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: Continue reading
Alumni News
UConn club to help at Carmeroon orphanage
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.” Continue reading
UConn Alumnus John Yearwood, “Dispatches from a World in Need of Healing”
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.
Former Board Chairman Dr. John W. Rowe Honored at Building Naming Ceremony
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.” Continue reading
Lubonja’s research published in ‘Science of Advanced Materials’
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. Continue reading
Rowe Researcher: Translesional Synthesis DNA Polymerases
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. Continue reading
Rowe Researcher: Characterization of Drosophila Interacting Genes
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. Continue reading
Rowe Researcher: Biofilm-Forming Bacteria
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. Continue reading
Twins run in the Honors family
By Cheryl Cranick, Honors Program
Currently in the UConn Honors Program, of the roughly 1,600 students enrolled or who have just graduated, 22 do not just have a sibling on campus; they have a physical double. In 2011-2012, the Honors Program included eleven sets of identical twins. The presence of identical twins is not unusual for the Honors Program, which has had twins in previous graduating years. Continue reading
Honors Class Notes (Spring 2012 eNewsletter)
1960s
William Cremins ’69, ’73 is the Administrative Judge for the Waterbury Judicial District, a member of the State Judicial Review Counsel, and a member of the State Marshal Commission.
1980s
Dr. Lisa D. Brush ’85 is a sociology professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Her new book, Poverty, Battered Women, and Work in U.S. Public Policy (Oxford University Press), was named a CHOICE outstanding academic book for 2011. She was in Storrs this May to address the UConn women’s studies students at their Commencement celebration. Robert Rzewnicki ’88 is owner of the FISC Help and Information Desk at Aetna, providing business and technical support for the company’s group and health insurance underwriting and accounting operations. Continue reading