"I’m retired and can say whatever I want": Senior Women Leaders Discuss OSU
Sponsor: The Women's Place
Friday, 10:30 am - 1:30 pm
Fee: Free; RSVP required by noon, March 16
Register at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/womensplacepanel
The Women's Place celebrates Women’s History Month with a candid panel discussion featuring recently retired OSU women administrators. The panelists will share their open and honest perspectives about their experiences at OSU, what they believe still needs to happen to create a truly equitable environment for OSU women, and … well, you’ll have to attend to find out! The panel will be followed by an optional lunch, during which panelists will host small table discussions, allowing guests to ask questions and discuss issues in an intimate setting.
Guests may attend just the panel or just lunch and small table discussion or both portions of this event:
- 10:30 am-noon – Panel
- noon-1:30 – Small Table Discussions
The panel portion of this event will be videotaped with a sign language interpreter and offered on our website.
Confirmed panelists (in alphabetical order) include:
Mabel Freeman, Ph.D., retired as Assistant Vice President for Undergraduate Admissions and First Year Experience. Freeman previously served as Director of the OSU University Honors and Scholars Center and on the Board of Trustees of The College Board. Freeman is a member of the Board of Directors of I KNOW I CAN; a member of the Board of Directors of the Bexley Education Foundation; and a trustee of the Mortar Board National Senior Honor Society Foundation Board.
Greta Russell retired as the Controller for The Ohio State University. She was also the former Comptroller for the Ohio State Treasurer’s Office. Currently, some of the organizations Greta serves are: The Accountancy Board of Ohio, Columbus Community Shelter Board, Columbus-Franklin County Finance Authority, the Columbus Mayor’s Accountability Committee, and Columbus City Schools’ Audit and Accountability Committee. She is National Vice President of Circle-Lets and served two terms as national president of the National Association of Black Accountants.
Joan Leitzel, Ph.D., was a professor of mathematics at Ohio State for 25 years and moved into administration as Associate Provost for Curriculum and Instruction. Later, she assumed the position of Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. In 1996 she became President of the University of New Hampshire. Leitzel served on the board of directors of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (now APLU) and chaired the board of the American Association for Higher Education.
Deborah Ballam, J.D., Ph.D., faculty emerita, Fisher College of Business and program director, Project CEOS (Comprehensive Equity at Ohio State), played a major role in the creation of the women’s grassroots network, which became an informal network of several thousand faculty and staff women and a pressure point for change. She also was part of the initial group that developed the concept for The Women’s Place; served as chair of the Council on Academic Excellence for Women in the mid-1990s; and became director of The Women’s Place from 2004-2009.
Marquetta Peavy, MA, spent the last 15 years of her career as the Associate Director of the Educational Development and Resources Department at the medical center. During her 30-year tenure at Ohio State, she has shared her knowledge and passion for diversity and equity work through various human resources presentations and trainings. Peavy is a trained facilitator and member of the OSU National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI) campus affiliate. She received the “Distinguished Staff Award” in 1994.
Karen Bell, Ph.D., was a dance professor, Chair of the Department of Dance, Dean of the College of the Arts, and Associate Vice President for Arts Outreach during her 30-year tenure at Ohio State. Bell’s leadership was noted for connecting the university and city through performing arts programming in downtown Columbus and spearheading the creation of the Urban Arts Space. A passionate advocate for the arts, Bell serves on the boards of the Ohio Arts Council, Greater Columbus Arts Council where she is Chair Elect, and is a former board member for BalletMet, Columbus Museum of Art, and the Wexner Center for the Arts.
