By Cheryl Cranick, Honors Program

“When I first started working in lighting, I always had my sights set on winning a Tony Award on Broadway,” said Dan Rousseau ’08 (FNAR-Honors). Now, just five short years after graduating from UConn with an Honors degree in Design/Technical Theater, Dan has established himself as a television lighting director in New York City. He also has his first Emmy.

Dan’s love for the stage began as a child singing in local musical choirs. He eventually gravitated backstage where he felt the real magic happened, with lighting and set design. “It’s the ability to heighten scenes and push emotions,” said Rousseau, “just through creating an image that can resonate in audiences’ minds well after the curtain comes down.”

As an Honors student in the School of Fine Arts, Dan encountered numerous mentors who helped him develop his expertise. Professors Jim Franklin and Jeff Davis “shaped my design skills,” said Rousseau. Professor Tim Hunter taught him not just design, “but the business side of being a designer,” he said. “And the late David Taylor showed me the world of theatre consulting.” Dan holds the entire Department of Dramatic Arts in high esteem. “Faculty and staff were constantly supporting and inspiring me to do more,” said Rousseau. This included taking graduate-level design coursework during his undergraduate degree.

While at UConn, Dan worked as an assistant lighting designer with the Connecticut Opera and was involved with various productions at the Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT). His experience at CRT served as the foundation for his Honors thesis: “Lighting Design for Pentecost.” As part of this project, he created a comprehensive design procedural guide that included his “early design process, production photos, and critiques and reviews,” said Rousseau. “It was my goal to provide a document that showcased the work that went into designing that show.”

After a short stint as a freelance theatre designer and a call to a UConn alumna, Dan was contacted by the Lighting Design Group, the largest television lighting design company on the east coast. He was hired as an assistant lighting director and soon after moved to New York City. His first assignment was with CNN, and in less than two years Dan was promoted to lighting director for “Anderson Cooper 360.” Now five years after his UConn graduation, Dan and his assistant oversee several shows for CNN, including “Quest Means Business,” “Piers Morgan Live,” and “Anderson Cooper 360,” as well as additional special projects.

In 2012, Dan was offered a very special assignment: Decision 2012 – Election Night Coverage from Democracy Plaza. The team was asked by NBC to bring breathtaking patriotism to Rockefeller Plaza for Election Day 2012. “My main job was to make sure it was installed according to plan,” said Rousseau. However, the arrival of Super Storm Sandy made that task a true challenge.

“Sandy slowed us down with the load in, but we made up the time working around the clock leading up to the big night,” said Rousseau. Technological advances in lighting served as an important part of the project. “We had to keep a low power footprint because NBC and Rockefeller Plaza didn’t want to bring in large generators to power the sight. Robotic moving lights were used to paint 30 Rock in the red, white, and blue that could be seen all over. LED [lights] provided a low power option to highlighting smaller features of the plaza,” he said. “It used to be that if you wanted multiple colors washing a wall, you needed independent lights with color in front of them. Add that all up and it can be about 5,000 watts! Now, with a single 10 watt [LED] light, you can have every color of the rainbow,” said Rousseau.

Production for Democracy Plaza began on Election Day at 7 a.m. with “The Today Show” and continued live into the evening, as millions at home and a packed plaza awaited the results. In addition to the lighting installation, “I also was stationed down at ice rink level for a mini studio where exit polls were reported on an 80-inch touch screen monitor overlooking the ice. At times we were even on the ice!” said Rousseau. “The only way to describe such an event would be to call it the Olympics of broadcast.”

Almost a year after the Election Night production, the News & Documentary Emmy Awards were held in New York City. On October 1, 2013, while overseeing the lighting for a “Piers Morgan Live” special audience edition, Dan received the great news. “I was following the awards as they were announced on the Twitter page, and when I saw the tweet about Democracy Plaza winning the Emmy for “Outstanding Lighting Direction and Design,”  I was ecstatic and shouted ‘YES!,’ scaring my co-worker who was in the room,” said Rousseau. Dan waited until a commercial break to call his parents.

While Dan still has a passion for the stage and the dream of a Tony, “winning the Emmy was unexpected and wasn’t a goal I had set for myself,” he said. “But now that I have, it has moved my sights on to winning the next.”

