Induction into the Plastics Hall of Fame is based on high accomplishment and dedication to the advancement of the global industry of plastics. As a pioneer of the field of Regenerative Engineering, Laurencin’s work transcends engineering; he also made breakthroughs using polymeric materials in medical devices, biologics, and pharmaceuticals. He received the National Institute of Health Director’s Pioneer Research Grant Award and the National Science Foundation’s Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation Award.

“Dr. Laurencin is the leading polymeric materials chemist and scientist applying work to biology. Laurencin’s seminal studies have included the conceptualization and development of polymeric nanofiber technology for tissue regeneration, the design, synthesis, fabrication, and creation of composites of polymers and ceramics for musculoskeletal repair and regeneration,” the Hall of Fame said.

As an innovator and scientist, Laurencin has earned the National Medal of Technology and Innovation for his work, bestowed upon him by President Barack Obama in 2016. He was also declared Inventor of the Year in 2023 by the Intellectual Property Owners’ Education Foundation. More recently, Laurencin received the Kathryn C. Hach Award for Entrepreneurial Success from the American Chemical Society.

At the University of Connecticut, Laurencin is a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, materials sciences and engineering, and biomedical engineering. He earned a B.S.E in chemical engineering from Princeton University, his medical degree Magna Cum Laude from the Harvard Medical School, and his Ph.D. in biochemical engineering/biotechnology from M.I.T. He is the first engineer-scientist-surgeon to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Inventors.

Among those honored guests was a famous member of the UConn family: Maya Moore Irons ’11 (CLAS), the basketball legend who has made criminal justice reform her life’s work. She spoke powerfully about her journey to becoming an activist, and how that experience helped her understand every community as a team, ideally with the same mutual support and pursuit of excellence that characterized her teams at UConn and in the WNBA.

Some of the highlights of other speeches by guests, students, and faculty members throughout the three-day weekend include:

Ramani Durvasula ’89 MS, awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: “Don’t lose your giddiness. Never be so cool that you don’t experience childlike joy. I know people worry that kind of silly, messy sense of wonder would make us vulnerable, and we put such importance on being indifferent that we stop being amazed.  It’s OK and even necessary to be impressed and wowed.”

David Souder, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Research in the School of Business: “Once you drive down Discovery Way for the final time, don’t forget us. Send an email to your professors and your mentors and let us know how you’re doing. Reach out to see what companies are hiring like crazy. Ask us to connect you to someone who can advance your career game. We are invested in your success.”

Madelyn Engel ’24 (CAHNR), student speaker at the commencement ceremony for the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources: “CAHNR has been a powerful force in my journey of well-being. From the friends I have made here, to the therapeutic integration with animals and the outdoors, to the support and efforts of the incredible staff. Yes, I have learned through academics, but I have also learned how to act meaningfully and give back, how to approach each moment with gratitude, how to care for myself and my environment—how to savor life—and those are invaluable things that I will hold with me for the rest of my life.”

Ruth Simmons, awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by the Graduate School, speaking at the ceremony for doctoral candidates: “With the excellent resources here at UConn, you have had the privilege of studying at the highest level. Your unique opportunity will, I hope, translate into insights about the range of talent and ability across every community and way of life. We count on you to bring clarity to the confused state of our country, in which vilifying groups has become an approach sanctioned by far too many. Your education obligates you to join the fight for rights and dignity of those who would be marginalized by others. Be visible and outspoken in your efforts. Success purchased through silence is success not worth having.”

Kazem Kazerounian, Dean of the College of Engineering: “History shows us that progress often follows disruption. Yes, AI is progressing swiftly, potentially outpacing human intellect. But remember: We possess something AI cannot emulate – our humanity. Reflect on this: We, as humans, possess emotions, empathy, and the ability to form profound connections. We create and savor art, music, and literature. We have a knack for forging deep connections, and an inexplicable love for midnight pizza during finals. We love, we dream, we innovate from a place of passion unique to humans.”

Daniel Fata ’94 (CLAS), awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the Graduate School, speaking at the ceremony for master’s candidates: “Be honest with yourself, and be OK with failing. I have failed at most everything I’ve ever done. Today you see my successes, but I wouldn’t be here if I let a failure define or stop me. I never stop trying. And remember: It’s not that you failed, it’s what you learned about yourself as a result of the failure, and how you use that as a teachable moment. I’ve always told my bosses and my family: I will make mistakes, but I will try not to make the same mistake twice.”

Kiana Foster-Mauro ’20 (ED), ’21 MA, 2024 Connecticut Teacher of the Year, keynote speaker at the commencement ceremony for the Neag School of Education: “Our world is ever-changing, and we aren’t promised a lot in this life. We aren’t promised days or minutes. We aren’t promised ease or a ‘normal’ year of anything. How beautiful it is, then, that each and every one of you, in spite of this, had the courage to take the first step and to embrace the unknown — that each of you had the audacity to try. I am in awe of you and your audacity to try.”

Chief Marilynn “Lynn” Malerba ’08 MPA, U.S. Treasurer, awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by the School of Nursing: “Graduates, you will immediately forget this speech once you walk across this stage and hold your hard won diploma in your hands and rightly so.  However, what you will remember are the people who have walked your path with you, who have cheered you on each step of the way—your families, your friends, your favorite professor.  They are gifted to you from the Universe.  Remember that of all the things you will accomplish in your lifetime, nothing will be more important than your relationships with them.”

Alexis Hunter Frankel ’24 (PHARM), valedictorian, School of Pharmacy BS commencement: “One of the most important things I have learned in pharmacy school is to do what makes you happy. I love school and I always have. I had a diary when I was younger, and it was not your typical diary. It was a diary of the periodic table, and I had an entry for each element. Diagrams included. I even made a board game for the periodic table when I was 12 years old. I knew I always wanted to go to college, and even told my teacher in 5th grade that, and she told me I was thinking way too early. Well, she was wrong because it came way too fast, and I still felt unprepared.”

Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Anne D’Alleva, speaking at the commencement ceremony for Bachelor of General Studies graduates: “Our world needs the kind of skills and perspectives you bring to the table now more than ever. Whether you’re addressing global challenges, contributing to your local communities, or innovating in your future careers, your broad educational foundation empowers you to adapt and thrive in an ever-changing landscape. As you stand on the brink of new beginnings, remember that your education does not end today. Learning is a lifelong process, and I encourage you to remain curious and open to new experiences. Continue to seek knowledge, challenge assumptions, and embrace opportunities.”

Victoria Fal ’22 (PHARM) ’24 Pharm.D., salutatorian, School of Pharmacy Pharm.D. commencement: “Through meaningful interactions and hands-on experiences, we not only honed our clinical skills but also cultivated professional networks and a deeper understanding of the multifaceted nature of pharmacy practice. Now, here we are on graduation day. We may be leaving behind the familiar comforts and routines of the past four years, but we also embrace the boundless horizon of new opportunities that awaits us. It’s a moment of transition, stepping into a world where the possibilities are limitless, and the timeline is yet to be defined.”

Irene Pham ’24 (SFA), student speaker, commencement ceremony for the School of Fine Arts: “We have to share our unshared story, and with that comes the answers to the unquestioned, celebrations to the unacknowledged, and love to the unrecognized.  A lot of us creatives ask ourselves how we fit into the specific roles that this vague mishmash of an industry gives us. The truth is, we have to forge it ourselves however way we can, and the only way we can do that is to tell the stories we embody and the stories we hope to hear. All of you have something to share, and because of that, I know you all have the ability to create something great.”

Connecticut Department of Children and Families Commissioner Jodi Hill-Lilly, keynote speaker, commencement ceremony for the School of Social Work: “Know your superpowers. Each of us brings unique interpersonal gifts to our world – gifts like patience, enthusiasm, creativity, laughter, encouragement, and generosity. Superpowers are closely aligned with your passions. They are attributes that have been with you most of your life. It’s what you have been born to do and purposed to do. The key is to know your superpowers, because once you have named them, you can engage them. Turn to your fellow grad and ask—What’s your superpower? I got my superpowers of encouragement, determination, and joy from my dad, and my superpowers of spiritual discernment and the keen ability to influence others from my mom. I never set out to be a commissioner – I set out to help others and make a difference.”

UConn President Radenka Maric, keynote speaker, commencement ceremony for the School of Dental Medicine and the School of Medicine: “Empathy, compassion, and kindness. There is no iPhone app for these, no algorithm, no graph or chart that can adequately express what they mean. But these are essential values that are in short supply today. This makes them all the more precious when we find them in our doctors. Over the course of your careers, you will share good news and bad news. You will be with people in their greatest moments and on their worst days. You will play a role in countless lives that no one else can occupy – that of healer. Your patients will appreciate your skill, your wisdom, and your confidence – but above all, they will treasure your empathy, compassion, and kindness.”

The Society was established in 1863 by an Act of Congress and signed into law by former President Abraham Lincoln as a private, nongovernmental institution.  

Members are elected “in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research,” and the academy serves as an advisory board for the nation on issues relating to science and technology.  

As a member of NAS, Berrah joins faculty and emeritus faculty members Kathy Segerson, professor of economics;  Dr. Cato Laurencin, Chief Executive Officer of The Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering at UConn Health; Laurinda Jaffe, department chair and professor of cell biology at UConn Health; Dr. Se-Jin Lee, Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences at UConn Health; Mary Jane Osborn, professor of microbiology who died in 2019; and Henry N. Andrews, professor of botany who died in 2002.

“Membership in the NAS is one of the highest honors that can be given to a scientist,” says Ofer Harel, Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “It is a recognition by peers and the academy of outstanding research achievements, and Nora absolutely falls into that category.” 

Current academy members must nominate and vote for new members to join the academy, with no more than 120 members being elected each year. 

“It’s just an unbelievably great honor,” says Berrah. “I feel very grateful for all the National Academy members who voted for me and for being elected.” 

Berrah, the former department head of physics from 2014 to 2018, was elected in recognition of her research that focuses on ultrafast physical and chemical processes in quantum systems. 

Berrah’s research has wide ranging impact

In her lab on campus, as well as at the Linac Coherent Light Source Free Electron Laser at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Stanford, California, Berrah conducts “time resolved, photo-induced experiments to understand ultrafast fundamental mechanisms such as charge transfer, energy transfer, and proton transfer.” 

The experiments measure super-fast reactions up to the femtosecond, or one quadrillionth of a second, as well as to the attosecond, or one quintillionth of a second which has important impacts on other scientific fields.  

“We want to understand these processes, and ultimately we want to control them to achieve desired outcomes,” says Berrah. “I and my research group measure manifestations of quantum mechanics — using ultrafast lasers at the femtosecond and attosecond timescale to test fundamentals of quantum mechanics. Our research has a broad impact on chemistry, biology, material science, and environmental science.”  

Berrah was also previously elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She earned a Davisson-Germer award from the American Physical Society and is a fellow of the American Physical Society. 

 She has also been an advocate for increasing the participation and retention of women in physics.  

 “I realized as an undergraduate student that there were just very few women, whether they’re undergraduate or graduate students, and it doesn’t make sense to me, because we all have a brain, and if we have an interest in physics, then we should pursue it,” says Berrah. “It’s a man-dominated field. And way back, women were not welcomed in physics.” 

Over the course of her career, Berrah has worked to help women feel less isolated in the field, including serving as the chair of APS’ Committee on the Status of Women in Physics. 

Berrah is currently chairing a committee in the physics department to organize a conference for undergraduate women and gender minorities in physics, that she says will occur January 24-26, 2025. She says it is an opportunity to help undergraduate women network and peer mentor with each other, so they don’t feel isolated, since they are often the only women in their classrooms.  

 The conference is a chance for women to learn together and become comfortable in the field, Berrah says.  

 “It’s important to mentor the next generation of women physicists and increase significantly their number,” says Berrah. 

The oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the NSF-GRFP recognizes and supports outstanding students in NSF-supported disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited institutions in the United States. In addition to a three-year annual stipend of $37,000, plus another $12,000 paid to the student’s home institution, fellows have access to a wide range of professional development opportunities over the course of their graduate careers.

The Graduate Research Fellowships are highly competitive, with annual acceptance rates of about 16% from among more than 12,000 applicants.

“The application for the NSF-GRFP is extremely demanding. To succeed, students must be able to articulate themselves not only as researchers, but as future leaders in their academic disciplines,” says Vin Moscardelli, director of UConn’s Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships. “This year’s results once again reveal the combination of talent, ambition, and support that exists here at UConn.”

UConn’s 10 recipients lead all New England public universities for 2024. UConn has produced at least ten NSF-GRFP recipients in eight of the past nine years. The school also had nine students, five graduate and four alumni, who earned honorable mention laurels in this cycle.

“The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship is truly a great achievement,” says Pamir Alpay, UConn’s vice president for research, innovation and entrepreneurship. “It acknowledges our students’ talent and their potential to shape the future of science and technology. More than that, UConn’s GRFP recipients reflect our commitment to excellence and offering outstanding research opportunities to our students. Our students are competitive for the GRFP because of the sustained hard work our exceptional faculty have put into building our research programs and sharing their expertise with our students.”

The three UConn graduate student recipients are:

Lorraine Pérez-Beauchamp ‘23 (CLAS) earned her undergraduate degree from UConn in biological sciences. She is a first-year graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology, and her faculty mentor is associate professor Sarah Knutie. Pérez-Beauchamp is currently performing research in the Galápagos Islands.

Cynthia Webster ’20 (CLAS) is in her second year as graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology, working under the direction of associate professor Jill Wegrzyn. Her research interests reside at the intersection of computational biology, genome evolution, and conservation genetics. In her fellowship, she will build the first pangenome for the butternut, which is endangered due to its low tolerance to a non-native fungal pathogen.

“In graduate school, it’s common to experience imposter syndrome and question whether you’re making a significant contribution to society,” says Webster. “So many talented individuals apply for the GRFP each year, but only a handful are awarded. As a young scientist, this recognition is incredibly validating.”

Bre-Anna Willis is a first-year graduate student in chemistry studying chemical synthesis. Her faculty mentor is associate professor of chemistry Gaël Ung. Willis earned her undergraduate degree in 2023 from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

The three UConn undergraduate recipients are:

Charlotte Chen ’24 (ENG & CLAS) is a senior from Weston, pursuing dual degrees in materials science & engineering and molecular & cell biology.  Her research in the lab of associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering Kelly Burke aims to modify silk films with antibacterial monomers to potentially prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections.

