| Officers of the University 2024 – 25 | |
| Chair of the Board | William E. Harrell, Jr. ’94 |
| Vice Chair | Theresa Harris |
| Secretary | Mechelle Buys du Plessis P’20, MBA ’22 |
| President of the University | John Comerford, Ph.D. |
| CFO/Vice President for Business Affairs | Jeffrey Nutter |
| Executive Committee 2024 – 25 | |
| Chair of the Board | William E. Harrell, Jr. ’94 |
| Vice Chair | Theresa Harris |
| Secretary | Mechelle Buys du Plessis P’20, MBA ’22 |
| President of the University | John Comerford, Ph.D. |
| Audit & Risk Management Committee | K. Christopher Kaiser `77 |
| Enrollment & Advancement Committee | Lisa Hinson |
| Financial Resources Committee | Peter Bible ’80 |
| Governance Committee | David Fisher ’75 |
| Student Success Committee | Melinda Phinney ’85 |
University President
John Comerford
President
Dr. John Comerford joined Otterbein University as the president in 2018 with a record of commitment and advocacy for higher education and liberal arts colleges.
Believing that higher education is the “great equalizer,” he has focused on access and affordability. He helped established a scholarship that covers full tuition for Ohio students from families of financial need. The Dual Admission Program, a partnership with Columbus State Community College, provides one of the most affordable degree programs in the state of Ohio. Now enrolling the most diverse classes in University history, Otterbein’s first-year class has grown from 12% to 27% students of color.
President's Cabinet 2024-25
Erin Bender
Executive Director of The Point and Corporate Partnerships
Erin Bender is founding Executive Director of The Point at Otterbein University - a new collaboration, education and innovation center made possible by public officials at all levels of government, local business and community leaders, public schools, and creative faculty and students at Otterbein. It's offers student-centered collaboration and cross-disciplinary, high-impact learning that bridges learning with doing, students with professionals, in one shared space at 60 Collegeview Road, west of Otterbein's main campus. It is a conduit between abstract learning and concrete practice,…
Jefferson Blackburn-Smith
Executive Vice President for Strategic Initiatives
Jefferson has provided leadership for the division of enrollment management at Otterbein University since 2012. Prior to joining the Otterbein community, Jefferson served for 17 years at The Ohio State University in a variety of recruitment and strategic planning roles, overseeing an outreach and recruitment effort that saw significant increases in diversity, non-resident enrollment and a growth in the average ACT of the entering class from 21 to 28. At Otterbein University, Jefferson has focused on expanding access and affordability…
Kirk Carlson
Vice President for Enrollment Management
Kirk Carlson joined Otterbein as vice president for enrollment management in July 2024. He is responsible for collaborating with departments across campus to develop strategic, data-driven recruitment strategies for enrollment success in the competitive Ohio and Midwestern markets. Kirk has more than 25 years of experience in higher education administration, with a proven track record of success in enrollment management and financial services. He previously served as associate vice president of enrollment and student financial services at Gustavus Adolphus College…
Frank E. Dobson, Jr.
Chief Diversity Officer
Frank E. Dobson, Jr., Ph.D. has served as an instructor and administrator at a number of institutions, including Bowling Green State, Vanderbilt, and Wright State. Frank has directed Black cultural centers at two institutions, and led numerous diversity and equity efforts, including the Posse program at Vanderbilt and the Freshman Prep Program at Lafayette College. Frank is involved in community service and activism, including serving as the board chair for the Launch Mentorship program in Nashville, TN. He is also…
William Fox, Ed.D.
