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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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Spotlight Stories

Kaszuba-Neville bobble heads atop a wedding cake
Kaszuba-Neville wedding party celebrate on a beach with hands up and smiles

➼ You’d be hard-pressed to find a more UConn-themed wedding than Lauren Kaszuba ’10 (CLAS) and Nate Neville’s destination event on the beach in Mexico in May. From their adorable cake topper to the upbeat “UConn Fight Song” serenading guests, the couple wove their Husky pride into every detail. They even arranged to have a recording of UConn game day announcer Conor Geary introducing them as they arrived at the reception. “It feels like our relationship has been built on all things UConn,” says Lauren. “I am an alum, and Nate grew up on all UConn sports. His late father, ­Dennis Neville ’75 (ENG), took him to every football and basketball game from the time he was a kid. UConn has held sentimental value to him.” Congratulations, you two, and Go Huskies!

➼ Brian Francese ’06 (BUS) shares this story and invites others to share their own: “Last year Gampel Pavilion’s hardwood floor was replaced after 33 years. UConn engaged a third party, Artsman, to facilitate the calculated removal of the historic floor as well as the sale of those pieces in varying forms to interested buyers. I was fortunate enough to purchase some small pieces of the floor and also one very large piece. For the larger piece, I was able to work with Artsman to design and execute what I consider to be a work of art. The finished product commemorates flooring that witnessed 11 women’s and 5 men’s NCAA national championship seasons, but also pep rallies, commencement speeches, career fairs, etc. I am a partner with a top 10 CPA firm in the U.S. My office is in New York City, but I work from my home in Connecticut a few days a week, where the UCo‘NN’ floorboard art piece is prominently displayed on the wall opposite my desk, allowing for it to be right in sight during my frequent video calls with clients — and is certainly a frequent conversation starter. It would be interesting to see how Gampel Pavilion’s floor has taken on a new life for other lucky buyers.”

Framed UConn Flooring at Office
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➼ A senior project manager for the global Human Rights Foundation, Adam Kahan ’89 (CLAS) claims to have learned countless lifelong lessons about humanity by listening to old jazz, new jazz, and the words of jazz royalty — royalty like Marshall Allen, 100 years old, a Philadelphia saxophonist and former member of the U.S. Army’s 92nd Infantry Division, the Buffalo Soldiers. “Marshall Allen told me, ‘I’m not interested in what you know — I’m interested in what you don’t know,’” says Kahan. “He does not rest on his laurels. You can apply that to anything.”

Kahan had been working as a director of ­postproduction and operations for AMC Networks when he joined the Human Rights Foundation in 2023, hoping to have a direct impact in the fight against authoritarian regimes and closed societies.
“A lot of the people we engage, they have survived under extreme and inhumane circumstances,” says Kahan, who coordinates the Foundation’s annual Oslo Freedom Forum. “Hearing their stories and speaking with them are two of the great things about working here.”

Kahan says he has no regrets about making the move to the nonprofit world. “I got burned out on the corporate world. My salary got cut in half — but my mind is stimulated. You can’t put a price on that.” —Brian Hudgins

Adam Kahan
Analyze Scripts podcast thumbnail featuring Katrina Furey MD & Portia Pendleton LCSW posing with microphone and recording equipment

➼ Despite her abiding love for pop culture, licensed clinical social worker Portia Pendleton ’13 (CLAS) is unable to unabashedly delight in her social media feed. She just can’t help noticing its flood of inaccurate information about mental health.

That’s what spurred Pendleton to hook up with psychiatrist Katrina Furey and create the weekly podcast “Analyze Scripts,” in which they analyze the mental health of characters in current movies and TV shows. Recent topics include ADHD, personality disorders, depression, adolescent development, and eating disorders.

With more than 80 episodes to date, Pendleton and Furey seem to have found a niche, earning more than 25,000 streams worldwide since the first became available last February. They credit the show’s mix of medicine, psychology, and streaming trends.

