Class Notes
Share your news with UConn Nation!
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
Playing against Maine in the old field house.
Growing up, Len Carlson ’62 (ED), ’63 MS says he loved basketball so much that he slept with a basketball — and a dog — in his bed. The future Husky leading scorer and captain was raised in a “tough, industrial neighborhood” of Worcester, Massachusetts, and started blue-collar work at age 13. “It created an urge in me that, hell, I don’t want to live the rest of my life like this, I’ve got to go to college somehow.”
His father told him that meant either being the smartest kid in school or the best basketball player in the city — and he didn’t think he was the former. So “I basically lived on a basketball court,” says Carlson. “Every chance I got, I practiced.” It paid off.
Carlson was offered a UConn basketball scholarship and jumped on it — literally. The former high school long jumper could lunge nearly 23 feet — the distance from the three-point line to the hoop — and had a serious vertical leap to match. By graduate school he was helping men’s basketball head coach Hugh Greer coach the freshman team. One evening, he recalls saying good-night to Greer in the locker room and getting a phone call as he walked in his door. In the minutes since they’d parted, Greer had died of a massive heart attack. Carlson was asked to put on a suit, come back to campus, and help coach the varsity Huskies.
After a successful season, he left to pursue an NBA career — but instead was drafted into the U.S. Army. He played All-Army and then professional basketball in Belgium, which resulted in two blown knees, 24 surgeries, and a pivot to coaching — notably at Augusta State University (now Augusta University) in Georgia, where he desegregated the team, a first for the state. The new team had to make careful travel plans, since there were places in the South that barred Black and white people from eating and sleeping at the same establishment.
Carlson was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, and he became a member of the Augusta University Athletics Hall of Fame in May. At age 86, Carlson is a “fitness nut” and still works as a broadcast basketball analyst. He’s struck by the evolution of UConn, both its campus and its basketball program, which he says is “on another level now,” though he’s stolen only rare glimpses of the new generation of Huskies — “They guard their practices like it’s nuclear war.”
Alumni from Beta Sigma Gamma gathered in Storrs last September to celebrate the 75th anniversary of their fraternity. Beta Sigma Gamma was founded on April 18, 1950, the first fraternity on the UConn campus to intentionally welcome members regardless of race, religion, color, or creed. Inspired by the ideals of the national fraternity Beta Sigma Tau, the founders sought to establish an interracial, interreligious, and intercultural brotherhood. Despite initial resistance from the University’s fraternity council, which questioned its legitimacy as a fraternity, Beta Sigma Gamma became a recognized and active part of UConn’s Greek system. It rejected traditional exclusionary practices such as blackball voting and hazing, and by 1951, more than 10% of its members were Black, an uncommon statistic for the era. In a groundbreaking move, the fraternity amended its constitution in 1973 to admit women, becoming one of the few co-ed fraternities in the country at the time. In 1975, declining membership led to its disbandment, marking the end of a 25-year legacy of progressive values and inclusive brotherhood. This group of alumni raised more than $3,000 for the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute.
Last spring, artists Christy Corey ’16 (SFA), Jasmine Jones ’17 (SFA), and Diana Abouchacra ’17 (SFA), shown from left, organized an art show at the Windsor Art Center in Windsor, Connecticut, showcasing Corey’s illustrations, Jones’ video and photography work, and Abouchacra’s installation and printmaking works. The trio created the interactive event in part to reconnect after their UConn years, during which they were frequent collaborators on coursework and personal projects. One such memorable project happened while studying abroad together in Florence, Italy. Corey live-sketched strangers in markets, shops, and plazas across Europe, while Jones photographed the moment of connection when Corey gave each subject their portrait. The Windsor show explored the nature of artistic collaboration with such pieces as a collective sketchbook and artwork created in conversation with poets, singers, and songwriters. “We hope this exhibit is a reminder to get your art friends together, get your musician friends together, and build community through collaboration in your own life, at whatever scale you can. Family, friends, teachers, anyone that gives you that little bit of encouragement along the way — that’s a spark that keeps me coming back,” says Corey, who teaches illustration at UConn.