“Being awarded an NSF-GRFP means that I get a lot more freedom with my doctoral studies– what my research project is, who my research advisors are, and where I want to conduct the research,” says Chen.

She will be a doctoral student at Brown in the fall to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering with the long-term goal of a career in the biotech industry.

Sila Inanoglu ’24 (CLAS) is an ecology major and her faculty mentor is also Knutie. She is a member of Knutie’s lab this year and is working on the group’s Nest Parasite Community Science project. Her research investigates the direct and indirect effects of alpha-pinene, the volatile compound in pine needles, on ectoparasite resistance in tree swallows. After graduation, she will be staying a UConn as a doctoral student in Knutie’s lab.

“Winning the NSF-GRFP feels surreal,” says Inanoglu. “I did not even pursue STEM until my sophomore year at UConn and being awarded the NSF-GRFP has made me realize how far I have come. Being in this field as a student and researcher has been some of the most fulfilling and exciting work I have gotten to do. I am beyond excited to be able to continue my research and scientific outreach goals with NSF’s support.”

Paxton Tomko ’24 (CLAS) is a molecular and cell biology major and her faculty mentor is Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology/Microbiology Geo Santiago-Martínez. In the fall, she will be starting a master’s in oceanography at UConn Avery Point, working with Professor of Marine Sciences Pieter Visscher. Tomko’s research interests are in geobiology and astrobiology and is interested in stromatolites as biosignatures and the role that methanogens play in microbial mats.

The four UConn alumni who earned NSF Graduate Research Fellowships are Brigid Bernier ’23 (CLAS), who is now a graduate student at the University of Oklahoma; Samuel Degnan-Morgenstern ’22 (ENG), who is now a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Jackson Kaszas ’23 (ENG), who is now a graduate student at Rutgers University; and Rebecca Lee ’22 (ENG), who is now a graduate student at the University of Texas.

The Office of National Scholarships & Fellowships (ONSF) is a resource for students interested in learning more about the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and other prestigious scholarships and fellowships that support graduate study in all fields. ONSF is part of Enrichment Programs and is open to all graduate and undergraduate students at the University, including students at the regional campuses. For more information contact Vin Moscardelli, Director of UConn’s Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships.

The Collaboratory for Biomedical and Bioengineering Innovation fosters a vibrant and unified environment where biomedical and bioengineering researchers work together to invent, develop, and adapt existing biotechnologies to solve new problems in the biological sciences.

“There seems to be an artificial divide between researchers who focus on biomedical studies and those working on other biological problems,” says Leslie Shor, associate dean for research and graduate education and co-director of Collaboratory for Biomedical and Bioengineering Innovation. “This is especially strange for engineers, because we are often leading the technical aspects of the work, and an enabling technology such as a novel sensor or new imaging technology works the same regardless of the biological application.”

The Collaboratory, however, aims to help researchers establish new interdisciplinary collaborations outside their existing research networks.

“By promulgating emerging technologies across fields, we enhance the value of the emerging technology and simultaneously unlock new areas of inquiry and accelerate new discoveries,” Shor explains.

Bio-based technology, or biotechnology innovation refers to the development and advancement of technologies that are based on biological systems or use biological materials. This can include a wide range of innovations such as biomedical devices (prosthetics, medical imaging equipment, drug delivery systems); bio-systems (biofuels production, bioremediation of pollutants, agricultural biotechnology); and bio-computation (bioinformatics for analyzing genetic data, computational modeling of biological systems, or machine learning algorithms for drug discovery).

Members of the Collaboratory are nationally and internationally-renowned faculty.

Thanh Nguyen, associate professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, works at the interface of biomedicine, materials and nano/micro technology. He’s already collaborating with researchers on campus and UConn Health for vaccine, drug, tissue-engineering and biomaterials research, but expects the Collaboratory for Biomedical and Bioengineering Innovation will help strengthen those relationships and allow him to explore more research opportunities.

“UConn is already a collaborative and terrific environment for interdisciplinary research. But this initiative makes biomedical and engineering research from different groups much more visible to all researchers at UConn.” Nguyen says. “The Collaboratory also could eventually lead to more impactful studies and grant funding.”

Like Nguyen, Sabato Santaniello, associate professor of biomedical engineering, is interested in potential collaborations with UConn Health and other medical centers in the region. His work in neuromodulation of the cerebellum is primarily targeted to clinical neuroscience—providing new ways of probing the diseased brain and improving treatments of patients affected by movement disorders.

“My work has potential to translate into new, patentable products down the road, but now, my program can benefit the initiative by intercepting the needs of clinicians, especially neurologists and neurosurgeons,” he says.

Santaniello describes the Collaboratory “as a unique platform” that will regionally advertise the many cutting-edge biomedical technologies that UConn faculty develop and better intercept the needs that come from the healthcare industry and the clinical research.

“It will benefit greatly those PIs at UConn who are looking for new, exciting applications for the tools that are developed in their labs,” he says.

The group aims to promote bio-based technologies through collaborative research; boost economic growth in Connecticut by creating new bio-based products and businesses; train students for biotech careers by involving them in research and innovation; and establish UConn as a global leader in bio-based technology innovation.

“Our goals are to drive research, investment, and possibilities in Connecticut,” explains Guoan Zheng, associate professor of biomedical engineering and co-director of the Collaboratory for Biomedical and Bioengineering Innovation. “By advancing technology, we believe we can make a significant impact on scientific discovery and its applications driving socially impactful research and benefiting Connecticut’s economy and workforce.”

Shor, who’s also Centennial Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, leads the Engineered Microhabitats Research Group at UConn, where she mentors an interdisciplinary team focusing on biotechnology for sustainability. “My lab simply adapted established microfluidics or ‘lab-on-a-chip’ technologies to a completely different field of biology: soil microbes living near plant roots. This approach directly led to new understanding about soil moisture regulation by bacteria and fungi and a new appreciation for how soil protists can be used to promote more sustainable food production. I want to see the same interchange of approaches advance all types of biological sciences to advance a healthy and sustainable future,” she said.

The Collaboratory is seeking student, faculty, and corporate partners. For more information, contact the UConn Collaboratory.

The Collaboratory for Biomedical and Bioengineering Innovation celebrated its launch April 2 with a networking symposium and poster session. Faculty from several engineering disciplines attended to learn about the interdisciplinary relationships related to biomedical and bioengineering research and technology innovation. Photos of the event are below and in this UConn College of Engineering Flickr album. (Chris LaRosa/UConn)

Speakers at the ceremonies, which begin on May 4, include:

Barbara Liskov, Ph.D. (Doctor of Science – College of Engineering – Saturday, May 4 at 9:00 a.m. – Gampel Pavilion)

Barbara Liskov is an American computer scientist who is an Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Ford Professor of Engineering in its School of Engineering’s electrical engineering and computer science department. She was one of the first women to be granted a doctorate in computer science in the United States and is a Turing award winner who developed the Liskov substitution principle.
Liskov is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). In 2002, she was recognized as one of the top women faculty members at MIT, and among the top 50 faculty members in the sciences in the U.S.

Liskov received the 2008 Turing Award from the ACM, in March 2009, for her work in the design of programming languages and software methodology that led to the development of object-oriented programming. Specifically, Liskov developed two programming languages, CLU in the 1970s and Argus in the 1980s. The ACM cited her contributions to the practical and theoretical foundations of “programming language and system design, especially related to data abstraction, fault tolerance, and distributed computing.” In 2012 she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Medina Jett, JD, ’08 MBA (School of Business – Saturday, May 4 at 1:30 p.m. – Gampel Pavilion)

Medina Jett is an attorney, former Fortune 100 executive, and a leading voice on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the empowerment of Black Americans, professionally and financially. Jett has been an attorney in private practice and in corporate law departments, a senior executive at three Fortune 500 companies, an international business owner in asset management, and is now the principal in her own real estate development company.

Medina’s legal expertise, business acumen and leadership skills were honed in legal and corporate roles which led to her breaking into the senior executive ranks at Cigna Retirement & Investment Services, Prudential Retirement and The Hartford Life Insurance Company all before the age of 40. At Cigna, Medina was the first Black executive and the youngest executive in the company’s history. At The Hartford she was the first Black executive in the company’s history; and at Prudential, as with Cigna and The Hartford, she was the only Black executive on the senior management team. A champion for diversity her entire career, Medina served on the Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity in Connecticut, as the Executive Sponsor for The Hartford’s company-wide Diversity & Inclusion initiative and on hiring committees and diversity committees.

Jett recently reinvented herself by partnering with her daughter to launch TDS Builders, LLC, one of very few Black women-owned real estate development companies in the country. TDS Builders is managing several major renovation projects throughout Atlanta, and is currently developing a luxury residential community in the southwest side of Atlanta.

Jett earned a BA from Wesleyan University, a JD from Georgetown University Law School, and an MBA in Finance from the University of Connecticut School of Business.

Jerold Mande ’78 BS, MPH (College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources – Saturday, May 4, 6:00 p.m. – Gampel Pavilion)

Jerold Mande is the CEO of Nourish Science and served as Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at the US Department of Agriculture, in charge of the Food Safety and Inspection Service, from 2009 to 2011.

Mande has a wealth of expertise and experience in national public health and food policy. He served in senior policymaking positions for three presidents at USDA, FDA, and OSHA, helping lead landmark public health initiatives. In 2009, he was appointed by President Obama as USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety. In 2011, he moved to USDA’s Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, where he spent six years working to improve the health outcomes of the nation’s $100 billion investment in 15 nutrition programs. During President Clinton’s administration, Mande was Senior Advisor to the FDA commissioner where he helped shape national policy on nutrition, food safety, and tobacco. He also served on the White House staff as a health policy advisor and was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Occupational Health at the Department of Labor. During the George H.W. Bush administration, he led the graphic design of the iconic Nutrition Facts label at FDA, for which he received the Presidential Design Award.

Mande began his career as a legislative assistant for Al Gore in the U.S. House and Senate, managing Gore’s health and environment agenda, and helping Gore write the nation’s organ donation and transplantation laws.

Mande earned a Master’s of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Science in nutritional science from the University of Connecticut.

Chief Marilynn “Lynn” Malerba ’08 MPA (Doctor of Humane Letters, School of Nursing – Saturday, May 4, 9:00 a.m. – Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts)

Lynn Malerba became the first woman chief of the Mohegan Tribe in modern history in 2010. The position is a lifetime appointment made by the Tribe’s Council of Elders. Prior to becoming Chief, she served as Chairwoman of the Tribal Council, and served in Tribal Government as Executive Director of Health and Human Services. Preceding her work for the Mohegan Tribe, Malerba had a career as a registered nurse, ultimately as the Director of Cardiology and Pulmonary Services at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital. She was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in science from Eastern Connecticut State University and an honorary doctoral degree in humane letters from the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford, Connecticut. Malerba earned a Doctor of Nursing Practice at Yale University and was named a Jonas Scholar, a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Connecticut, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the College of St. Joseph.

Commissioner Jodi Hill-Lilly MSW (School of Social Work – Saturday, May 4, 1:30 p.m. – Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts)

Jodi Hill-Lilly was nominated by Gov. Ned Lamont as commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families in December 2023 and subsequently confirmed by the General Assembly. Hill-Lilly has worked at DCF since 1988. Prior to becoming commissioner, she served as the agency’s deputy commissioner of administration in a role that required her to oversee several of its administrative functions, including fiscal services, human resources, workforce development, information systems, multicultural affairs, and systems development. She also led the department’s initiative on racial justice and is responsible for assisting with the development and implementation of policy, training, and coaching on issues related to race and culture throughout the agency and with community partners.

Hill-Lilly also served as DCF’s director of training, in which she was responsible for delivering and providing a multi-faceted training program for employees statewide. She also worked for the agency as a child welfare trainer, an investigations supervisor, and a case management social worker.

Hill-Lilly was one of only 15 fellows and the only child welfare professional to be selected for class 12 of the Annie E. Casey Fellowship program focused on leadership development for administrators in the nonprofit, philanthropic, and public sectors to improve life circumstances of children, youth and families living in low-income communities. She is the co-chair of the National Partnership on Child Safety and is a nationally recognized practice improvement and subject matter expert and consultant including for the Center for States in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Administration for Children and Families, and the American Humane Association.

She earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in social work from Southern Connecticut State University.

John Bell, Ph.D. (School of Fine Arts – Saturday, May 4, 6:00 p.m. – Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts)

John Bell, Director of the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at UConn, is a puppeteer and theater historian who began working in puppetry with Bread and Puppet Theater in the 1970s, and continued as a company member for over a decade. He studied theater history at Columbia University, and has since taught at New York University, Rhode Island School of Design, Emerson College and other institutions. He is a founding member of the Brooklyn-based theater company Great Small Works, and the author of many books and articles about puppetry, including Puppets, Masks, and Performing Objects, Strings, Hands, Shadows: A Modern Puppet History, and American Puppet Modernism. His wife Trudi Cohen is also a puppeteer and member of Great Small Works. Their son Isaac is studying at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Kelly Ha ’19, ’21 MSW (Bachelor of General Studies – Saturday, May 4, 2:00 p.m. – Student Union Theatre)

Kelly Ha is a licensed social worker and the co-founder of the #IAmNotAVirus campaign, an anti-Asian discrimination and racism awareness movement which came to prominence during the rise of COVID-19, when multiple members of the AAPI community were being targeted. Since then, the campaign received global recognition, created a mental health workbook in collaboration with the UConn AASI department, provided training in corporate and educational settings, and hosted a BIPOC book drive to increase literacy and representation in Connecticut school system. Ha worked on the Make Us Visible movement, which made Connecticut the first state in the country to include AAPI studies in the public school systems with overwhelming bipartisan support. Ha is also the recipient of the 100 Women of Color award and Hartford’s Finest. Ha spoke on the panel for the 2022 Regional Summit on Innovation & Inclusion through the AA & NHPI Lens as part of the White House Initiative.

Ramani Durvasula ’89 MS, Ph.D. (Doctor of Science, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences – Sunday, May 5, 9:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. – Gampel Pavilion)

Ramani Durvasula ’89 is a licensed clinical psychologist in Los Angeles, Professor Emerita of Psychology at California State University, Los Angeles, and the Founder and CEO of LUNA Education, Training & Consulting. She is an author of several books including “Should I Stay or Should I Go: Surviving A Relationship with a Narcissist,” and “’Don’t You Know Who I Am?”’: How to Stay Sane in an Era of Narcissism, Entitlement, and Incivility.” The focus of her clinical, academic and consultative work is the etiology and impact of narcissism and high-conflict, entitled, antagonistic personality styles on human relationships, mental health, and societal expectations. Her work has been featured at SXSW, TEDx, Red Table Talk, the Today Show, and Investigation Discovery, among many other outlets and forums.

