Class Notes
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Your classmates want to know about — and see — the milestones in your life. Send us news about weddings, births, new jobs, new publications, and more — along with hi-res photos — to: Alumni News & Notes, UConn Foundation, 2384 Alumni Drive, Unit 3053, Storrs, CT 06269.
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Robert Neagle ’64 (CLAS) has created and maintains two Facebook groups for discussions and images of UConn radio during the 20th century. Find the groups at The WHUS That Was and UConn Radio Through The Years. He invites all WHUS alumni to join.
The Esplanade Association is a private nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing and enhancing the Charles River Esplanade in Boston. Previously, Michael served as Chief of Staff at the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy in Boston.
In Memoriam
For a list of UConn alumni and faculty obituaries, visit uconnalumni.com/category/class-notes/obituary.
Please share news of alumni deaths and obituaries with UConn Magazine by sending an email to: alumni-news@uconnalumni.com or writing to Alumni News & Notes, UConn Foundation, 2384 Alumni Drive Unit 3053, Storrs, CT 06269.
UConn Mourns Loss of Ray Neag ’56 (CLAS) ’01 H
Ray Neag ’56 (CLAS), of Goshen, Connecticut, and Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, a philanthropist who built his fortune in the medical device industry, died Thursday, April 19, at age 86. He died at home with his wife, Carole, by his side.
Carole and Ray Neag are among the most prominent benefactors in UConn’s 138-year history, next to brothers Charles and Augustus Storrs, who donated the land and funding in 1880 to start the University. In 2001, Ray received an honorary degree from UConn.
“Ray Neag had a profound impact on the University of Connecticut and our entire state. With his first record-breaking gift to the Neag School of Education to his generous support for life-saving care at the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Calhoun Cardiology Center, and many other programs, he played an incredibly important role in our history,” says President Susan Herbst. “He keenly understood UConn’s potential to be a top public research university and academic medical center, and how to build the momentum to get there. Ray was a visionary who advocated tirelessly on UConn’s behalf and inspired so many other alumni to follow his lead.”
As UConn’s largest donors, the Neags transformed the Neag School of Education and the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center and made significant contributions to many other programs. Their legacy, however, bespeaks more than philanthropic generosity. Through a deep connection to the institution and the UConn community, the Neags helped raise UConn’s national profile and elevate the UConn Foundation’s fundraising operation. Neag was a visionary foremost. He approached philanthropic pursuits using the same acumen that enabled him to build a small medical device company that manufactured hypodermic and textile needles into a pioneering manufacturer of cardiac surgery devices, including, in 1978, the first polyurethane catheter, which is widely used today.
In a 1999 interview with the Hartford Courant, Neag explained the timing of his $27 million gift (including a $4 million match from the state), which was at the time the largest gift ever to a public university in New England and the largest gift ever to a school of education in the country. He said, “I worried about the commitment of other people to the University, but I could see it was starting to happen.”


Peter Morenus
Neag at the 2007 School of Education commencement
Share your news with UConn Nation!
Your classmates want to know about the milestones in your life. Send news about weddings, births, new jobs, new publications, and more to: alumni-news@uconnalumni.com
Submissions may be edited for clarity or length.
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