1960s
William Brustein ’69 (CLAS) was awarded the 2013 Charles Klasek Award for long-term and outstanding service to the field of International Education Administration by the Association of International Education Administrators at the Association’s 2013 annual conference.
1970s
Ruth Welti ’76 (CLAS) was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2012. Joe Horan ’78 (BUSN) was appointed SVP – Deputy Corporate Controller responsible for U.S. GAAP, Statutory and IASB financial reporting for ING Group’s U.S.-based retirement, insurance, and asset management businesses. Joe served as Chief Operating and Accounting Officer for ING Investment Management – Fixed Income. Joe and Ann (Melly) Horan ’81 reside in Georgia with their three children. James Tierney ’78 (ENGR) was a director and architect at Microsoft, moved to become President and Business Manager of Renton Civic Theatre, and is now President and owner of Cedar Springs Renewal Center. He and his wife, Meg, have three children who are all college graduates: Angus, Bonnie, and Jamie.
1980s
Judy (Lynch) Ports ’82 (CLAS) married Bill Ports ’81 (AGNR) in 1983. They have four grown children, two of them married. Their first grandchild was just born (to Benjamin and Jennifer Ports ’08, ’09). Judy has been an SLP for 25 years and is now pursuing a baking business. Bill was a veterinarian for ten years and then went to pharmaceutical research. Lisa Hirsch ’86 (FNAR) admits people laugh if they hear about a degree in puppetry, but she has been happily working with students at a progressive high school outside Boston since 1991. Students design dance, music, puppetry, costume, scenery, lighting, and integrate with other departments in pursuit of theatre with a purpose and are empowered to find their voice. Jill (Mancini) Fitzgerald ’86 (PHAR) was promoted to Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy. She is also the Director of Pharmacy Professional Development responsible for the development and planning of continuing education activities for practicing pharmacists. Marc R. Gastonguay, Ph.D. ’89 (PHAR) was the recipient of the 2013 Distinguished Alumnus Award at the UConn Celebration of Innovation in April. This event recognized the research and development achievements of UConn faculty, alumni, and UConn-related startup companies, as well as industry partners and state leaders.
1990s
Jason Courtmanche ’91 (CLAS), ’06 (CLAS) is Director of the Connecticut Writing Project and Lecturer in English at UConn. He received a fellowship from Teachers for a New Era in 2011, a Literacy Award from New England Reading Association in 2012, two Supporting Effective Educator Development grants from the National Writing Project in 2012, and a Teaching Scholar Award from the Institute for Teaching and Learning in 2013. In 2012, he was elected President of the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society. Kristine Harger ’91 (CLAS) earned her Master of Art in English from Central Connecticut State University. Greg Hatzis ’92 (CLAS), ’97 (CLAS), ’98 (EDUC) was appointed Headmaster of Fairfield Ludlowe High School in Fairfield, Connecticut. He lives with his wife, Sue, and two children in Trumbull, Connecticut. Robin Surwilo ’95 (CLAS) has been managing a family practice in South Windsor, Connecticut, for ten years with her mentor, Dr. Jack M. Chinsky, a retired UConn professor. They work with children/teens, adults, and families to improve overall mental health functioning. They hope their family continues to grow, and recently had their first baby boy, Blaise Dwyer-Surwilo. He is amazing! Nicole Lindsay ’96 (BUSN) published the MBAdvantage: Diversity Outreach Benchmarking Report in April. The report provides an innovative framework for evaluating graduate business schools on their diversity recruitment practices and includes individual assessments of more than 50 top MBA programs. The report is available on Amazon.com. Karen Müller Smith, Ph.D. ’96 (AGNR) began a faculty appointment at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette as an assistant professor in the Department of Biology in August of 2012. She lives in Lafayette, the heart of Cajun culture, with her husband, Richard Smith, and two-year-old dizygotic twins, Henry and Isabella. Richard Twilley ’96 (ENGR), ’04 (LAW) was elected to the UConn Alumni Association’s Board of Directors. Richard is a patent attorney at McCormick, Paulding & Huber, LLP, in Hartford. Michael Eisenhart ’98 (AGNR) was recognized as one of the top five Innovators in Physical Therapy by the American Physical Therapy Association and honored at the association’s March 8th Innovation Summit for Pro-Activity’s Prevention Model.Andrew Heaford ’98 (CLAS) finished his fellowship in pediatric otolaryngology this past June at UIHC. Kate Kotsaftis Simon ’98 (CLAS), ’01 (LAW) recently opened her own law practice serving businesses and financial institutions in Connecticut. Kate has practiced law for over 10 years, most recently with Bingham McCutchen LLP. The Law Office of Kate K. Simon, LLC is located in Hartford, Connecticut, and can be found online. Rebecca Flanagan ’99 (CLAS), ’02 (EDUC) was recently named a UConn Honors Faculty Member of the Year for her work with pre-law students at UConn. Rebecca is the first Honors Scholar to receive the award. At the end of the spring semester, Rebecca will be moving on from UConn, to UMass Law School, where she will be Assistant Professor of Law.