Maya Moore Irons ’11 (Doctor of Humane Letters, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences – Sunday, May 5, 5:30 p.m. – Gampel Pavilion)

Maya Moore Irons is a UConn basketball legend, author, two-time Olympic gold medalist, advocate for social justice, and recently named inductee to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

During her time at UConn, the women’s basketball team won back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010 and Moore was showered with honors, including two selections as the Naismith College Player of the Year and becoming only the third active player to be enshrined among the Huskies of Honor.

Her professional career included four WNBA championships, six all-star selections, and one selection as WNBA Most Valuable Player.

In 2019-20, she took a hiatus from basketball to pursue her advocacy of criminal justice reform, leading to the release of the wrongfully convicted Jonathan Irons from prison in Missouri.

She is the founder of Win With Justice, which advocates criminal justice reform, for which she won the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage in 2021.

Kiana Foster-Mauro ’20, ’21 MA (Neag School of Education – Sunday, May 5, 9:00 a.m. – Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts)

Kiana Foster-Mauro ’20, ’21 MA, the 2024 Connecticut Teacher of the Year, is a fourth-grade teacher at Nathan Hale Arts Magnet School in New London.

Foster-Mauro has presented at conferences, nationally and locally. She has been a member of the National Association for Multicultural Education since 2018 and was recently accepted to present on facilitating critical conversations around current events, identity, human rights, and mental health.

While a student at UConn, she served on the executive board of Leadership in Diversity, a student-led organization dedicated to diversifying education.

She is passionate about community and empowering others. She enjoys teaching her students reading, writing, and social studies daily and connecting with former students just down the hall and at her annual classroom family reunion. Outside of the classroom, she extends her commitment to education, diversity, and community as a dance teacher at The Dance Extension and company advisor to the Community Dance Ensemble.

Lauren Aleksunes, Pharm.D, Ph.D. (School of Pharmacy – Pharm.D – Sunday, May 5, 1:30 p.m. – Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts)

Lauren Aleksunes is Professor in the Rutgers University, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Project Lead of the NJ Alliance for Clinical and Translational Science CTSA Workforce Development Core, and Director of the Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology and the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. Dr. Aleksunes is also a member of the CounterAct Research Center of Excellence where she Co-Leads the Research Education Core and Pharmacology and Drug Development Core. Within the NIEHS P30 Center for Environmental Exposures and Disease, Dr. Aleksunes is Co-Director of the Environmental/Chemical Pathology Core and Co-Director of Career Development and Mentoring.

Sarah Thompson ’06 Pharm.D (School of Pharmacy – Sunday, May 5, 6:00 p.m. – Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts)

Sarah Thompson ’06 is Chief Clinical Operations Officer and Head of Clinical Operations for Programs at Strategy at Onduo, a Verily Company. Onduo provides a whole-person care solution featuring digital, connected care with a human touch for diabetes, hypertension, weight loss and diabetes prevention. Enabled by technology built by Verily Life Sciences, LLC, we deliver lifestyle and clinical interventions that leverage deep analytics, connected smart devices, innovative software, and access to specialty care through our Virtual Clinic. Onduo was awarded URAC Accreditation in Telemedicine; Onduo LLC headquarters are based in Newton, Mass.

Thompson also holds an MBA from Cornell University.

Daniel Fata ’94 (CLAS) (Doctor of Laws, Graduate School – Masters Ceremony – Monday, May 6, 9:00 a.m. – Gampel Pavilion)

Daniel Fata is the president of Fata Advisory LLC. He is a public policy expert, national security consultant, and strategic adviser focused on helping companies and organizations enhance their product and program offerings through the development of comprehensive government affairs strategies, risk assessments, strategic planning, and advocacy initiatives.

He has more than 25 years of experience working in Congress (as a leadership staffer in both the House and Senate), at the Department of Defense (as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO), in the aerospace and defense industry (as a vice president at Lockheed Martin Corp), and in the consulting arena (as a vice president at the Cohen Group).

He is an expert on issues regarding U.S. national security, government relations, strategic risk, European foreign policy, the global aerospace and defense industry, the industrial base supply chain, technology, and third-party advocacy campaigns, among other issues.

In February 2022, Fata was appointed by the U.S. Senate leadership to serve as one of 16 commissioners on the congressionally mandated Afghanistan War Commission. The commission was established in the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act to study the United States’ 20-year involvement in the war in Afghanistan and to assess lessons learned for future conflicts. The commission has a three-year mandate.

Fata has been affiliated with some of the United States’ leading think tanks and nongovernmental organizations and is a regular guest lecturer at leading U.S. colleges and universities He earned his master’s degree in international relations from Boston University.

President Radenka Maric (UConn Health School of Medicine and School of Dental Medicine – Monday, May 6, 1:00 p.m. – Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts)

On September 28, 2022, Radenka Maric was named the 17th president of the University of Connecticut by the Board of Trustees. Prior to that, she had served as UConn’s vice president for research, innovation, and entrepreneurship for five years, starting in 2017.

As president, Dr. Maric has spearheaded new programs to promote interdisciplinary, multi-campus, multi-stakeholder collaborations; and student-focused initiatives designed to strengthen and empower the entire UConn community.

Dr. Maric also holds the rank of Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor and Chair Professor in Sustainable Energy in UConn’s Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering.

Dr. Maric is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academy of Inventors, and the International Association of Advanced Materials, and is an elected member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering.

Dr. Maric is a world leader in technologies for clean energy and sustainability. She has developed innovative manufacturing processes involved in fuel cell technologies, storage materials, and electrochemical sensors for health applications, leading to higher-performance, commercially viable clean energy systems.

Ruth Simmons Ph.D. (Doctor of Humane Letters, Graduate School – Doctoral Ceremony – Monday, May 6, 6:00 p.m. – Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts)

Ruth Simmons served as president of Smith College from 1995 to 2001; Brown University from 2001 to 2012; and Prairie View A&M University from 2017 to 2023.

A French professor before entering university administration, Simmons held an appointment as a Professor of Comparative Literature and Africana Studies at Brown. After completing her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures at Harvard, she served in various faculty and administrative roles at the University of Southern California, Princeton University, and Spelman College before becoming president of Smith College, the largest women’s college in the United States. At Smith, she launched a number of important academic initiatives, including an engineering program, the first at an American women’s college.

Under her leadership, Brown made significant strides in improving its standing as one of the world’s finest research universities.

After five years of retirement, she accepted an invitation to become president of Prairie View, an HBCU in her native Texas. Her tenure as president saw significant increases in both scholarships and donations.

Stephen Bright, JD (School of Law – Sunday, May 12, 10:30 a.m. – UConn School of Law)

Stephen Bright is a capital defense lawyer who has argued and won four death penalty cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bright is the Harvey L. Karp Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School, as well as Visiting Associate Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center. He recently published “The Fear of Too Much Justice: Race, Poverty, and the Persistence of Inequality in the Criminal Courts” with former UConn Law professor James Kwak.

In addition, Bright and his Supreme Court cases are the subject of the newly-published book by Boston University School of Law’s Robert L. Tsai, “Demand the Impossible: One Lawyer’s Pursuit of Equal Justice for All.” The Court reversed all four cases in favor of Bright’s clients. Three cases involved racial discrimination in jury selection and the fourth involved the right to a mental health expert for an indigent person facing the death penalty.

He served as director of the Southern Center for Human Rights from 1982 to 2005, and as its president and senior counsel from 2006 to 2016. Bright received the American Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award in 1998.

Fitzgerald currently serves as Vice Dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Arizona and has a multifaceted background as an administrator, as well as an artist and educator in the field of lighting design.

“Deanna brings an extensive background and record of achievement in managing complex budgets, overseeing endowment and scholarship distributions, and leading strategic initiatives,” says Anne D’Alleva, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. “This speaks to her ability to navigate the administrative challenges of higher education while remaining focused on the core mission of fostering student success and artistic excellence. Her reputation as a creative, transparent, empathetic, and pragmatic leader aligns well with the School of Fine Arts values and priorities.”

Fitzgerald’s appointment begins August 1, 2024.

“I couldn’t be more excited to lead the next chapter of the excellent and important work being done in the School of Fine Arts at the University of Connecticut,” says Fitzgerald. “The determination of the faculty toward student success and the institution’s commitment to the Arts is indisputable. I look forward to getting to know all who are invested and dedicated to UConn SFA, and rallying them toward a bright future in which the Arts are integral to all that UConn does and the communities it serves.”

Academic Experience

Fitzgerald joins UConn School of Fine Arts with 20 years of experience in higher education. Prior to joining the University of Arizona in 2020, she served at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory as the Special Events Production Manager and the University of Utah’s Marriott Center for Dance as the Resident Lighting Designer and Technical Director and as an assistant professor.

Other academic ranks in Fitzgerald’s career at the University of Arizona include Associate Dean for Academic and Student Success, Director of Graduate Studies, Associate Director of the School of Music, Associate Director for Theatre programs, and Interim Director of the School of Dance.

She earned a bachelor’s degree at Flagler College in Florida and her master’s degree at the University of Cincinnati-Conservatory of Music in Ohio.

Career in the Arts

Fitzgerald has contributed her lighting design skills to numerous domestic and international projects such as the premiere of the Las Vegas adaptation of STOMP Out Loud and tours of the original STOMP production, the Cirque Mechanics: Boom Town tour, Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo, La Boheme, and more.

She is a regular designer for the Rogue Theatre in Arizona and has created designs for the San Francisco Opera’s Merola and Coconut Grove Playhouse’s Young Artist programs. Fitzgerald also created original dance designs for choreographers including Deborah Hay, Ben Levy, and Andy Vaca.

She is also a published author. Her works include the book “The Heart of Light: A Holistic Primer to a Life and Career in Lighting Design,” and the articles “An Introduction to Neurodiversity for the Lighting Designer and Educator,” and “Contemplative Practices for Designers, Technicians and other Theatre Professionals.”

Other Prestigious Roles

Fitzgerald currently serves on the Western Region Exam Committee for United Scenic Artists and as a General Editor for Theatre Design and Technology magazine.

Previously, she has served on the Boards of Directors for the University Resident Theatre Association and the United States Institute of Theatre Technology and fulfilled other roles with notable companies such as the Cincinnati Ballet, the Opera Theatre Music Festival in Lucca, Italy.

Next Steps

Fitzgerald will take over for Interim Dean Alain Frogley, who served in the position for two years. Frogley will return to the position of SFA Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, Research and Creative Practices full-time once Fitzgerald’s appointment begins.

“The entire SFA community is thrilled by the appointment of Deanna Fitzgerald as our new Dean,” says Frogley. “Her multi-faceted administrative experience and inclusive vision will be crucial as we enter a new era for the school and for higher education.”

“Sincerest thanks to Alain Frogley for his dedicated service as Interim Dean of the School,” says D’Alleva. “His leadership has significantly contributed to the advancement and success of the arts at UConn over the past two years.”

The Goldwater Scholarship was established by Congress to honor the late U.S. Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, with the purpose of identifying students of outstanding ability and promise, and encouraging them to pursue advanced study and research careers. Scholars receive one- or two-year awards that cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year. Lin is among just 438 students selected nationally for the award this year for the first time from a pool of more than 5,000 applicants.

Lin has performed research in the lab of associate professor of chemistry Tomoyasu Mani since his freshman year.

“Research is the reason I was able to get the Goldwater Scholarship,” says Lin. “Without the help of Dr. Mani and the other students in the lab teaching and training me, I would not have been able to reach where I am now.”

Besides Mani, Lin also credits Sam Johnson ’22 (CLAS), who was a UConn undergraduate during Lin’s freshman year and is now a doctoral student at Cal Tech, and current graduate assistant Miu Tsuji as mentors for his success.

Lin currently leads the lab’s efforts to develop emissive molecular qubits for quantum sensing and control applications. His proposed project aims to provide a new way to control molecular emissivity, which will allow the lab to improve the magnetic sensitivity of molecular qubits.

“Since he joined my lab in 2021 as a freshman, Neo has consistently impressed me with his dedication to research,” says Mani. “Neo possesses inquisitive thinking, a quality we aim to foster in our students. His first paper began with his keen observation of peculiar behaviors in the molecules he isolated from what we initially deemed a ‘failed’ reaction. This seemingly minor observation led us to uncover that electron transfer reactions within these molecules do not follow the conventional temperature dependence. Neo is pushing the boundaries of what undergraduate students can accomplish in research.

“I look forward to Neo’s continued progress for another year at UConn, and I am confident that he will continue to make significant contributions to our research.”

Lin is a consistent Dean’s List student at UConn and was named a University Scholar for the fall of 2023, just one of 15 juniors to earn that distinction.

He earned an IDEA grant for the 2024-25 academic year, which will support his own research project at UConn.

Lin was a science undergraduate laboratory intern at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, in the summer of 2023.

“For people who want to get into research, I would recommend they get into it as soon as possible,” says Lin. “You can begin building opportunities right away and as the professors gain trust in you, you will get more opportunities to expand your network.”

Lin originally came to UConn on a pre-medicine track, but decided to concentrate on chemistry the more he found out how much he enjoyed research.

“When you know you are contributing to society, it really feels validating,” says Lin.

Lin plans on attending graduate school in the chemistry area and would like to work in academia, industry or the government sector in his future.

He is also a member of the Chinese Undergraduate Student Association at UConn.

“Neo has continued to grow as a researcher, and I am very glad that the Goldwater committee has recognized this,” says Michael Cunningham, the assistant director of the Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships and UConn’s Goldwater Scholarship campus representative. “I have no doubt that he will eventually become a leader in the field of quantum information science.”

The Office of National Scholarships & Fellowships (ONSF) is a resource for students interested in learning more about the Goldwater Scholarship and other prestigious scholarships and fellowships that support study in all fields. ONSF is part of Enrichment Programs and is open to all graduate and undergraduate students at the University, including students at the regional campuses. For more information about the Goldwater Scholarship and other prestigious, nationally-competitive awards, visit ONSF at www.onsf.uconn.edu. 

