Celebrating a pair of faculty couples this Valentine’s Day
Audra Burwell, Communications Assistant
February 7, 2024
Dr. Carol Fry Bohlin recalls reaching the front of the line at the 1990 American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference. It was finally her moment to catch professor and statistician Ed “E.T.” Tufte to sign her copy of his new book. To her delight, the opportunity arose to take a photo with the author! Seeking better light for the snapshot, they stepped outside, thwarting an attempt by another eager fan seeking an autograph– Carol’s future husband, Dr. Roy Bohlin!
The Bohlins officially met later that year (and the mystery of Roy’s rival that day eventually came to light) after attending an orientation for the new School of Education and Human Development faculty in the Education-Psychology (now Professional Human Services) building, where they both taught educational technology and mathematics education classes until the current Kremen School building was completed in 1994. They enjoyed serving in leadership roles for the San Joaquin Valley Mathematics Project and attending events together such as a presentation at the Saroyan Theatre by Carl Sagan. Their mutual love of all things STEM drew them closer and the couple married in 1992 with many faculty and students in attendance.
Dr. Roy Bohlin and Dr. Carol Fry Bohlin welcomed their son Christopher in 1995 and he became one of the first children in the Huggins Early Education Center. He would later attend University High School and Fresno State, majoring in computer engineering and mathematics, which makes the Bohlins a true Fresno State Bulldog family!
Dr. Swati and Dr. Rohit Mehta may have attended the same high school in India, yet it was not until their undergraduate college days at an engineering school that they finally crossed paths! The Mehtas married in 2012 and pursued doctoral degrees at Michigan State University in educational psychology and technology. With patience and perseverance, the pair found their careers leading them to Fresno State, and are now celebrating 18 years together and 11 years of marriage!
Dr. Rohit Mehta is an Assistant Professor of Secondary Curriculum with Instructional Technology in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and the Department of Educational Leadership. His research interests are the intersections of pedagogy, literacies, creativity, technology, and coloniality. As an educator, he wants to help teachers foster creativity through teaching and learning practices that are liberatory of multiple ways of being, knowing, and doing.
Dr. Swati Mehta is an Assistant Professor of Liberal Studies. She centers her work on building long-term research-practice partnerships with local schools and districts to engage P-8 teachers in conceptualizing and co-constructing community-engaged culturally sustaining computing practices in their classrooms. She draws from her work with Dr. Ron Eglash on creating a computing curriculum using the Culturally Situated Design Tools (CSDT) that allows teachers to understand how cultural practices intersect with math, science, and computing concepts.
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