Hall of Fame and Alumni Awards
Celebrate Excellence
Announcing this year’s award winners.
The 2026 event will be held on Thursday, Oct. 8.
For more information, visit the Homecoming Weekend webpage.
2026 Winners
Hall of Fame Award
Tonette S. Rocco
’95 MA, Education; ’97 PhD, Adult Education and Human Resource Development
Tonette S. Rocco is a professor in the Adult Education and Human Resource Development program at Florida International University, where she leads both the master's and doctoral programs. She previously directed the Office of Academic Writing and Publication Support.
As a nontraditional student and single mother, she earned four degrees from Ohio State. Before entering academia, she worked for Ohio State in programs supporting special needs populations, welfare-to-work initiatives and school-to-work transitions.
Her distinguished career has earned her national recognition as one of only 25 Houle Scholars in the United States, induction into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame and the Academy of Human Resources Hall of Fame. She has received more than 35 awards for scholarship, mentoring and service. Her accomplishments reflect a lifelong commitment to advancing adult learning, workforce development and educational opportunity.
Rocco is a prolific scholar with more than 300 publications and 13 books focused on professional education, equity and inclusion, career development, scholarly writing and qualitative research. Several of her books have received major national awards, including the Frandson Book Award and multiple Academy of Human Resource Development honors.
She is the only scholar to have co-edited major handbooks for both the human resource development and adult and continuing education fields. As editor-in-chief of New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development and a member of numerous editorial boards, she has helped shape scholarship across multiple disciplines.
Her work frequently involves mentoring students and emerging scholars, many of whom have co-authored award-winning publications with her. In addition to receiving Florida International University’s top honors for research and mentorship, she remains deeply engaged in formal and informal mentoring programs that support scholars nationally and internationally.
Career Achievement Award
Michael P. Jackson
’00 MA, Early and Middle Childhood Education; ’14 PhD, Multicultural Equity Studies Education and Educational Policy and Leadership
A native of Hampton, Virginia, Michael P. Jackson has 28 years of educational experience, with 23 years serving in administrative roles in K-12, juvenile correctional education and higher education settings.
He began his tenure as a deputy director and superintendent of schools for the Buckeye United School District in the Ohio Department of Youth Services (ODYS) in 2023.
Jackson holds a PhD and an MA, both from the college. He also proudly earned his Bachelor of Science (BS) in Physical Education from Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia.
Jackson is an adjunct professor at Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio. He sits on the education advisory boards for both Capital and Franklin universities.
He is an active member of the American Education Research Association, the Buckeye Association of School Administrators, School Superintendent’s Association, National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice and the Correctional Education Association (CEA). At the latter, he was recently elected Region III Assistant Director, which represents seven states across the Midwest.
Jackson’s accomplishments have earned him several awards, including Ohio’s prestigious 2026 Frank B. Walter Outstanding Educator Award, 2026 CEA Advocate Award and the 2024 ODYS Impact Award. He is a former school Ohio Department of Education Teacher of the Year award winner (2000).
As a lifelong educator, Jackson is a firm believer in the saying, "If we can reach them, we can teach them." He says this holds true no matter the academic environment, socio-economic status or other challenges students may face.
Jeffrey D. James
’97 PhD, Sport Management
Jeffrey D. James is the Mode L. Stone Distinguished Professor of Sport Management in the Department of Sport Management at Florida State University. James’ research focuses on the psychological connection people form with sport objects, including the processes by which individuals form a psychological connection to a sports team, as well as the cognitive and behavioral consequences of such connections.
James has over 90 refereed journal articles, has co-authored three books, has participated in over 100 presentations at various national and international conferences and is past-editor-in-chief of the field’s top publication, the Journal of Sport Management.
James was selected as a Research Fellow of the North American Society of Sport Management in 2008. He has been the advisor to three students who have won the association’s Student Research Competition and received the association’s 2017 Earle F. Zeigler Award, the field’s highest award.
James was selected as a Sport Marketing Association Research Fellow in 2020, and as a Fellow of the National Academy of Kinesiology in 2023. He has chaired 44 doctoral dissertation committees to successful completion to date.
He is in his 24th year at Florida State University, including his 18th year as chair of the Department of Sport Management. James earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas Technological University, and his doctoral degree from the college.
Jacqueline Wilkins
’94 MS, ’00 PhD, both Human Development and Family Relations
Jacqueline Wilkins has 30+ years of experience in higher education, as well as in for-profit and nonprofit management and consulting aimed at building organizational and community capacity. Her motivation for community-engaged scholarship originates from working collaboratively with community and university partners to co-create solutions for Ohioans.
She is committed to prevention education and reciprocal sharing of knowledge and expertise, where practice informs research and discovery informs application. Until recently returning full-time to her professor role, Wilkins served the university as associate dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences; director of OSU Extension and chair for the Department of Extension.
Wilkins received her bachelor's degree in psychology from Ohio Dominican University and her advanced degrees in human development and family science, as it is called now, from the college.
She began her career at Ohio State in 1994 as an Extension associate in the Department of Human Development and Family Science. In 2000, she became the parenting state Extension specialist and then served as the Northeast region director for Extension from 2012-2018 and director of operations for Extension. From 2019-2023, she led OSU Extension.
Her research interests include community-engaged scholarship, prevention education, family policy and organizational capacity building. She has been a principal investigator or co-investigator on over $75 million in local, state and federal funding to conduct research and provide prevention programming for Ohio's children, families and individuals nationwide.
