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Sandy Womack, Jr

Sandy D. Womack Jr. is a veteran educator in public schools. He is currently serving as the Area Superintendent for Region III in Columbus, Ohio. The region contains 19 schools and over8500 students. Womack previously served as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District, Director of Principal Leadership and Development, and The Leader of the Equity Task Force Committee during his tenure in Cleveland.

Womack’s expert opinion on education and culturally related issues has been published in several national publications, including Education Week, Principal Leadership, and the online periodical Education Dive. He can be heard on worldwide podcasts addressing race, education, and equality issues. His most recent interview, Chaos, or Community on the podcast Light Um Up, made Apple’s Top 100 list with over 500 downloads in one hour in over 40countries. Womack is a real example of the quote “it is not how you start but how you finish those counts.” The product of a single-parent home and an incarcerated parent, Womack worked hard to change his circumstances through his love of wrestling and a no-quit attitude.

Womack is a 2x NCAA All-American Wrestler and former president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Iota Phi Chapter at Mt. Union College, where he and his fraternity brothers held the highest GPA of all fraternities on campus. Social Activism has been the foundation of Womack’s career. He and his fraternity brothers were the Grow Your Own Program’s catalysts and the recognition of Martin L. King Jr. Day at Mt. Union utilizing campus sit-ins, economic boycotts, and campus marches. These experiences lead to his belief in the power of education and the need for African American students to have a positive sense of self. Womack’s foundation is built on the theory that quality education is a great equalizer and provides students with choices, chances, and options.

Womack’s mission is to eradicate the academic achievement gaps perpetuated by the current educational system and provide economic empowerment for urban students. As an expert on successful school, transformational change, and turn around, Womack’s services are in high demand as a motivational speaker, and stellar presenter on equity, cultural diversity, and systemic transformational changes. Attending majority Black, high-poverty schools in the city while learning to navigate predominately White Institutions of higher education provided Sandy with a unique set of skills. He uses these skills to support students of all races, and socioeconomic statuses and staff members to improve the choices, chances, adoptions of the community. Sandy is the proud husband of Monica Womack, and father of three daughters Alexis, Imani, and Nia Womack.

Megan Conklin

Degrees B.A. in History, The College of Wooster

Christopher Feltner

Degrees CIS – Networking, The University of Akron

Laura Purdy

Degrees B.A., The University of Akron Master of Performing Arts: Arts Management, American University

Ian Kinnaman

Bassist, educator, and composer Ian Kinnaman teaches double bass and electric bass at the College of Wooster. Originally from Maryland where he performed with […]

Peyton ’26

https://youtu.be/NSTwcqmGyN4

Peyton ’26 is a psychology major at Wooster! She enjoys spending her time on campus playing violin with the Wooster Symphony Orchestra (WSO) and attending club meetings, like the Sexual Respect Coalition (SRC). She is grateful for the new people she meets every day, and the friendships she has built on campus that she hopes will last a lifetime.

James Burnell

Samantha Hatt

Amy Szydlowski

Hometown I’ve moved 10 times but call Wooster home now. Why Wooster I love Wooster for its sense of community and belonging. I instantly […]

Rachel Chisnell

Hometown Wooster, Ohio Why Wooster The diversity and inclusion on campus was a very big draw for me. Advice for Applicants Don’t be afraid […]

Yaneth Sosa Sanchez

Yaneth Sosa Sanchez is a native of Puebla, Mexico. She is the director of the Casa Hispánica, organizes student-centered activities, helps with teaching in […]

Tate McCoy ’93

Tate McCoy ’93 is the CEO of the Mountain West Series of Lockton Companies, a global professional services firm that specializes in risk management, employee benefits, and retirement services. As CEO, he leads a team of more than 500 associates and is an expert on real estate, private equity, construction, and manufacturing. Before being promoted to the position in 2018, McCoy served as the executive vice president. He was named to Denver Business Journal’s 40 under 40 in 2009. He previously served the College as a Wooster presidential fellow. As a student, he was an English major, a member of Phi Omega Sigma, and a lacrosse player. McCoy and his wife Eileen, a fellow Wooster alum, have four sons and currently live in Denver, Colorado. He is active in the community, including serving on the board of directors for Colorado Open Lands, which protects land and water.

