Dean's Office and Administration
Dean Charles H. Rose, III
Charles H. Rose III, dean of the Pettit College of Law, previously served as professor of law and director of the Center for Excellence in Advocacy at Stetson University’s College of Law in Gulfport, Fla. Prior to joining the Stetson faculty in 2005, Rose spent 20 years on active duty in the Army. He served as a linguist, intelligence officer and judge advocate. His primary scholarly interest focuses on advocacy persuasion techniques, and he teaches and researches in the areas of advocacy, criminal procedure, military law, evidence and professional ethics. Rose earned his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University at South Bend and his JD from Notre Dame Law School. He also earned an LLM from the Judge Advocate General’s School, United States Army.Pettit College of Law Administration
ONU Law is guided by seasoned staff members who are focused on student success. From admissions to career development, academic support to our library, ONU Law staff members are here to guide you every step of the journey.
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Brenda Burgy serves as our Director of Law Communications. After obtaining her bachelor’s degree in journalism, cum laude, from Ohio University, Brenda was a television anchor, producer, and reporter for Your Hometown Stations in Lima, Ohio. She then served as the Public Relations and Marketing Director for Mercy Health – St. Rita’s Medical Center, the largest employer in the region. Most recently, Brenda owned her own Public Relations and Marketing Consulting agency serving clients throughout northwest and west central Ohio. She has served on numerous boards and is committed to serving the communities where she lives and works. While in television, Brenda frequently covered news worthy events at ONU and now enjoys sharing the success stories of our students and alumni.
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Jean-Marie Kamatali teaches in the areas of human rights, immigration law, transitional justice and law reform. He is former dean of the law school at the University of Rwanda. He also participated in the legal and institutional rebuilding and reform of post-genocide Rwanda. He has taught at the University of Notre Dame Law School, Kent State University, and Indiana University Indianapolis and South Bend. He has also taught at the University of Leuven in Belgium. He is a regular consultant for the U.S. Government and the United Nations. His media appearance and op-ed contributions include NPR, Voice of America, Democracy Now, C-Span and New York Times.
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Melissa Kidder graduated from Ohio Northern University in 2005 with a BFA and degrees in musical theatre and criminal justice. Rather than going into theatre, she decided to go to law school and graduated from the Pettit College of Law in 2008. She began her career as a staff attorney at the Ohio 3rd District Court of Appeals and then came to ONU as assistant director of academic support. Having an opportunity to practice law, she went to work for Eastman & Smith Ltd. as an associate attorney in the estate planning section. She was thrilled to return to ONU as director of legal research and writing, and now serves as the director of legal clinics and externships and assistant professor of law.
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Lauren A. Newell joined the ONU Law faculty in 2012. Prior to joining the faculty, she practiced corporate law with Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP in New York City. Newell teaches and writes in the areas of business and securities law, dispute resolution, and marijuana law. She is qualified as a nonpublic arbitrator of securities industry disputes through the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Newell received her B.A., summa cum laude, from Georgetown University and her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School.
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Liannie Parahoo joined the Ohio Northern University Legal Clinic in December 2017. Prior to ONU, she practiced at a small firm in Barbourville, Ky., in various areas including state and federal criminal defense, personal injury, bankruptcy, appellate work and social security disability. She was an active member of the Criminal Justice Act panel representing indigent defendants at the federal level. She previously taught as an adjunct professor at Union College (Ky.) and Southeast Community College. Parahoo received her JD, with honors, from Roger Williams School of Law and her BS, magna cum laude, from Union College (Ky.).
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Holly Sunafrank is the Director of Law Admissions, where she specializes in enrollment management, financial aid, university knowledge, and data analytics. Holly came to Ohio Northern University in 2013 as an B.A. undergraduate student on the pre-law track with a focus in Criminal Justice, and Psychology. After graduation she worked for Allen & Baughman Law Firm in Zanesville, OH.
In January of 2019, Holly returned to her roots, and came back to Ohio Northern University to begin working in the Financial Aid Office and in May of 2020, Holly earned her M.S.HE., Summa Cum Laude, from Purdue University.
Holly's love and passion for Ohio Northern bleeds through, as she works with her ONU Law Admissions team members, actively recruiting, and retaining law students for the college.
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Jane Ward joined the College of Law in 2015 and has been employed at ONU since 2007. Previously, she worked at Wright State University and University of Memphis. She earned an MA in journalism from the University of Memphis and a BA in communications from the University of Memphis.
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Jennifer Gregg joined ONU Law in 2021 and serves as the Assistant Director of the Academic Success program. Professor Gregg graduated from Miami University with a double major in Public Relations and Journalism. She then worked as a legal secretary at a medium sized law firm in Cleveland, OH. After two years, Professor Gregg left the law firm to attend law school at Michigan State University; graduating magna cum laude in 2007. After passing the Virginia Bar Exam, she began her career as a lawyer at a small law firm in Alexandria, VA. From there, she worked at George Mason University School of Law as the Judicial Education Coordinator at the Law & Economic Center, then as Senior Associate at Keithley Law, and as an Associate at Malinowski Hubbard, PLLC.
Dean's Office Staff
Tasha Miller (t-miller.19@onu.edu), Executive Administrative Assistant
to the Dean
Amber Schumacher (a-schumacher@onu.edu), Senior Administrative Assistant