Her current primary efforts center on increasing vaccine confidence in partnership with the Center for Disease Control and the U.S. Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA}. She also is developing the next generation of agricultural and food systems workforce in partnership with USDA-NIFA.
In her spare time, she enjoys reading, hiking, boating and spending time with her family, which includes the recent addition of three endlessly enjoyable grandchildren.
Meritorious Service Award
Doug Dunlap
’80 BS, Education
Doug Dunlap earned his BS in Education in 1980. He was a physical education and health education teacher in three school districts throughout Ohio, as well as coaching numerous sports, which included head coach of Boys Basketball at Philo and Fort Recovery High Schools.
Dunlap also has been a certified Medical Exercise Specialist for over 30 years, conducting exercise programming for clients with various medical conditions. He is an ordained minister and currently serves as chaplain and wellness director for CareSpring Senior Living Communities in West Chester, Ohio.
Dunlap has been the president of Ohio State’s Alumni Club of Butler County for the past two years. He and his wife Jodie live in Liberty Township, Ohio, a northern suburb of Cincinnati. They have two adult sons.
Kerry Dixon
’16 PhD, Education
Reflecting a lifelong commitment to service, Kerry Dixon began her career as an art history instructor at the secondary and postsecondary levels. She later joined the curatorial team at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where she helped contemporary artists bring their work to large public audiences and designed exhibitions that functioned as dynamic learning spaces. Drawing on this work, she founded and led two nonprofit, community-based education organizations and created STEM-art integration approaches that became part of a national model for urban teacher education.
Dixon’s extensive civic involvement includes serving as a grant reviewer for the Ohio Arts Council, a board member for both the Ohio Alliance for the Arts and WatotoRead, a nonprofit organization focused on addressing the educational needs of children in Sub-Saharan refugee camps. She has also served as a STEAM school certification advisor for Columbus City Schools, a member of the Granville Exempted School District Innovation Committee and a member of the Ohio Department of Education’s STEM Innovation Working Group. Locally, she has dedicated her time as a youth soccer coach for the Granville Recreation District and the American Youth Soccer Organization. She also serves as a volunteer advisor and essay-writing coach to college and graduate school applicants.
During her tenure with the College of Education and Human Ecology, Dixon elevated alumni engagement and donor relations. She facilitated the college’s Alumni Society Board of Governors, working closely with the board members and executive leaders to develop programs for alumni, expand their participation and support the college mission. In addition, her work leading the college’s global affairs expanded study-abroad programs fourfold and built relationships with the U.S. Departments of State, Commerce, and Education. Today, Dixon serves as executive director of Donor Relations and Stewardship at Rice University in Houston. In this role, she leads a team of advancement professionals, driving strategy, building scalable systems and elevating the overall donor experience in alignment with the institution’s mission.
In addition to her PhD from the college, Dixon has a MBA from Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business and an MA in art History from the University of Chicago.
New Leader Award
Wenfan Frank Chen
’17 BS, Hospitality Management
Frank Chen is a hospitality executive, educator and proud Ohio State alumnus whose relationship with the college’s Hospitality Management program has grown from student leader to mentor, advisor and industry partner.
As a student, he served as an officer of the Hospitality Management Association; today, he serves on the program’s Hospitality Management Advisory Board and remains actively engaged as a guest lecturer, career coach and mentor.
Over the years, Chen has coached and mentored hundreds of Ohio State students, reflecting his belief that hospitality leadership is ultimately about developing people, creating opportunities and strengthening the communities we serve.
Chen began his career in entry-level hospitality roles and advanced rapidly through food and beverage, rooms, sales and operations. He eventually became one of Hilton’s youngest full-service general managers in the Americas and earned recognition as a 2023 General Manager to Watch by the magazine Hotel Management.
His career has since expanded across hotel leadership, consulting, entrepreneurship and hospitality education. Chen currently serves as general manager of Hilton Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center, managed by Somnium Hospitality Group, a growing hotel management company expanding its presence in the Midwest and further.
As Somnium grows, Chen hopes to deepen its connection with Ohio State and create more opportunities for Buckeyes to learn, connect and build meaningful careers in hospitality.
Hall of Fame
Induction into EHE’s Hall of Fame is the highest honor bestowed by the college and alumni society. Those who are chosen for this award must have made significant contributions to education and human ecology and serve as a role model for all others in their fields. Hall of Fame inductees have distinguished themselves nationally or internationally by making a positive contribution to society and bringing extraordinary credit to the college and to The Ohio State University. They must be former college faculty members, administrators or graduates from an education or human ecology program.
The Meritorious Service Award
Presented to alumni for dedicated service to the College of Education and Human Ecology and/or The Ohio State University. Nominees must have supported the college/university in one or more of the following ways: Time, Talent, and/or Treasure. This includes making considerable commitment to the college in terms of dedicating time, contributing effort or service; and/or assisting the college through creative, innovative input or financial contribution (including helping with fundraising initiatives).
The New Leader Award
Granted to EHE alumni, age 36 or younger at time of nomination, for significant professional accomplishments or service to the college and society. Nominees show promise of future significant accomplishments.
The Career Achievement Award
Honors EHE alumni who have proven records of career accomplishments and have made outstanding contributions to their professions or made a difference in the lives of others through outstanding professional contributions, with an emphasis on teaching, mentoring, or other ways in which they have shared their skills and talents with others in their profession.