“True mental health disorders are serious and impact people significantly, and while of course we want to break down stigma, I think we also need to get some real info out there,” says Pendleton, who grew up in Haddam, Connecticut, and practices out of Old Saybrook. “We use the characters to illustrate either their mental health struggles or just experiences that we can speak to and how that impacts someone’s mental health.”

Some provide more humor than others. Take, for example, characters in “The White Lotus.” They tend to have more of what Pendleton calls “flair,” so analyzing, say, Tanya’s likely borderline personality disorder can be done with some humor. A summer episode on the Netflix drama “Baby Reindeer,” meanwhile, required a serious look at the show’s stalking and sexual assault themes. “Harry Potter” characters offer a chance for the co-hosts to examine differences among anxious, ambivalent, and secure attachments. An “Oppenheimer” episode looks at the moral and ethical dilemmas facing the scientists who built the atomic bomb. “Barbie,” “Inside Out,” “Love Is Blind,” “The Hangover,” and “Mean Girls” provide decidedly lighter fodder.

Pendleton, who earned dual degrees in psychology and human development and family studies at UConn before getting her MSW at the University of Saint Joseph, hopes the podcast provides some antidote to what she sees on social media.

“I think the landscape has become so saturated with personal anecdotes or people who aren’t qualified talking about mental health. Our idealized goal is bridging the gap for accessing mental health info.” —Lauren Curran

1940s

➼ Elsie Fetterman ’49 (Home Ec.), ’60 MS, ’62 6th Year, ’66 Ph.D., who was an Extension educator at UConn for more than a decade, just published her biography, “The Elsie Blumenthal Fetterman Story,” with 194 Rodney Press. Fetterman lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, where at 97, she tells us she’s all about positivity and still dances, does Pilates, plays and teaches mahjong, reads voraciously, and recently renewed her driver’s license. A portion of the book sales will fund her hometown of Danielson, Connecticut’s Temple Beth Israel, about which Fetterman produced the documentary “A House Built by Hope: A Story of Compassion, Resilience and Religious Freedom.” See Gallery

1960s

➼ Jim D’Amore Jr. ’63 (CLAS), ’68 MBA has created Learn for Life, a nonprofit with a mission to bring math tutoring to inner-­city Hartford.

➼ Wilma Bor Davidson ’65 (ED), of Longboat Key, Florida, has written her seventh book, “Super Cat! Splat! Splat!” It teaches children that we can make happiness for ourselves, even though bad things may happen to us along life’s path. ­Recently retired as a professor of practice at the University of South Florida, Davidson says she continues to run her business consulting practice and has fun writing.

1970s

➼ Liz Scotta ’72 (CLAS) showcased 51 prints, drawings, and watercolors of Belgium, Morocco, and France during her first solo art exhibit at Alliance Française de San Francisco. She also held a book signing for her third book, “Not Just Paris: Scenes from France.”

➼ Carmen Effron ’72 (ED), ’81 MBA, the founder and president of C F Effron Company in Weston, was named one of eight 2024 Neag School Alumni Award honorees. Effron was inducted into the School of Business Alumni Hall of Fame in 2011 and received the Connecticut Small Business Institute for Excellence in Commerce Award in 2013.

➼ Congrats to Bruce A. Tomkins ’73 (CLAS), who retired after 45 years at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He worked on many diverse projects in the chemical sciences division, analyzing complex mixtures, such as cigarette smoke, synthetic fuels, environmental pollutants, and radionuclides in environmental samples.

➼ Jeff Davidson ’73 (BUS), ’75 MBA, a colum­nist for Townhall.com, a public issues forum, recently published his 200th article. See Gallery

➼ Marc Summerfield ’74 (PHARM) highlights his experiences at UConn, especially his participation in the marching band, in his recently published memoir, “A Baby Boomer’s Memoir: From Baltimore to the Jersey Shore and Back.”

➼ Ray North ’74, who did his orthopedic residency at UConn Health, is celebrating a 50-year career as a knee surgeon.