Vice President for Student Affairs
Bill has led the division of student affairs at Otterbein University since January 2023. Bill has worked in higher education for over 20 years, including a decade as dean of students at Denison University in Granville, OH. Prior to joining the Otterbein community, he led the student affairs division at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH. At Otterbein University, Bill is responsible for partnering with faculty to create holistic student learning and support, facilitating a community that welcomes and supports a highly diverse student population, and fostering a culture of innovation…
Wendy Sherman Heckler
Provost & Senior Vice President
Wendy R. Sherman Heckler began her career at Otterbein University as an Associate Professor of Science Education in 2007, and served as Director of Graduate Programs in Education from 2009 to 2012, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of University Programs from 2012 to 2017, and Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs from 2017-2019, before being selected to stay on as Provost and Senior Vice President. As the chief academic officer of the university and SVP,…
Jeffrey Nutter
Chief Financial Officer & Vice President for Business Affairs
Jeffrey Nutter joined Otterbein as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Vice President for Business Affairs starting in September 2024. With over 20 years of experience in finance and administration, Jeff previously served as Vice President of Finance and Administration at the National Veterans Memorial and Museum. He has also held financial leadership roles at Marion Technical College and Ohio Wesleyan University. At Otterbein, Jeff collaborates with other institutional leaders to produce and multi-year projections for revenue and expenses to…
Board of Trustees 2024-25
Peter Bible, ’80
Trustee
Peter Bible is EisnerAmper LLP’s Chief Risk Officer and is responsible for risk management, SEC services, strategic thought leadership, regulatory relations and inspection groups. He works closely with the Professional Practice Group to assure compliance with the Audit and Assurance Practice’s quality control policies. Peter also consults with clients on difficult and complex accounting and financial reporting issues. As a leader in the Public Companies Group, Peter also aids the firm’s efforts in meeting the business and regulatory needs of…
John Comerford
President
Dr. John Comerford joined Otterbein University as the president in 2018 with a record of commitment and advocacy for higher education and liberal arts colleges.
Believing that higher education is the “great equalizer,” he has focused on access and affordability. He helped established a scholarship that covers full tuition for Ohio students from families of financial need. The Dual Admission Program, a partnership with Columbus State Community College, provides one of the most affordable degree programs in the state of Ohio. Now enrolling the most diverse classes in University history, Otterbein’s first-year class has grown from 12% to 27% students of color.
Talisa Dixon
Trustee
Dr. Talisa Dixon started her 28-year career in public education in Akron Public Schools, where she served as a social studies teacher, then assistant principal. Dr. Dixon spent nine years as an administrator in Columbus City Schools from 2001-2010. She served three years as an assistant principal at Brookhaven High School, then six years combined as the principal at Brookhaven and at Columbus Alternative High School. Dr. Dixon served as the deputy superintendent for the Saginaw Public School District in…
John Edgar
Trustee
Rev. John Edgar served as the executive Director of Community Development for All People (CD4AP) from its inception in 2003 until he retired in June 2022. CD4AP is a multifaceted community development corporation with the mission of improving the quality of life with persons living on the Southside of Columbus, Ohio. The Free Store, a flagship ministry of CD4AP, provides free clothing and household items to 20,000 persons each year. Over the past 17 years, CD4AP has developed $125 million…
David W. Fisher, ’75
Trustee
David W. Fisher is vice chairman of the Board of Trustees of Wesley Family Services (formerly the United Methodist Children’s Home) in Worthington, Ohio, and a member of the law firm, Kephart Fisher, LLC, based in Columbus. A native of Clarksburg, West Virginia, Fisher graduated from Otterbein in 1975 with a degree in philosophy and theology. After college, he did graduate work at Candler School of Theology at Emory University before attending law school at Northern Kentucky University. Since earning…
James L. Francis, ’71
Trustee
Jim Francis earned his bachelor's degree in education from Otterbein and his master's degree in counseling from Cleveland State University. He is a retired human resources executive with over 20 years of service as vice president of human resources at BFGoodrich Specialty Chemicals and the Swagelok Company. He is currently the president of J&L Fran Enterprises, a leadership consulting business. Jim has been a member of the board of trustees for the Greater Cleveland Food Bank for over twenty years.…
