Oberlin College & Conservatory

Career Services Staff

Support Staff

Linda Gwinn, Administrative Assistant
Linda joined the office in July, 2008 as an Administrative Assistant, after 7 1/2 years experience in the Alumni Office. She enjoys meeting students and scheduling their appointments, assisting with student programs and maintaining the office's library. Family, gardening, two dogs and a cat keep her busy away from work.

Gayle Boyer, Department Technician
Gayle joined the office in September 2011, and provides administrative support and technical coordination for the office and its recruiting programs. She earned a BA at Carleton College and an MA and PhD at Brown University. She has previously worked as a technical writer, copy editor, software trainer, and freelance web designer. Gayle lives in town with her partner Kirk Ormand, their two children, two cats, and about a bazillion balloon-belly mollies.

General Advising

Donna Russell, Assistant Director
Donna Russell joined the Office of Career Services in October 2010. She is responsible for career advising to students and recent alumni, managing internship programs and administering the On-Campus Recruiting Program. Prior to this position, Donna served as the Bonner Scholars Program Director in the Bonner Center for Service and Learning (Oberlin College) for six years. She received her M.A. in Higher Education and Student Affairs from The Ohio State University and B.A. in Black Studies from The College of Wooster (Ohio). A native New Yorker, she has lived in Ohio for over fifteen years. Donna, married to an Oberlinian, is the mother of two boys and attributes settling in Oberlin to the friendly and caring community.

Liz Lierman, Associate Director
Liz joined the Office of Career Services in December, 2008. She is responsible for providing career advising to students and alumni, managing the Oberlin Business Scholars program, and coordinating pre-law advising for Oberlin College. Prior to coming to Oberlin, Liz worked with career exploration and mentoring programs for undergraduate students at Case Western Reserve University. In addition, she spent seven years leading and managing programs for the outdoor education organization Outward Bound. Liz holds an M.S.S.A. in social work and an M.N.O. in nonprofit management from Case Western Reserve University, and a B.A. in Psychology from Williams College. In her free time, Liz tries to play outside as much as possible.

Richard T. Berman, Director
Richard comes to Oberlin from Carleton College, where he directed the career center since 2007. During his three-decade-long career, Richard has earned a reputation as a reform specialist in higher education career development and experiential learning. While at Carleton, he instituted several innovative programs that connect students with a network of alumni, parents, and friends who offer all manner of job-search related assistance.

Richard earned two undergraduate degrees and one advanced degree. He has consulted on career development with colleges and national professional associations, and he has led sessions during meetings and conferences of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the Association of Cooperative Educators, and the National Society for Experiential Education.

Fellowships Advising

Nick Petzak, Fellowships Advisor
Nick joined the Office of Career Services in July 2011. He is responsible for coordinating advising for nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships for Oberlin College. Prior to joining the office, Nick taught English and Rhetoric Composition for 14 years. He holds a B.A. in English from Willamette University, an M.A. in English from Arizona State University, and has completed course work for a Phd in English from Case Western Reserve University. Nick loves his job, but some days he would rather be fishing.

Conservatory Advising

Marci Alegant, (Interim) Assistant Director, Conservatory Career Services
Marci is the Executive Director of the Music in America program at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She took on the additional role of interim assistant director for conservatory career services in the fall of 2011, advising conservatory students on career opportunities after graduation. Marci began her career at the Oberlin Conservatory in 1999 as director of conservatory development. In 2001 she was appointed associate dean for student academic affairs at the conservatory, serving 10 years in that position before becoming the executive director of the Music in America program in 2011.

Marci holds a Master of Music in choral conducting from McGill University, a Master of Arts in music education from the Eastman School of Music, and a Bachelor of Science in music education and voice from Temple University in Philadelphia. Before coming to Oberlin, she was an active choral conductor, singer, and teacher at both the university and secondary school levels. She has continued her commitment to public school education here in Oberlin, serving as an elected member of the Oberlin city school board since 2004. Marci enjoys yoga, running, and biking, and has competed in an assortment of races, including half marathons. She is currently training for her first triathlon.

Health Careers Advising

Lynne Bianchi, Coordinator, Health Career Programs
Lynne Bianchi is the Chair of the Neuroscience Department and the Coordinator for Health Career Programs. She advises students of all majors interested in any of the health-related careers. Joining the Neuroscience Department at Oberlin College in 1998, Lynne's teaching areas include developmental neurobiology and introductory neuroscience, and her research focuses on the mechanisms that govern development of auditory neurons. Her training is in biomedical sciences and prior to coming to Oberlin she was a research scientist at a biotech company and a research professor at the Medical University of South Carolina. She originally came to Oberlin because she didn't want to teach gross anatomy to first year medical students. She is now happy to prepare Oberlin students to be taught such courses by others.

Carol Sedgwick, Health Careers Advising
Now semi-retired, Carol Sedgwick was Coordinator of Health Career and Fellowship Advising at Oberlin College since 2001. Prior to that she spent twenty years as head of voice department at the University of North Dakota, teaching studio voice, music history and voice pedagogy on the undergraduate and graduate level. Dr. Sedgwick holds a B.Mus. degree from Oberlin, and a M.Mus. and D.M.A. from the Eastman School of Music. When she is not advising students, Dr. Sedgwick teaches voice at the Oberlin Community Music School and is Director of Music at Lakewood United Methodist Church. For fun she enjoys fostering kittens and, when weather permits, kayaking with her husband, Steve.