This year, two new award categories were added, including the Faculty Award for Community Impact, recognizing engaged scholarship work beyond research and teaching, and the Institutional Transformation Award, which honors those who transform UConn’s ability to align instruction, research, practice, and values in service of the common good.

Please join us in congratulating the following 2024 PAECES winners:

Faculty Category

Stephany Santos

Emerging Faculty Instructor Award

Associate Director of the Vergnano Institute for Inclusion and an assistant professor-in-residence in Biomedical Engineering, Santos is known for her devotion to equity in access and experience within the STEM field stemming back from her work as a UConn undergraduate.

Since 2012, Santos has been an instructor for the Institute’s BRIDGE program, a five-week summer immersive for incoming UConn Engineering students from underrepresented groups to bridge the gap between high school and college. She recently co-developed and co-instructed a new course supporting underrepresented STEM women. Known as the BOSS LADI course, it is designed to build students’ confidence, communication, and leadership skills, particularly for Black and Latinx women in STEM, so that they have the agency to step into leadership roles and know their ability to affect change.

Her other innovative courses and programs include Exploring Mechanics: The Multiscale Mechanics of ME!, a camp and workshop for middle school girls, and the School of Engineering’s annual Explore Engineering event for high school students. She has taught multiple instances of the Engineering for Impact (ENGR 3025), a leadership development course for present and future leaders of engineering student organizations, including the National Society for Black Engineers, the Society of Professional Hispanic Engineers, and the Society for Women Engineers.

Santos has also focused on improving how faculty and staff in STEM fields support students from underrepresented groups, where she has been essential in developing critical DEI workshops and training opportunities. One example is the Inclusive Justice, Equity, Transformation (or JET) program initiated in the Fall of 2020, which has participants meet regularly to review DEI best practices, learn from current DEI literature, and work on action-oriented projects that each can bring back to their departments or classrooms.

Previously awarded the Inspiring STEM Equitability Award by the Connecticut Technology Council,  Santos was named one of only five UConn Office of Diversity and Inclusion Faculty Affiliates in 2021.

Professor Dan Burkey

Distinguished Faculty Instructor Award

Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education and Diversity for the School of Engineering and professor-in-residence in the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department, Burkey is revered as a creative, out-of-the-box thinker and educator dedicated to introducing UConn students to real-world issues and challenges.

One example of his work includes the UConn service-learning program with the WeHa Unified Business Club, an organization run by students from the Hall and Conard high schools in West Hartford dedicated to helping their peers with disabilities develop their micro-businesses. Burkey has partnered with the club for the past three years to have 220 first-year UConn engineering students work on nationally featured inclusive design projects to benefit young adults on the autism spectrum.

Burkey has also sought novel ways for students to understand and apply key engineering concepts such as process safety and ethical decision-making. Using two educational grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF),  Burkey has worked with collaborators to develop a set of game-based pedagogies that allow instructors to “change the rules” by having students consider actions and pathways that may not usually be considered, including a video game played by engineering students at institutions nationwide. In recognition of this work, Burkey received the 2020 Award for Innovation in Chemical Engineering Education from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

In 2017,  Burkey was elected to serve as director of the AIChE Education Division. In this role, he created the Future Faculty Mentoring Program. It has matched approximately 100 senior graduate students with established faculty to help them develop their research and teaching ideas before applying to faculty positions. This work on a national scale mirrors his work at UConn, where he created the Undergraduate Teaching, Mentoring, and Leadership Program in the School of Engineering (ENG), which has provided more than 500 additional teaching assistants for the college since 2014.

Since joining UConn, he has become a five-time recipient of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Educator of the Year award and was inducted into the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE).

 Tatiana Andreyeva

Emerging Faculty Community Impact Award

Tatiana Andreyeva, an associate professor in Agricultural and Resource Economics, has been the Director of Economic Initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health since 2008. In this role, she has provided critical expertise for its work through her outstanding community engagement scholarship surrounding the critical social issues of food insecurity and nutritional health experienced throughout Connecticut, the U.S., and the world.

Since joining UConn in 2015, Andreyeva has received 26 grants from government and non-government sources to support her research program, with funders including the World Health Organization, United States Department of Agriculture, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, American Heart Association, and the Connecticut Department of Public Health.

Andreyeva is a national expert on the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), where she has worked closely with CT state government offices to document the impact of strengthening the nutrition standards of CACFP, as well as the barriers to implementing this program. She has further examined CACFP implementation nationwide to make actionable, community-based recommendations to ensure children from low-income households can access better nutrition.

Andreyeva has also built a national reputation internationally as a food and beverage tax policy expert. She, alongside economist Frank Chaloupka (University of Illinois at Chicago), created an online sugary drink tax calculator that allows policymakers and advocates to calculate the predicted revenue from a sugary drink tax based on several parameters. The World Health Organization also invited her in 2018 and 2019 to conduct reviews on the impact of food prices on dietary and health outcomes and the fiscal and pricing policies on foods and non-alcoholic beverages.

At the state and local level, Andreyeva has partnered with the CT Department of Public Health to create 11 evidence-based training modules for future childcare providers and to research the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on obesity-related factors in young children through close collaboration with the CT WIC office, Hartford-based physicians, CT employers, and mothers who gave birth between 2020 and 2024.

Andreyeva also actively promotes community-engaged work in her field through her co-creation and direction of the Tufts University/University of Connecticut Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics (RIDGE) program. Funded by the USDA Economic Research Service, RIDGE supports scholars conducting economic research on food assistance programs to guide subsequent policy changes.

 Angela Bermúdez-Millán

Distinguished Faculty Community Impact Award

An associate professor-in-residence in Public Health Sciences, Bermúdez-Millán has dedicated her career to direct and intentional engagement with communities vulnerable to food insecurity and related health issues – a path which she has paved through her scholarship and teaching.

Central to Bermúdez-Millán’s research is a focus on the social determinants of health in minority populations and their effects is a community-based participatory framework. One of her works examines the impact of food insecurity on dietary quality, emotional eating, binge eating, mental distress, and diabetes markers to inform the development of a decisive, culturally appropriate community-based intervention for food-insecure Latinas at risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Bermúdez-Millán and her collaborators also gathered quantitative and qualitative data to inform the design of a community-based intervention promoting appropriate and healthy weight through increased fruit and vegetable consumption among overweight/obese, low-income children participating in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program.

As a co-investigator in the Diabetes Risk Reduction Through Eat, Walk, Sleep and Medication Theory Management (DREAM) study, Bermúdez-Millán developed a community health worker nutrition intervention targeting depressed Cambodians. These are just a few examples of the embeddedness of local communities within her work.

Aside from the many forms of community-based participation in her research, Bermúdez-Millán intentionally engages community experts and stakeholders in her teaching, lecturing alongside organizations like the Hartford Food System, the Hispanic Health Council, Foodshare Institute, and End Hunger Connecticut. She also developed the Introduction to Interprofessional Public Health Practice, a community-engaged graduate-level course required for all master’s in public health (MPH) students.

Bermúdez-Millán also revised and taught the Food, Health, and Politics graduate seminar, which attracts UConn MPH, dual degree, public policy, social work, and allied health students and students from Trinity College. She developed the Public Health Nutrition graduate seminar, which introduces community and global principles and practices of public health nutrition. She co-precepts the MPH Practicum, a course designed to allow students to integrate public health theory and practice into practical, real-life experiences that serve the greater community through placement in specific community-based organizations such as the Hispanic Health Council Family Nutrition Program and the Bristol Health Department.

Roman Shrestha

Emerging Faculty Research Scholar Award

Roman Shrestha, an assistant professor in Allied Health Sciences, is known for his innovative methods in overcoming barriers to healthcare access, engaging critical stakeholders who can effect change, and building community capacity to sustain positive changes.  Shrestha’s research centers on health disparities in sexual and gender minority (SGM) communities, with a specific focus on HIV, substance use, and mental health. With a solid foundation in public health and community-engaged research, he develops and implements evidence-based interventions and leverages digital health technology to bridge gaps in healthcare accessibility and outcomes. He has long been committed to understanding and mitigating health disparities among marginalized populations, leading him to the forefront of research in SGM communities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) like Malaysia and Nepal.

Over the years, Shrestha has led and collaborated on several federally funded research projects globally. His community-engaged approach involves working directly with diverse community stakeholders – including researchers, community members, healthcare systems, community-based organizations, and governmental agencies – to ensure a holistic and inclusive perspective in addressing health disparities among SGM communities.

Shrestha is also involved with the Community Advisory Board (CAB), which comprises representatives from rural and urban settings, including researchers, members of the LGBTI+ community, clinicians, and community leaders. Additionally, he actively engages with other stakeholders such as the Ministry of Health, the Malaysian AIDS Council, clinical partners, and various NGOs, working directly with key populations and international donors to facilitate research impact in the community.

Shrestha utilizes innovative methodologies in his research, including leveraging cutting-edge digital health technologies to scale up HIV prevention and treatment and other support services (e.g., mental health, addiction) in marginalized populations. He recently completed two projects in Malaysia: one which implemented Malaysia’s first web-based HIV self-testing platform, which was conducted in collaboration with the Malaysian Ministry of Health, and another that developed and evaluated the first ‘clinic-affiliated’ smartphone app that offers a discreet means for members of SGM populations to access HIV prevention, mental health, and gender-affirming support services in the face of multifaceted barriers in Malaysia.

Shrestha’s willingness to mentor other budding scientists and build the capacity of the community members further demonstrates his excellence in community-engaged scholarship. He serves on the ‘Multidisciplinary Advisory Committee’ on several NIH-funded training institutes and, as part of his expanding digital health research portfolio in Malaysia, his team has established the multidisciplinary mHealth Capacity Building (MCB) committee to enhance the capabilities of researchers, clinicians, and members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Richard Pomp

Distinguished Faculty Research Scholar Award

The Alva P. Loiselle Professor of Law and Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Richard Pomp’s services represent a sustained record of a profound impact on the daily lives of citizens and the structure of government and have made him indispensable to many legislatures throughout our country and the world.

Pomp is among the most sought-after UConn professors as a visiting scholar, consultant, and expert witness. He has provided services to the governors and legislatures of nearly half the states and has served as an expert witness on tax disputes in over 100 instances. His testimony is often cited by judges in their opinions.

He has authored or co-authored numerous briefs to the United States Supreme Court, with his argument prevailing in most cases. Among them was the landmark decision in Wayfair v. South Dakota, which established the right of states to tax their residents’ online purchases from out-of-state vendors, reaching up to $13 billion in otherwise missing tax receipts and contributing to the public coffers of the states.

Pomp has also been a leading force in global taxation. In 1979, he was part of the first group of four tax academics invited to the People’s Republic of China since the Cultural Revolution. Professor Pomp was key in establishing the Law School’s exchange program with a Chinese institution, and many Chinese students came to the Law School to study with him.

Pomp further designed an independent tax court for New York and reformed that state’s personal and corporate income tax. He also helped draft the Zambian value-added tax, the Navajo tax code, the Connecticut income tax, the Alaskan personal income tax (currently pending adoption), the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act, and parts of the Uniform Division of Income for Tax Purposes Act (as proposed by the Multistate Tax Commission).

Pomp has served as an advisor to cities, states, the Multistate Tax Commission, the Navajo Nation, the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Treasury, the Department of Justice, the IRS, the UN, the IMF, the World Bank, and numerous foreign countries, including Indonesia, Gambia, Zambia, Mexico, the Philippines, Pakistan, India, and Vietnam. His services bring skill, energy, and focus to this field in a way that has improved government operation and the fairness of our tax regimes in scores of jurisdictions in the U.S. and worldwide.

Student Category

Erin Cova

Graduate Student Award

A graduate student in the School of Medicine, Erin Cova has dedicated her time, energy, and research to advancing health equity. She is the co-founder of the UConn Health Leaders (UCHL), a program whose mission is to train the next generation of healthcare providers who will address the social determinants of health for patients throughout Connecticut. Cova has collaborated closely with local primary care clinics to assist them in identifying and addressing the unmet social needs of their patient populations, including performing community assessments to determine available resources and establishing a partnership with local community organizations to create a patient resource referral system.

Cova was instrumental in establishing the UCHL program’s inaugural clinical site, which has grown to encompass multiple sites across the state, three of which she oversees. As site coordinator, she has served over 3,000 hours, acting as a point of contact for clinic staff, performing site evaluations and training, advising over 200 volunteers, and briefing medical providers regarding the results of their patients’ screenings to enhance holistic patient care.

Cova further developed an intervention screening tool that volunteers continue to use across clinical sites, enabling them to screen patients for social risk factors and provide them with resources during the same encounter. After four years, the UCHL program has trained over 350 UConn volunteers, screened over 12,000 people, and addressed over 2,500 social needs. Cova has disseminated findings from the UCHL program at multiple local, regional, and national meetings and through a peer-reviewed publication in the Journal of General Internal Medicine (JGIM) to inform future practice further.

Aside from her dedicated leadership in the UCHL program, Cova shows a passion for preparing pre-health undergraduate students for their future careers, mentoring individual students both one-on-one and through an annual lecture series focused on guiding them through the graduate school application process, helping them to find summer internships, and advising them on their overall career goals. She has further organized panels of health professionals and graduate students to provide UCHL volunteers with specific information and networking opportunities regarding careers in health care. Through her mentorship, other students have been inspired to create health-equity-based programs addressing lung and breast cancer screening disparities.

Letian Sun

Undergraduate Student Award

A second-year political science student, Letian Sun founded the Housing Community Project for the Storrs community, acting as a policy analyst to gather reflections from the community that will inform a policy paper on future housing developments in the area. Additionally, Sun has directly applied his major within state government, including his most recent position within the Office of Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont. In this role, he assists constituents in resolving their voiced issues, often collaborating with other departments, participating in assembly conferences, and drafting valuable policy memos and proclamations that have improved government accessibility and responsiveness.

Aside from his professional and research activities, Sun has formed running groups that connect local and international UConn students and perform charity shows with UConn’s Piano Club.

Staff Category

Megan Delaney

Staff Award

Joining UConn’s School of Pharmacy in 2020, Megan Delaney has dedicated herself to the University community, specifically UConn students. Since then, she has served as the sole academic advisor for over 120 students in the pre-professional program and numerous prospective students to support them through their educational trajectories and future careers.

