{"id":65974,"date":"2012-09-21T10:04:12","date_gmt":"2012-09-21T14:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=65974"},"modified":"2012-09-26T08:39:45","modified_gmt":"2012-09-26T12:39:45","slug":"former-board-chairman-dr-john-w-rowe-honored-at-building-naming-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2012\/09\/former-board-chairman-dr-john-w-rowe-honored-at-building-naming-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Board Chairman Dr. John W. Rowe Honored at Building Naming Ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Naming<\/a>
Dr. John W. Rowe, former Board of Trustees Chairman, speaks during the naming ceremony for the John W. Rowe Center for Undergraduate Education, as President Susan Herbst looks on. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a ceremony on Thursday officially designating the former undergraduate education building as the John W. Rowe Center for Undergraduate Education, UConn President Susan Herbst spoke appreciatively of the role that Rowe, former chairman of the Board of Trustees, has played in the development of the University.<\/p>\n

\"President<\/a>
President Susan Herbst speaks at the naming ceremony for the John W. Rowe Center for Undergraduate Education on Sept. 20. She praised former Board chairman Dr. John W. Rowe for his outstanding direction and guidance. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is appropriate, she said, that a building where people come to find their way is named for a man who has given so much to UConn: \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of advising in here \u2026 a lot of students come in looking for counsel \u2026 they come in looking for direction on how to navigate the University \u2026 so it\u2019s only fitting that this building is named after one of our favorite people; a person who has given us outstanding direction and guidance during his time here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. John W. Rowe served as Board of Trustees chairman from July 2003 through 2009. During that time, he oversaw the expansion of the University\u2019s physical plant, helped negotiate notable growth in enrollment, and was instrumental in increasing UConn\u2019s national academic ranking.<\/p>\n

\"Lawrence<\/a>
Lawrence McHugh, chairman of the Board of Trustees, speaks at the naming ceremony for the John W. Rowe Center for Undergraduate Education. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Current Board chairman Lawrence McHugh said, \u201cDramatic achievements like expansion and revitalization do not happen by accident. It requires a team of individuals who can work together to achieve success. Jack\u2019s vision for UConn was simple \u2026 it was to make it into one of the very best research institutions in the nation. He, along with [former President] Phil Austin and others, set out to achieve this goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing that stands out about Jack,\u201d McHugh continued, \u201cis his unwavering support of the University of Connecticut. No matter what the obstacles, UConn has no better friend and champion than Jack Rowe.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2005, Rowe and his wife Valerie established the John and Valerie Rowe Health Professions Scholars program that helps students from backgrounds that are underrepresented in various healthcare fields with financial, academic, and experiential assistance. This program, along with the Honors Program, the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Office of Global Affairs, and the Center for Academic Programs, is located in the building that now bears his name.<\/p>\n

Speaking as someone who has directly benefitted from the Rowe Scholars Program, Joshua Andrade, a junior majoring in molecular and cell biology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, thanked the Rowes, saying, \u201cThe big question [in my mind] was did I want to become a doctor. Thanks to the Rowe Scholars program, I have found that the answer is yes; your namesake program was the catalyst for choosing my career and possibly my life\u2019s work. It changed me as a person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/a>
Dr. John W. Rowe, former Board of Trustees Chairman, speaks during the naming ceremony for the John W. Rowe Center for Undergraduate Education. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For his part, Rowe expressed his appreciation to fellow board members and other colleagues who welcomed him when he first arrived on campus as newly minted chairman of the Board.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a newcomer to UConn and Phil [Austin] and others were patient with me, and they taught me how to get to Storrs,\u201d he said. \u201cThey taught me the legacy and the history and the culture of this place, and I just loved it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had spent my career in academic settings \u2026 Harvard for 16 years \u2026 Mt. Sinai [Hospital and School of Medicine] for 12 \u2026 and I found UConn more interesting!\u201d Rowe added. It has a special place in the culture and intellectual fabric of this state \u2026 and it is exciting for Valerie and me to have our name on this building that is the home of the Honors Program and the core of undergraduate education here on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"John<\/a>
Dr. John W. Rowe, former Board of Trustees Chairman, speaks during the naming ceremony for the John W. Rowe Center for Undergraduate Education. Seated from left are President Susan Herbst, Lawrence McHugh, chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mun Choi, interim provost, and Joshua Andrade, a student in the Rowe Scholars Program. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The John W. Rowe Center for Undergraduate Education is named for Dr. Rowe, who served as Board of Trustees chairman from 2003 to 2009.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":65978,"comment_status":"open","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":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[56],"class_list":["post-65974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 00:56:18","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\/65974","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\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65974"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66266,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65974\/revisions\/66266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/65978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65974"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=65974"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=65974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}