TLT update—long overdue
By Rachel Fowler, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief | TLT Publisher's Pen June 2023
It’s time to introduce you to a prominent staff member on TLT.
Nicole Gleeson and Rachel Fowler in front of their shared office at Human Kinetics Publishing Co. in 2008.
The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic brought on many challenges and changes for everyone, including STLE and TLT. The STLE office closed for a long period of time, but we were able to adapt and work remotely. Personally, I had a daughter in January 2020, so when I came back from maternity leave in April, I immediately worked remotely. It was a strange time to start a new position, but I truly enjoy being TLT publisher/ editor-in-chief.
Normally when someone new joins the STLE staff, we include a writeup in the Newsmakers section of TLT—but things got overlooked as the pandemic began. Nicole Gleeson helped out with temporary projects for TLT, including editing while I was on maternity leave and setting up the previous years in TLT Archives, and she joined the STLE staff in April 2020. In 2021, she took on a larger role as TLT editorial coordinator and is still in that position today. With the chaos of March and April 2020, we did not do a formal announcement for Nicole, and I regret that.
Nicole is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she majored in English. Her studies primarily focused on Shakespeare, and she completed the English department’s honors program with a thesis on Macbeth. She previously worked for Human Kinetics Publishing Co. as an assistant editor where she edited and oversaw production of textbooks relating to physical fitness, exercise and training— which is where we met. We started working there on the exact same day and shared an office until she left almost a year later. Back then, we edited everything on paper, and we occasionally had 500-page books! I also majored in English and rhetoric at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at the same time, but we never crossed paths during college. Or maybe we did and just didn’t realize it. Prior to TLT, Nicole worked as a reference assistant for the Westchester Public Library and in healthcare information. As TLT editorial coordinator, Nicole is responsible for the day-to-day scheduling, production and management of TLT. She is in contact with many of the TLT writers and contributors. Nicole says, “The most interesting part about working on TLT is realizing all the applications of tribology in the world around us—it really is everywhere!”
Nicole has been to some events already, including the 2022 STLE Annual Meeting in Orlando, Fla., and an STLE Chicago Section meeting. Her favorite part of the annual meeting was working with the STLE Member Ambassadors at the STLE Membership Booth—the energy and enthusiasm they brought to greeting attendees was the perfect welcome. I noticed at these events that not many STLE members knew who she was, so I thought an introduction was in order. Feel free to introduce yourself to Nicole at the 2023 STLE Annual Meeting, May 21-25, in Long Beach, Calif., or send her an email at
ngleeson@stle.org.
You can reach TLT publisher/editor-in-chief Rachel Fowler at rfowler@stle.org.