By Cheryl Cranick, Honors Program
On Saturday, May 3, 2014, the Honors Program recognized a new graduating class of Honors Scholars at the annual Medals Ceremony.
This year marked the largest class in the history of Honors, with 342 students officially completing the rigorous requirements of the program, including the Honors thesis/project. Family, peers, administrators, faculty, staff, and friends of the University witnessed the awarding of medals and gifts to Honors Scholars and University Scholars.
Graduating senior Melanie Castellanos ’14 (Honors-CLAS) delivered the student address, sharing the challenges and victories she experienced as an Honors student. Coming to UConn from Texas, Castellanos admitted to being “indebted to my peers and this program,” and told her story of facing dismissal from Honors after her first semester. She spoke of feeling out of place in those first few months, neglecting her studies, and ending the term with a lackluster grade point average. It was a faculty member who told her a 2.8 GPA would affect her academic career—in addition to risking her future in Honors. That professor would eventually become her research advisor and mentor.
This wake-up call reset Castellanos’s path. Melanie realized that if she came back and continued to make the choices she made first-year, “I would not be in Honors, and I would lose so many opportunities.” Starting fresh her sophomore year, she became proactive and started retaking classes. She opened herself up to support from others, sought out extracurricular roles and research placements, and most importantly—in her mind—she relied heavily on the Honors community to serve as her role model. At the ceremony, Castellanos announced her GPA had since risen to 3.7, and expressed her intention of pursing a Ph.D. in her field of psychology. She also hopes to become a professor someday, and follow in the footsteps of her two closest mentors at UConn, Dr. James Chrobak and Dr. John Salamone, both behavioral neuroscience faculty members in UConn’s Department of Psychology. She closed her speech with a universal note of gratitude: “I’m sure I speak for my fellow graduates when I say that we are all here because people believed in us. They knew we Huskies could do great things, not just as undergraduates, but also when we are unleashed on this world a week from today.”
Along with the Honors Scholars, awards were presented to two past graduates of the program and two current Honors faculty members. The 2014 Honors Distinguished Alumni Award recipients are both graduates of UConn Honors as well as graduates of UConn professional schools. Howard M. Sandler, M.D., M.S. ’78 (Honors-CLAS) ’85 (Medicine) ’91 (CLAS) earned his undergraduate Honors degree in physics in 1978 and his medical degree from UConn’s School of Medicine in 1985. He also received a master’s degree in physics in 1991. Upon completing his medical education at the University of Connecticut, Sandler honed his training at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, Conn., as well as the University of Pennsylvania, where he began to specialize in Radiation Oncology. He spent a large portion of his career at the University of Michigan Medical School, in the department of Radiation Oncology, eventually earning the title Newman Family Professor of Radiation Oncology. In 2008, Sandler accepted the role of Chairman for the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Samuel Oschin Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he remains today. Sandler is an active researcher and writer, with more than 230 peer-reviewed articles. He is also the recipient of numerous grants that help support his research of prostate and other genitourinary tumors, and technology treatment methods, including radiation therapy.
Honored with Dr. Sandler was Brian Preleski ’87 (Honors-CLAS) ’91 (Law), a 1987 Honors Scholar who then completed his law degree at UConn’s School of Law in 1991. Preleski earned entry into the Connecticut Bar Association that same year, and began his legal career in the private sector, at a large firm in Hartford. However, this son of a former Connecticut police officer soon switched to the other side of the courtroom, and in 1993 began his initial appointment as Deputy Assistant State’s Attorney in Bristol, Conn. In 1998, he transferred to New Britain, Conn., and in 2011, he was appointed State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of New Britain. The position includes supervision of prosecutors’ offices and courts in his district. During the course of his career, Preleski successfully prosecuted the state’s first cold case homicide and a Constitutional challenge to Connecticut’s sobriety checkpoints, among various other important cases. He was also selected by his peers to serve as the National District Attorneys Association’s official observer to the 2013 war crimes trial of Abd al Rahim al Nashiri in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Preleski, too, is well published in his field, and also teaches a graduate seminar course at the University of St. Joseph.
Annually, the recipients of the Honors Distinguished Alumni Award share dinner and speak to an audience of Honors students, faculty, and staff, on the Friday prior to the Medals Ceremony. Sandler’s overarching message encouraged students to be open to opportunities that might cross their paths, remarking that life is a series of fortunate accidents. He illustrated this specifically with a story, where he once offered a colleague a ride, which ultimately led to an important step in his career. Preleski spoke in detail about comparisons of his legal career, having moved from private law to public service. He remarked how having worked on both sides—defense attorney and prosecutor—enlightened his overall understanding and practice of law. Both Sandler and Preleski then joined the Honors Scholars on stage the next day during the Medals Ceremony to received Honors medals, which marked their accomplishments as former scholars and also experienced professionals in their fields.
Additionally, the 2014 ceremony honored two Faculty Member of the Year Award recipients. Nominees for this award are faculty or staff members at the University of Connecticut who are recognized for their contributions to the education of Honors students. Recipient Dr. Patrick Dragon, Assistant Professor in Residence, teaches in UConn’s Department of Mathematics. He encourages an informal environment in his classroom as he instructs on topics such as calculus and topology. However, his relaxed style does not negate his expertise or seriousness about his subject matter. Dragon holds undergraduate degrees in physics, mathematics, and astronomy, and a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of California-Davis. In his graduate program, Dragon focused not just on math but also pedagogy and methods of teaching mathematics. He is known for his energy and enthusiasm for his subject, and also his ability to challenge his students. On a course evaluation, a former student wrote: “… If you’re looking for an interesting class, take Pat Dragon. If you’re looking for an easy class, get over yourself and take Pat Dragon anyway.”
Also recognized at the Saturday ceremony was faculty member Dr. Annamaria Csizmadia, Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, who teaches predominately at UConn’s Stamford campus. Csizmadia grew up in Hungary, where she began her early education studying languages, specifically Russian, German, English, and Latin. Eager for new experiences, Csizmadia used her language proficiency to study in Germany, earning an undergraduate degree equivalent in English and German language and literature, before moving to the U.S. to complete a master’s degree in German literature at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. It was at Missouri that she realized the evolution of her interests, and turned her focus to social sciences and human development. She earned her Ph.D. there, focusing specifically on Black American youth, immigrant families, and multiracial children. She joined UConn’s faculty in 2008, and has since mentored and advised numerous undergraduate students through research, courses, and Honors thesis/projects.
If you are interested in learning more about the Honors Distinguished Alumni Award and the Faculty Member of the Year Award, including information about past recipients and nomination criteria, please follow the online links associated with each award name.
Return to the Summer 2014 issue of the Honors Alumni eNewsletter