In addition to formal academic advising, she operates the Pharmacy Learning Community, organizing events and teaching over 40 learning community seminars. She further plays a crucial role in three School of Pharmacy committees and advocates for students and staff as a School of Pharmacy Representative in the Regional Campus Forum and Undergraduate Advising Council.

Outside of academic advising, Delaney is the advisor of the Wellness Committee’s Holistic Wellness Subcommittee. In this role, she led the initiative to establish the ‘Wellness Locker,’ a locker containing personal hygiene and menstrual products for School of Pharmacy community members in need. She also started a pharmacy peer advising program in 2023 that connects pre-professional students with professional student mentors, allowing student pharmacists to build transferable skills for their future clinical practice. Due to the program’s success, it has been used as the basis for an upcoming Academia Track for professional students interested in becoming pharmacy educators.

Delaney’s dedication to student success can be traced to her previous role as an academic advisor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), where she supported students who were academically at risk and co-founded the college’s Staff Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Cohort. Additionally, in her Ed.D. capstone project, Systematic Whiteness, Racial Consciousness, and Deconstructing Becky(s): A Phenomenological Study of White Women STEM Academic Advisors, she analyzed how the advising practices utilized at historically white institutions (by academic advisors who tend to be white women) can negatively impact the experience of BIPOC students. She made further recommendations that have the potential to have a significant impact on the UConn community, including professional development focused on anti-racism for white advisors, the review of university hiring practices, and having UConn as an institution take a firmer stance on the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access.

Community Partner Category

Auerfarm

Community Partner Award

A 120-acre, non-profit, educational farm situated in Bloomfield, Connecticut, Auerfarm has functioned as a vital partner for UConn Extension and an indispensable resource for linking the university to the diverse population it serves. UConn staff, students, and participants in various Extension programs benefit from using the Auerfarm facilities for hands-on field experiences and collaborations.

Annually, over 12,000 youth participate in 4-H educational programming at the farm. These programs include seven weeks of summer 4-H Camping, 4-H STEM school programs, 4-H Clubs, 4-H particular interest field trips, and 4-H after-school enrichment. Auerfarm further provides facility space for grant-based activities that were developed in partnership with UConn and include the National 4-H Council Pollinator Pathway Grant; USDA grants, including the UConn Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) Healthy Homes Project; and the Food, Agriculture, and Career Biotechnology 4-H Program.

Auerfarm is home to the UConn Master Gardeners Garden, a 1⁄4-acre garden annually serving as a teaching space for over 200 gardeners. This civic-oriented program addresses critical societal issues around food deserts and underserved populations while contributing to the public good. Annually, the garden harvests nearly two tons of food for Connecticut Foodshare.

Auerfarm has partnered with UConn faculty in scholarly presentations for the National Association of 4-H Youth Development Professionals, the National Ag in the Classroom Conference, and the National Association for the Education of Young Children. This willingness to collaborate on scholarship-applied research grants and other creative activities dramatically enhances the UConn 4-H program.

Herb Virgo, Keney Park Sustainability Project

Community Partner Award

Founded and directed by Herb Virgo, the Keney Park Sustainability Project (KPSP) has been an essential community partner for many units and faculty at UConn and with external organizations within the Hartford area. It has served Hartford communities with comprehensive health, nutrition, and environmental education programming for over 15 years.

KPSP was established to provide hands-on training, on-site demonstrations, outreach, and community collaborations that help Hartford families become more self-sustainable and environmentally conscious while preserving historic Keney Park. KPSP’s experiential opportunities for community members include urban agriculture, beekeeping, mushroom production, aquaponics, animal husbandry, forest management, composting, maple syrup production, stormwater collection, and woodworking.

Virgo has worked tirelessly to bring together community stakeholders – from city government, universities, businesses, organizations, and community members – to facilitate environmental stewardship efforts throughout Keney Park and provide enriching programs that offer a multitude of benefits to community members (including nutrition education, building social capital among community members, and developing environmental literacy).

Virgo coordinates part-time staff and over 2,000 volunteers to facilitate KPSP’s operations and programs throughout the 693-acre public park. He has guided the development and sustainability of community-based food systems, including farmers’ markets, greenhouses, community gardens, school-based gardening, home gardens, a composting site, an aquaponics farm, and a backyard-raised garden program. Many of these projects have been co-created and co-developed with Hartford residents, including youth served by the community garden sites, Youth Service Corps volunteers (through KPSP’s youth job-training program), and additional lifelong learners and community volunteers.

In addition, Virgo and KPSP have helped to redevelop a significant portion of the trails within Keney Park, including three years of managing a state-funded trails project. Virgo has also managed the installation of 15 miles of trails in Keney Park, a project that required the collaboration of multiple organizations, local and state entities, volunteers, and contractors.

KPSP has partnered with UConn departments and programs since 2018. Hundreds of students, faculty, and staff from 13 UConn colleges and schools have volunteered thousands of hours with KPSP. A few of the successful programs that have resulted include partnerships with food and agriculture extension faculty to support urban farmers, working with faculty in pharmacy to assist with wellness pop-up events for Hartford residents, and partnering with faculty in natural resources on urban forestry efforts. He has been a vital community partner in tying resources at UConn into the critical community-based work of KPSP, which has enormously impacted Hartford communities.

Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (MPTN)

Community Partner Award

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (MPTN) began a close partnership with UConn through the Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program (FRTEP), a USDA-NIFA funded project initiated in 2017 as a response to the need to enhance food security and sovereignty within the MPTN while also reducing rates of childhood and adolescent obesity and Type II diabetes within the tribe. The program was designed with specific objectives to increase the capacity of the agricultural enterprise on Tribal land, to provide workforce development training for Tribal members, and to deliver health and nutrition education to reduce obesity and diabetes in young people.

Tribal needs for Extension programming in agriculture, workforce development, youth development, nutrition, health, Pequot language, and cultural preservation were identified and prioritized through multiple meetings, interviews, and a focus group discussion. Tribal leaders, members, and the UConn FRTEP team (including crop specialists, 4-H, nutrition Extension educators, and business planning and evaluation specialists) participated.

The FRTEP project has achieved several measurable outcomes since 2017. The project goal to improve food security in the MPTN was accomplished by establishing a meechooôk farm and cultivating more land. Since 2022, the meechooôk farm-grown produce and meat have been distributed to 180 Tribal community members (15 percent of the MPTN population) every other week in food boxes. Additionally, 30 diabetic patients have been prescribed fresh produce from the farm since 2022, supported by the Food Rx Program. Over 8,000 lbs. of produce were harvested in 2023, and farm products are being sold at the Foxwoods Resort and Casino and local supermarkets. Additionally, the project has encouraged more households to start their backyard gardens.

The FRTEP project has significantly strengthened the relationship between UConn Extension and MPTN. The FRTEP grant has built on the relationships and infrastructures that have enabled MPTN to secure additional funding from other agencies, including USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service and the Native American Agricultural Fund. The project’s success has led to the creation of the MPTN Department of Agriculture in 2021, which continues the education, nutrition, and farming work previously done in collaboration with UConn Extension.

Donald Swinton

Community Partner Award

As Senior Director of Development for the School of Engineering at the UConn Foundation, Donald Swinton has built a successful development operation. Over 15 years, he has raised over $95 million in funding and sponsorship for many institutes and research centers that drive economic development, foster groundbreaking academic research, and prepare highly trained students.

Swinton has leveraged business-facing relationships that have had a direct and far-reaching impact on the ability of the School of Engineering to produce students capable of meeting the ever-evolving needs of industry and innovating next-generation solutions. His ongoing contributions have enriched scholarship, research, and creative activity and enhanced curriculum, teaching, and learning in transformative ways. Swinton has also helped advance diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as human rights and sustainability in the engineering field through the development of crucial university institutes, including:

The Vergnano Institute, Altschuler Cybersecurity Laboratory, Eversource Energy Center for Excellence, UConn-FEI Center for Excellence in Microscopy & Materials Characterization, Pratt & Whitney Scholars Program, Cigna Computer Science Scholars Program, Krenicki Institute for Arts & Engineering, United Technology Institute for Advanced Systems Engineering, Engineering for Human Rights Institute, Avangrid Clean Earth Partnership, Nursing and Engineering Innovation Center, and the Belimo Scholars Program.

Building on a three-decade effort by the School of Engineering to diversify student recruitment by collaborating with Mark and Betsy Vergnano and other prominent alums, he transformed the College’s Bridge to Engineering program – scaffolded recruitment, mentorship, and professional development initiative for under-represented students – into the nationally recognized Vergnano Institute that has positioned UConn as a leader in transforming the face of the engineering field.

Another example is the Eversource Energy Center, which is both a catalyst for groundbreaking research on storm preparedness and a new study on the transition from conventional energy to a green energy economy using wind, solar, hydrogen, and other new forms of power. Swinton wrote the 2011 proposal that created the center and, in the years since, has generated $30 million in support. Faculty and students involved in the center work with ENG and CAHNR, CLAS, and Social Work colleagues on various issues related to equitable access to energy and public opinion on energy transitions.

Throughout his tenure, Swinton has also had a hand in organizing numerous outreach events promoting School of Engineering industry partnerships, such as the Sikorsky Helicopter UConn Fly-in, Pratt & Whitney Nights, and the IPB monthly Connecticut Manufacturers’ Meet-Up. In October 2022, he organized a conference that brought elected, industry, research, and advocacy leaders together to showcase new UConn research and its potential implications.

Institutional Transformation Category

UConn Writing Center

Institutional Transformation Award

Formed through the UConn Writing Center in 2009, the Secondary School Outreach Program supports learners and educators through mutually beneficial programming and developing strong learning communities centered around literacy. The Outreach Program engages the vast network of teachers affiliated with the Connecticut Writing Project to source teacher recruits as tutors for high school writing centers and to encourage middle and high schools to create their own. Beginning with just one tutor, one high school teacher, and one school, the program has grown to fit an increasing demand, with approximately 70 writing centers currently operating.

Through the Secondary School Outreach Program, the UConn Writing Center has created an initiative throughout northeast Connecticut that includes three signature activities: an intensive collaboration with one new secondary school each year, an annual conference on and for secondary school writing centers, and ongoing programmatic support for writing center teachers.

The Outreach Program also regularly provides opportunities for faculty and students in secondary schools across the state to visit the UConn Writing Center and partake in tutor-led learning activities to strengthen their tutoring skills and approaches and learn how to create their own programs.

The Writing Center’s Secondary School Outreach Conference attracts hundreds of secondary school administrators, faculty, and students with the opportunity to enhance their understanding and practices surrounding secondary school peer tutoring. Importantly, students also present their work and lead workshops at the conference, which allows them to showcase their knowledge and skills and to serve as a resource for others. With learner-created and centered presentations and activities, the conference provides myriad opportunities for collaboration and growth.

The impact of the Outreach Program is tremendous. With an estimated ten student tutors per school across 70 schools over 17 years, the program has reached almost 12,000 students who are now trained as tutors and support countless other students in peer writing centers across the state. High school students formerly trained by undergraduate tutors are now coming to UConn and seeking employment as writing tutors. The UConn Writing Center has also worked closely with the Neag School of Education and the Early College Experience (ECE) program to recruit pre-service English teachers to become involved in writing center outreach as relevant pre-career experience.

Nadine Brennan, David Embrick, Cynthia Miranda-Donnelly, Janice Castle, and Kim Schwartz, the Research on Resilient Cities, Racism, & Equity Initiative (RRCRE)

Institutional Transformation Award

Nadine Brennan is the Associate Campus Director at UConn Hartford. Chief among her responsibilities is establishing and maintaining partnerships with community organizations in the greater Hartford area.

David Embrick is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Africana Studies with an appointment as Director of UConn Hartford’s Research on Resilient Cities, Racism, & Equity Initiative (RRCRE).

Cynthia Miranda-Donnelly is Director of Finance and Operations at UConn Hartford.

Janice Castle is the Director of the Office of Community Engagement for the City of Hartford.

Kim Schwarz is the Director of Event Services at UConn Hartford. Since the opening of the campus, she has forged partnerships with Hartford-based event venues and restaurants to support programming for students and our extended communities.

In a short period, this team has formed a collaboration that has helped advance the newly established UConn Hartford campus as a central hub for community engagement in the city, developing innovative programs that deliver place-based, authentic, and high-impact learning opportunities that resonate with students and Hartford community members.

Building on scholarship in Psychological Science, Human Development and Family Sciences, Social Work, Public Policy, Business, Law, Urban and Community Studies, and other Hartford-based units, this team leverages the campus’s proximity to state and local government, corporate entities, other regional academic institutions, and non-profit and arts organizations to support students, enhance research productivity, and serve the wider community.

The first of its kind at a regional campus in the university system, Research on Resilient Cities, Racism, & Equity Initiative (RRCRE) has been a catalyst for this community-engaged work. RRCRE serves as a collaborative research hub that integrates and enhances the global urban studies scholarship and community practice of UConn Hartford’s faculty by connecting their projects to community-relevant initiatives.

The collaboration of Brennan, Schwarz, Miranda-Donnelly, Castle, and Embrick has manifested this work by building essential relationships with local organizations and submitting grant proposals for new research projects. The team has built partnerships with organizations such as The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, MetroHartford Alliance, Hartford Urban League, iQuilt, Keney Park Sustainability Project, Connecticut Health Foundation, Charter Oak Cultural Center, HartBeat Ensemble, Trinity College, and the University of Hartford.

The team has drawn on these partnerships to apply for and receive numerous grants. The “Hartford Love Your Block—Oral Histories and Evaluation Project,” supported by a $60,000 grant from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, brings researchers, students, community members, local philanthropic foundations, and government officials together to examine and find solutions to challenges in some of Hartford’s most historically underserved and marginalized neighborhoods. Utilizing data analytics and GIS survey tools, the Hartford Project supports the evaluation and sustainability of local community beautification efforts while building democratic participation in city and state governments.

RRCRE also received a $2.9 million U.S. Department of Commerce: Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program grant to build research infrastructure, create jobs, and provide learning pathways and opportunities for Hartford’s youth. The most significant single regional campus grant ever awarded, the Connecting Minority Communities Program, also supports UConn students as part of our federally designated Minority Serving Institution status.

The Women’s Center for Motion and Performance at UConn Health is built on a foundation of sports medicine expertise, but it’s designed for any women, athlete or not.

Led by Dr. Katherine Coyner, the director, and Dr. Allison Schafer, the medical director, both from UConn Health Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, the Women’s Center for Motion and Performance combines services from a range of specialties, any of which could have relevance to help a patient retain or regain her mobility.

