In Practice Editorial Panel

 Dawn Osborne-Adams | Howard Gadlin | Martha Patrick

Mary Rowe | Thomas P. Zgambo

Dawn Osborne-Adams

Dawn Osborne-Adams is the University Ombuds and Director of the Ombuds Office for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has worked in the ombuds field since 2010, having also served as a consulting ombuds with Shell Oil Company’s Office of Ombuds Services and as university ombudsman at Binghamton University (SUNY.)

Dawn’s professional experience has focused almost exclusively on helping people construct pathways to address life’s challenges, whether as an ombuds, a mediator, a law clerk and program administrator in the Federal Judiciary, or a practicing lawyer. Dawn’s service to IOA includes training the ombuds field’s newest practitioners through team teaching IOA’s Foundations course. She is passionate about both teaching and continuous learning and has served as adjunct faculty for Binghamton University and UNC School of Law.

Dawn holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Georgetown University, a juris doctor from New York University School of Law and a certificate in Dispute Resolution from the Straus Institute at Pepperdine University School of Law.

Howard Gadlin

Howard Gadlin retired after serving as Ombudsman and Director of the Center for Cooperative Resolution, at the National Institutes of Health since the beginning of 1999. Before that, from 1992 through 1998, he was University Ombudsperson and Adjunct Professor of Education at UCLA. He was also director of the UCLA Conflict Mediation Program and co-director of the Center for the Study and Resolution of Interethnic/Interracial Conflict. While in Los Angeles, he served as Consulting Ombudsman to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Prior to moving to Los Angeles Dr. Gadlin was Ombudsperson and Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Gadlin is past President of the University and College Ombuds Association and of The Ombudsman Association (TOA) and past Chair of the Coalition of Federal Ombudsmen.

At present Dr. Gadlin is studying the dynamics of scientific teams and collaborations and developing new approaches to addressing conflicts among scientists. With colleagues he has written “Collaboration and Team Science: A Field Guide.” An experienced mediator, trainer and consultant, he has years of experience working with conflicts related to race, ethnicity and gender, including sexual harassment. He is often called in as a consultant/mediator in "intractable" disputes. He has designed and conducted training programs internationally in dispute resolution, sexual harassment and multicultural conflict. He is the author, among other writings, of “Collaboration and Team Science: From Theory to Practice,” “Bargaining in the Shadow of Management,” "Conflict, Cultural Differences, and the Culture of Racism," and "Mediating Sexual Harassment.” Most recently, along with Nancy A. Welsh, he edited Evolution of a Field: Personal Histories in Conflict Resolution.

Martha Patrick

Martha has worked in higher education for the past 28 years and has served as an ombuds since 2010, first at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and currently as the inaugural Director of Ombuds Services for the University of Massachusetts Boston. In her role she provides confidential, impartial, informal, and independent resolution services for students, faculty, and staff. She has earned CO-OPⓇ certification through the International Ombudsman Association and has specialized training in mediation, facilitation, and conflict coaching. She is the creator of the Visitor Experience and Standards Alignment (VXSA) Audit, a self-assessment tool for ombuds programs.

Prior to becoming an ombuds, Martha spent a decade as the Amherst campus’ Community Relations Director, building bridges between the campus and local communities, negotiating community partnership agreements, and working to resolve town/gown issues. Previously, she served as the founding Director of the Rainbow Center at the University of Connecticut, worked as a supervisor for a community mental health agency, and launched a successful retail business. Martha holds a B.A. from Smith College and an M.Ed. in Higher Education from UMass Amherst.

Mary Rowe

Mary P. Rowe is an Adjunct Professor of Negotiation and Conflict Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and taught these topics for twenty years. She served for almost 42 years as an organizational ombuds reporting directly to five presidents of MIT. As a conflict management specialist and an expert in interpersonal negotiations, Rowe hears from hundreds of people a year about serious conflicts and concerns; she consults widely with corporations, academic institutions, and government agencies.

Rowe’s research and publications encompass a variety of topics encountered in her career—ranging from the role and work of an organizational ombuds to harassment, micro-affirmations, and bystanders. If you are interested in a particular article or topic in Rowe's publications, click here.
Her research interests include the different kinds of power used in interpersonal negotiations; harassment; dispute-resolution system design; and coping with difficult people and unacceptable behavior. She is especially interested in the role of bystanders and the “bystanders of bystanders” in helping to affirm professional and productive behavior within organizations, and in the power of micro-affirmations to mitigate and even help to prevent the damage caused by micro-inequities of all kinds. Her current writing focuses on providing options for people to have a voice about their concerns and good ideas.

Rowe holds a BA in history/international relations from Swarthmore College and a PhD in economics from Columbia University. To learn more about Rowe’s work and writing, read her more detailed Research and Publications biography.

Thomas P. Zgambo

Thomas retired as a practicing Organizational Ombuds in 2024 after being with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since January 2017. Prior to that he was at the World Bank for ten years. He spent six years as the Corporate Ombudsman at Coca-Cola Enterprises. Before joining Coca-Cola Enterprises, Thomas spent three years as an Ombudsman and Training Specialist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was also a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, teaching Negotiation and Conflict Management. Thomas joined the Ombuds profession when he was selected as one of five Ombudspersons at Polaroid Corporation. Thomas Zgambo is a past President of The Ombudsman Association, now the International Ombudsman Association. Thomas was a long-time instructor for IOA’ Foundations course and a reviewer for the IOA Journal.

Thomas served as a mediator at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), and has mediated Disability, public accommodation, sexual harassment, and racial discrimination cases. He also served as a member of the Human Rights Commission for the City of New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Governor’s Advisory Council on African-American Affairs for the State of Massachusetts, USA.

Thomas holds a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry and Materials Science from the University of North Texas and an MBA in Management of Technology from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. In retirement, Thomas enjoys spending time with his four grandchildren and pursuing interests in small-scale farming in Malawi, cultivating crops such as corn, peanuts, rice, bananas, pineapples, and experimenting with eco-friendly tilapia and catfish farming.