Return to the Spring 2014 issue of the Honors Alumni eNewsletter

By Cheryl Cranick, Honors Program

Jane (Presnick) Lyon ’78 (NURS-Honors) has ties to UConn that run deep. This Honors Scholar began her nursing career with her education at UConn, and she learned many lessons at Storrs, ones that have helped her maintain a sense of harmony in all aspects of her busy life.

Jane followed in her siblings’ footprints when she attended UConn, and it was here she met her husband, David ’78 (CLAS), ’81 (BUS), in McMahon Hall on October 14, 1977, during a Yankees and Red Sox playoff game. Despite a difference in team loyalties, they married five years later and began their family. They had four boys, who all eventually attended UConn as well: Michael ’08 (CLAS); Robert ’11 (CLAS), ’14 (LAW); David ’14 (CLAS-Honors); and William ’16 (BUS).

Jane’s family was the impetus for her career in nursing. Her mother was a nurse as were her aunts. But her mother foresaw changes coming to the profession and encouraged Jane to earn a formal college degree in the field. “[My mother] was a diploma graduate (St. Raphael’s in New Haven) but knew that the future of nursing was the baccalaureate and encouraged me to get my BSN,” said Lyon. “I am forever grateful to her for that advice.”

When Jane came to UConn as an Honors student, the Honors Program was still relatively new, though its ranks were growing. “I believe our graduating class in the School of Nursing had 106 students in 1978 with two of us graduating from the Honors Program,” she said. Jane fondly remembers the structured education of the UConn Nursing program, the clinical on-site experiences her senior year, and the exceptional faculty. “In addition to the coursework,” said Lyon, “the time management, responsibility, and professionalism learned at UConn have served me well.”

Before she even graduated from UConn, Jane was already building her resume and gaining experience at an institution that would eventually become a large part of her career. “Between my junior and senior year, I worked as a Student Trained Aide at Waterbury Hospital,” she said. “That auspicious beginning led to a 35-year affiliation with Waterbury Hospital. I was hired as a graduate nurse in 1978 in the float pool. Being in the float pool was great because I learned about many different areas of nursing. Every night was different!” During the course of her nursing career, Lyon continued to challenge herself. She has worked in surgical intensive care, post-critical care, and cardiac care, ranging from a charge nurse to a nursing supervisor, and even worked briefly as a nursing instructor.

The option of a per diem schedule was another reason why Jane chose nursing. This scheduling system afforded Lyon the flexibility “to accommodate my other passion—raising a family,” she said. Jane has been able to effectively blend both career and home life for her four sons. She served as PTA president, member of the Soccer Club Board of Directors, registrar for the Soccer Club, coach for her sons’ youth baseball teams, and Merit Badge Counselor for the Boy Scouts. “The Honors Program taught me to push myself and not say ‘no’ to a challenge,” she said. “I took on all of these tasks wondering how I would get it all done, but the lessons learned at UConn about working hard have paid off.”

In 2007, when her boys were mostly grown or already off to college, Jane focused her attention again on nursing, and she accepted a position as nursing supervisor at UConn’s Health Center, where she remains today. Her job requires her to closely monitor staff levels and problems across 14 units, address policy and procedural questions for medical staff, and assign beds to patients if the shift need arises, she said. It also rekindles her link to UConn, though it is safe to say that connection never went away.

The Lyon boys attended and watched UConn games throughout their childhoods, ate at the Dairy Bar, and wore UConn gear from infancy. Jane proudly admits to sending subtle hints to the children about attending UConn. “Our oldest son, Michael, was quite a good soccer player and we hoped he would play college soccer. He told us, ‘I’d rather go to UConn and not play soccer than go anywhere else and play,’” said Lyon. “Having my children attend UConn has been a wonderful experience. It was so comforting dropping them off as freshmen because it held such fond memories for me, and I knew they were going to have a wonderful four years.”

Her UConn connection does not end there. Jane and her siblings are also UConn donors, having established the Presnick Family Scholarship in honor of their parents, which is awarded to a junior nursing student. Jane gives of her time as well, at the School of Nursing’s annual “Postcards” event to offer advice to aspiring nurses and as a member of the alumni board.

“The UConn flag hangs proudly in front of our house whenever possible,” said Lyon, “but especially during the Final Four and whenever a son was accepted there.”

Return to the Spring 2014 issue of the Honors Alumni eNewsletter