For Greene County News
DAYTON – Three retired Sinclair Community College faculty members were honored as Professor Emeritus, one of them was local resident, Sally Struthers, of Beavercreek on Sept. 17. In 1984, the Sinclair Board of Trustees approved the awarding of Emeritus status to retired Sinclair faculty members who, through years of distinguished service to the college, were deemed outstanding and were nominated and selected by their faculty colleagues for this honor.
Dr. Sally A. Struthers, a Wright State University graduate, joined the Art Department as full-time faculty member in 1991. To make art history more relevant, Sally took students on field trips, whether it was a walking tour of downtown Dayton to discover different architectural styles, a trip to the Dayton Art Institute, or on two occasions, field trips to New York City. For many students this was their first visit to an art museum. Inspired by Sally’s teaching, several of her students have become art historians themselves.
Sally chaired the Art Department from 1996-2001. During those years the Art Department grew in size and reputation. Sally led the writing of the self-study for accreditation by the National Association of School of Art and Design (NASAD). Sinclair earned the accreditation in 2002 with the distinction of being the first community college in Ohio to do so, and only the 5th in the United States. Sally served as Sinclair’s Institutional representative to NASAD from 2002-2013, was nominated to NASAD’s Ethics Committee, and served as an accreditation visitor.
While Chair, Sally secured an Ohio Humanities Council Grant to bring a major art exhibit, Judy Chicago and Jerry Woodman’s “Holocaust Project,” to Sinclair. Additionally, she secured a Sinclair Foundation Grant to fund the “Gallery of Innovators” Skywalk art project, and served as its project manager. Sally also worked to secure over $100,000 in scholarship money for Art students.
She was one of the first faculty members at Sinclair to pilot “TV Sinclair” and was a pioneer in the creation of and teaching of online classes, and created and taught a hybrid Art Appreciation course in the PACE program. An innovative teacher, Sally was part of a team that won an Academic Challenge Grant in 1994 to study with the Humanities Institute in Greece, and a Learning Challenge Grant in 1996 to create the first interactive web course at Sinclair “The Business of Art.” In 2011, Sally was part of the team that was honored with the Innovation of the Year Award for developing the Adjunct Faculty Certification Course. Over the years, Sally also was honored with Dayton’s “Up and Comers” Award, the NISOD and SOCHE awards for teaching excellence, the Wright State University College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Alumni Award and the WSU Distinguished Honors Alumni Award.
As a service to the community, Sally served as a member of boards of trustees of the Dayton Art Institute, Culture Works, Town and County Fine Art Gallery, and the University of Dayton College of Education and Allied Professions. She was one of 32 Dayton area leaders selected to be a “Community Catalyst.” She also served on the Ponitz High School advisory committee, and on advisory committees at Wright State University including those for the College of Liberal Arts Dean, the Honors program and the University Galleries. Additionally, Sally guest curated the Dayton Art Institute’s “The Roman World: Religions and Everyday Life,” a major exhibition that drew 26,100 people.
During her last two years at Sinclair, Struthers served as Interim Chair of Academic Foundations. Since retiring from Sinclair in 2013, Struthers has been teaching part-time at both Sinclair Community College and Wright State University, develops web-delivery courses, serves on the board of trustees of Culture Works, and served for a time as Interim Chair of Aviation Technologies at Sinclair.