Dr. Nana Ama Kwarteng Baryeh ’12 to serve as commencement speaker

MANSFIELD, Pa. – Dr. Nana Ama Kwarteng Baryeh ’12 will serve as commencement speaker for Mansfield University’s in-person ceremonies on Saturday, May 15 at Karl Van Norman Field. 

Dr. Baryeh earned a bachelor of science from Mansfield in nutrition and dietetics with a minor in marketing in 2012.  

“Mansfield University for me was a place where I had a sense of belonging and room to learn about myself and what role I want to play in society,” said Dr. Baryeh. “I am honored for the opportunity to share my experience and hopefully inspire this class to continue to greatness.” 

After Mansfield, Baryeh went on to receive a master’s in human nutrition from Texas State University and a Ph.D. in public health education from the University of Toledo. She also holds an associate’s degree from Harrisburg Area Community College and a certificate in disaster medical education from Toledo. 

Baryeh has spent her professional career addressing public health issues and currently serves as a Public Health Epidemiologist for U.S. COVID-19 response with Resolve to Save Lives in Franklin County, Ohio. Her work is focused on effective control of COVID in Franklin County with an emphasis on vulnerable communities disproportionally affected by the virus. 

Her previous experience includes health disparities research, health metrics development, advocacy, and program implementation. Baryeh led teams to address inequities in maternal health, mental health, healthcare access/utilization, diet quality, and food insecurity. Her dissertation work focused on developing a social determinant of health (SDOH) metric to predict health outcomes. 

Baryeh serves as a reviewer for the Health Promotion Practice journal and the Translational Behavioral Medicine journal. She has taught undergraduate courses in global health, chronic disease epidemiology, and nutritional science. She is a member of the Society for Public Health Education Research Committee and the American Public Health Association Nutrition Program Planning Committee. 

Mansfield’s commencement ceremonies will be divided into two celebrations to accommodate limitations on the number of graduates and guests in attendance, per compliance with CDC and Pennsylvania Department of Health guidelines. The ceremonies are scheduled for 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Each graduate is allowed four guests.  

Eligible graduates from Fall 20’ and Spring and Summer ‘21 can register for commencement through my.mansfield.edu. The deadline is Friday, April 30.

A live stream of the ceremonies will be available at mansfield.edu. Following commencement, the recording of each ceremony will be available on the Mansfield University YouTube channel.

More information on commencement is available at mansfield.edu/commencement.