George Gerard ’12 (ENG), ’18 MS and Samantha Martone Gerard ’13 (CLAS) joyfully remember their sweet dog, Gatsby, who passed away in February. “Gatsby embodied what it means to be a Husky: spirited, expressive, bold, and profoundly loyal,” says George. “He was a steady shadow at our side.” The pup led a storied life, delightedly jumping aboard for cross-country road trips to nearly every state alongside his travel-loving parents. He garnered attention wherever he went — “people acted as if he were something mythical.” In Storrs, he literally stopped traffic, flocked by members of UConn Nation who, certain he must be Jonathan, happily stayed for photos after discovering he was not. Gatsby left behind traces of himself in every place he stayed, with a Cleveland Airbnb host perhaps capturing it best, saying, “Very nice, very hairy dog.” Adds George, “He was, in every way, unforgettable.” The Gerards live in Deep River, Connecticut, where Samantha directs training for a nonprofit and George is a structural engineer and project manager at a local engineering firm. Their continuing connections with UConn include George’s role on the advisory board for the College of Engineering’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Rhegan (Fisher) Murphy ’17 (CLAS) and Brandon Murphy ’17 (PHARM), ’19 Pharm.D. are the proud new parents of Benson Storrs Murphy, whose middle name pays tribute to the campus where his parents met their senior year. Benson was born at 28 weeks in August 2025 and spent 68 days growing stronger and healthier in the neonatal intensive care unit under the protection of a UConn flag. He joins a loving family chock-full of UConn grads, including his grandparents, Nancy Cavaliere-Fisher ’80 (CAHNR) and Stephen Fisher ’74 (CLAS), ’76 MBA, and his uncle and aunt, Barrett Fisher ’12 (CLAS) and Laura (Niquez) Fisher ’12 (CLAS), who also met at UConn. “We are thrilled to see the Storrs legacy carried on through the next generation,” writes happy grandmother Cavaliere-Fisher.
1950s
George Raczkowski ’56 (BUS) and his wife, Joan, were named Hop Brook Heroes at Hop Brook Golf Course in Naugatuck, Connecticut. They were awarded lifetime memberships and their own parking spot, which George describes as “very convenient.” George, 92, served in leadership positions, repaired divots by hand, planted flowers around the property, and was Hop Brook’s unofficial resident historian, recently narrating a historical video of the course. A lifelong Naugatuck resident, he still golfs twice a week at the course where he and Joan have been playing since the early 1950s, including on many of their anniversaries over the past 75 years. These days, George says, “you’ll either find me at home or at the golf course.” He tasked their helpful and tech-savvy daughter, Gayle Marenghi ’92 (BUS), with cluing us in to the news.
1960s
Jeffrey Urman ’67 (PHARM), ’77 MED-RES is happy to report that the peace garden he and his friend and former UConn classmate Lewis Cohen ’66 (CLAS) conceived and helped establish along Academic Way was dedicated this September as the Marian Urman Peace Garden for Urman’s late wife. The green space features sculptures intended to promote reflection, tolerance, and mindfulness. Urman, a professor of medicine and rheumatology at Stanford University Medical Center and a consultant for the Medical Board of California, patented Qbrexza, an FDA-approved medication for hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating). He has lived in Palo Alto for 50 years and, with Marian, has two sons and five grandchildren.
1970s
Murray Bloom ’71 (CLAS), ’73 MBA and Karen Shlevin Fink ’76 MSW were married in January 2026 in Providence, Rhode Island. The couple plan to reside in Fairfax, Virginia.
This year, Brenda Bean ’73 (CLAS) was promoted to senior representative at Vitas, an end-of-life care provider. The former Russian major has been a Vitas representative for 13 years.
Using material from the Charles Olson Research Collection, part of the UConn Archives and Special Collections, John Faulise ’73 (CLAS) and his scholarly partner, Ralph Maud, produced a revised and expanded edition of one of poet and literary theorist Charles Olson’s most notable works of prose, “The Special View of History.” Olson, a major shaper of postmodern American poetry, is credited with first using the term “postmodern” and is known for his association with the Black Mountain poets. The original book, now out of print, was a transcribed, edited, and organized collection of material from a class Olson taught at Black Mountain College in 1956. Now, Faulise and Maud have published a more accurate and expanded version of this course material through Clemson University Press.
Timothy E. Gillane ’73 (CLAS) was reelected to the Pomfret Public Library Board of Trustees last November after serving a six-year term. He is also a member of the Pomfret Democratic Town Committee.