Daniel Gifford, ’88 P’21, P’23
Trustee
Daniel C. Gifford, CPA (Inactive) graduated from Otterbein University in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Dan started his career at KPMG where he worked for over ten years and has held various accounting related roles in industry since leaving public accounting. Currently, he is the chief financial officer of Bold Penguin where he serves on the senior leadership team and is responsible for accounting, finance and M&A due diligence. Gifford has served on the Otterbein University Alumni Council…
Julianna Grubich, ’26
Student Trustee
Julianna Grubich is a Gahanna Ohio native and is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Allied Health and completing her Athletic Training Master's degree the following year. She also has a minor in Nutrition. At Otterbein, she is a member of the Women’s basketball team. She also serves as secretary on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. One of the group's goals is to make every athlete feel as though they belong at Otterbein. Julianna is excited to pursue opportunities to extend…
Jon Hargis, ’79
Trustee
Jon Hargis has over 40 years of experience on the Telecommunications/Cable Industry. Jon began his career with AT&T in Dayton Ohio upon his graduation from Otterbein in 1979. In 2000 Jon joined Cablevision as the Senior Vice President and Head of Marketing. In 2012 Jon moved to Charter Communications and became the Chief Marketing Officer responsible for all Sales and Marketing. Jon retired from Charter in 2022. Jon currently lives in Long Island, New York where he is active in…
William E. Harrell, Jr. ‘94
Chair of the Board of Trustees
William “Eddie” Harrell Jr. earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Otterbein University in 1994 and his master’s degree in business administration from Ashland University. He is the Regional Vice President of all Radio One Markets in Ohio, inclusive of Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus. Prior to becoming Regional Vice President, Mr. Harrell served as Vice President and General Manager of the Cleveland market from 2014 to 2015 after leading the Columbus market from 2011 to 2013. Mr. Harrell was…
Theresa Harris
Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees
Theresa Harris, President and Founder of TMH Solutions, has more than 30 years of progressively responsible experience in Management and Information Technology. TMH Solutions, LLC is a certified women and minority owned and managed company working to collaborate with her customers and strategic partners to deliver high quality, cost effective solutions. Prior to establishing TMH Solutions, Theresa was Application Sales Manager for Public Sector for Oracle in the States of Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio. During her years in the IT…
Sonya Higginbotham, ’98
Alumni Trustee
Sonya Higginbotham leads as senior vice president and chief of corporate affairs, communications and sustainability of Worthington Enterprises. She is responsible for the Company’s internal and external communications, brand strategy, government relations and sustainability efforts, as well as philanthropic activities as president of The Worthington Companies Foundation. Higginbotham joined Worthington Industries in 1997 in the corporate training and development department. In 1999, she was named community relations coordinator where she helped form the Company’s first corporate communications department. In the following years, she…
Lisa Hinson, P’17
Trustee
Lisa Hinson is president and founder of Hinson Ltd Public Relations, a boutique agency that advises clients on media and community relations, marketing and event management. Before founding her company in 1999, Hinson began her career at L Brands and was with the business for over a decade. Lisa serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations including The James Cancer Hospital Foundation Board and The Ohio State University Foundation Board. She is a former board chair of Experience Columbus,…
Michael Hudoba
Associate Professor & Department Chair, Faculty Trustee
Michael Hudoba, Ph. D., moved from Canfield, Ohio in 2005 to begin his undergraduate career in Mechanical Engineering at The Ohio State University. He graduated magna cum laude and began working towards his master’s degree in 2009 with a focus of user-centered product design. In 2011, he was asked to be Carlos Castro’s first graduate student in the Nanoengineering and Biodesign Lab at OSU where his researched focused on the development, characterization and implementation of DNA based nanomachines to measure…
Gregory S. Jordan
Trustee
Greg began his career at Nationwide in 2001 and has served in several Business and Finance leadership roles. Prior to his retirement in July 2024, Greg served as Senior Vice President & Chief Audit Executive and was responsible for overseeing Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company's Office of Internal Audit, a diversified financial services Fortune 100 company with assets in excess of $295 billion. In this role, Greg reported to Nationwide’s Board of Directors and was responsible for reviewing and communicating the…
