Alumni Profiles: Vivian von Gruenigen, '91 and Dominic J. Bagnoli, '90

Vivian von Gruenigen, '91 M.D. Boonshoft School of Medicine

Vivian von Gruenigen received her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1991 from Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine. She completed her residency at Summa Akron City Hospital, followed by a fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX. Vivian holds a Bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University. She currently serves as system medical director, women’s health services, Summa Health System and chair of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Summa Akron City and St. Thomas Hospitals. Vivian is a recognized expert in gynecologic oncology. She was director of robotic surgery at University Hospital’s Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, and associate professor, department of reproductive biology at the Case School of Medicine. Vivian has been named one of the “Best Doctors in America” by the Consumer’s Research Council of America, as well as one of “America’s Top Oncologists” by Cleveland Magazine. She also was named honorary chair of Athena International Leadership. Vivian is the author of more than 100 journal articles and abstracts and is an editorial board member at Gynecologic Oncology.She is a board examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and is preparing the 2012 written board examination in gynecologic oncology. Vivian also is the principal investigator for two active NCI-funded Gynecologic Oncology Group clinical trials. Her research has been funded by the government, Lance Armstrong Foundation, the American Cancer Society, and the Summa Foundation. Vivian is an active member of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists and teaches at Case Western Reserve University and Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine.

Both Vivian and her husband are supporters of the medical school. They recently established an endowed scholarship to support medical students. They have two children, Dominic and Elise.


Dominic J. Bagnoli, '90 M.D. 

Dominic J. Bagnoli, Jr. received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1990 from Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency at Akron General Medical Center. Dominic holds a Bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University. He serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Emergency Medicine Physicians in Canton, Ohio. Dominic is a Board Certified Diplomat of the American Board of Emergency Medicine, a Fellow in the American College of Emergency Physicians, and a Fellow in the American Academy of Emergency Medicine. His success as an entrepreneur and business visionary has been recognized through his receipt of numerous industry awards such as the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and recognition by Harvard Business Club of Northwest Ohio for outstanding entrepreneurship. In addition, Dominic has led EMP Holdings to ranking in the Weatherhead 100 Fastest Growing Companies and being honored as the Best Employer in Ohio, and as Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work in Healthcare in the US for the last four years.


patterson photoDan Patterson
B.F.A. in Art, ’76

Dan Patterson with his first camera—a Kodak Brownie Starflex—a gift from his parents when he was 10.

September 12, 1996, was a birthday Dan Patterson will never forget. The renowned aviation photographer was on the coast of Kent, near the famous White Cliffs of Dover, for the annual commemoration of the Battle of Britain.

Through his aviation connections, Patterson had arranged to take air-to-air photographs of a British Spitfire flying over the English Channel. The historic fighter plane was key to winning the Battle of Britain.

As Patterson and his pilot flew over the Battle of Britain memorial, they could hear the engines of a Spitfire and a German Messerschmitt 109—two of the airplanes that fought in the pivotal World War II battle.  

“We’re flying parallel to the coast and these apparitions appear. Here, on either side of this kid from Ohio, on the day they celebrate the Battle of Britain, are a Spitfire and a Messerschmitt,” Patterson recalled.

After all these years, he still looks back in amazement on that September day. “If there is a seminal moment in what I’ve done—I dream about that still,” said Patterson.

One of the hundreds of photographs Patterson shot that day graces the cover of his book 50 Aircraft That Changed the World—one of over 30 books Patterson has published on the history of aviation.

He produced his first book in the late 1980s on the B-17 Flying Fortress. “I got tired of looking at aviation books that were all the same. Airplanes, blue sky, no people, no details,” Patterson recalled.

He chose to focus on the people inside the planes, telling their personal stories through his photographs. The innovative approach has given Patterson the opportunity to meet the icons of aviation, from the last living pilot of World War I to Neil Armstrong.

For many of his books, Patterson utilized the resources of the Wright State University Archives and its world-renowned Wright Brothers Collection.

“This archive is world class,” said Patterson. “This place is phenomenally important for people doing aviation research. I’ve brought colleagues here from Canada, from England.”

Along with owning a successful photography studio, Patterson is currently at work on a book about the P-51 Mustang.

“I would be the first to admit dreams come true,” said Patterson.


Chauncey Jenkinsjenkins photo
B.F.A. in Theatre, ’06

Chauncey Jenkins first heard of Wright State University when he was a student at Pebblebrook High School in Mableton, Georgia, a Cobb County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts.

“It’s a pretty well known school,” said Jenkins. “All of the universities—Wright State, CCM, Carnegie Mellon, Juilliard—came into our school to hold auditions and work with some of the students.”

At Pebblebrook, Jenkins met Joe Deer, Wright State’s head of musical theatre, and former faculty member Joey Bates.

“I built a relationship with those guys while I was in high school,” Jenkins recalled. “When it came time to go to college, Wright State was the first school I auditioned for, and the school I ended up accepting over the other schools.”

Jenkins was confident in his choice of schools as well as his career path.

“No one gets to do what we do. That in itself is pretty spectacular,” he said. “Every day I can be someone new and have a new adventure.”

Adventures have been plentiful for the former musical theatre major. During spring quarter of his senior year at Wright State, Jenkins was offered the role of Eddie in the North American tour of Mamma Mia.

“We were playing Mexico City when my class was graduating,” he recalled. “Everybody had me on their cell phones so when they walked, I could walk with them.”

Mamma Mia was followed by Jenkins’s Broadway debut in The Color Purple—a job he landed just two weeks after moving to New York City.

Former professor Joey Bates and former classmate Bethany Blake were in the audience on opening night.

“That is a blessing to have people like that who genuinely care about their students even when they’re gone,” said Jenkins.

Jenkins would go on to perform in national tours of The Color Purple and Dreamgirls. One of his most memorable moments was being in Dreamgirls at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. It was the first time a Broadway show was performed at the historic theatre.

Today, Jenkins is living is Los Angeles, where he is finding steady work in film, television, and commercials. He has appeared in the independent film The Scam, along with America’s Most Wanted on FOX and The Newsroom, a new Aaron Sorkin series for HBO.

Jenkins has also shot national commercials for Sobe Life Water, Amica Insurance, and McDonald’s. Anyone in London for the 2012 Olympics will see him on a Samsung billboard with David Beckham.

“I’ve been extremely blessed,” said Jenkins. “One of the things my professors at Wright State had me do was set goals. It prepared me for what I was going to face and being disciplined to stay the course.”