After a 50-plus year physician assistant (PA)/associate career and top leadership roles in three major PA professional organizations, William “Bill” Kohlhepp ’74 (CLAS) became president of the PA History Society this year. A few years ago, he retired from Quinnipiac University as dean of its School of Health Sciences and remains professor emeritus of PA studies. Beyond professional leadership, this Durham, Connecticut–based alum says he fills his retirement with traveling with his wife, Peggy, and spending much more time with his four grandchildren and two sons and daughters-in-law. Sailing and golf occupy his summer days, while Quinnipiac hockey and UConn basketball get him through the winter. Despite the miles between them, Kohlhepp maintains a close friendship with his senior year roommate, Frank Kane ’74 (CLAS), who lives in New Jersey.
Anthony T. Camarco ’74 (BUS) has published a new nonfiction book, “Three Years, No Justice: When the Law Was Clear and the Connecticut Probate System Didn’t Follow It.”
Marcie Gordon Strum ’77 (ED) is a medical and scientific writer for Endeavor Health in the Chicago area, supporting clinical research and medical education and contributing to scholarly publications. She earned a Master of Health Administration from Washington University School of Medicine and says her UConn education honed her project management skills and her ability to translate complex information into accessible language.
Six “forever friends” from Hollister in West Campus reunited this May in the Isle of Palms, South Carolina, to celebrate 50 years of friendship. From left, top row: Sandy (Anderson) Murphy ’78 (CAHNR); Paula (Saimond) Tamburro ’77 (CLAS); Kathy (Kozlowski) Nelson ’78 (NUR), ’82 MS; and Nancy Fey-Yensan ’78 (CAHNR), ’84 MS, ’95 Ph.D. Bottom row: Ellen (Dorsey) Alcarez ’78 (CLAS), ’86 (NUR) and Noreen (Giglio) Darigo ’78 (BUS).
1980s
After spending three decades in the insurance industry, Andrea Ezerins ’84 (BUS) traded risk assessments for plot twists. Her new book from She Writes Press, “When the Forest Dreams,” is a retelling of L.M. Montgomery’s 1926 “The Blue Castle.” The contemporary fairy tale follows a young woman who leaves her tedious life to pursue a whirlwind adventure — featuring a chance at love and an obsession with a rare and elusive forest bird. Ezerins lives in Hebron, Connecticut, with her husband, two daughters, and identical twin sons.
Daniel Waxler ’85 (BUS) and his wife, Donna, shared the wonderful news that their daughter, Hannah Waxler DiPanfilo ’19 (CAHNR), ’21 MS, and Michael DiPanfilo welcomed a beautiful baby boy, Malcolm, on Nov. 14, 2025. Here’s “Mac” engrossed in UConn’s buzzer beater win over Duke on March 29 this year.
Susan Weber ’87 (BUS) has been vice president, business development, at Aramark’s Avendra International since 2020. She has twice been honored with the company’s sales leadership award for outstanding sales performance in the hospitality industry. “My time spent attending the UConn School of Business provided the strong foundation for my rewarding and successful sales career.”
After 11 years as a marine military police officer and 25 years as the deputy director, Bonnie Mitchell Swanson ’88 (CLAS) has been named the director of Capstone, Keystone, and Pinnacle programs at the National Defense University in Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., where she educates the country’s senior military leaders.
1990s
Ritu Chaudhri ’90 MBA won a 2026 Maritime Women Empowerment Award from Marex Media of India for her leadership career focused on marine fuel treatment chemicals that keep vessels running.
Longtime hospice nurse, leader, and educator Maureen Groden ’90 MS published “When a Loved One Is Dying: Conversations About Care, Connection, and Coping,” from Johns Hopkins University Press. She examines real stories, such as the experience of a colon cancer patient and his family, to explore how the palliative and hospice systems work when a family member is seriously ill, what decisions families may need to make, how to care for their loved ones, and how to say goodbye.
Ann Marie (Hurley) McCusker ’92 MS earned a Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Hartford in May 2025. She works at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, as senior director of acute care services. McCusker lives in the Bay State with her husband and daughter.
Transit company Transdev recently appointed Brian Costello ’93 (BUS) as vice president of finance.
