Director of News and Editorial Communications

Tom Breen

Tom Breen has been at UConn since 2012, serving as a news writer, deputy spokesperson, manager for special projects, UConn Today editor, and, as of January 2021, director of news and editorial communications. Prior to UConn, he worked as a reporter for The Associated Press, covering health care, religion, and state government in West Virginia and North Carolina, and before the AP, he worked at newspapers in Connecticut and Massachusetts. He is the author of two books about Christianity and contemporary culture, and has published short fiction in many periodicals and anthologies. A second-generation Husky, he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 2000. He is the co-founder of the award-winning UConn 360 podcast and has given presentations on UConn history to community groups throughout Connecticut. He lives in Manchester, is active in volunteer organizations, and recommends that you try the coconut flavor at the Dairy Bar.

Author Archive

Adrienne Bruce ’22 (CLAS) decided to learn Korean during the early weeks of the pandemic.

UConn Magazine: Speaking the Language

What to do when at home during a pandemic? Learn a new language, of course

November 29, 2021 | Amy Sutherland for UConn Magazine

UConn Voices
A deep fryer with a turkey inside burns while a UConn fire truck sits in the background.

Don’t Fry This At Home (Without Watching This First)

UConn firefighters offer tips on avoiding the most common cause of home-cooking fires on Thanksgiving Day.

November 24, 2021 | UConn Fire Department

Companies are Pushing Sweetened Drinks to Children through Ads and Misleading Labels – and Families are Buying

There are dozens of options for children’s drinks in most supermarkets. Choosing the healthy options is difficult

November 23, 2021 | Fran Fleming-Milici, Director of Marketing Initiatives, UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health

Connecticut Foodshare CEO Jason Jakubowski '99 (CLAS), '01 MPA.

UConn Magazine: ‘You Change the Way You Live When You’re Hungry’

Connecticut Foodshare CEO Jason Jakubowski '99 (CLAS), '01 MPA talks about the challenges of keeping people fed during a global pandemic

November 23, 2021 | Peter Nelson for UConn Magazine

Alumni Community Impact
Since the early 2000s, more clinical trials have been taking place overseas, where FDA oversight is lax.

The FDA’s Lax Oversight of Research in Developing Countries Can Do Harm to Vulnerable Participants

No on-site inspections, fraudulent data, and patients who didn't know they were participating in a clinical trial

November 19, 2021 | C. Michael White, Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice

Matt Smith '92 manages what may be America's preeminent listening room.

UConn Magazine: Nightclub Confidential

'People walked out of here beaming'

November 19, 2021 | Peter Nelson for UConn Magazine

Alumni
A view of the Meskill Law Library at the UConn Law campus in Hartford on April 25, 2019.

Donors Bolster Scholarship to Celebrate UConn Law’s Centennial

'We wanted to reach people who had an interest and a desire to go to law school, but didn’t have the financial resources to do it'

November 18, 2021 | Grace Merritt, UConn Foundation

Alumni
An illustrated map of UConn by alumna Margaret Kimball.

UConn Magazine: And Now I Spill the UConn Secrets

A Private Map of UConn in the Mid-2000s

November 17, 2021 | David Silverberg for UConn Today

Alumni
Jordan Buslewicz ’23 (ENG) tests a wastewater sample with Kingfisher Apex robot at the Microbial Analysis, Resources, and Services (MARS) facility. The Apex has quadrupled the number of daily samples that MARS personnel can test for COVID-19 (Lisa Nigro/MARS).

UConn Established as Center of Excellence for Wastewater-based COVID-19 Surveillance

UConn was one of the first universities in the country to implement the testing to detect COVID-19

November 16, 2021 | Matt Engelhardt, Office of the Vice President for Research

University News
The UConn students and faculty members who traveled to the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

Reflections on COP26: Uncertainty and Hope

Many countries have committed to further reductions, but still not enough to reduce warming to the critical 1.5C threshold

November 15, 2021 | Mark Urban, Arden Chair of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology