April 28, 2025 | Mike Enright '88 (CLAS), University Communications

UConn People – April 30, 2025

If you would like to submit a passing, retirement, notable birthday, achievement or a family event of a UConn employee or retiree for consideration, please email to work@uconn.edu.

Achievement

Hady Ba, associate research scholar in the Department of Philosophy, has been appointed Director of Cultural and Scientific Activities at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar. Ba will be responsible for defining and implementing the policy of disseminating the knowledge produced by the Université Cheikh Anta Diop, both within the institution and to society at large. He is also responsible for coordinating the cultural and scientific activities of the various components of the Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar. Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar is the largest university in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa and has over 90,000 students.

Dr. Hilary Onyiuke, the neurosurgeon who founded the UConn Health’s Comprehensive Spine Center and now codirects it, has been appointed to the National Technical Board of Augmedics, the medical technology company behind the xvision Spine System. The system is a groundbreaking augmented reality (AR) navigation platform that enables surgeons to visualize a patient’s anatomy in 3D through a specialized headset.

Two Neag School of Education professors will receive prestigious awards at this year’s American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting. Franklin Tuitt has earned the W. J. McKeachie Career Achievement Award, and Michael Coyne is the Notable Vocabulary Researcher Award winner. Tuitt is a professor of higher education and student affairs in the Neag School’s Department of Educational Leadership. Coyne is a professor of special education and head of the Neag School’s Department of Educational Psychology.

In Memoriam

Susan Aresti, 75, of Scarborough, Maine, a former employee at the Center for Instructional Media and Technology, on April 20.

Marcia Rubenstein Lieberman, 89, of Providence, R.I., a former English professor in the 1970s, on April 21.

Dr. Diana Malchoff, 74, a former faculty member at UConn Health, on April 5.

Winthrop Smith, 88, of Mansfield, Conn., a long-time professor in the Department of Physics and the Institute of Material Science, on April 7.