Those specialties include Coyner’s, which is orthopedic surgery, and Schafer’s, primary care sports medicine, as well as psychology, lifestyle medicine and weight management, neurology, osteoporosis and bone health, and physical therapy.

“Dr. Schafer and I are both super fortunate we get to take care of amazing athletes in UConn Athletics and, leveraging our knowledge and experience there, we’re transitioning to being able to treat everybody,” Coyner says. “We have all these resources right here at UConn Health to treat everybody, and that patient we’re targeting is women of all ages and activity levels that just want to either stay active or become active.”

Debuting today, this care model features a dedicated nurse navigator tasked with guiding each patient’s care.

“We’re all integrated in this system to really provide this seamless, cohesive care plan for our patients,” Schafer says. “As we schedule patient appointments in these different subspecialties, sometimes it can get very confusing why they’re going certain places. Sometimes it can be difficult to keep track of your appointments. So our nurse navigator is really going to help see them through each of these subspecialties.”

Hear Schafer and Coyner explain in greater detail in the latest UConn Health Pulse podcast:

Keeping Women Moving

“Creating this virtual center allows our expert integrated multidisciplinary team to focus on the patient, to get them back to their active life,” says Anne Horbatuck, chief operating officer of the UConn Medical Group and vice president for ambulatory services at UConn Health. “This center creates the links between the specialty services that help our patients get the quality care they need at any age in an organized manner.”

The entry point for care at the Women’s Center for Motion and Performance at UConn Health is through the nurse navigator, whose direct line is 860-679-6330. Appointments are available at the main campus in Farmington, as well as UConn Health’s offices in Simsbury and Southington.

Learn more about the Women’s Center for Motion and Performance at UConn Health.

Today, Brand’s lab at UConn has licensed 27 plants, 33 royalty generating cultivars, 16 plant patents, 33 new plant introductions, and three registered trademarks over the last two decades. Brand has built a 20-year relationship working with UConn’s Technology Commercialization Services (TCS), which helped him license many of his breeds to prominent branding programs including Proven Winners, First Editions, Better Homes & Gardens, Ball Horticulture, and Walmart.

Brand, a UConn legacy whose father was an associate dean at the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources , remembers the “water shed moment” when his first plant, an ornamental grass known as Ruby Ribbons, was patented, and then licensed.

“At the time ornamental grasses were the in thing in landscape plants, they were relatively new. So Ruby Ribbons was patented and licensed by Ball Horticulture, which was very big for us and an international entity. That was a watershed moment where UConn Technology Commercialization realized, oh this might make sense to go down this road,” Brand says. “I had a royalty stream of income coming in so I could continue my work. It opened up my ability to get my plants patented and licensed.”

An element of breeding plants that Brand finds fascinating is conceptualizing an idea that may or may not work.

“When you grow the seedlings up it’s like opening presents, you never know what you’re going to get. You could bomb on everything and it doesn’t work, and other times it’s fascinating seeing what you get as plants grow, reach maturity, and start flowering,” he says.

Brand often prefers growing woody plants such as shrubs, which requires patience as their growth cycle can take time. He appreciates their permanence, knowing that they grow and remain in the landscape for decades, which means they help with climate control, soil stabilization and production, ecosystem water balance, carbon uptake and storage, and biodiversity.

Licensing Plants that Fight Climate Change

Brand hopes to continue breeding and developing ornamental plants that are better equipped to tolerate increasing environmental stresses including drought or heat. He’s also eager to grow more compact plants that work better in increasingly smaller residential yards and landscapes, but can also provide solutions to issues such as invasiveness and support of pollinators.

“I’m trying to create plants that can replace a lot of the plants that we seem to be losing due to climate change, drought, heat, and insects and disease issues that are becoming worse under climate change conditions,” he says.

Ash trees, for example, are one of many plants that he says people used 10 to 20 years ago, but are vanishing from the landscape.

“They’re just one of many. Many species don’t seem to live as long as they used to because now they get a particular disease or insect problem, but in the past you used to get them to grow to be a 50-foot tree. Now, they’re only a 20-foot tree before they succumb,” Brand says.

Going back to his roots as a teenage horticulturist, Brand remains laser focused on growing native plant species.

Initially, he recalls native plants were a tough sell.

“The average person will still want an exotic hydrangea with big giant blue or pink flowers, because some of the native plants on face value are less showy. At garden centers many people go for real glamy-looking plants,” he says, noting that this is changing, and the native market has steadily been growing with more consumers shifting to these plants.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), “native plants adapt to the local climate and soil conditions where they naturally occur. These important plant species provide nectar, pollen, and seeds that serve as food for native butterflies, insects, and other animals. Unlike natives, common horticultural plants do not provide energetic rewards for their visitors and often require insect pest control to survive… excessive carbon from the burning of fossil fuels contributes to global warming. Native plants sequester, or remove, carbon from the air. Native plants provide shelter and food for wildlife, promote biodiversity and stewardship of our natural heritage.”

The USDA also notes native plants do not require mowing or fertilizers, fewer pesticides, and can help reduce air pollution.

Brand’s lab recently introduced the NativeStar series of improved native shrubs. His breeding approach focuses on creating new plants using ploidy manipulation, mutation breeding, and interspecific and intergeneric hybridization. Current plants he is creating include Pieris, Clethra, shrub dogwoods, and yellow rhododendron.

The Brand Lab has developed a new fruit crop, which produces berries containing high levels of antioxidant anthocyanins and polyphenols. Brand also serves as co-principal investigator with his wife and fellow UConn horticulture professor, Jessica Lubell-Brand, on a project involving cannabis, industrial hemp, and repurposing hemp hurd for environmental benefits. Read more here.

“In a broad sense, pretty much everything that I’ve been breeding or developing has been to help promote and foster greater landscape plant use, which can only help when it comes to the condition of the climate,” he says.

On April 19, leaders from the two organizations recognized the newly named Pratt & Whitney Engineering Building in a ceremony at UConn Storrs.

The renaming of the building, formerly known as the United Technologies Engineering Building, served as a timely reminder of the interconnectedness of academia and industry. By bridging the gap between theory and practice, UConn and Pratt & Whitney are paving the way for transformative discoveries and advancements that will shape the future of engineering and beyond. 

“The prevalence of the aerospace industry has been a constant in Connecticut,” UConn President Radenka Maric said during Friday’s event. “We come full circle today, recognizing Pratt & Whitney as one of the state’s longest established aerospace companies, and for its ties to UConn College of Engineering and the UConn mechanical engineering teams.” 

Friday’s event brought UConn stakeholders including Maric, Anne D’Alleva, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs; and Kazem Kazerounian, engineering dean.  Also in attendance were the students benefitting from the Pratt & Whitney Scholars Program.

UConn Growth 

In 1920, the Division of Mechanical Engineering moved into its own building on the Storrs campus and graduated its first engineering student.  The original building first opened on campus in 1986 following a $1.5 million contribution from United Technologies. Since then, the building has seen the mechanical engineering department grow into the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Manufacturing Engineering. Currently, about 65% of Connecticut’s engineers are UConn graduates, and the continued demand for engineers in the state has driven growth in the school’s enrollment, degree offerings, curricula, industry partnerships, and research impact over the last several years. 

Industrial Advancement 

Pratt & Whitney is a global leader in aerospace innovation and has long been synonymous with groundbreaking advancements in engineering. With deep connections to the state of Connecticut, Frederick Rentschler founded the company in 1925. Its first engine, the R-1340 Wasp, transformed military and commercial aviation and is still in use today. In April 2020, United Technologies merged with Raytheon Company, and together became the RTX Corporation. Pratt & Whitney is an RTX business. 

“The newly named Pratt & Whitney Engineering Building is a testament to the strength of the partnership between UConn and Pratt & Whitney, which dates back decades and is built on two key pillars: research and talent,” said Pratt & Whitney Vice President Geoff Hunt during Friday’s event. 

Educating, and Transporting, a Modern World 

Both UConn and Pratt & Whitney are committed to a future of environmental responsibility, social equity, and economic viability.  

UConn has established an ambitious goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. As part of the UConn Sustainability Action Plan, the university will also conserve resources; integrate sustainability across UConn’s academic and research activities; ensure equity and engagement; and establish partnerships and support innovation that addresses sustainability challenges. 

Pratt & Whitney is committed to supporting the aerospace industry in its goal of reaching net zero aviation carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. Progress includes smarter technology like hybrid-electric propulsion and building engines to burn cleaner fuel. The company has partnered with key sustainable organizations like the Air Transport Action Group, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative to meet those goals. 

Part of Pratt & Whitney’s recent commitment to the UConn College of Engineering includes the Pratt & Whitney Scholars Program, a $1.25 million investment to serve underrepresented minorities. Those scholars were recognized in a Vergnano Institute for Inclusion showcase later that night. 

This partnership was also recently recognized by the Connecticut Office of Workforce Strategy. The Vergnano Institute and Pratt & Whitney earned an honorable mention for the inaugural Governor’s Workforce Partnership Awards and were recognized last week.

Past, Present, and Future 

The 1986 groundbreaking ceremony program ended with a simple, but timeless, note that still rings true today: “Our common goal is a building filled with students, faculty and staff working and learning together in a first-class teaching and research facility.” Friday’s event offered a chance to reflect on the soaring progress of the last century. From Wilbur and Orville Wright’s earliest attempts to take to the skies, to the latest advancements in sustainable aviation fuel, UConn and Pratt & Whitney humbly join an ever-growing crew of aerospace innovators. Together, Pratt & Whitney and UConn aim to shape the future of aviation by creating well-rounded engineers ready to tackle the challenges of the next century.  

More photos from the rededication ceremony are available online.

Zhao currently serves as the department chair of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) and Clark Distinguished Chair Professor of the University of Maryland, College Park.

“Dr. Zhao brings a wealth of experience from an illustrious career spanning academia, industry, and government,” says Anne D’Alleva, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “He is dedicated to continuing to build on the College of Engineering’s strengths, expanding its research footprint, fostering transformative and impactful educational programs, and advancing the College’s relationships with local, national, and international partners.”

Zhao’s appointment begins August 12, 2024.

“Even though I’m sad to depart the excellent MSE Department at the University of Maryland, I am very excited to join Husky Nation and to leverage my combined experience in industry, government, and academia for the betterment of the UConn College of Engineering,” Zhao says.

Academic and Government Experience

Zhao joined the University of Maryland in 2019. There, he gained experience in managing complex budgets, leading cross-functional teams, building industry partnerships, and engaging in development work. In addition, Zhao’s research has focused on the design of advanced alloys and coatings, additive manufacturing (3D printing) of alloys and composites, materials science methodologies, computational thermodynamics and kinetics, and hydrogen/energy storage materials.

Prior to his tenure at the University of Maryland, Zhao was a professor at Ohio State University’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering and also served as a program director at the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy), managing approximately $100 million in projects to develop energy-efficient and green technologies.

Zhao earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in MSE from Central South University in China. He then earned his doctorate in MSE from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.

Honors and Prestigious Memberships

Zhao is the recipient of many awards, including the William Hume-Rothery Award from the Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS) and the J. Willard Gibbs Phase Equilibria Award and Alfred H. Geisler Memorial Award from ASM International. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), ASM International, the Materials Research Society (MRS), and TMS. He served on the Subcommittee on the Materials Genome Initiative of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and on the Board of Trustees of ASM International.

Zhao is currently associate editor for the Journal of Materials Informatics, the Journal of Phase Equilibria and Diffusion (Springer), and is on the editorial board of Intermetallics (Elsevier). He’s also on the advisory boards of Rare Metals (Springer), Progress in Natural Science: Materials International (Elsevier), and Advanced Engineering Materials (Wiley-VCH).

Industry Connections

Before working in academia and government, Zhao was a senior materials scientist and project leader at General Electric (GE) Research Center in New York for 12 years. There, he invented new materials and processes, mostly for gas turbines and jet engines, leading to 48 US patents covering a range of materials, processes, and systems. His industrial experience at GE will be an asset for UConn to strengthen its collaboration with Raytheon Technologies and other businesses in Connecticut and beyond.

Before leaving GE, he earned the Albert W. Hull Award from GE Global Research— the highest individual achievement award at GE Research for young scientists. His citations detailed his leadership in advancing innovation, for his leadership skills in advancing innovative, state-of-the-art development methodologies that aim to decrease cycle time for materials discovery while increasing robustness of the work.  He also was recognized for his expertise and leadership regarding the in the critical nature of coatings and high temperature materials, and for his enormous energy and perseverance in solving real business challenges.

Changing of the Guard

Zhao will take over the Dean of the College of Engineering role from Kazem Kazerounian, who is returning to teaching and research after 12 years as dean. Kazerounian has said it is his time for change, and will be stepping down, back into the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Manufacturing Engineering, as Zhao steps up into the deanery in August.

During Kazerounian’s time as dean, enrollment in the College of Engineering has more than doubled, research expenditures have quadrupled, and industry partners to date now offer 46 students full scholarships.

“I am confident that Dean Zhao will bring fresh ideas, new perspectives, and a renewed energy to UConn Engineering,” Kazerounian says. “I extend a warm welcome to JC (as we will dearly call him) as he embarks on this exciting journey to lead UConn Engineering. With his expertise and vision, I am excited that our college will continue to thrive and innovate under his capable stewardship.”

The six are:

* Daniel Bolnick, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

* Ming-Hui Chen, a professor and head of the Department of Statistics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

* Brenton Graveley, Health Net, Inc. Chair in Genetics and Developmental Biology, chair of the Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences at the UConn School of Medicine, and Associate Director of the Institute for Systems Genomics.

* Dr. George Kuchel, Director of the UConn Center on Aging and The Travelers Chair in Geriatrics and Gerontology in the UConn School of Medicine.

* Guozhen Lu, a professor in the Department of Mathematics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

* Guiling Wang, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Center for Environmental Science and Engineering.

Bolnick is interested in how evolution maintains genetic variation within species. Natural selection is usually thought of as a filtering process that removes all but the most-fit variants within a population, thus reducing variation. Yet, most natural populations of organisms harbor substantial genetic diversity. Bolnick’s research explores several possible solutions to this paradox. Recently, his work has focused on how parasites and their hosts co-evolve, and how their antagonism shapes variation in host immunity.