Eric Panke ’93 (SFA) has been promoted to executive creative director at Adams & Knight, a marketing agency in Avon, Connecticut. Panke, an award-winning art director, illustrator, and creative director, has spent over 25 years working in the Connecticut advertising and marketing community. He serves on the board of the Advertising Club of Connecticut and is happily married to Elizabeth (Dzilenski) Panke ’93 (SFA).
Carol Rando ’93 MBA was named head of Tellus Brokerage Connections, a marketing organization that’s part of Crump Life Insurance Services, which is an AmeriLife company.
Couzens, Domingos, Allen & Associates, a Glastonbury, Connecticut–based private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, is proudly led by Matthew Couzens ’94 Cert., ’99 (CAHNR); Michael Domingos ’03 (BUS); and Sean Allen ’05 (BUS). Couzens founded the team in 2006. The practice was named to the 2026 Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams list.
Jill Arvanitis ’96 (CLAS) has been named director, ecommerce performance marketing and partnerships, at global toy company Mattel. She has more than 25 years of marketing experience and recently completed four years on the American Marketing Association Connecticut’s board of directors. She remains engaged with UConn, connecting with students interested in marketing careers. She and her husband, George Arvanitis ’95 (BUS), are parents to two daughters and recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in Paris. Daughter Isabella Arvanitis ’25 (CLAS) is pursuing her MBA at UConn and is on the women’s rowing team.
Lisa Rylant ’97 (CLAS), ’99 MA, a pediatric audiologist, wrote “Oakley Gets a Hearing Aid (and a Hearing Test Too!),” which follows a real dog through a fictional audiology visit. Kids see Oakley listen for the beeps, get an ear mold made, and take his new hearing aid home. Rylant hopes the story will help children feel more confident as they navigate hearing loss. She also adapted the book into a learning tool for other pediatric audiologists.
Nick Beasley ’98 (CLAS) is co-owner and director of production at Boston-based custom builder Adams + Beasley, restoring everything from sleek, skyline-peeking penthouses to net-zero homes to historic red New England barns.
Chris Schmidt ’98 (CLAS), athletic director at Nipmuc Regional High School in Upton, Massachusetts, was named State Athletic Director of the Year by the Massachusetts Secondary Schools Athletic Directors Association. Adam Giardino ’11 (CLAS), ’26 MA, who was a student of Schmidt’s at the nearby Franklin High School, shared the news. He says teacher and coach Schmidt encouraged him to consider UConn and set up opportunities for him to try sports broadcasting. Giardino went on to earn two communications degrees and works full time as a sports broadcaster, calling UConn games on Fox Sports Radio and ESPN+ and Big East basketball on NBC/Peacock. You might have caught him on air during this year’s Winter Olympics. “I don’t know what life would look like if [Schmidt’s] guidance toward sports broadcasting in high school never happened, but I’m sure glad it did,” he says.
Antoinette Padula ’99 (NUR), ’23 DNP and Emilee Binette ’01 (CLAS), ’13 MS, ’23 DNP, who became friends during their Doctor of Nursing Practice days, recently returned from a surgery-focused medical mission to Kenya with Kenya Relief. A group of 19 healthcare professionals provided care to about 250 patients for everything from cleft lips to hernias. “I have benefited and been shaped as a person and a practitioner by the comprehensive and global humanistic approach reinforced throughout my education at UConn,” says Binette. “UConn and the UConn School of Nursing inspire clinician scholars to use their skills and abilities in the service of others and our world. As a Husky, it feels natural to critically appraise, question, and seek to change — when needed — the status quo, to walk confidently but gently along with others as they live, bearing witness first and, second, uplifting and intervening with great care and respect from a place of acquired wisdom and skill when invited and welcomed to do so.”
Private wealth advisor Matthew Udal ’99 (BUS) received Circle of Success recognition at Ameriprise Financial Services as one of its top advisors over 26 years with the company. Udal works for Waypoint Wealth Solutions in Farmington, Connecticut, a private practice of Ameriprise.
Check out this pack of UConn-trained educators who work together to support students at Laurel Literacy Academy in Bloomfield, Connecticut.