2000s
Stacy Hattersley ’01 (NURS) graduated from the University of Hartford with her Master of Science in nursing, with a focus in nursing education. She also recently received the Regents Honors Graduate Award from the University of Hartford for her academic performance. Christina (Mackey) Fleming ’02 (EDUC) is a fifth grade math/science teacher in Granby, Connecticut. Her twins, Mackenzie and Ryan, were born on September 26, 2012. Mackenzie Margaret weighed 5 pounds 2 ounces and Ryan Stevens weighed 5 pounds 8 ounces. Ron Pepino ’03 (CLAS) recently received his Ph.D. in atomic physics at JILA, one of the world’s top institutions for atomic physics. While wrapping up a visiting assistant professor position at Rhodes College physics department, Ron was recently offered (and accepted) a tenure-track assistant professor of physics position at Florida Southern College. There, he will be building a physics department from scratch. Margaret Ziegler ’03 (NURS) obtained her master’s degree in nursing in 2008 and became a board certified nurse practitioner. Since that time, she has been enjoying a career practicing internal medicine with a focus in geriatrics. Stephanie Stolzenbach, LMSW ’05 (CLAS) is a clinical social worker and supervisor for The Leadership Program in New York City, where she provides individual and group counseling to middle school students in the Bronx. She currently supervises six social work graduate students who attend New York University and Adelphi University, respectively. Stephanie was recently awarded Outstanding Field Instructor from Adelphi University. Ross Cardarelli ’06 (CLAS) married his college girlfriend, Jennifer Frenkel ’05 (CLAS), on May 20, 2012. Kate (Kidera) Hesla ’06 (CLAS) ’06 (EDUC), ’07 (EDUC) is currently featured in a video produced by the New York State Department of Education (Engageny.org) highlighting instructional best practice and Common Core unit design. She is married to John Hesla ’07 (PHAR), and they have two children. Alexandra van den Berg ’07 (FNAR) recently graduated from Tufts University with a Master of Art in history and museum studies. This semester she taught a course at Tufts called “The Corset and the Crown: Politics of Fashion.” This summer she is spending six weeks in Brittany, France, as a hand-weaver’s apprentice, which she hopes will contribute to her understanding of historic textiles. Rachel Ginsburg ’07 (CLAS) recently joined the law firm of Pullman & Comley, LLC as an Associate. Rachel practices in the area of labor and employment law and works out of the firm’s Bridgeport and Hartford offices. Raymond Lorenzoni ’07 (CLAS) was elected Region VII Delegation Chair to represent and vote on behalf of the medical students of the northeast region in the national policy-making body of the American Medical Association. This is one of only seven student delegation chair positions across the nation and involves debating and voting the medical student opinion at the national AMA policy-making meetings. Toni Maraglino ’07 (CARN, CLAS) married Josh Pert, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, on May 26, 2013, at the First Congregational Church of Stonington, Connecticut, with a reception at the Saltwater Farm Vineyard in Stonington. Kareem Mohni ’07 (CLAS), ’12 (CLAS) completed his Ph.D. in biomedical sciences at the University of Connecticut Health Center in December 2012. He is now a postdoctoral research fellow at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Justin Podbielski ’07 (CLAS) passed his Certified Financial Planner (CFP) exam! Two years of hard work paid off; now on to the next project.Zohaib Rasheed, ’07 (CLAS), ’11 (LAW), a University and Honors Scholar, is currently finishing up a two-year Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF) with the Department of State. Currently, Zohaib is working at the U.S. Mission to the E.U. in Brussels, Belgium, as part of his developmental assignment as a PMF. Joshua Scheid ’08 (BUSN) graduated from Western Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree on May 13. He also received the Seminary Award in Leadership. Shawnet K. Jones, M.D. ’09 (CLAS), ’13 (MEDICINE) graduated from UConn’s School of Medicine on Monday, May 13, 2013. She was part of the Combined Program in Medicine as well as the first class of Rowe Scholars. She begins her residency in Family Medicine at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford this July. She plans to remain in Hartford after three years of training. Rishi Kothari, ’09 (ENGR) just graduated from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City on May 10th, and is headed to Mount Sinai for a residency program in anesthesiology. He hopes to sub-specialize down the road, but is currently open to suggestion.
2010s
Alex Bonneau ’10 (CLAS) recently graduated from law school at Boston University School of Law. She is currently studying for the Massachusetts Bar Exam and will begin work as a junior associate this September at the Boston office of the law firm WilmerHale. Linda Drozdowicz ’10 (CLAS) earned publication of her essay “Chicken Fried” as part of the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Medical Student Essay Competition. AOA is the national medical honor society. The essay was based on experiences playing the ukulele for patients. The honor came with a monetary award and the ancillary satisfaction of weaseling a ukulele essay into a medical journal. Samantha Henry ’10 (CLAS) was recently accepted into the clinical psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Alabama-Birmingham for Fall 2013. Sarah Stockmann ’10 (EDUC), ’11 (EDUC) is currently an Environmental Education Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua, co-teaching science at the elementary level. She works on school composts, gardens, and tree nurseries, and other environmental projects. She arrived in Nicaragua in September 2012 and will finish service in November 2014. Caitlin Emma ’11 (CLAS) was promoted to a senior position on the web production team for POLITICO Pro, POLITICO’s subscription-based news service covering finance, energy, health, technology, transportation, and defense. Cara Wallace ’11 (CLAS) graduated this May from Loyola University of Maryland with a Master of Science degree in clinical psychology. This fall she will be pursuing her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of Hartford. Chris Eng ’12 (BUSN) started at KPMG, LLP in the audit practice in August 2012, and has recently passed all four sections of the CPA exam.David Fryxell ’12 (CLAS) won a NSF EAPSI award to spend this summer in New Zealand studying contemporary adaptation of the invasive mosquitofish to geothermal springs with Kevin Simon at the University of Auckland. David also won a NSF GRF that will provide three years of support for his dissertation research with Eric Palkovacs at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Will Kimball ’12 (CLAS) is currently the domestic policy intern for the Washington-based think tank, the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Previously, he interned at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. He is looking to work as a research assistant in the area of public policy research, after which he hopes to enroll in a Ph.D. economics program.
Return to the Summer 2013 issue of the Honors Alumni eNewsletter