A warm Buckeye welcome goes to six new faculty members whose scholarship and teaching skills will enrich our college community. These faculty will join the following excellent program areas:
- Couple and Family Therapy
- Education, Newark Regional Campus
- Fashion and Retail Studies
- Human Nutrition
- Kinesiology and Sport Industry
- Mathematics Education
These new faculty bring expertise that will strengthen our teaching, advance research and expand community impact. With the addition of their fresh ideas and perspectives, students, faculty, staff and program partners will benefit.
“I extend my appreciation to our four new faculty for choosing to join us,” said Erik Porfeli, interim dean of the college. “I also applaud the time and energy our faculty search committees expended in selecting these scholars. Hiring and welcoming new members of our EHE community are among our most important endeavors.”
“Their expertise spans fields that connect directly to how individuals learn, build healthy relationships, prevent disease and participate in vibrant communities and economies. Collectively, their work will enrich student preparation, expand research that improves lives and deepen partnerships that translate knowledge into stronger schools, healthier families and more resilient communities.”
“Together, we will continue to build our college’s momentum in achieving excellence relative to our mission. We strive to advance community well-being while growing knowledge of complex issues that affect individuals, families and societies.”
Four new faculty welcomed to the college
David M. Bowers, assistant professor of mathematics education, Department of Teaching and Learning
David Bowers returns to Ohio State, their alma mater for their BS and MEd degrees, from the University of Tennessee – Knoxville where they were a research assistant professor.
Bowers earned their PhD at Michigan State University and is known for their research leveraging anarchism in mathematics education and disability education toward transforming teaching and schooling to align with the principles of cooperation, mutual aid and freedom from unjustified hierarchy.
Bowers has many articles in journals such as For the Learning of Mathematics and Azimuth: Philosophical Coordinates in Modern and Contemporary Age. They have multiple book chapters, including in Springer’s Ethics and Mathematics Education and Bloomsbury’s Handbook of Foucault and Education.
Bowers is a founding member of The Critical Philosophical and Psychoanalytic Institute for Mathematics Education and is editor-in-chief of the Journal for Theoretical and Marginal Mathematics Education.
Bowers regularly presents peer-reviewed works at conferences and serves on the International Organizing Committee of the International Group for Mathematics Education and Society.
Bowers first taught as a mathematics and engineering teacher, Columbus City Schools; later, as a mathematics content instructor at Ohio State and Michigan State. More recently, they taught courses at the University of Tennessee ranging from mathematical didactics for preservice teachers to doctoral coursework for current and future researchers.
Jonathan R. Oliveira, assistant professor of kinesiology, Department of Human Sciences
Jonathan Oliveira joins us from James Madison University, where he was an assistant professor of sport and recreation management. With a background in sport management, his research examines the social impacts of sport, events and facility management and sport tourism, with an emphasis on enhancing organizational effectiveness and community well-being.
Oliveira has published in multiple journals, including the Journal of Sport & Tourism, Soccer & Society, and Sport in Society. His book, Football Tourism: An Analysis of the Futbol Club Barcelona as a tourist attraction, was published by the Brazilian Ministry of Sports.
He regularly presents his research at conferences organized by the North American Society for Sport Management, the World Association for Sport Management and other leading scholarly organizations, and serves as a manuscript reviewer for sport-related journals.
Before joining Ohio State, Oliveira taught undergraduate and graduate courses at James Madison University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign while completing his PhD. He also co-founded Football Tourism Intelligence, a research and consulting organization specializing in stadium tours design and football (soccer) museum operations in the United States and internationally.
Allen K. Sabey, clinical assistant professor of human development and family science, specializing in couple and family therapy, Department of Human Sciences
Allen Sabey joins the college from The Family Institute at Northwestern University, where he was initially a clinical research postdoctoral fellow, then a clinical assistant professor and core faculty member, both with the Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy program. He has been licensed as a marriage and family therapist for 12 years and is approved as a supervisor by the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT).