From left: family resource center director Gail Nolan ’99 MSW; speech and language pathologist Emma Kelleher ’23 (CLAS), ’25 MA; preschool teacher Evoni (Graham) Davis ’96 (ED), ’96 MA; math coach Erin (Kelly) Marella ’95 (ED), ’96 MA; second-grade teacher Abigail Mullings ’24 (ED), ’25 MA; principal Jennifer (Hernandez) Dwyer ’03 (ED), ’04 MA; and first-grade teacher Abi Buckley ’23 (ED), ’24 MA.
2000s
Angela Burke Kunkel ’02 MA will have her fifth picture book, “Snow Geese Season,” published by Random House Studio this fall. It tells the story of a boy caught between two homes who finds peace and belonging with his grandfather and the snow geese that return year after year.
Forbes named Mary Wisenski ’02 MS of accounting firm Fiondella, Milone & LaSaracina as one of the best certified public accountants in Connecticut.
Nancy Kennedy ’05 JD, Cert., intellectual property lawyer at the West Hartford office of Stites & Harbison, received the Connecticut Bar Association’s 2026 Ladder Award for outstanding service in the legal profession and for “letting the ladder down” for other women to follow in her footsteps. Kennedy has taught at the UConn School of Law and given guidance to the School’s clinics, including providing her animal law expertise to the Animal Law Clinic.
Maggie Lord ’06 (CLAS) was named to Inc. magazine’s 2026 Female Founder’s 500 list. Lord is co-founder of the Whisper Group, which helps female business owners build and prepare their businesses for high-value sales. The firm’s mission is to close the “exit gap” — the disparity in which women receive a relatively small share of wealth generated from sales of their businesses.
2010s
In March, CopperPoint Insurance Companies appointed Mark Woods ’10 MBA senior vice president and head of product; he now leads the company’s workers’ compensation and commercial property and casualty insurance products.
Asha Bhandary ’11 Ph.D. published her second philosophical monograph. “Being at Home: Living Autonomously in an Unjust World” explores how race, gender, and caregiving relationships reshape our understanding of autonomy.
Bethany O’Brien ’11 (CLAS) celebrated the third release in her “Adventures with Jonathan” series of children’s books. “Campus Construction” follows her popular “The Lucky Husky” and “Dairy Bar Disaster.” She and her husband, who met as first-years in West Campus, live in Tolland with their two children.
Megan (Wittel) Howe ’12 (SFA) received a joint doctoral degree in education from the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College after successfully defending her dissertation, “Youth at the Center: Developing Interests, Addressing Adversities, and Reimagining Spatial Justice in a Networked Afterschool Learning Ecology.” She and her husband, Matthew Howe ’12 (CLAS), celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in June.
Devin L. McMahon ’13 (CLAS), ’16 JD recently joined Hartford, Connecticut–based law firm Halloran Sage as an attorney in the insurance and commercial litigation practice groups.
Devon Kulinski ’14 (CLAS) is a member of the Auditory Studies Investigation Group at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, which received the 2026 Safe-in-Sound Award for Innovation in Hearing Loss Prevention. The group conducts research to help service members protect their hearing from blasts and other noise exposure.
Riley (Houle) Ives ’15 (CAHNR), ’16 (NUR), ’26 MS played soccer on a full scholarship and earned a bachelor’s degree in allied health sciences before taking advantage of the School of Nursing’s accelerated second-degree program. She and her husband, David Ives ’15 (NUR), spent several years working together as travel nurses before returning to Connecticut. Riley earned her nurse practitioner master’s degree in Storrs this year, and David is working on his Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice through Central Connecticut State University.
Cheers to Lauren Tracey ’19 (CLAS) and Jake Rothstein ’19 (CLAS) who tied the knot on Sept. 6, 2025, in Stonington, Connecticut, with a pack of attendant Huskies.
2020s
Whoa! Veradermics, a biopharmaceutical company co-founded by Reid Waldman ’21 MED-RES, raised $256 million in its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MANE.
The proud moms of Frederick A. Zering IV ’21 (ENG) and Meagan (O’Donnell) Zering ’21 (CAHNR) tell us the two, who met as first-years in Air Force ROTC, are both captains in the U.S. Space Force. They married in 2023, are stationed at Vandenberg Space Force Base, and live in Santa Maria, California, with their rescue pup, Sadie.
And congrats to Nick Saracco ’22 (CLAS) and Ciara (Hale) Saracco ’22 (CAHNR) who recently married in South Carolina.
