Carol Fry Bohlin and her family hadn’t been back to Ohio for more than a decade. This August, she, her husband Roy, and son Christopher traveled from their home in California to make an eagerly anticipated pilgrimage to Buckeye territory.
Having earned a PhD from the college in 1987, Carol looked forward to revisiting old haunts. Here is what she writes about that visit.
We loved seeing the growth of the campus, and I enjoyed visiting my old office in Arps Hall. As we walked along the second floor of Arps, I noticed a familiar name on an office — Michael Battista.
Because I am a mathematics educator, as is he, that name is well known to me. I was unaware, however, that the name was also well known to my husband. Professor Battista was a member of Roy's dissertation committee when they were both at Kent State!
We enjoyed a brief but thoroughly enjoyable conversation. Then we suggested an O-H-I-O picture!
Memories of Ohio State
In January 1980, I began my career in education as a junior high school mathematics teacher in Charlotte, NC. With teaching credentials in both math and science from the University of North Carolina and a strong interest in the neurosciences, I was drawn to Ohio State by the numerous opportunities provided in these areas.
Supported by a Lowry W. Harding Fellowship and a teaching assistantship, I began my studies in 1983, learning from and working with talented faculty such as the late mathematics educator Alan Osborne and science educator Marlin Languis. Both were professors in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice (ETP), now the Department of Teaching and Learning.
Dr. Languis enthusiastically led an intrepid group of doctoral students interested in multidisciplinary cognitive neuroscience research. Our studies were enhanced by research experiences in the Brain-Behavior Laboratory at the Nisonger Center and stimulating seminars.
Dr. Osborne, my dissertation chair, was passionate about preparing his graduate students for the future and intrigued with the latest in cutting-edge technology. One day in 1985, he excitedly showed me his new (and pricey!) Macintosh computer and its unique graphical user interface.
Soon thereafter, he told me of new eye-tracking equipment that he and Professor Elizabeth Bernhardt had acquired. Fellow mathematics education graduate student Chuck Vonder Embse and I spent many months learning about and utilizing this innovative equipment for our dissertation studies. This work led to a number of national and international presentations.
I was also fortunate to have the opportunity to assist the associate dean of the Graduate School, Dr. Bill Collins, in gathering information about MD/PhD programs throughout the nation and to conduct research on a number of topics of personal interest. I loved teaching courses in the Mathematics Department, as well as courses on mathematics education for future K-12 teachers in the ETP Department.
A happy Ohio State memory was when my Math 050 class was interrupted one evening in 1985 by university representatives who announced that I had been selected to receive a Graduate Student Teaching Award, an honor that is still personally meaningful today — three decades later!
A career in mathematics education
Following graduation in 1987, I was asked to spend a year as a visiting assistant professor at Ohio State. I advised graduate students on eye-tracking research; supervised elementary, middle and high school mathematics field experiences; taught a graduate course — Number Concepts and School Mathematics; and co-instructed the Teaching Secondary School Mathematics course with Professor Jon Higgins.
I was very pleased that I was allowed to continue living in Jones Graduate Tower, an international dorm that fostered friendships and stimulating, enlightening dialogue among residents from around the world.
In 1988-1990, I enjoyed teaching mathematics education courses and working with outstanding scholars at Indiana University as a visiting assistant professor. Then in 1990, I accepted a mathematics education faculty position in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Educational Technology at California State University, Fresno. That year, a recent graduate of Kent State by the name of Roy Bohlin accepted a faculty position in educational technology in the same department.
Roy and I became close friends as we worked on grants and professional reports, and that friendship developed into much more. We married in 1992 and have a 19-year-old son, Christopher, who is majoring in computer engineering and minoring in mathematics here at Fresno State.
I’ve served as Special Assistant to the Provost for STEM Initiatives. I currently direct the Mathematics and Science Teacher Initiative, produce COMET (California Online Mathematics Education Times), coordinate the Curriculum and Instruction master’s program and serve in a number of STEM education leadership capacities.
I am profoundly grateful for the outstanding opportunities for professional and personal growth that I had at Ohio State. The five years that I spent at Ohio State were amazing in so many ways, and I remain a proud Buckeye!
