Honors Program Alumni eNewsletter (Spring 2012)

June 16, 2012

A Message from the Director

To our Honors alumni,

It is with mixed emotions that I write this Director’s Note, having just celebrated my last Medals Ceremony with Honors students and their families in the role of Director. We graduated more than 300 students, our largest number of Honors Scholars in the history of the program.

This year has brought many exciting changes, and some sad ones, as Honors said goodbye to its great friend and one of Honors’ first directors, Dr. John Tanaka, who passed away this April. But as we marked the loss of this important educator, we also paused to realize the advancements of this program under the leadership of its various directors. I am proud that I was able to contribute to its development and participate in the education and success of so many outstanding students. (more…)

Honors celebrates scholars, faculty, and alumni at the 2012 Medals Ceremony

Hettinger, DeWalt, and Kennedy — Award winners Dr. Virginia Hettinger, Dr. Bill DeWalt, and Ms. Marian Kennedy. (Photo courtesy of Thomas Hurlbut)

The Honors Medals Ceremony is a time for the Honors Program to individually recognize each graduating Honors Scholar before family, friends, and the university community. Seniors are presented with commemorative medallions to wear at Commencement and keep as a reminder of their successful completion of a rigorous Honors curriculum. The event also celebrates the contributions of Honors faculty members and marks the accomplishments of Honors alumni, highlighting the circular relationship of educators, students, and graduates. This year, three members of the extended Honors community were recognized. (more…)

Top U.K. grad programs have Honors Scholars within their ranks

By Cheryl Cranick, Honors Program

Nestled in the quiet country town of Storrs, accomplished students are hard at work preparing for what waits after graduation. These Honors Scholars eventually disperse across the country and beyond; some settle close to home, while others cross an ocean. Two alumni—one an economist, the other a molecular biologist—graduated from the Honors Program just two years apart. They both pursued competitive funding for graduate schools in the United Kingdom—programs with only a handful of slots—and both were successful. They now reside relatively close to each other, though they’ve never met. What they have in common is the firm foundation they gained here at UConn Honors. (more…)

Understanding culture makes Honors alum a musical visionary

By Cheryl Cranick, Honors Program

Building exterior — Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Ariz. (Photo courtesy of the Musical Instrument Museum)

In the desert of Phoenix, Ariz., is a sprawling $250 million, 200,000-square-foot facility that blends into the arid background. But inside the walls is a collection of instruments that brings to life the world’s music. The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), led by UConn Honors alumnus Dr. Bill DeWalt ’69, ’76, is not just a museum that displays devices for sound. MIM has a deeper mission: to create an all-encompassing sensory journey around the globe. It promises to be “the most extraordinary museum you’ll ever hear.”

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Class of 2012: Alexandra Raleigh

May 2, 2012

By Lauren Lalancette

To prepare for her dream job of U.S. Secretary of State, Alexandra Raleigh ’12 (CLAS) will begin a Ph.D. program in political science at the University of California-Irvine this fall, specializing in political psychology.

“I am deeply patriotic,” says Raleigh, who is graduating with a double major in psychology and political science. “I care about my country’s values, and I want to work really hard to protect those values.” (more…)

2012 Distinguished Alumni Award: Bill DeWalt

April 27, 2012

Bill DeWalt is the founding President and Director of the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), an expansive $250 million institution that opened in April 2010 in Phoenix, Arizona. DeWalt was responsible for assisting in the design and overseeing construction of the 200,000-square-foot building, amassing a collection of more than 15,000 musical instruments from nearly every country in the world, and assembling a team of 110 employees and 350 volunteers. He currently manages the operations of the museum, as well as its world-class theater, which offers concerts by artists from across the globe. (more…)

2011-12 Faculty Member of the Year Award: Virginia Hettinger

Dr. Virginia Hettinger’s path to an academic career took many twists and turns. She graduated from Indiana University with a double major in economics and folklore. Like many liberal arts majors at the time, she had little sense of what to do next or even how to go about finding something to do next.

After a brief stint as a retail manager and assistant buyer, Dr. Hettinger earned a Masters in Public Administration at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her second career took her to the Virginia Department of Planning and Budget and then the Virginia Department of Education. In both agencies she worked on evaluation projects and program reviews. Dr. Hettinger loved working on solutions for problems in areas as diverse as child support, educational equity, prison and jail population growth, and Medicaid expenditure growth, but she also wished to concentrate her focus on the questions she found most interesting as opposed to those deemed important by legislators and bureaucrats. Graduate school called to her again. (more…)

2012 Distinguished Alumni Award: Marian Kennedy

April 26, 2012

After completing her undergraduate psychology Honors degree at the University of Connecticut in 1970, Marian Kennedy moved to California with a fellow Honors student. A year later she began law school at the University of Santa Clara. In 1974 she interned with the California Supreme Court, and has worked as an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board and the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board. In 1979 she entered Harvard Law School to complete her Master of Laws degree before moving to The Netherlands to marry a Dutch citizen she had met at Harvard. From 1981 to 1992, the couple worked in California, New York City, and The Netherlands. They also had two children, Nicole and Robert. (more…)

Hayley Dunnack: Lasting Motivation and a Constant Smile

April 12, 2012

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By Julie Bruhn

Sophomore Hayley Dunnack genuinely values her time here at UConn. As a nursing student, she takes full advantage of the simulation labs and is excited to start her first hands-on clinical experience next semester. Hayley serves as secretary for UConn Irish, a cultural organization that focuses on Irish stepdancing. Furthermore, she enjoys her job at the Student Activities office and believes that working on campus is a great way to get involved and build connections. (more…)

Class of 2012: Alexander Velázquez

April 10, 2012

Alexander Velazquez ’12 (CLAS) (ENG) (Photo: Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

By Lynnette Repollet ’12 (CLAS)

Alexander Velázquez’s passion for engineering first manifested itself when he was only 5 years old. “I told my parents I wanted to be an inventor,” he says. “I’ve always been very technically-inclined.”

Velázquez, who is graduating in May from UConn’s EuroTech program with a dual degree in computer science and engineering and German studies and a minor in mathematics, is fulfilling that childhood dream at an international level. During a four-month internship in Stuttgart, Germany in summer 2011, Velázquez contributed new code to the driving simulator, extending the traffic module that generates computer-controlled cars. (more…)