Oberlin College & Conservatory

Career Services Staff

 

Peer Career Advisors

The 2012-2013 PCA Team (from left to right): Robert Palacios '14, Daniella Mostow '15, Willow Thompson '13, Brittany Craig '13, Emiliano Flowerman '13

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, Operations Manager
Gayle joined the office as the departmental technician in September 2011, and moved into the role of operations manager in January 2013. Gayle leads the center's technology initiatives, manages on- and off-campus recruiting programs, and helps coordinate the center's volunteer and mentoring programs.

Gayle 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. She lives in town with her partner Kirk Ormand, their two children, two cats, and about a bazillion balloon-belly mollies.

General Advising

Jackie Mostow, Career Advisor
Jackie Mostow joined the Office of Career Services in February 2013 and is working on a temporary basis before spending the summer in Oaxaca, Mexico.  She will be offering general career guidance, resume and cover letter review, and creative brainstorming about how students can mesh their interests and skills to have meaningful experiences within and outside Oberlin.

Jackie graduated from Oberlin in May 2012 with a double-major in Environmental Studies and Biology.  While a student, she served as Senior Class President, Co-Coordinator of the HIV Peer Testing Program, a Peer Health Advocate, and an Academic Ambassador.  She is thrilled to take on a new role in the Oberlin College community.

Hilary Sparks-Roberts, Career Advisor
Hilary joined the office as a Career Advisor in February 2013, capitalizing on her experience in state government, law, education, and nonprofits.

Hilary earned her B.A. in English at Kenyon College, and later received her J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. After a stint as a judicial law clerk in Juvenile Court, she left the law to pursue her love of English and spent ten blissful years teaching Honors and AP English at Lake Ridge Academy, a local prep school. She currently serves as Director of Partner Engagement for Social Venture Partners, a philanthropic nonprofit in Cleveland. A native Ohioan and mother of two, Hilary lives in Olmsted Falls with her husband, two dogs, eight chickens, and a demanding 150-year-old house.

Donna Russell, Assistant Director
Donna Russell joined the Office of Career Services in October 2010. She advises students and recent alumni, leads workshops on career development and manages the internship programs. 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 twenty years. Donna, married to an Oberlinian, is the mother of two boys and attributes settling in Oberlin to the caring community.

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

MaryClare Brzytwa, Conservatory Professional Development
MaryClare Brzytwa is a composer/performer originally from Cleveland by way of Los Angles, San Francisco, and Berlin. She joined the Office of Career Services in 2012 as assistant director/director of conservatory professional development, and advises conservatory students on career options after graduation. Specializing in flute, but also performing with piano, voice, and laptop, she makes improvised and composed music primarily employing Max/MSP. She has toured extensively in theaters and clubs throughout the US, Europe and Japan as both side-woman and soloist, performing at venues such as Festival des Musiques Innovatrices, Gilles Peterson’s World Wide Festival, La Siestes Electroniques Festival, Unlimited 21 Festival, the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival, and STEIM.

In 2008 MaryClare moved to Switzerland to collaborate with filmmaker Werner Penzel (Step Across the Border), curating his experimental music project Radio Village Nomade. In addition to her own solo recordings, she has also appeared on albums by and collaborated with people such as Lindstrøm, the Boredoms, Fred Frith, Vinny Golia, Kevin Blechdom, and Wobbly.

MaryClare studied flute and composition with Fred Frith at Mills College, where she received her BA in 2006. In 2012, she completed her Master’s Degree in Composition and Performance at California Institute of the Arts.

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.