Otterbein University has announced the honored speakers for the commencement ceremonies on May 4, 2025.

Addressing the Class of 2025 at the 10:30 a.m. ceremony will be Dr. Stephen Markovich, M.D., president and CEO of OhioHealth. In addition to his role as a healthcare executive, he is a physician and retired military leader.

At the 3 p.m. ceremony, Otterbein alumna Dr. Nita L. Seibel ’75, M.D., a board-certified pediatric hematologist-oncologist, will address the Class of 2025. Seibel is an attending physician, Cancer and Blood Disorders, Children’s National Hospital, Washington, D.C.; clinical professor of pediatrics, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences; and head of Pediatric Solid Tumor Therapeutics, Clinical Investigations Branch, Cancer Therapy and Evaluation Program, National Cancer Institute.

Dr. Stephen Markovich 
President and CEO of OhioHealth

Markovich is an accomplished healthcare executive, physician, and military leader. Prior to his current role as president and CEO of OhioHealth, Markovich practiced family and emergency medicine, was a leader in OhioHealth’s graduate medical education program, and served as president of OhioHealth Riverside Hospital, the largest hospital in OhioHealth’s system. He has held a variety of administrative roles, most recently serving as OhioHealth’s executive vice president with responsibility for acute care operations across the system.

In addition to his career in medicine, Markovich has a laudable military career. Retiring as a major general from the US Air Force after 38 years of service, he most recently served as the commander of the Ohio Air National Guard. Markovich qualified as a command pilot logging more than 2,000 pilot hours in the F-16C, A-7D, Mig-29, T-38, and T-37. He completed three overseas combat deployments to the Middle East as both a pilot and a physician, and he led the development of the nation’s first national guard chemical and biological response task force in support of medical disasters for Ohio.

Markovich is also a teacher, author, and national speaker. He currently serves on the boards of The Columbus Partnership, Columbus Downtown Development Commission, National Veteran’s Memorial Museum, Central Ohio Hospital Council, Ohio Hospital Association, The Healthcare Institute, and American Hospital Association Innovation and Strategy Committee. He serves as chair of the Columbus Symphony Board of Trustees and is recognized as one of Columbus’ most influential leaders by Columbus Business First.

Markovich earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Michigan, master’s degree in business administration from Wright State University, and doctorate of medicine degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

OhioHealth is central Ohio’s largest health system with 19 hospitals and more than 400 ambulatory sites. Based in Columbus, OhioHealth and its 35,000 associates, physicians, and volunteers have repeatedly been recognized as one of the top five large health systems in America by Truven Health Analytics and is continually recognized by Fortune as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For.”

Dr. Nita L. Seibel ’75 
Board-Certified Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist

Seibel is an alumna of Otterbein University and a board-certified pediatric hematologist-oncologist. She is an attending physician in the Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. and Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She is currently the head of the Pediatric Solid Tumor Therapeutics in the Clinical Investigations Branch of the Cancer Therapy and Evaluation Program in the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis of the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

In addition to her role in the development of the extramural Pediatric Solid Tumor Therapeutics Program and the Children’s Oncology Group, she is the NCI chair for the NCI-Children’s Oncology Group Pediatric MATCH study which is the study of precision medicine determining treatment for children and adolescents with relapsed/progressive solid tumors.

She is also the co-chair of the NCI Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Working Group; scientific liaison for the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study and NCI Pediatric Central Institutional Review Board; member of the implementation team and co-chair for the Pediatric Immunotherapy Discovery and Development Network, which was a part of the Cancer Moonshot; member of the implementation team for Pediatric Immunotherapy Network; member of the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative Leadership Team; and longstanding member of the Editorial Board for the NCI Physician Data Query Pediatric Board.

Seibel received the inaugural Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Coalition Award in 2023 for pioneering innovation in areas related to Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology. She received the Otterbein Special Achievement Award in 2017. Seibel has published more than 140 articles and presented at numerous conferences both nationally and internationally.

Seibel graduated from Otterbein University, received her medical degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health, and completed her residency in pediatrics at The Ohio State University/Nationwide Children’s Hospital and her fellowship in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at the Pediatric Oncology Branch of the NCI at the National Institutes of Health.