➼ Richard A. Dluhy ’76 (CLAS) reports that he is currently a professor and chair of the chemistry department at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

➼ Athos “Dean” ­Macris ’79 (ENG), a seasoned cybersecurity expert, was appointed chief information security officer at Dispel. His career spans roles in operational and information technology, including serving as theater operations officer of U.S. Forces Korea and cyber technical director for Naval Special Warfare. Macris also continues his military service as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy.

➼ Congratulations to William “Bill” Hover ’79 MS, a leading national dam engineer, on receiving a top honor from the Boston Society of Civil Engineers. Hover, who recently retired as senior principal at GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc., was inducted as a lifetime honorary member of the society, one of only two people accorded this honor each year. During his 42-year career, Hover provided dam engineering services for municipal water supplies serving metropolitan Hartford, Boston, and New York City and served on the firm’s board of directors. See Gallery

1980s

➼ David Ertl ’80 (CAHNR), of Waukee, Iowa, reports that he retired from a career in agriculture in June. He worked in plant breeding at Pioneer Hi-Bred (now Corteva) for 23 years and spent the last 13 conducting genetic and production research for the Iowa Corn Growers Association. He recently received the Distinguished Career Award from the North American Plant Phenotyping Network. In retirement, he and his wife, Angie, plan to travel to see their musician sons perform. He also plans to continue pursuing his passion for cycling and coaching cyclists.

➼ Love squirrels? Then you might want to pick up a new book by Jerome Lusa ’81 (CLAS) called “Squirrel Poems.” Lusa, of Glastonbury, Connecticut, describes it as a collection of “free-verse poems with accompanying photos to celebrate the indomitable spirit and hilarity of squirrels.” His previous books are “Backyard Poems” and “Hometown Poems.”

➼ Congrats to Pullman & Comley litigation attorney James T. “Tim” Shearin ’83 (CLAS), ’86 JD, of Newtown, Connecticut, on becoming the 101st president of the Connecticut Bar Association. He’s held more than a dozen roles within the association, most recently as president-elect. At UConn, he served as president of the Law School Alumni Association and chair of the Law School Foundation. See Gallery

➼ Chet Dalzell ’83 (CLAS), the senior vice president of operations and participant engagement at Digital Advertising Alliance, was named president of the Marketing Club of New York.

➼ Dr. Alan J. Lipman ’84 (CLAS), a clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at The George Washington University Medical Center, received the Who’s Who in America Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award.

➼ Andrea Ezerins ’84 (BUS) retired in January after a 35-year career in the insurance industry, most recently serving as the chief underwriting officer at the HSB Group. During her career in the corporate world, she lived in nearby Hebron, raised a family, and wrote a novel. Her novel, “Again and Again Back to You,” transports separated young lovers backward in their lives to reveal their road not taken. She and her husband, Edgar Ezerins ’91 MBA, have identical twin sons and two daughters, including Lydia Ezerins ’14 (ED), ’15 MA.

➼ Peter A. LaPorta ’86 (CLAS) was named Most Influential Motivational Speaker of 2024 by CXO Magazine. He was recently on tour for his 11th international bestselling book “Sanctuary.”

➼ Michael Ivy ’87 MD was appointed chief medical officer of Gaylord Specialty Healthcare in Wallingford. Before that, he was deputy chief medical officer at Yale New Haven Health. He lives in Guilford with his wife, Alice. They have four children. See Gallery

➼ Denise M. ­Dettingmeijer ’87 (BUS), ’89 MBA was named Medical Solutions’ new chief financial officer. She most recently served as CFO of Randstad North America and Global Businesses.

➼ Victoria (Wessman) Brooking ’89 MA published her first book, “Garden of Forget-Me-Nots,” a memoir portraying the gradual decline into the world of dementia and Alzheimer’s.

