Melanie Sabelhaus, Lynn Harter to address students
Apr 5, 2010
From staff reports

Ohio University alumna Melanie R. Sabelhaus and Communication Studies professor Lynn M. Harter will serve as this year's undergraduate and graduate commencement speakers, respectively.

Sabelhaus, former deputy administrator of the U. S. Department of Small Business Administration, will serve as Ohio University’s 2010 undergraduate commencement speaker for both ceremonies on June 12. For the past two years, a senior student committee appointed by the Vice President for Student Affairs has recommended the undergraduate commencement speaker to the president.

Prior to her president-appointed position with the SBA, Sabelhaus worked in the private sector. She founded and served as CEO of Exclusive Interim Properties from 1986 to 1997 before the company merged with four other companies to form Bridgestreet Accommodations. She held a variety of management positions for 15 years at IBM prior to starting EIP.

Sabelhaus earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Ohio University in 1970.

Harter will serve as the 2010 graduate commencement speaker on June 11. She automatically received the graduate commencement speaker's role when she was given the Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award for the 2009-2010 school year by Graduate Student Senate.

Harter, the Steven and Barbara Schoonover Professor of Health Communication in the School of Communication Studies, has taught at OHIO since 2002 and serves as a senior editor of Health Communication. Her research areas include pediatric cancer care, disability-related concerns, the organizing of health care resources for underserved populations, poverty and homelessness.

For more information about 2010 Commencement, click here.