{"id":106535,"date":"2015-12-08T15:20:21","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T20:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.today.uconn.edu\/?post_type=school-college-post&p=105713"},"modified":"2015-12-10T15:40:04","modified_gmt":"2015-12-10T20:40:04","slug":"neag-school-launches-student-scholarship-fund-to-honor-longtime-colleague","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2015\/12\/neag-school-launches-student-scholarship-fund-to-honor-longtime-colleague\/","title":{"rendered":"Neag School Launches Student Scholarship Fund to Honor Longtime Colleague"},"content":{"rendered":"

For nearly 20 years, Valerie Pichette served as executive assistant at UConn\u2019s Neag School of Education \u2013 first with Dean Richard Schwab and later with former Dean Thomas DeFranco \u2013 as well as a longtime mentor to innumerable students and friend to many colleagues campus-wide. Pichette passed away on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015<\/a>. In remembrance of her longtime dedication to the University, the Neag School announces the launch of a new endowed scholarship in her name, the Valerie J. Pichette Scholarship Fund.<\/p>\n

\"Val<\/a>
The Valerie J. Pichette Scholarship Fund will support students in the teacher education program at the Neag School of Education.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Established with the support of her family, friends, colleagues across the Neag School and the larger University, as well as students past and present, this fund honors Pichette\u2019s 30 years of service to the state of Connecticut and will offer financial assistance to students enrolled in the Neag School\u2019s teacher education program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis scholarship serves to honor the hard work and steadfast service of Val as much as that of her fellow colleagues across this University \u2013 the professional team members who are always here for our students, and who play such an invaluable role in carrying out the mission of this institution,\u201d says Dean Schwab. \u201cAll of us here at UConn have indeed lost a very dear friend. We are immensely grateful for this opportunity to celebrate her commitment to, and fondness for, our students in this meaningful way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upon hearing of the creation of the scholarship fund, former students of Pichette shared words of appreciation for Pichette\u2019s impact on their lives and careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn working for five years with Val, she not only shaped my trajectory professionally \u2013 where she first encouraged my pursuit of academics and facilitated my becoming a teacher \u2013 but also personally,\u201d says Lauren Evanovich, former student employee in the Neag School\u2019s Office of the Dean, now a doctoral candidate at the University of Louisville. \u201cI count myself beyond lucky to be influenced and loved by Val. This scholarship will no doubt embody all that Val is and will continue to provide her love and support to every student who receives it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Desi Nesmith, a three-time Neag School alum and chief school turnaround officer at the Connecticut Department of Education, describes Pichette as \u201ceverybody\u2019s mother.\u201d \u201cWhen you\u2019re doing well, she let you know it. When you\u2019re not, she let you know that, too!\u201d he says. \u201cShe always looked out for us, and saw us as her own.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe challenged me and made me work hard because she knew I could be better. She gave me endless opportunities to grow and understand the little importances in life,\u201d says UConn graduate Katie Histen, a physical therapist and a former student employee in the Neag School.<\/p>\n

\u201cI quickly realized that Val was the clock spring of the college; the internal mechanism that maintains balance and keeps everything running smoothly,\u201d says Laurie Henry, a former graduate assistant in the Neag School, now associate dean at the University of Kentucky\u2019s College of Education. \u201cVal always made time for faculty, staff, and students, and easily shared her lighthearted humor, bubbly personality, and her love of life and family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others across the University are mourning the loss not only of a longtime colleague, but also a friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with Val for over 15 years, you couldn\u2019t help notice that she was a bright and strong woman, had a strong work ethic, was respectful to others and had a strong moral compass for right and wrong,\u201d says former Dean DeFranco. \u201cIn speaking with her every day, it was clear that her inner strength grew out of her love of her family. What I will miss most is her laughter and her smile. I lost one of my best friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI joined the UConn family as the new dean of the School of Education in 1997,\u201d Dean Schwab adds. \u201cOne of my first decisions in this role turned out to be the smartest thing I have ever done in my professional career: That was hiring Valerie Pichette as our executive assistant. So many of the successes we have celebrated as a school over the years \u2013 from receiving the largest gift ever given to a school of education to rising from unranked to one of the top schools in the country \u2013 have been due, in significant part, to Val\u2019s hard work, support, dedication, and heart. In addition to the great things she has done for the Neag School, she served as the mentor and protector for countless numbers of Neag School students.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, as Dana Wilder, assistant vice provost for academic affairs, shared: \u201c \u2018A friend is a person with whom you dare to be yourself.\u2019 I miss my friend Val.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pichette began her service with the state of Connecticut in 1985 at UConn\u2019s Office of the Provost. At Quinebaug Valley Community College in Willimantic, Conn., from 1989 to 1997, she served in a number of roles, including as student advisor, adjunct faculty member, and coordinator for special programs. In 1997, with the appointment of Dean Schwab, Pichette then joined the Neag School of Education. She earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in education in 1990 from Eastern Connecticut State University and a master\u2019s degree in teaching from Sacred Heart University in 1999.<\/p>\n

To make a donation to the Valerie J. Pichette Scholarship Fund, please visit s.uconn.edu\/pichette<\/a>. Read her obituary here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For nearly 20 years, Valerie Pichette served as executive assistant at UConn\u2019s Neag School of Education \u2013 first with Dean Richard Schwab and later with former Dean Thomas DeFranco \u2013 as well as a longtime mentor to innumerable students and friend to many colleagues campus-wide. Pichette passed away on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015. In remembrance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":106898,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1855],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1878],"class_list":["post-106535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-neag"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-05 16:32:58","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/106898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106535"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=106535"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=106535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}