➼ Jon Russo ’89 (BUS), who was a member of the Delta Chi fraternity and ROTC at UConn, has been appointed to the ­advisory board for the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation representing veterans entrepreneurship initiatives. He is the chief marketing officer and founder of B2B Fusion, a marketing consultancy.

1990s

➼ Congratulations to ­Andrea Chapdelaine ’91 MA, ’93 Ph.D., who became the new president of Connecticut College in July. Chapdelaine had been president of Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, since 2015. A native of Chicopee, Massachusetts, she has strong Connecticut ties. After earning her master’s and doctorate from UConn, she taught at Trinity College in Hartford from 1995 to 1998 as a visiting assistant professor. She then joined the psychology faculty at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania, where she rose to become dean of undergraduate studies, then provost, and finally, vice president of academic affairs before joining Hood.

➼ For the second year in a row, the Connecticut Art Directors Club awarded its Best in Show honor to Pam Howard ’91 (SFA) and her Firebrick Design studio in West Hartford. It’s the first time that a solo, woman-run studio has won consecutively. See Gallery

➼ Looking for some Halloween reading? Joe Azary ’91 (CLAS) just published the story collection “Vampires, Warriors and Nomads: The History, Mythology and Folklore of the Hungarians.”

➼ Lawrence P. Ward ’92 (BUS) is the new president of the University of Hartford. Ward had been vice president for learner success and dean of campus life at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

➼ David J. Moonay ’92 MS, ’99 Ph.D. writes that he’s a senior engineer in materials and rheology at Ametek Brookfield in Middleboro, Massachusetts. “I’m enjoying life in Massachusetts and have stayed in touch with UConn friends I made in grad school and at UConn Hillel! Alpine skiing, snowshoeing, mountain biking, and kayaking, among others, are activities added since I moved here. We talk in my synagogue about the men’s and women’s basketball teams!”

➼ Josh Krulewitz ’92 (BUS) was appointed senior vice president of communications at ESPN, responsible for leading the communications department and working closely with Disney colleagues to enhance the ESPN brand.

➼ Tara Curtis Mead ’94 (CLAS), editor of the Hometown Banker magazine for community bankers, let us know that the publication won the Gold Award from Hermes Creative Awards for its December 2023 print edition. See Gallery

➼ Jack McLarney ’96 MS, of Cromwell, Connecticut, wrote “The Book of Batch Scripting: From Fundamentals to Advanced Automation,” which he describes as “an entertaining exploration of bat files for seasoned coders or anyone who wishes to automate repetitive tasks on a Windows computer.”

➼ David Watts ’96 (CLAS) recently completed the Chief Human Resources Officer Program at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the senior director of human resources at Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

➼ Jeffrey LaPierre ’96 (CLAS), a senior assistant public defender, writes that he was promoted to brigadier general in the Connecticut Army National Guard after 32 years of service. Congrats!

➼ Teva Pharmaceutical Industries appointed Matthew Shields ’97 (ENG) as executive vice president of Teva Global Operations, the company’s manufacturing and supply division. He’s a manufacturing and supply- chain leader with more than 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical and animal health industries.

➼ Bridget Cooper ’97 MA recently published her seventh book, “Unflappable: How Smart People Quit Overthinking, Ditch the Drama, and Thrive at Work.” She describes it as a collection of more than 70 game-changing tools, tactics, and frameworks professionals use to improve the way they work and live. She notes that she is the proud mom of Jessi Cooper ’23 (ED), ’24 MA. “We are truly a Huskies family!”

➼ Scott ­Wojnarowicz ’98 (ED), ’99 MA is a co-founder of and the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction at Capital Preparatory Schools, a charter school district that serves schools in Connecticut and New York City.

➼ Sarah (Bussell) Rovezzi ’98 (CAHNR) was recently promoted to East Coast regional sales manager at Allentown. She brings with her 25 years of experience supporting biomedical research, most recently as a deputy program manager overseeing staff and operations for several National Institutes of Health facilities.