Chen has published more than 470 peer-reviewed journal articles and five books, including two advanced graduate-level books on Bayesian survival analysis and Monte Carlo methods in Bayesian computation. He served as president of the International Chinese Statistical Association and the New England Statistical Society and the chair of the Eastern Asia Chapter of International Society for Bayesian Analysis. He is currently co editor-in-chief of Statistics and Its Interface and co editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Statistics in Data Science.

Graveley’s research interests are focused on studying RNA biology, particularly for advancing our understanding of the Drosophila transcriptome, alternative splicing, and human RNA binding proteins, as well as the fundamental mechanisms of CRISPR biology. A major focus of Graveley’s lab has been the Drosophila Dscam1 gene, which contains 95 alternative exons and has the potential to express over 38,000 isoforms through extensive alternative splicing.

Kuchel was recognized for distinguished contributions to the field of medical sciences and aging research, particularly using multidisciplinary translational approaches to improve the lives of older adults. His work defining the role of biological aging in functional declines involving host defense, mobility, cognition, and voiding has contributed to the emergence of the field of geroscience and to the testing of gerotherapeutic interventions for their ability to delay the onset and progression of varied chronic diseases of aging by targeting biological aging.

Lu is well-known for his contributions in harmonic analysis (particularly multiparameter harmonic analysis), geometric analysis. and partial differential equations. He is a leading mathematician in the areas of sharp geometric and functional inequalities, particularly using the Helgason-Fourier analysis. He has published over 200 research articles and his impactful works have been cited widely by his peers. Lu is an American Mathematical Society fellow and has awarded the prestigious Simons Fellowship twice. He serves as the editor-in-chief for both the premier journal Advanced Nonlinear Studies and the De Gruyter flagship book series Studies in Mathematics. Lu’s doctoral students have taken postdoctoral positions at prestigious universities in the United States and Canada

Wang studies the Earth’s hydrological cycle, its interaction with the terrestrial ecosystems, and its variability, change, and extremes. Her research spans the topics of land-atmosphere interactions at the subseasonal to seasonal timescales, ecosystem-climate interactions at the decadal to centennial timescales, and climate change impact on water, energy, and food security. She makes use of theoretical and process-based models of various complexity, empirical modeling including machine learning, satellite remote sensing and ground observational data. Her research led to improved predictions of regional climate and hydrological extremes.

The latest class of AAAS Fellows includes 502 scientists, engineers, and innovators spanning 24 scientific disciplines who are being recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements. AAAS first started naming Fellows in 1874.

The AAAS is the publisher of the journal Science, as well as Science Translational Medicine; Science Signaling; a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances; Science Immunology; and Science Robotics. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes more than 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. The nonprofit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to “advance science and serve society” through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement, and more.

The new degree program was approved by the University’s Board of Trustees on Wednesday, April 17, and launches this fall. The degree will prepare graduates to drive innovative and impactful business decisions for positive social change.

“It is no longer enough to have a few well-intentioned companies or individuals to focus on corporate social responsibility. The problems the world is facing are so complex, expansive, and urgent that they require systemic transformation and broad global impact,’’ says Gerlinde Berger-Walliser, a business law professor and the academic director of the program.

“Many individuals are passionate about these issues,’’ she says. “This master’s degree program will convert their ideas and beliefs to impact in their professional roles, and ultimately contribute to companies, organizations, and government working for the greater good.’’

Program welcomes students from varied backgrounds

Robin Coulter, professor and head of the Marketing Department, developed and currently offers an undergraduate concentration and minor in Social Responsibility & Impact in Business that attracts students with varied majors, including business, human rights, communication sciences, economics, and environmental sciences.

Coulter has high regard for the students pursuing this career path.

“They take social responsibility very seriously and they are at the forefront of making a difference at the intersection of multiple disciplines. Their energy, intellect, curiosity, and sense of purpose were critical factors in our development of the Master of Science degree program,” she says.

“Based on our background work, we believe our master’s degree program will be both popular and competitive,’’ she reports. “For more than 10 years, the marketing faculty has had a close working relationship with UConn’s Human Rights Institute and had longstanding relationships with other initiatives, including the President’s Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility, the Office of Sustainability, and the Business and Human Rights Initiative. Our faculty bring significant expertise and enormous energy around this specialty to address the student appetite for knowledge.”

Current UConn undergraduates, regardless of major, can enroll in the Accelerated Master of Science program, allowing them to accrue up to 12 credits that count toward both their undergraduate and master’s degree. The accelerated degree program can reduce the cost of the master’s degree by as much as 40 percent. Courses will be offered in-person in Storrs beginning in the fall of 2024. Students in the Accelerated Master’s degree program will be able to complete the master’s in as little as one year after earning their bachelor’s degree.

Students who have already completed their undergraduate degree at UConn or elsewhere and are interested in pursuing a master’s degree in social responsibility and impact in business can apply to the traditional master’s degree graduate program. This option has flexible online and in-person courses in Hartford and was designed to accommodate students’ work and personal schedules. Applications will open in May and classes begin in the fall.

Career opportunities in social responsibility and impact

After earning their master’s degree, graduates will be equipped to drive innovative and impactful actions for positive social change. The program includes courses that collectively are designed to provide students with business models and strategies to promote economic, environmental, and social sustainability, navigate CSR regulations, gain experience in ESG reporting, respect and facilitate human rights as part of business operations, and drive global innovation for positive social change.

New graduates could pursue careers as corporate social responsibility (CSR) manager, marketing strategist, environmental, social and governance (ESG) analyst, sustainability consultant, and policy advocate. Berger-Walliser says that a career in social responsibility requires a strong community of like-minded professionals and that the new degree program, alongside flexible course delivery options, will include opportunities for students to collaborate, meet in person, and build a vibrant professional network. The program includes an optional travel-abroad course, as well.

Business law professor Robert Bird, the Eversource Energy Chair in Business Ethics and an instructor in the program, believes the legal component of the program will be essential, especially as the world becomes more connected.

“What is unethical today often becomes illegal tomorrow,’’ he says. “Some principles and practices become hardened into legal requirements in the EU and global operating companies need to respect them. Also, the U.S. might follow and adopt some, or all, of those measures.’’

“We’re seeing a trend of employees expecting companies to behave a certain way and that companies are expected to take stands on social responsibility and impact,’’ he says. “Our students will be ready for these issues and employ what they’ve learned to advance economic, environmental, and social sustainability.’’

Coulter is particularly excited about the sweeping opportunities that the Accelerated Master’s degree program will offer to UConn undergraduate students from various disciplines.

“This a unique opportunity to serve students from all backgrounds and give them additional credentials to enhance their careers,’’ Coulter remarks. “Our new degree program is not just for people in business or on a business trajectory. It opens the door for students from other majors to supplement what they have learned, to gain professional advantage in the marketplace, and to make a difference in our global society.’’

To request more information about the program, please visit: https://grad.business.uconn.edu/socialimpact-information-request/

Evaluations for promotion, tenure, and reappointment apply the highest standards of professional achievement in scholarship, teaching, and service for each faculty member evaluated. Applications for promotion and tenure are reviewed at the department level, school or college level, and finally at the Office of the Provost before recommendations are forwarded to the Board of Trustees.

This process involves significant work on the part of each faculty member, as well as assistance and support of colleagues and administrative staff who provide guidance and manage many of the logistics through each stage of the promotion and tenure cycle. It is a notable milestone for each faculty member awarded these promotions, as well as for their colleagues.

The listing of faculty promoted and/or granted tenure is listed below, organized by school, college, or other academic unit. Please join us in congratulating our colleagues on this momentous occasion.

Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources

Promotion To Professor

Jason Henderson, Plant Science and Landscape Architecture

Elaine Lee, Kinesiology

Charles Towe, Agriculture and Resource Economics

Promotion To Associate Professor

Neha Mishra, Pathobiology and Veterinary Sciences

Promotion To Associate Professor And Tenure

Sohyun Park, Plant Science and Landscape Architecture

Haiying Tao, Plant Science and Landscape Architecture

Promotion To Associate Professor In-Residence

Maryclaire Capetta, Kinesiology

Eleni Diakogeorgiou, Kinesiology

Promotion To Extension Professor

Thomas Worthley, Extension

Promotion To Associate Cooperative Extension Educator

Shuresh Ghimire, Extension

Business

Promotion To Professor

Resul Cesur, Finance

Vishal Narayan, Marketing

Promotion To Associate Professor And Tenure

Stefan Hock, Marketing

Chrstina Kan, Marketing

Tao Lu, Operations and Information Management

Promotion To Associate Professor In-Residence

Alexander Amati, Finance

Engineering

Promotion To Professor

Ali Bazzi, Electrical & Computer Engineering

Kay Wille, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Liang Zhang, Electrical & Computer Engineering

Promotion To Associate Professor And Tenure

Derek Aguiar, Computing

Necmi Biyikli, Electrical & Computer Engineering

Kristin Morgan, Biomedical Engineering

Sina Shahbazmohamadi, Biomedical Engineering

Xueju Wang, Materials Science & Engineering

Yuanyuan Zhu, Materials Science & Engineering

Yi Zhang, Biomedical Engineering

Tenure As Associate Professor

Shalabh Gupta, Electrical & Computer Engineering

Promotion To Professor In-Residence

Reza Sheikhi, Mechanical, Aerospace & Manufacturing Engineering

Fine Arts 

Promotion to Professor           
Solomiya Ivakhiv, Music

Promotion to Associate Professor and Tenure 

Jennifer Scapetis-Tycer, Dramatic Arts

Sophie Shao, Music

Alexander Woodward, Dramatic Arts

Law

Promotion To Professor And Tenure

Jessica De Perio Wittman

Promotion To Clinical Professor

Mary Beattie

Promotion To Associate Clinical Professor

Ashley Armstrong

Rachel Reeves

Rachel Timm

Liberal Arts and Sciences

Promotion To Professor          

David Embrick, Sociology

Delia Furtado, Economics

Debarchana Ghosh, Geography

Julie Granger, Marine Sciences

Jason Hancock, Physics

Jie He, Chemistry

Nicholas Leadbeater, Chemistry

Marcus Rossberg, Philosophy

Beth Russell, Human Dev And Family Sciences

Michael Whitney, Marine Sciences

Sarah Willen, Anthropology

Yaowu Yuan, Ecology And Evolutionary Biology

Jing Zhao, Chemistry

Promotion To Associate Professor And Tenure

Dexter Gabriel, History

Aoife Heaslip, Molecular And Cell Biology

Sean Li, Mathematics

Daniel McCarron, Physics

Linnaea Ostroff, Physiology And Neurobiology

Alexandra Paxton, Psychological Sciences

Evan Perkoski, Political Science

Debapriya Sarkar, English

Ilya Sochnikov, Physics

Clay Tabor, Earth Sciences

Tracy Llanera, Philosophy

Xiang Chen, Geography

Tenure As Associate Professor         

Scott Wallace, Journalism

Promotion To Professor In-Residence     

Lisa Blansett, English

Michael Finiguerra, Ecology And Evolutionary Biology

Susan Herrick, Ecology And Evolutionary Biology

Sherry Zane, Women’s Gender And Sexuality Studies

Promotion To Associate Professor In-Residence

Jessica Dafhne Aguirre, Chemistry

Anne Basaran, Communication

Tianxu Chen, Economics

Sarah Decapua, English

Jeffrey Divino, Physiology And Neurobiology

Vindya Pathirana, Mathematics

Promotion To Clinical Professor     

Nicole Gallagher, Speech, Language, And Hearing Sciences

Promotion To Associate Clinical Professor

Kacie Wittke, Speech, Language, And Hearing Sciences

Promotion To Associate Research Professor     

Jamie Vaudrey, Marine Sciences

Library

Promotion To Librarian 2

Thomas Lee

Promotion To Librarian 3

Roslyn Grandy, Roslyn

Hilary Kraus, Hilary

Edward Junhao Lim

Renee Walsh

Neag School of Education

Promotion to Professor

Alyssa Hadley Dunn, Curriculum and Instruction

Devin Kearns, Educational Psychology

Allison Lombardi, Educational Psychology

Bianca Montrosse-Moorhead, Educational Psychology

Jennie Weiner, Educational Leadership

Promotion to Associate Professor and Tenure   

Grace Player, Curriculum and Instruction

Nursing 

Promotion To Associate Professor and Tenure

Louise Reagan

Promotion to Associate Clinical Professor

Valarie Artigas

Denise Bourassa

Social Work

Promotion to Professor

Kathryn Libal

UConn’s Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a project that includes replacing and enhancing the venue’s videoboard system, upgrading the show lighting, and replacing the retractable seating system in the pavilion’s lower bowl.

In addition to being the home of the championship men’s and women’s basketball programs, Gampel also hosts Commencement ceremonies, orientation programs, career fairs, and many other events each year that will benefit from the improvements.

The project includes replacing the existing videoboard system, originally installed in 2009, with state-of-the-art displays as well as upgraded show lighting to add to the overall fan experience.

The work also involves replacing the lower bowl’s retractable seating system, which dates to the opening of the facility and can be configured to provide additional floor space depending on specific event needs.

Some portions of the work are planned to take place this summer, with other portions to be undertaken in summer 2025.

UConn has implemented many projects over the years to modernize Gampel Pavilion, which first opened in January 1990 and is a storied centerpiece of the “Basketball Capital of the World” at Storrs.

The wood court was replaced last year, and other work has been done over the past several years that included replacing the roof and interior dome panels in 2017, installing a new audio system in 2020, improving Wi-Fi connectivity in 2019, adding more seats while updating locker rooms and office spaces in 2002, and other projects.

On Wednesday, UConn will officially adopt and commit to the Okanagan Charter: An International Charter for Health Promoting Universities and Colleges. UConn leaders will sign the commitment Wednesday at the Board of Trustees meeting, joining about two dozen institutions that have adopted it so far, and more than 230 in its network of schools sharing best practices and lessons learned.

To become a Health Promoting University, UConn will measure its current services and approaches to promoting the health and well-being of its campus communities and beyond, and will create strategies to connect various initiatives and make wellness a core part of University operations.

It builds on UConn’s work as a JED Campus, a comprehensive public health approach to enhance student well-being by guiding students to incorporate wellness strategies into their everyday lives and helping institutions better identify and serve students in need of mental health assistance.

The Okanagan Charter expands those principles to include wellness as a focus not only for students, but also for UConn faculty, staff, and the broader community. The initiative will also help the University embed well-being principles in the campus culture, and across administrative, operational, and academic realms.