Margaux Day ’06

Margaux Day ’06, an alumni trustee at Wooster, is the policy director of Accountability Counsel, a non-profit organization that amplifies the voices of communities around the world to protect their human rights and environment. She leads the organization’s advocacy seeking to hold international financial institutions accountable for the negative environmental and human rights impacts of their investments. Before joining Accountability Counsel, Day was a judicial clerk for the Honorable Solomon Oliver Jr. ’69 of the Northern District of Ohio. She conducted anti-corruption and environmental investigations as an associate at the law firm Jones Day and continued to focus on corporate accountability as the deputy chief compliance officer of Diebold Nixdorf. Day then joined the Public International Law & Policy Group, where she advised parties engaged in peace negotiations and clients pursuing transitional justice. Day earned her degree at Wooster in international relations and completed her J.D. at Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

Paul Edmiston

Paul Edmiston is the Theron L. Peterson and Dorothy R. Peterson Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at The College of Wooster. Known for his patented organosilica materials for water treatment, environmental remediation, and personal care, Edmiston researches advanced materials for water purification and the development of chemical sensors based on molecularly imprinted materials. He has been featured in over 50 publications, the most recent being in Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts, Catalysis Today, and Journal of Catalysis. He was awarded the Top 10 Breakthrough of the Year Award from Popular Mechanics Magazine in 2011, as well as Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Clean Energy Prize in 2009, among several other recognitions in his career. Since 1999 Edmiston has received over $5.2 million in grant research funding. Recently, he received a significant federal grant from the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, a partnership between the Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency, to study the mitigation of “forever chemicals,” or chemicals that don’t break down in the environment and are found in many consumer products. Edmiston also has 12 patents, the most recent of which was acquired in 2022. At Wooster, where he’s been a member of the chemistry faculty since 1997, Edmiston teaches a variety of courses, including Instrumental Analysis, Analytical Chemistry, Chemistry and the World in Which We Live, and many others. Paul holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Pepperdine University and Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Arizona.

Rabbi Joan S. Friedman

Rabbi Joan S. Friedman is the Lincoln Professor of Religion and professor and chair of History, at Wooster. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in Jewish history from Columbia University, and was ordained as a reform rabbi by Hebrew Union College. She began teaching at Wooster in 2004. With an interdisciplinary focus on history and religious studies, Friedman’s research and teaching includes American Judaism, Jewish law, and American Jewish pop culture. She teaches a range of courses from Israel/Palestine: Histories in Conflict to The Hebrew Bible, among others. As chair of the Central Conference of American Rabbis Responsa Committee since 2019, she is the primary author of decisions in Jewish law that guide Reform Judaism in North America. Friedman is also associated with the Association for Jewish Studies, American Historical Association, Jewish Law Association, and the Women’s Rabbinic Network. She was the National Jewish Book Award Finalist for the publication of “Guidance, Not Governance”: Rabbi Solomon B. Freehof and Reform Responsa in 2013, a book about influential rabbi Solomon Bennett Freehof, who died in 1990. 

Rev. David A. Rice

The Reverend David A. Rice is pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Wooster and a member of the Wooster Board of Trustees. He grew up in Taiwan as a son of Presbyterian missionaries. Rice is a former professional opera singer, performing in regional opera houses and concert halls across the U.S. and at the opera house in Wuppertal, Germany, and as a guest artist in other German opera houses from 1989-96. He earned a bachelor’s in music and theater from North Park University in Chicago, and a Master of Music in voice performance from Northwestern University. After being called to ministry in the late 1990s, Rice earned a Master of Divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary. From 2000-2014, he was pastor and head of staff at First Presbyterian Church in Anniston, Alabama. He was named pastor and head of staff at First Presbyterian Church of Wooster in April 2014.

Gilda A. Barabino

Gilda A. Barabino is the second president of Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts. A chemical engineer by training, with broad interests in global health and interdisciplinary research and education, Barabino pioneered new engineering approaches to problems in medicine. Her research in sickle cell disease informed current technologies and the basis for novel therapies. She is a passionate advocate for health equity and leads national efforts to engage engineers in the development of solutions to health disparities. In recognition of her visionary leadership and outstanding professional achievement, Barabino has received many of the highest honors in academia. She is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Medicine, and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering Society.

Barabino leads on a global stage as board chair of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest interdisciplinary scientific society. She is an internationally recognized thought leader and highly sought-after speaker and consultant on race/ethnicity and gender in science and engineering, with a particular focus on creating cultures and climates that support a sense of belonging. She has led a number of initiatives in these areas, including serving as the founder and executive director of the National Institute for Faculty Equity.

Prior to becoming president of Olin College, Barabino has held academic and administrative appointments at the Grove School of Engineering at the City College of New York, Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University, and Northeastern University. Barabino received a B.S. from Xavier University of Louisiana and a Ph.D. from Rice University.

Gabe Tudor

Serving as superintendent and CEO of Wooster City School District since 2021, Gabe Tudor creates an environment conducive to student learning by utilizing resources and cultivating positive relationships. The district is the largest school system in the Tri-County (Ashland, Holmes, Wayne) area with nearly 4,000 students from Wooster’s economically diverse community. Tudor leads the development of instructional systems designed for high student achievement with a primary focus on improving instruction and enhancing student learning. Before coming to Wooster, he served as assistant superintendent of Wadsworth City Schools where he oversaw human resources, facilities, and school safety. He has also served as principal of Buckeye High School in Medina, assistant principal at Wadsworth High School, and Dean of students at Wadsworth Middle School. While at Wadsworth, he also helped coach tennis and basketball. He began his career as a social studies teacher at Jupiter Christian School in Florida. Tudor earned his bachelor’s degree in social studies education at Indiana Wesleyan University, his M.A. in educational administration at University of Akron, and superintendent licensure at Ashland University. He and his wife Rachel live in Wooster and have four children who all attend Wooster City Schools.

Angela Triplett

Angela Triplett is the associate director at The Aerospace Corporation, a nonprofit that conducts federally funded research and development for national-security space programs. She has advanced in the corporation since starting in 2015 and currently manages a team that provides technical support to advise the U.S. Space Force in enhancing their capabilities through international partnerships. Her background is in nonlinear vibrations and her passions lie in alternative forms of energy. A physics major at Wooster, Triplett holds a M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from University of Akron.  She has previously served on the alumni board and has been involved in Fighting Scots Career Connections and the Going True/LGBTQ+ Affinity Group. 

Jordan Walters

Jordan Biro Walters, associate professor of history at The College of Wooster, received her Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico in 2015. Her research focuses on racial and heteronormative underpinnings of American citizenship, the relationship between mobility and queer identity formation, and the intersections of artistic and sexual freedom. Walters published her book, Wide-Open Desert; a Queer History of New Mexico, in 2023 and has authored several articles featured in historical review publications, such as Pacific Historical Review and New Mexico Historical Review. She served as the director for the Wooster Digital History Project from 2017 to 2019, co-directing in 2022, and is still involved as a public historian, working in conjunction with the College’s Special Collections, the Wayne County Historical Society, and the Wayne County Public Library to document a comprehensive and representative account of Wooster’s history. Walters is also a board member of the Wayne County Historical Society. Outside of her work at Wooster, Walters acts as an oral historian of the Bennet Hammer LGBT Collection at the Center for Southwest Research in the University of New Mexico, an exhibit featuring testimonies of LGBT community members and activists from New Mexico during a period of significant development of LGBT issues and policies. She has taught a variety of courses during her time at Wooster, including but not limited to The Craft of Public History, Civil War: Gender & Commemoration, A History of Native America, and LGBTQ+ History of the Twentieth Century United States.