2023 Faculty Newsmakers

Katherine Jellison, history professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, was mentioned 571 times in the media in calendar year 2023. She has been a newsmaker every year since its inception, being named one of the top newsmakers in 2002, 2021, 2020, 2019 and 2015, claiming the number one spot in 2018 and 2017. Jellison is an expert in first ladies, women in politics, U.S. marriage and wedding customs, and elections, to name a few. Many of her media mentions came from being quoted on Jill Biden’s position in the White House and the work she’s doing alongside her husband.

Thomas Suddes, assistant instructor in the Scripps College of Communication, was mentioned 534 times in calendar year 2023. Suddes has been named a newsmaker every year since its inception and a top newsmaker in 2022, 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016. As a longtime journalist who has written for various outlets over the year, he decided to continue writing columns once he began his role at Ohio University, often writing weekly columns for The Columbus Dispatch and Dayton Daily News talking on politics in the state of Ohio. He also serves as coordinator for the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism Statehouse News Bureau fellowships.

Myrna Perez, associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, was mentioned 473 times in calendar year 2023. She has been a newsmaker twice before this calendar year and this is her first time being named as a top newsmaker. Perez is an expert in science and religion, race and science, and sexuality. She is a historian of evolutionary theory, a feminist and critical -race theorist, and a scholar of religion. Most of her mentions came from being interviewed on various broadcast channels about abortion rights and the various ways different religions view those rights.

Saw Wai Hla, professor and director of the Nanoscale & Quantum Phenomena Institute in the College of Arts and Sciences, was mentioned 434 times in calendar year 2023. He has been a newsmaker three times before this calendar year and this is his first time being named as a top newsmaker. His research is focused on nano and quantum sciences using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), synchrotron x-ray STM and atomic/molecular manipulation. He is a world leading researcher in the areas of STM single molecule manipulations, single molecule spintronics, and molecular machines on surfaces. He is also a researcher at Argonne National Laboratory. The majority of Hla’s mentions came from his research in which he was the first scientist to capture an image of a single atom using an X-ray.