Tarin Mink '02 B.A. College of Liberal Arts
Tarin Mink graduated from Wright State University in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from the College of Liberal Arts. She is also a 2009 graduate of the Wright State/Ohio State joint master’s in social work program. During her master’s program, Mink completed a thesis entitled Using Service Learning to Teach Social Welfare Policy (2009) and was the only WSU-OSU student in the program to complete a thesis. She recently co-authored an article with Sarah Twill, associate professor of social work, entitled "Using service-learning to teach a social work policy course," in the Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship(2012), which is based on her thesis.
Mink is an early childhood mental health therapist at Samaritan Behavioral Health, Inc., specializing in working with children under the age of 6 with severe emotional disturbances and developmental delays. For the past three years, Mink has been the co-chair of the Social Work Alumni Society fundraising committee. As part of those duties, she helped host successful wine tasting events that have raised nearly $5,000 in student scholarships. She has a demanding job in the field of social work and yet she is always willing to pitch in and help with alumni.
In her profession, Mink is always going beyond what is expected, willing to help out co-workers, willing to train new staff or students, and is very compassionate, empathetic and non-judgmental to her clients and their families. Those who come in contact with her in any facet of her life (professional or personal) note that she is always willing to listen, give a hug, offer help, and give 110 percent.
Thais C. Reiff '81 M.B.A. Raj Soin College of Business
Thais C. Reiff is a 1981 graduate of Wright State’s M.B.A. program. Upon retirement from Ameritech as a senior sales executive, she joined The Ohio State University Extension’s master gardeners program. In 2004, Reiff was certified as a tree, insect, and emerald ash borer (EAB) specialist and has continued as a volunteer ever since.
In additional to teaching, she works with homeowners, municipalities, regional, and state organizations to provide information on the EAB. Reiff also manages an EAB hotline, inventories, and develops EAB programs.
Reiff’s initiatives and awards include:
- Identified the first known EAB infestation in Greene County.
- Arranged for Xenia to serve as OSU’s first test community to assess the economic and environmental value of trees.
- Met with and continues to keep local governments informed on EAB relevant issues.
- Sought by local media (print, television, and cable) for EAB information.
- Organized seminars and over 40 group meetings for government leaders, green industry professionals, and others.
- Wrote numerous EAB articles and distributed informational displays throughout Greene County.
- Planned and implemented nine state-wide training programs using web technology, which served as a model for EAB University Webinar, a joint venture of Michigan State University, OSU, and Purdue University.
- Received the Master Gardener Volunteer Project of the Year award for raising the level of EAB awareness.
- Received third place recognition in Innovation at the International Master Gardeners Conference in 2011.