OHIO faculty named as Emerging Presidential Research Scholars

Ohio University has named two faculty members as winners of the Emerging Presidential Research Scholar Award. This year's winners are Assistant Professor of Psychology Jean Forney and Associate Professor of English Edmond Chang. 

The Emerging Presidential Research Scholar Award recognizes outstanding, emerging tenure-track faculty who have demonstrated excellence in research, scholarship and creative activity.

Applications are submitted by the college of each nominee and reviewed by the Council for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity and previous Presidential Research Schools.

Each Emerging Presidential Research Scholar receives an award of $6,000 to recognize their excellence in research, scholarship, and creative activity.

The 2025-26 Emerging Presidential Research Scholars

Jean Forney, Ph.D.

Forney is an assistant professor of psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences.

“Dr. Forney has published 23 peer-reviewed articles (38 total), mostly focused on eating disorders as well as two book chapters. Her research includes identifying risk factors related to developing as well as maintaining eating disorders, how to classify them, and how to understand them,” said Psychology Chair Dr. Jeffrey Vancouver. She “has been very successful with regards to external funding… and has already been the principal investigator on a $450,656 three-year grant from National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).”

As per an external reviewer for Forney’s promotion process, “It is clear she has made exceptional contributions to the eating disorders field. She has become a well-known name within the field for her expertise in her given areas of research and is highly regarded by peers for her high-quality scholarship.”

Edmond Chang, Ph.D. 

Chang is an associate professor in the English in the College of Arts and Sciences. His areas of research include technoculture; race, gender, and sexuality; video games, analog games, live action role playing, queer game studies; feminist media studies; cultural studies; popular culture; and 20/21Century American literature.

“His contributions to the university and profession in that relatively short time have been exceptional. His research is a standout component of this overall excellence, helping to establish new subfields of study while expanding our recognition of how video games and speculative fiction recognize and obscure the identities of readers and players,” English Department Chair Dr. Beth Quitslund said.

External reviewers for Dr. Chang’s promotion have said that Chang “is a thought leader in the areas of contemporary game studies and digital humanities” and “a leading light at the intersection of many fields, particularly the digital creative arts. “His work “address[es] one of the most pressing problems of our current moment: the intersection between gaming as digital entertainment and narrative and its possibilities for both racial and gendered oppression and liberation.”