Nov. 1, 2006
By Melissa Evans
Athens City Council member, Ohio University faculty member, researcher, volunteer and artist, Bojinka Bishop may easily be the busiest grandmother on campus.
"I like to stay active," says the councilwoman.
Bishop, D-2nd Ward, began her council term at the beginning of this year and is chair of the communications committee.
"I've always been interested in public issues and public service and public communication, but I frankly had never thought of running for office or being involved in politics," Bishop says. "Even though I had not pictured myself in elected office, it turned out to be a really good opportunity."
Bishop is particularly excited about council's adoption of her proposed program "Conversations with Council," which she says will increase informal and more productive communication between residents and council members. The program is based on Bishop's development and research on what she calls, "The 10 Principles of Authentic Communication."
On campus, Bishop is Sloan Professor of Public Relations, assistant professor of journalism and faculty adviser to public relations majors. She is also a faculty member of the Global Leadership Center -- formerly known as the Global Learning Community -- and conducts research with the Voinovich Center on public meetings.
Away from the world of education and politics, Bishop serves as a board member and volunteer mediator for the Athens Area Mediation Service, a position she has been in for more than 12 years.
In addition to teaching people how to train people to mediate problems and disputes, the center, "provides services so that people can solve conflicts with each other in a more peaceful way than going to court," she says.
In her spare time, Bishop likes to spend time with her six grandchildren, which include a set of twins and a set of triplets, play tennis and make art. Her art interests include silversmithing, making "found art," which involves welding pieces of scrap metal together, and making decorative "paste" paper at Paper Circle in Nelsonville.
Melissa Evans is a student writer with University Communications and Marketing.
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