➼ Cara Belvin ’99 (CLAS) was honored at the 2024 New England Women’s Leadership Awards, which recognizes remarkable women who meet challenges with confidence, persistence, and compassion. Belvin founded Empower in 2013, inspired by the gratitude she had for all the layers of support her family received after her mother, Kit, died of breast cancer when Belvin was nine. Empower is an international nonprofit with thousands of volunteers worldwide who bring life-changing programs to children and young adults affected by the loss of a parent. Belvin began her career as a school psychologist working with children with disabilities before transitioning into nonprofit management and fundraising.

2000s

➼ Congrats to former Pratt & Whitney President ­Christopher T. Calio ’00 MBA, JD on being named CEO of RTX. With 180,000 employees and $67 billion in annual sales, RTX is one of the largest aerospace and defense companies in the world.

➼ Kirsten Hawkins ’00 MD, Beth Rackow ’00 MD, Julie Cron ’99 MD, Anne Dixon ’01 MD, and Gerin Stevens ’01 MD got together for a 50th birthday party. “It was a great gathering of great UConn medical school women in NYC,” Cron says. See Gallery

➼ Wendy Sue Sewack ’00 (CLAS) earned her master’s degree from the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she works at the University of Virginia.

➼ Kyle J. Eagleson ’01 (BUS) was promoted to president and chief executive officer of Guilford Savings Bank. He formerly served as the bank’s chief operating officer.

➼ John Sheedy ’03 (BGS), of Harwinton, Connecticut, published his second memoir, “In My Father’s Tire Tracks,” a city-by-city retracing of a solo road trip his father took in 1959. Sheedy previously published the memoir “Sting of the Heat Bug,” as well as a collection of essays, “Magical Acts in Two Suitcases,” and a poetry chapbook, “The Wanting Place.”

➼ Congratulations to David Rusbasan ’04 (CLAS), ’10 Ph.D., who was named the new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Marian University Indianapolis. A professor and scholar at Marian University for more than a decade, he has served as dean since 2023. See Gallery

➼ Meg (Noble) Clifton ’04 (CLAS), ’05 MA, of Hebron, Connecticut, was named UConn’s Early College Experience Rookie of the Year for first-year instructors. She’s been teaching English at RHAM High School for 19 years after going through UConn’s Teacher Certification for College Graduates program.

➼ Jonathan Longobardi ’04 (CLAS) joined Halloran Sage as a partner in the firm’s New Haven office. With more than a decade of experience in insurance defense, Longobardi also practices personal injury, transportation, medical malpractice, and commercial litigation work. In addition, he serves as vice president of the board of directors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater New Haven and is an avid runner — he just completed the Hartford Marathon. See Gallery

➼ Reema Narang ’06 MBA recently joined Lee Health as its new chief strategy and innovation officer. She has more than 20 years of leadership experience in the health care industry.

➼ Frank Murphy ’07 (BUS), an assistant professor of accounting at UConn’s School of Business, won the American Taxation Association’s Outstanding Tax Manuscript Award for his significant contributions to tax literature. Before joining UConn’s faculty in 2017, Murphy worked at Deloitte in Hartford.

➼ Congrats to Zoe R. Riccio ’08 (CAHNR) and Robert A. Riccio ’10 (BUS), ’15 MS, whose Athletic Brewing Company was named to Inc. Magazine’s list of the fastest-growing private companies in the Northeast region.

➼ Sarah Masterson ’08 MA, ’11 Ph.D. shines a light on the life and musical compositions of Philippa Schuyler, a child prodigy, composer, concert pianist, and war correspondent, in her new book, “Snapshots of Forgotten Adventures.”

➼ Aaron Frankel ’09 (CLAS), ’19 JD joined the business law firm of Scott B. Franklin & Associates in West Hartford.

➼ Sam ­Reich ’09 LLM, of the Laffey Bucci D’Andrea Reich & Ryan law firm, was named a 2024 Pennsylvania Super Lawyer and Rising Star.

