rao’s courses center mostly on calculus.

His research focuses on topology, homotopy and K Theory. These related esoteric branches of mathematics have been put to practical uses such as studying the structure of the universe and designing the London Underground. Homotopy has to do with classifying geometric regions by studying paths. K-Theory (not the hip-hop group by that name) is a very technical field involving “vector bundles.”

Rao explains, “If you are studying shapes drawn on, say, a rubber sheet that can be stretched or shrunk, differently in different directions, such concepts as distance and angles do not make sense. Topology tries to find concepts that still make sense. The idea is to find ways of changing equations to simpler ones without changing the shape too much, like changing ovals to circles. Actually, that is what got me interested in topology in my youth.” He says his research became much more esoteric by the time he got his PhD. As for his calculus courses, “Students in my classes expect to end up in the various STEM fields or business-oriented careers.”

Paul D. Sanders: A Musical Story

Paul Sanders, PhD, has been harmonizing with students at Ohio State Newark for 30 years as a professor of music education. A native of Campbell, Missouri, Sanders first studied voice at the School of the Ozarks, near Branson. His goal is to share the joy of music-making with people of all ages.

He especially values sharing it at Ohio State Newark. “I enjoy the diversity of our student body,” he says. “Many of our students come from outside of Licking County, some from other countries. This enriches my experience as a teacher and the experience of students from the Newark area, too.

“We also have many first-generation students. As a first-generation student myself, I can appreciate the challenges they face. It can be daunting, but it opens so many doors to new opportunities.”

A frequent music director for Ohio State Newark theater productions and churches, Sanders has done extensive research on the history of American music education and the music of the American temperance movement. Among the many music education journals he has edited is the Kodály Envoy, a publication of the Organization of American Kodály Educators. He holds certification in the teaching method developed by Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodály, which is based on folk music.

“Kodály was concerned that Hungary was losing its cultural identity, and he believed folk music is a culture’s ‘musical mother-tongue,’” he explains. Sanders feels that basic music literacy is valuable for anyone. And he has shared that knowledge and much more with generations of Ohio State Newark students.

Bill MacDonald: It’s All About People

Sociologist Bill MacDonald, PhD, celebrates 30 years of service to Ohio State Newark, where he has been dean and director since 2004. Over the years, he has held several positions, including associate professor of sociology and executive dean of the regional campuses. One of his research interests is how religious beliefs influence attitudes and behaviors. He has also conducted research on race and on stepfamilies.

“When I got to graduate school, sociologists were gathering survey data about stepfamilies and trying to understand their incredible complexity,” he says. ”Having grown up in a stepfamily, I had an appreciation for the questions sociologists were asking, and I became interested in the challenge of modeling social interactions in stepfamilies to predict outcomes for their members.”

Another current interest of this “Renaissance man” is studying supernatural beliefs from an interdisciplinary perspective. “That allows one to see that such beliefs are shaped by more than just social factors,” he explains. “One can ask about biological, psychological, anthropological and other factors and how they interact with each other.”

Dean MacDonald says what he likes best about Ohio State Newark is that he can make a difference for students who face challenges similar to those that he faced in college. He values the interaction students have with faculty and advisors at Newark, as well as the collaboration between the regional campuses and the Columbus campus. “This collaboration has increased,” he notes. “In fact, the Office of Student Success and the Newark campus share a staff member whose appointment is split equally between the two units.”

Congratulations and gratitude go to all three of these educators for their expertise and long-term dedication to Ohio State Newark.