Honors Class Notes (Fall 2012 eNewsletter)

November 14, 2012

1970s

Cecelia Bucki ’73 was recently appointed editor for the journal “Connecticut History.” She is Professor of History at Fairfield University where she recently ended her three-year term as department chairperson. She earned her Ph.D. in history from the University of Pittsburgh in 1991 and is the author of “Bridgeport’s Socialist New Deal, 1915-1936” (University of Illinois Press, 2001). Ruth Welti ’76 was recently honored with the title of University Distinguished Professor of Biology at Kansas State University. She is an enthusiastic student of the chemistry and biochemistry of lipids. Bruce Barth ’78 was recently named chair of the Tax-Exempt Organizations and Benefits Group at his firm, listed in The Best Lawyers in America® as Hartford Lawyer of the Year in the area of Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law for 2013 (Copyright 2012 by Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC), and listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Employee Benefits Law since 1995. (more…)

2013 Goldwater Scholarship nominees

November 9, 2012

Each year, the University of Connecticut is permitted to nominate up to four outstanding undergraduates who are headed for research careers in science, math, or engineering to compete for the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. The faculty nominating committee read and considered a record number of outstanding submissions this year and just announced the 2013 Goldwater nominees. This year, they are all Honors students. The 2013 UConn Goldwater nominees are: (more…)

UConn club to help at Carmeroon orphanage

November 5, 2012

By Olivia Balsinger

Students looking for an organization that can assist the worldwide community through action with other peers have a new club tailored for them: “UConn Empower,” a new club for students.

As stated on their website, UConn Empower’s mission is a student group with the mission to “help to bring about long-term change by empowering the underprivileged through education and health care.” (more…)

UConn Alumnus John Yearwood, “Dispatches from a World in Need of Healing”

September 28, 2012

Come hear a lecture by UConn alumnus and award-winning multimedia journalist, John Yearwood entitled, “Dispatches From a World in Need of Healing,” on Friday, October 12, at 3:00 p.m. in Konover Auditorium. Mr. Yearwood will discuss his personal journey through some of the past and present major conflicts that have occurred around the world, and his meetings with leaders who offer insight into their behavior, such as President Assad of Syria. He will also discuss other people with whom he’s met—Nelson Mandela in South Africa and Haitian dancer Jeanguy Saintus—who, in their own way, are working to heal the world.

Mr. Yearwood is World Editor of The Miami Herald and host of World Desk with John Yearwood, which focuses on global issues and newsmakers. His department has won numerous awards under his leadership, including two McClatchy Company President’s Awards, an Arthur Ross Award, and recognition as Pulitzer Prize finalist. Yearwood has served on the executive boards of Unity Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists. He also was named one of the 40 most influential African-Americans under 40 in South Florida and one of the 100 most accomplished Caribbean Americans in South Florida.

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Former Board Chairman Dr. John W. Rowe Honored at Building Naming Ceremony

September 21, 2012

Dr. Rowe speaks at the naming ceremony — 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, President Susan Herbst, Lawrence McHugh, chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mun Choi, interim provost, and Joshua Andrade, an Honors student in the Rowe Scholars Program. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

By Sheila Foran

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.

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: “There’s a lot of advising in here … a lot of students come in looking for counsel … they come in looking for direction on how to navigate the University … so it’s 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.” (more…)

Lubonja’s research published in ‘Science of Advanced Materials’

September 19, 2012

Before Klair Lubonja even started classes his freshman year he was engaged in research courtesy of the Pre-College Enrichment Program, sponsored by the Department of Health Career Opportunity Programs at the UConn Health Center. As a member of Dr. Yu Lei’s lab, Klair spent the summer working with copper nanowire and single-wired carbon nanotubes in an effort to enhance glucose electrooxidation. (more…)

Rowe Researcher: Translesional Synthesis DNA Polymerases

August 14, 2012

Summer 2012: Structure and Interactions of Translesional Synthesis DNA Polymerases

By Maciej Kosakowski, Dr. Dmitry Korzhnev, Ph.D., Dr. Irena Bezsonova, Ph.D.

During my weeks with the College Summer Fellowship Program at the UConn Health Center, I worked in a structural biology lab in conjunction with the NMR lab under Dr. Korzhnev. I assisted him on his project, which aimed to discover the specific mechanisms behind translesional synthesis DNA polymerases, or TLS polymerases for short. (more…)

Rowe Researcher: Health in the Buduburam Refugee Camp

Summer 2012: The Socio-Political Influences on Health in the Buduburam Refugee Camp

By Gian Grant, Dr. Elizabeth Holzer

The United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) recognizes that there are approximately 2.7 million refugees in the world. The UNHCR often coordinates with non-governmental organizations and asylum countries to provide refugees with services such as health care until a permanent residential situation is agreed upon. (more…)

Rowe Researcher: Characterization of Drosophila Interacting Genes

Daniel Camacho conducting research at the Health Center.

Summer 2012: Characterization of Drosophila Interacting Genes: Elucidating the Mechanism(s) of PolyQ Toxicity in Huntington’s Disease

By Daniel R. Camacho, Ping Zhang, Ph.D.

Polyglutamine expansions are a type of genetic mutation that is responsible for several human neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington’s disease. The pathology of these diseases involves the accumulation of proteins containing polyglutamine domains within neuronal cells, which ultimately leads to cell death. The mechanism of toxicity of these protein aggregates is currently being investigated. My work involved using the model genetic organism Drosophila melanogaster to try to elucidate aspects of polyglutamine toxicity. (more…)

Rowe Researcher: Biofilm-Forming Bacteria

August 9, 2012

Summer 2010: Determining the Effect of Spacing in Protection of Staphylococcus aureus by Pseudomonas Aeruginosa

By Leonela Villegas and Leslie Shor, Ph.D.

The research that I have been conducting since the summer of 2010 includes the observation of two different types of biofilm-forming bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Using a quad microfluidic device that simulates a controlled environment, I observed the interactions between these two bacterias at various distances from one another when being in contact with Tobramycin to ultimately compare these results to other types of antibiotics. (more…)