Sabey is known for both his clinical expertise with couples and families and his empirical research aimed at understanding and increasing emotional availability and responsiveness within relationships. He also focuses on fatherhood and masculinity.
He has presented at national and international conferences on his clinical research, most recently at the annual conferences of the National Council of Family Relations and AAMFT.
Sabey has published on the nature of family relationships in numerous academic journals, including Family Process, Journal of Family Psychology and, most recently, in the journal Family Theory and Review. He also served the field as an associate editor of Family Process and reviews for many journals in the field, including the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy.
He earned his master’s and doctorate in marriage and family therapy from Auburn University.
Stephanie M.G. Wilson, assistant professor of human nutrition, Department of Human Sciences
Stephanie Wilson is known for her research on how foods rich in fiber and dietary bioactives relate to the progression of chronic disease, exploring the role of gut microbiome as a key facilitator. Her work is featured in The Journal of Nutrition, Food and Function, Nutrition Research and Lipids in Health and Disease.
She joins us from the University of California, Davis, where she was a postdoctoral fellow based at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Western Human Nutrition Research Center.
She has received multiple research awards, including the 2026 New Investigator Award at the National Nutrient Databank Conference and first place in the 2025 American Society for Nutrition Emerging Leaders in Nutrition Science Poster Competition.
Wilson has been an invited speaker for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietetic Practice Groups, the Northern Crops Institute and the University of Washington Nutrition Obesity Research Center. In October, she will present at the Polyphenols Applications Conference in Spain.
Wilson is on the Board of Editors for the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and a reviewer board member for Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism.
Her doctorate from Montana State University was interdisciplinary with a nutrition emphasis. Her master’s, also from Montana State, was in exercise and nutrition sciences.
Two faculty assume new roles
Kristi Frazier, clinical assistant professor, Department of Teaching and Learning, Newark Regional Campus
Kristi Frazier, a proud alum of the Newark campus MEd program, takes a new role at the Newark campus, having been a lecturer and university supervisor there for six years. She has supervised more than 200 teacher candidates across early field and student teaching placements. With more than two decades of experience in education, she brings expertise in teacher preparation, clinical supervision and a desire to cultivate strong PK-12 partnerships.
At the Newark campus, Frazier has provided leadership in clinical education and staff development by guiding university supervisors in using research and data to improve the mentor-mentee relationship that supports candidate success.
As a lecturer, she taught and will continue to teach the First Education Experience Program at Newark, providing all students the opportunity to explore education as a career path via field and seminar requirements. She engages students in a service-learning project that examines the impact of resources, assets and cultures within a school setting.
Frazier’s support for first-year students interested in education continues as she leads the Teaching and Learning Community through their first semester coursework.
Frazier earned her Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from National University, where her dissertation examined mentor-mentee feedback cycles in teacher preparation programs.
Alexandra “Alex” Ruiz Suer, clinical assistant professor, fashion and retail studies, Department of Human Sciences
Alex Suer assumes a new role, having served as senior lecturer in the program for 11 years. She is known for her teaching and mentoring of students engaged in the program’s Product Development and Merchandising tracks.
She is recognized for her industry knowledge, including partnering with members of the program’s Fashion Retail Studies Industry Advisory Board. They offer students behind-the-scenes company tours, guest speaking and internships.
Suer teaches courses such as Apparel Product Development I and II, in which students create their own apparel and accessory designs using hand and computer media technology. She is known for her expertise in teaching technical skills — such as SketchUp, PLM and Adobe Creative suite — for garment technical design, digital fabrication, textile design and more.
She teaches Design Aesthetics of Fashion and Retail, Apparel Manufacturing Decisions, as well as Retail Environments, about the influence of store environment characteristics on consumer behavior. Suer mentors students in a design practicum/FPA fashion show, supporting their success.
Suer guides students who enter the national Fashion Scholarship Fund competition, in which several students have won $10K scholarships.
Suer has a degree from the Parson School of Design – The New School, and two degrees in architecture, her master’s being from Ohio State.