“More than ever before, stakeholders see the interconnectedness of equity, sustainability, health, and student success … As a premier research university, UConn can lead innovation and scholarship in the promotion of human and planetary health,” President Radenka Maric wrote to Board of Trustees when it recently approved a resolution authorizing adoption of the charter.

As its next steps, the University will form a steering committee to guide action teams to advance progress toward the adopted commitments; and will make plans to sustain ongoing efforts in those areas.

Several initiatives already are underway throughout UConn to promote community well-being in physical and mental health, and bringing them together to increase effectiveness will be one of the group’s goals under the Okanagan Charter.

The charter is an outcome of the 2015 International Conference on Health Promoting Universities and Colleges, and was developed by scholars, researchers, and practitioners from 45 countries. It calls on universities to look beyond individual behavior, and to embed well-being practices into the systems and settings that influence the health of people and the planet.

It also emphasizes strong involvement from students and others in the campus community, building on strengths, valuing local and Indigenous communities’ contexts and priorities, promoting trans-disciplinary collaborations and cross-sector partnerships, and other guiding principles.

The commitment does not include or envision a financial burden, since it focuses on aligning and strengthening the many systems already in place to support the well-being of people, place, and the planet.

“If there is one thing UConn has in abundance, it is students, faculty, and staff invested in a future in which all members of the community flourish,” UConn leaders wrote in an executive summary of the initiative. “The work ahead is not about adding to the pile or priorities and needed resources, but rather about creating connection among existing initiatives to achieve a greater collective impact.”

The trustees’ unanimous vote in February to adopt the Okanagan Charter came on the recommendations of Maric and the board’s Student Life Committee, which consists of students, trustees, and University administrators.

That committee also launched UConn’s efforts four years ago to become a JED Campus, the predecessor of today’s commitments under the Okanagan Charter.

Through the JED Campus initiative, UConn has worked to bolster students’ mental health through work in seven domains: helping students develop life skills, promoting social connectedness, identifying students at risk, increasing their help-seeking behavior, providing strong services in mental health and substance misuse, following effective crisis management procedures, and promoting a safe environment.

Trustee Joshua Crow ’21 (CLAS), a UConn Law student who represents graduate students on the board, was a student leader in the Undergraduate Student Government when the University started its work toward becoming a JED Campus, and supported adoption of the Okanagan Charter.

“What a herculean effort it was to get us to this point,” Crow said. “It’s incredible to me the way that generationally, students have picked up the torch and carried forward with this — people who’ve never met each other, people who never knew each other, all dedicated to this one particular goal. It’s because of them that people’s lives will be saved, and it’s because of them that students’ experiences on this campus will be better.”

Every year, the ceremony recognizes the efforts of employees, especially staff, in building community and promoting civility at the University. The Spirit Awards program was originally the result of a survey conducted by the Something’s Happening Committee, which found a significant correlation between supportive interactions among colleagues and productivity on the job.

“We have a huge community of people who love and who care and take great pride in UConn,” says President Radenka Maric.

“This is an opportunity to single out some of our outstanding staff members and to learn a little more about what goes on throughout our campuses,” says Lakeesha Brown, interim chief human resources officer. “Despite the diversity of our roles, ultimately have the same single goal in mind, which is securing UConn’s place among the best public universities in the country.”

Eileen Kapinos receives the Behind the Scenes individual award from President Radenka Maric during the Spirit Awards ceremony.

Eileen Kapinos receives the Behind the Scenes individual award from President Radenka Maric during the Spirit Awards ceremony (Peter Morenus / UConn Photo)

John Armstrong receives the University Citizen award from President Radenka Maric during the Spirit Awards ceremony.

John Armstrong receives the University Citizen award from President Radenka Maric during the Spirit Awards ceremony held at the Wilbur Cross North Reading Room on April 11, 2024. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

Susan Corbin receives the Unsung Hero award from President Radenka Maric during the Spirit Awards ceremony.

Susan Corbin receives the Unsung Hero award from President Radenka Maric during the Spirit Awards ceremony held at the Wilbur Cross North Reading Room on April 11, 2024. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

Lisa Carozza receives the Rising Star award from President Radenka Maric during the Spirit Awards ceremony.

Lisa Carozza receives the Rising Star award from President Radenka Maric during the Spirit Awards ceremony held at the Wilbur Cross North Reading Room on April 11, 2024. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

Mary Anne Roshni Amalaradjou receives the Inclusive Excellence award from President Radenka Maric during the Spirit Awards ceremony.

Mary Anne Roshni Amalaradjou receives the Inclusive Excellence award from President Radenka Maric during the Spirit Awards ceremony held at the Wilbur Cross North Reading Room on April 11, 2024. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

Carey Jordan, left, Hayley Jacobs, and Lara Smith, members of the Center for Students with Disabilities accommodations team, receive the Team award from President Radenka Maric during the Spirit Awards ceremony.

Carey Jordan, left, Hayley Jacobs, and Lara Smith, members of the Center for Students with Disabilities accommodations team, receive the Team award from President Radenka Maric during the Spirit Awards ceremony held at the Wilbur Cross North Reading Room on April 11, 2024. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

Members of the Facilities Operations Structural Shop receive the Behind the Scenes group award from President Radenka Maric during the Spirit Awards ceremony.

Members of the Facilities Operations Structural Shop receive the Behind the Scenes group award from President Radenka Maric during the Spirit Awards ceremony held at the Wilbur Cross North Reading Room on April 11, 2024. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

A total of approximately 275 eligible nominations were received this year for the Spirit Awards.

Their ceremony was also live-streamed and an archived version is available for viewing.

This year’s winners and finalists are:

Unsung Hero Award

Winner: Susan Corbin, School of Pharmacy

Finalist: Meagan Ridder, College of Agriculture, Heath and Natural Resources, Academic Programs

Finalist: Katie Halbruner, Center for Students with Disabilities

Rising Star Award

Winner: Lisa Carrozza, Career Development Center

Finalist: Monica Lattimer, UConn Waterbury

Finalist: Emily Cole, Department of Music

Inclusive Excellence Award

Winner: Mary Anne Roshni Amalaradjou, Department of Animal Science

Finalist: Alexis Monteiro, Department of Residential Life

Finalist: Jonelle Reynolds, Office or Diversity and Inclusion

University Citizen Award

Winner: John Armstrong, Office of Student Care and Concern

Finalist: Bieu Tran, Office of the Vice President for Research

Finalist: Betsy Pittman, University Archivist

Behind the Scenes Award

Winner: Eileen Kapinos, Office of Financial Aid

Finalist: Jeremy Bachand, Facilities Operations Logistics

Finalist: Michael F. Ryan, Facilities Operations Custodial Services

Behind the Scenes Team Award

Winner: Facilities Operations Shop Services (Kadri Ademi, Kevin Bisson, Matthew Burdick, Jordan Burns, Michael Dalpe, David Fontenelle, Kimberly Haley, Roger Lalumiere, Joseph Landry, Matt Lebrocquy, Mark McAvoy, William Miller, Ariel Morales, Sergio Nieto, Alexander Ott, Michael Rossi, Gage Shirghio, Vito Sargis, Robert Wylie).

Finalist: Security Services, UConn Stamford (Matthew Lessard, Alvin Aquino, Josiah Rodriguez).

Team Award

Winner: Center for Students with Disabilities, Accommodations Team (Lara Smith, Carey Jordan, Hayley Jacobs).

Finalist: Dining Services, Husky Harvest Team (Tracey Roy, Heidi Slater, Michael White).

Finalist: Career Development Center, Career Everywhere Committee (Alexandra Garnelis, Kaitlyn Anderson, Christina Badini, Steve Kligerman, Mary Malerba, Evan McMunn, Lisa Carrozza, Amelinda Rossitto, Nancy Bilmes.

Programs in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Neag School of Education, and the School of Business earned high marks, as did the School of Public Policy, the School of Law, and the School of Social Work. The recognition highlights UConn’s commitment to student excellence and support generally, as well as the particular efforts of the individual schools and colleges measured in the rankings.

Neag School Makes the Honor Roll

For the first time, four graduate programs within UConn’s Neag School of Education have been ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 Best Education Schools.

In addition, the Neag School appears for the ninth consecutive year as one of the top 25 public graduate schools of education in the United States, tied at No. 24. Among all graduate schools of education across the nation, both public and private, the Neag School stands tied at No. 34.

“I’m immensely proud of the hard work and dedication of our faculty, staff, and students that have led to these impressive rankings,” Dean Jason G. Irizarry says. “Four of our programs being named to specialty lists is a testament to the high standards we set across all our Neag School departments, and I’m thrilled we are once again recognized as one of the top public graduate schools of education in the nation.”

Each of the Neag School’s three departments are represented in the 2024 specialty education program rankings:

• 13 (tie) in Special Education Programs
• 23 in Educational Psychology Programs
• 25 (tie) in Educational Administration Programs
• 28 (tie) in Curriculum and Instruction Programs

The Neag School’s special education program has been ranked previously, rising four spots from No. 17 last year, but the other three programs are new to the rankings this year.

Hard Work Pays Off for Public Policy

The UConn School of Public Policy, within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, boasts two programs ranked highly in the nation: Public Affairs and Public Financing and Budgeting. The latter program is ranked 9th best in the country, while Public Affairs climbed six places from 2023, landing at the 39th spot among all public affairs programs in the US. That puts the Public Financing and Budgeting program at the top spot in New England, with Public Affairs ranking at number two in the region.

“The top 10 status in Public Finance and Budgeting and the top 40 status in Public Affairs are earned by the hard work of our faculty, staff, students and alumni,” says Mohamad Alkadry, professor and Director of the School of Public Policy. “The UConn School of Public Policy faculty are engaged in impactful applied and scholarly research. Our programs have cutting edge competency-based curricula and close to 100 percent job placement rate for our graduates. We are honored by the six-rank jump from last year.”

The Verdict is In: UConn Law is On the Rise

UConn School of Law rose 16 points to reach a rank of 55 in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings, and the school’s part-time Evening Division program advanced 9 points to No. 10 in the nation.

The overall rank in the magazine’s 2024-25 Best Law Schools list reflects particular strength in bar passage and employment outcomes for UConn Law graduates.

Ninety-four percent of the Class of 2022 was employed 10 months after graduation, including 13% of the class employed in state and federal judicial clerkships.

The outcomes for the Class of 2023 are equally impressive. Among UConn Law graduates who took the Connecticut bar exam for the first time in July 2023, 84% passed, which was 17 points above the state average. These accomplishments are due to the hard work of outstanding students, staff, and faculty, aided by the support of remarkable alumni.

“Everyone at UConn Law is committed to excellence and works tirelessly to support the success of our students and law school,” Dean Eboni S. Nelson says. “Although no ranking can truly reflect the results of their efforts or capture the many strengths of our campus community, we are pleased with the recognition.”

Last year, the UConn School of Law was among many law schools to withdraw from active participation in the U.S. News & World Report ranking process. U.S. News has since revised its approach and made more data available to prospective students at no charge, which factored into UConn Law’s decision to resume its participation this year.

Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences Department is Unique in New England

Within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences has long been renowned for its education, research, clinical practice, and public outreach missions, and the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings reflect its impressive national reputation.

The department is the only one of its kind in the region with both Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology programs ranked in the top 20% of programs nationally. The Audiology program was ranked 19th best in the country, while Speech-Language Pathology was ranked 39th best of all such programs in the US.

“UConn’s Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences is the only department in New England to have both its Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology programs ranked in the top 20 percent nationally,” says Derek Houston, department head and professor. “It’s a source of Husky Pride to be the region’s premiere program for preparing students to become the professionals that meet the hearing and communication needs of our communities.”

UConn Social Work is a National Leader

On April 9, U.S. News & World Report released its national rankings of graduate schools of social work, with the UConn School of Social Work (SSW) ranked at No. 28. That ranking, which is up from No. 36, puts the UConn SSW among the top 9% of graduate social work programs nationally.

With this ranking, the UConn SSW continues to lead graduate social work programs in Connecticut and be a top choice for students across the country.

“The UConn School of Social Work stands strong among graduate social work programs nationwide,” says Dean and Professor Laura Curran. “Building upon more than 75 years of history, we have a growing research portfolio, innovative academic programming, and long-standing partnerships that impact communities locally and globally.”

The UConn SSW is the first public university in Connecticut to offer bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees in social work, and its research doctorate is the only public social work Ph.D. program in the region. Areas of distinction include child and adolescent well-being, health and behavioral health, LGBTQ youth and families, aging, policy practice and community organizing, and global social work.

In 2023, the UConn SSW expanded its national footprint by welcoming Innovations Institute, an interdisciplinary, translational research center. The SSW is actively involved in a growing number of interdisciplinary collaborations within the University – including with UConn Health and the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute – and has extensive collaborations with public and private human service agencies.

Earlier this year, the SSW launched a new fully Online MSW program to provide greater access to aspiring social workers across the state and region.

SSW graduates – more than 8,800 strong – play major roles in planning, administering, and providing social and mental health services in Connecticut, the region, and beyond.

Business is Booming at UConn

U.S. News & World Report has again ranked the UConn School of Business’ part-time MBA program, known as the FLEX MBA, as among the top graduate business programs in the nation.

The UConn program now ranks at No. 33 in the nation according to the new rankings, up from No. 37 last year – and a significant increase from the No. 70 ranking in 2018-19.

Mia Hawlk, Executive Director of MBA Programs, attributes the ranking increase to a commitment to the student experience, the creation of innovative courses, and the dedication of faculty and staff.

“To see our ranking go up that much over six years is really impressive,’’ she says. “We find ourselves in the company of private colleges, but we are delivering the same level of excellence at a much lower cost.’’

“Our program is never stagnant. We’ve recently added innovative courses, addressing sustainability in business, artificial intelligence for managers, emotional intelligence in business, and revolutionary technologies,’’ she said. “These are just some of the many ways we distinguish ourselves from our competitors.’’

Professor Jose M. Cruz, Associate Dean for Graduate Programs at the School of Business, says it is an honor to rank so highly in such a competitive hierarchy.

“The UConn MBA program has consistently defined the pinnacle of excellence in a fiercely competitive landscape,’’ Cruz says. “Renowned for its rigorous curriculum, active student involvement, emphasis on vital leadership cultivation, and robust career support, the program stands as a beacon of quality and innovation.’’

The FLEX MBA program is offered in-person in Hartford and Stamford and online. The program currently has about 600 students.