2010s

➼ Kudos to Lt. George Philbrick ’10 (ENG), U.S. Navy, Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Naval Test Wing Atlantic, on being named Test Naval Flight Officer of the Year. After UConn, Philbrick went on to graduate from the Naval Officer Candidate School, the U. S. Naval Test Pilot School, and the Naval Postgraduate School. He’s currently stationed at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.
See Gallery

➼ Samantha Wiegel ’12 (SFA, ED) received the prestigious Kellogg Award, recognizing Rectory School employees for their dedication and commitment to the school through their many years of service and their special assistance to the school and students. Wiegel has been at Rectory School in Pomfret, Connecticut, since 2012 as director of instrumental music and private lesson coordinator and has served as a coach for many sports, most notably volleyball and fencing. Wiegel also reports that she and her husband, Alex, and daughter Nell welcomed a new addition to their family, Molly Ann Wiegel, who was born in March. “Mom looks forward to taking both girls to rub Jonathan’s nose on campus as soon as spring arrives!”

➼ Abbey Forbes ’12 (BUS) shared her engagement photo: “I got married to my college sweetheart Matt Molgan ’11 (ENG) on Sept. 16, 2023, in Westbrook, Connecticut. I met my spouse freshman year at UConn. We’ve been together 15 years!” See Gallery

➼ Ryland Costello ’14 (BUS) was named channel partnerships director at DailyPay, a company he joined in 2019. Forever a Husky, he says he supports the UConn men’s and women’s basketball teams whenever they come to New York City, where he now lives.

➼ Zoe Kaplan ’16 (CLAS) writes that she and Phil Case ’15 (ED), ’16 MA were married in September 2023. “We met 10 years prior while playing for the men’s and women’s UConn Ultimate Frisbee teams. We celebrated with all our fellow Ultimate and Neag alumni friends. We now live in Philly but come home to catch UConn basketball games whenever we can!” See Gallery

➼ Specialty staffing firm Alku promoted marketing director Rebecca Crossley ’15 (CLAS) as its first director of corporate affairs and media relations. Crossley, who started as an intern at the Andover, Massachusetts, company, was one of the founding members of the company’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion Council. She also serves on Alku’s Gives Back Committee, scholarship board, and strategic decision-making team and is a mentor for the Alku Futures Program. Outside the office, she serves as an election poll worker and participated in the Rodman Ride for Kids, the Falmouth Road Race, and the 2023 Boston Marathon.

➼ Juanita Austin ’16 (SFA) produced the third annual DiasporaCon, a graphic novel conference, at Southern Connecticut State University in May. The conference, highlighting opportunities in the industry for creators of color, brought together graphic novel enthusiasts, creators, artists, filmmakers, and industry professionals for a day of panels, discussions, and workshops celebrating the dynamic world of graphic storytelling.

➼ Holly Linder ’17 (ENG) and Dennis Gehring ’17 (ENG) married in April, surrounded by plenty of fellow alums. See Gallery

2020s

➼ Eddie Vitcavage ’20 (SFA, CLAS), a fourth-grade teacher at the Israel Putnam Elementary School in Meriden, Connecticut, was one of 12 educators accepted to the 2023–24 Scholastic Teacher Fellow program.

➼ Congrats to Nicolette Naya ’21 (ENG) on winning the Charles Lewis Tiffany Award for Excellence. Naya interned with Tiffany & Co. as part of her engineering program at UConn. Upon graduation, she accepted a position at Tiffany and has already spearheaded the launch of an innovative manufacturing system that led to improved processes and cost savings.

➼ VOSH-CT (Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity) recently completed its 20th mission to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, led by Torrington optometrist Matthew Blondin ’20 MPH and attorney Audrey Blondin ’20 MPH. Over four days the clinic’s 38 mission members saw 3,743 patients from throughout southern Nicaragua, providing not only eye exams; eyeglasses; sunglasses; and medicine for glaucoma, eye allergies, and dry eyes as needed but also donated hats, clothing, and toys. See Gallery

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