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Ohio University Chillicothe Campus Notable Alumni

Ken Breidenbaugh, BFA ’75, MFA ’86, PHD ’95, HON ’16, retired Chillicothe Campus theater professor. The driving force backstage, he produced more than 50 plays during his 1989-2013 run. Breidenbaugh also co-authored and directed the play Two Ohios, performed at Chillicothe’s Majestic Theatre to commemorate the University’s bicentennial in 2004, and wrote and directed Two Ohios and More for the Chillicothe Campus’ 60th anniversary in 2006.

Jack Everson, BGS ’77, politician and businessman. He served one term as mayor of Chillicothe (2011-15). Everson has been involved in community and regional economic development initiatives in addition to having a career as a business professional. Everson was a starting forward on the OU-C basketball team and helped initiate the athletic “Wall of Fame” in Shoemaker Center.

Stephen Gary, BBA ’73, banker. He joined the Savings Bank in Circleville, Ohio, in 1979 and retired in 2014 as the longest-tenured president/CEO since the bank’s founding more than 100 years ago. Gary has received the Pickaway County Sam Walton Business Award and the Ohio District Four Rotary Foundation Presidential Citation Award.

Julia Lyddon Gourley, BS ’84, government official. She is the senior Arctic official of the United States at the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. representative to the Arctic Council. Earlier in her career, she worked at the State Department’s Office of Environmental Policy and at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Beverly Gray, BSED ’71, educator. She taught mainly language arts and vocational education to area elementary-, middle-, and high-schoolers for 33 years and is cofounder and coordinator of the Chillicothe-based David Nickens Heritage Center of African-American culture. Gray is a member of the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame and has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy for her work with disadvantaged youth.

Stephen Neal, BBA ’77, public servant. He is Ross County Commissioner. Prior, Neal was the longest-serving county auditor in Ross County history, holding the office for 28 years. He also served on the planning committee and was financial officer for the construction of the OU-C Child Development and Family Service Center.

Donald Raymond Pollock, AB ’94, writer. He drew on his Ross County roots for Knockemstiff, a collection of linked short stories named one of the top books of 2008 by Publishers Weekly and Amazon. The Devil All the Time, a 2011 novel, also garnered acclaim. The Heavenly Table, another novel, came out in July. Pollock’s awards include the PEN/Robert Bingham Fellowship for Emerging Writers and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship.

Russ Poole, ELST ’50, radio executive. He spent 31 years with Radio Free Europe during the Cold War and retired as vice president of management. Several scholars acknowledge or cite Poole in their books on the Cold War and Radio Free Europe.

Martha Gerber Rittinger, AB ’55, businesswoman. She owns and operates the regional family businesses Maple Monte Farms, producing corn, soybeans, and wheat, and Gerber Construction Company. Rittinger was a legal concern chair for the American Agri-Women for 26 years. She has received Ohio Farmer’s Master Farmer Award and Conservation Award.

Dr. Gregory Weisenberger, BS ’76, primary care doctor. He served as a U.S. Army flight surgeon and general medical officer (captain) in West Germany and as chairman of the U.S. Army Child and Spouse Abuse program in Germany. Weisenberger has been in private practice in internal medicine in Reynoldsburg since 1986.

Read the 60 ^th Anniversary Commemorative Booklet