Achievement

Dr. Marja M. Hurley, a UConn Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor at UConn Health, has been voted president-elect by the membership of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR). She assumes the presidency of the Society in September 2026. ASBMR is the premier professional, scientific and medical society established to promote excellence in bone and mineral research and to facilitate the translation of that research into clinical practice.

Professor Sir Cato T. Laurencin, MD, Ph.D., has been named the winner of the 2025 Blaise Pascal Medal in Materials Science from the European Academy of Sciences for his exceptional contributions to the field. Laurencin will receive the award at the 2025 Symposium & Ceremony of the European Academy of Sciences, to be held at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in December in Geneva, Switzerland. Laurencin is the University Professor and Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Professor of Biomedical Engineering.

Milestone

Scott Nye, a infrastructure architect in IT Unified Communications at UConn Health, recently celebrated his 10th work anniversary at UConn.

In Memoriam

Deborah Galvin-Rychert, 71, of Burien, Wash., a former cytotechnologist at UConn Health, on July 29.

Melanie Lawson, 48, of North Manchester, Ind., a former employee, on Aug. 6.

Hong-Chan Li, 91, of West Hartford, Conn., a former employee at the School of Social Work library, on Aug. 14.

Dr. Seymour Melnick, 91, a former instructor in the School of Dentistry, on Aug. 7.

Hulda Melvin, 81, of Clementon, New Jersey, a 35 year employee of the Cooperative Extension Service, where she was a tireless community advocate working with underserved young women in Hartford, on Aug. 11.