The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences recently celebrated the achievements of six outstanding alumni during its inaugural CLAS Alumni Awards Ceremony.
The event brought together faculty, staff, alumni, and family members to honor graduates whose careers reflect the excellence and impact of a liberal arts and sciences education.
“Our alumni are among UConn’s greatest ambassadors, and we take immense pride in their accomplishments,” said UConn President Radenka Maric. “These awards in CLAS and across the University reflect the transformative power of a UConn education and the positive impact Huskies make in Connecticut and around the world.”
“The launch of our alumni awards program reflects our enduring commitment to celebrating the lifelong impact of a liberal arts education,” said CLAS dean Ofer Harel.
With more than 130,000 alumni, CLAS is UConn’s largest and most academically diverse college. The new awards program was created to recognize alumni who exemplify the College’s core values of community, creativity, dedication, diversity, empowerment, and integrity.
“These individuals reflect the depth, diversity, and impact of a CLAS education in their work and their lives,” Harel said in his opening remarks. “The awards were established to celebrate individual achievement, but also the power of a liberal arts and sciences education to open doors, fuel ambition, and inspire change.”
The winners were honored on April 30 at the Alumni House in Storrs. Their work spans science, policy, media, and the environment.
Distinguished Alumni Awards – Social Sciences and Humanities
Bryan Pollard ’85 (CLAS) graduated magna cum laude in political science as a UConn Honors Scholar and Phi Beta Kappa member. He earned his JD from Yale and led a 35-year legal career, including roles at Crowell & Moring in Washington, D.C., Day, Berry & Howard in Hartford, CT, and United Technologies Corporation (now RTX Corporation). He has served on multiple nonprofit boards and two terms on Middletown’s Ethics Commission. A Past President of the UConn Alumni Association, he is now serving a second term as Alumni Trustee. In 2021, he and his wife established a UConn CLAS scholarship fund and support the annual Alumni and Student of Color Networking Night.
Mike Soltys ’81 (CLAS) began his career as an intern at ESPN in 1980 and went on to serve in corporate communications for 43 years, including 20 as vice president. He led strategic publicity and issue management for ESPN’s networks and platforms, helped launch ESPN’s corporate blog and media site, and managed major campaigns such as ESPN’s 25th anniversary. He served as a registered lobbyist for Connecticut issues and was ESPN’s longest-serving Editorial Board member. Mike holds a master’s from the University of Hartford and now serves as ESPN Historian. He was recognized in 2024 with a Lifetime Achievement Award from UConn’s Department of Communication. In memory of their parents, Mike and his sisters have established an annual scholarship at UConn for students pursuing careers in athletic communications.
Distinguished Alumni Awards – Life and Physical Sciences
Kevin Bohacs ’76 (CLAS) is a sedimentary geologist who earned his Ph.D. from MIT and spent over 40 years in industry research, primarily at ExxonMobil. His work has focused on mudstone systems, basin analysis, and Earth systems modeling, with applications on Earth and Mars. He has conducted research in over 40 countries, published more than 100 scientific works, co-authored and edited several books, and is listed as co-inventor on three patents. He has held roles in scientific lecturing and field training, and supports student education through the Earth Sciences Nugget Fund at UConn.
Richard Piacentini MS ’84 (CLAS) is President and CEO of Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, where he has led initiatives in sustainability and regenerative design since 1994. Under his leadership, Phipps Conservatory built the Center for Sustainable Landscapes, which is one of the greenest buildings in the world and produces as much energy and water as it uses. Among other accomplishments, he oversaw the creation of the first LEED certified greenhouse, a zero-energy modular classroom called the Nature Lab, and the highly sustainable Exhibit Staging Center, which meets the highest green building standards. Piacentini holds an MS in Botany from UConn, an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a BS in Pharmacy from the University of Rhode Island.
Emerging Leader Award – Humanities and Social Sciences
Prabhas KC ’22 (CLAS) At UConn, economics major Prabhas KC served as a Board Member and Student Representative on the Mansfield Downtown Partnership, received the Department of Economics’ Dr. Joseph W. McAnneny, Jr. Award, and delivered the commencement address at his graduation in 2022. He joined tech firm ServiceNow after graduation and earned the company’s “Hungry and Humble” Award. KC is the self-published author of “Nani, Let’s Count to 10!,” a bestselling bilingual children’s book, and founded Babu’s Books to promote cultural identity among second-generation immigrants through partnerships with schools and nonprofits.
Emerging Leader Awards – Life and Physical Sciences
Tanisha Williams ’19 Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Plant Biology at the University of Georgia and Director of the UGA Herbarium. She studies plant conservation, climate change adaptation, and the role of Indigenous knowledge in ecosystem resilience, and her work spans the U.S., South Africa, and Australia. Williams previously held a postdoctoral fellowship at Bucknell University, where she described two new plant species and mentored more than 40 students. A Fulbright Fellow and Alumni Ambassador, she also founded Black Botanists Week and has received honors including the ASPT Peter Raven Award and the Linnaean Society’s Bicentenary Medal.
