Welcome to the Dean's Office at Ohio State Mansfield.
Dean's Office
Jason Opal, Dean and Director
Jason Opal is the Dean and Director of The Ohio State University at Mansfield. A graduate of Cornell and Brandeis, he is an historian of early America and of infectious diseases who has taught at Colby College in Maine and at McGill University in Canada, where he served as Chair of the Department of History and Classical Studies, a University Harassment Assessor and Provost’s Mentor, and as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies. He is the author/editor of three books and over a dozen articles on the early United States and of more than sixty editorials on subjects ranging from constitutional law to measles. Jason is passionate about improving and updating higher education and loves both the energy and the peace of The Ohio State University at Mansfield. In addition to his academic and administrative work, he likes running, hiking, fishing, and spending time with his wife and two children.
Amy Brunell, Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs
Amy Brunell serves as Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs and Professor of Psychology (PhD, University of Georgia), where she supports faculty success, professional development, and academic leadership initiatives. With a strong commitment to fostering excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service, she works collaboratively with faculty and university leaders to advance institutional goals and create a supportive academic environment. A social psychologist by training, her research focuses on narcissism and its role in social relationships, leadership, decision-making, and ethical behavior. In addition to her work published in academic journals, Dr. Brunell has published Understanding and Coping in Social Relationships with Narcissists and co-edited the Handbook of Trait Narcissism. She is a Fellow of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, and the Midwestern Psychological Association. She has received awards for teaching, research, and service, including the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching and the Susan M. Hartmann Mentoring and Leadership Award.
Cynthia Callahan, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs
Cynthia Callahan is the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and an Associate Professor English (PhD, University of Delaware). As Associate Dean, she oversees the academic schedule and curriculum on the Mansfield campus, including First-Year Experience, General Education, existing majors, and new majors and curricular initiatives. She also manages the staffing of courses and the hiring of associated faculty. As a scholar of American literature, she focuses on fictional adoptive families in literature and the role of kinship in articulating racial and national identities. Dr. Callahan’s research has been featured in a book, Kin of Another Kind: Transracial Adoption in American Literature (Michigan UP, 2011), and in articles published in MELUS, Modern Fiction Studies, Twentieth Century Literature, and Adoption & Culture. She is a recipient of the Mansfield campus Excellence in Teaching and Faculty Service Awards. She can be reached at callahan.138@osu.edu or at 419-755-4242.
Shelly Frank, Executive Assistant to the Dean and Director
As Executive Assistant to the Dean and Director at The Ohio State University at Mansfield, Shelly directly supports the daily operation of this campus in all areas managed by the dean. This includes all departments and services that assist students, faculty, staff, our Mansfield Board, all Ohio State University offices, our alumni, our co-located campus, and the communities we serve locally and throughout northeast Ohio. Her previous experiences in banking and law have been valuable in this position. She also supervises our faculty services office staff.
Tina Lillo, Senior Registration and Records Specialist
Tina Lillo has been serving The Ohio State University Mansfield campus since 2014. As a Senior Registration and Records Specialist, she provides administrative support to the Associate Deans and serves as the campus scheduler.
In this role, Tina works closely with the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs to develop and maintain the academic schedule of classes. She also coordinates final exam schedules, oversees the scheduling of classrooms and meeting spaces, and disseminates event setup requests across campus.
Tina is especially proud to be the mom of an Ohio State Mansfield alumna. Outside of work, she and her husband enjoy sharing their home with their toy poodle, Lt. Amy.
Andrew Mueller, Assistant Dean of Academic Success
Andrew Mueller is the Assistant Dean of Academic Success at The Ohio State University at Mansfield. Andrew was born and raised right here in Mansfield, and stepped onto this campus over 20 years ago as he began his academic journey. He graduated with his bachelor’s and master’s degree in Education, both while attending the Mansfield campus. Andrew worked as a student tutor in the Conard Learning Center for 5 years, which then led to him taking on the role of Math Lab Coordinator for 3 years, and then Director of the Conard Learning Center and Math Lecturer for 14 years. In 2019, Andrew was awarded with the Mansfield Campus Outstanding Staff Award and in 2020 he received the University Distinguished Staff Award. When not at work, Andrew enjoys traveling, being outdoors, skiing, and spending time with his wife and three children.
Cindy Wood, Director of Development and Community Relations
Cindy Wood is the Director of Community Relations and Development at Ohio State Mansfield, overseeing Mansfield’s advancement strategies with focus on increasing resources to address the campus’s programming and capital priorities. Cindy works at a high collaborative level with the community as the campus seeks to grow and expand stakeholder and community partner engagement. She brings 25 years of diverse experience in non-profit management, workforce development, and in the private sector. All of her work experiences had recurring themes of program innovation, community partnerships, and organizational change management.
Prior to moving to Mansfield in 2016, she served as the CEO of the Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center of Lima/Allen County, a performing arts and convention center. Part of her tenure included successfully lobbying for state legislation (HB 483) enabling Allen County Commissioners to increase lodging tax for operations and capital needs of the VMCC.
She is a graduate of The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business and Bowling Green State University. Her professional background includes workforce development partnerships with JFS/Allen County, as corporate training coordinator with a local two-year college onsite at Ford Lima Engine Plant, and as Regional Director with the local Girl Scout Council through its merger process. She served with the US Army Reserve from 1988 to 1996, serving with the 346th Psychological Operations Company in Columbus, Ohio as Psychological Operations Sergeant and Interrogation Sergeant.