K. Christopher Kaiser, ‘77
Trustee
Chris Kaiser earned his bachelor’s degree in 1977 from Otterbein University in business administration with a concentration in accounting. He became a Certified Public Accountant in 1979 and worked for Deloitte, an international auditing and consulting firm for 15 years. Kaiser, who retired in 2016, was the Chief Operating Officer for OSU Surgery, LLC, a multi-specialty surgical practice that provides business and management services to more than 100 doctors affiliated with The Ohio State University. He joined this organization in…
Susan Millsap
Professor & Faculty Trustee
Dr. Susan Millsap has been teaching and coaching forensics for forty years, thirty-five of those years at Otterbein. She is a professor of Communication teaching; Public Speaking, Argumentation and Advocacy, and Interpreting Communication Research. Over the years, her Speech and Debate Teams have won numerous state and national awards. She has served on the national council of the National Forensic Association. She has served on the national council for Pi Kappa Delta and is currently serving as its National Historian.…
Nevalyn Fritsche Nevil, ’71
Trustee
Nevalyn Fritsche Nevil originally began her college career at Florida State University in 1966. She finished her freshman year, but then transferred to Otterbein in her hometown of Westerville. She earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology and psychology and went on to earn her master’s degree in counseling psychology at The Ohio State University in 1978. She began her career at The Ohio State University Nisonger Center, where she helped develop several books focused on helping people with psychological disorders.…
Melinda Phinney, `85
Trustee
Melinda (Mindy) Phinney earned her Bachelor of Science degree at Otterbein in 1985. She then furthered her education at Medical College of Ohio at Toledo where she received an MD degree. She completed medical training in Internal Medicine at Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio, where she also served as Chief Resident of Internal medicine. She obtained specialty training in Nephrology at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland. Melinda has published articles in peer-reviewed medical journals and has written two book…
Mechelle Buys du Plessis
Secretary of the Board of Trustees
Mechelle Buys du Plessis is a 29-year veteran and student of the Information Technology industry. She has worked and lived in South Africa, Malaysia, The United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Mechelle’s global career offered her various specialties that included various Go to Market roles, Head of Marketing for the Africa & Middle East territory, leading architects & consultants, and managing the Middle East territory overall, which included the Kingdom of Saudi, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and…
James D. Shilling, `77
Trustee
James D. Shilling is the George L. Ruff Endowed Chair in the Real Estate Center at DePaul University. A prolific scholar, Shilling has produced more than 80 journal articles, studies, books and book chapters. His work has examined real estate investment trusts and the role of real estate in institutional investors' portfolios; mortgage securitization; commercial mortgage default, real estate asset pricing, housing finance and urban economics. Shilling holds a bachelor's degree from Otterbein College and earned master's and doctoral degrees in…
Brant O. Smith, ’95
Trustee
Brant Smith is President and General Manager of Waltek & Co., Ltd in Cincinnati, Ohio with another office in Nashville, Tennessee. Waltek & Co. specializes in custom curtainwall applications for high rise commercial projects, structural glass, glass flooring, cable wall systems, glass/steel canopies, and all types of ornamental metal work/glass handrails. The company, started by Brant’s father, has a reputation for exceptionally prompt delivery on quality wall systems, custom ornamental metals, distinctive glass and aluminum handrails, and individually designed and…
Karin Yaffe Stump, ’80
Trustee
Karin Yaffe Stump earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from Otterbein and her master's of science degree in social psychology from North Carolina State University. For the past 30 years, she has been the president of Yaffe and Stump Consulting and works with attorneys as a witness coach for their clients. Karin served on the board of Columbus Humane and was a past president of Twig 2 of Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She currently is a member of the board of Hound…
Mahad Yusuf, ‘26
Student Trustee
Mahad Yusuf is a native of Westerville, Ohio and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics. Mahad has taken on both collaborative and organizational efforts while being a senator serving on student governance and various committees with both peers and faculty. He serves to contribute to the progress of multiple initiatives and organizations. Mahad was selected to serve as the student trustee for a two-year term.