True Grit
Richard Juknavorian ’95 (CLAS) shares the top 10 episodes of his podcast, “Meeting You Where You’re At.”
Category: Community Impact
If They’d Known Then…
Remember those rising first-years of the Class of 2024, whose touching, eager, and sometimes prophetic admissions essays we shared on the cover of our Fall 2020 issue? We wondered how those historic four years turned out for them — and where they are now.
Brenda Milla
Brenda Milla ’19 (CLAS), ’24 Ph.D. talks about breathing, brain cells, and why it’s her dream to attend a mixed martial arts bout.
This War Mattered
Congress’ 16-member Afghanistan War Commission includes three UConn alums.
An Edible Surfboard? Almost!
Amelia Martin’s ’23 (CAHNR) company Mud Rat is devising the “blanks” from which anyone can make an eco-friendly board.
Mom Would Be So Proud
Working as the head of an investment management firm for 19 years, Steve Wilson found himself frustrated by the gender disparity he saw in the field.
Toward a More Perfect Union
America is in need of marriage counseling. Enter Bill Doherty, a couples therapist for some 40 years — but over the past eight, he’s taken on a new type of client.
Withered Flowers
A nursing student with minimal film experience travels 3,000 miles to document an underage pregnancy epidemic.
Teresa Hopkins-Staten: Energizer
When she’s not guiding corporate citizenship and equity for Eversource, this exec is helping to spark the futures of a new generation of UConn students.
Molly vs. Dyslexia
“When I was a kid, my dyslexia was something that I really did not like about myself,” says alum Krista Weltner. “ I hope that these books will help children who are going through it right now.”
“That’s My Calling”
Naadu Adjoka-Nartey knows UConn is the right school (times two) and family practice is the right profession.
A Save for LiveSafe
Capt. Justin Gilbert believed the new LiveSafe app offered by the UConn Police Department could be a potential lifesaver for students — if only they knew about it.
An Urban Healthcare Bootcamp
For nearly two decades, this cross-disciplinary program has taught future “change agents” how to provide good, accessible health care for everyone.
Connecticut’s Top Teacher
Three years into her dream career as an educator, Kiana Foster-Mauro is Connecticut’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.
Who Tells Our (Pandemic) Story?
Too often history is written by the powerful. A UConn anthropologist made sure the story of COVID-19 was chronicled by the rest of us.
Huskies — And Aussies — Are Everywhere
From Storrs to Northampton, dog connections run deep for UConn Magazine editor Lisa Stiepock.
Billion Dollar Bailey
Behind business supernova Trisha Bailey is a “deeply disturbing” story that shaped her into the resilient, generous individual she is today.
On the Money
Janet Yellen and Lynn Malerba ’08 MPA make history as the first female Treasury Secretary and first Indigenous U.S. Treasurer with their signatures on the currency.
The U.S. Treasurer
Grad student Sage Phillips ’22 (CLAS), ’24 MA in conversation with Lynn Malerba ’08 MPA on Malerba’s roles as Treasurer, Chief, and Mom.
Mary Estella Sprague
She was the first woman to serve as the dean of an academic department at UConn, overseeing the Division of Home Economics from 1920 to 1926.
What A Library Can Do
A music major at UConn, Johannes Neuer ’00 MM now lives in Leipzig, Germany, safeguarding a nation’s memories.
For Mom
In the wake of a tragic loss, Ryan Matthews ’09 (CLAS), ’16 MPA started The Susie Foundation, a nonprofit that supports families caring for relatives with ALS.
Mutual Funds
Nidhi Nair wants to share financial literacy with the world — starting with her UConn classmates.
Hey Girl
Listening to music from her youth — Spice Girls, anyone? — transports Maldonado to the headspace of her semi-autobiographical, young adult heroines.
Aaron Carr is Holding Landlords Accountable
Aaron Carr started a small housing watchdog nonprofit at age 28. Less than a decade later, that group has filed the largest housing discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history.
Accessible Playground
Making Good Accessible Playground Sarah Grossman (far left) during the ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of the accessible playground. When physical therapist Sarah Grossman ’81 (CAHNR) started the school year in the Chimacum, Washington, school district six years ago, she discovered she had three preschool children on her caseload who couldn’t walk. The school’s […]
Feel Your Best Self
Educators and puppets unite to teach kids about emotions.
Joyride
In honor of Valentine’s Day, a roundup of recent UConn weddings.
Truth Is Dead. Long Live Truth.
Can truth withstand incessant attacks from all sides? UConn Journalism Professor Amanda Crawford reflects on Sandy Hook, Alex Jones, and our culture of disinformation.
Lubbie Harper Jr.
The third African American to serve as a Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, Justice Harper cast the deciding vote to legalize same-sex marriage in the state.
Bleeding Blue … and Green
Alum Wura Olusekun’s job is to make Boston Celtics fans happy — win or lose.
Road Eats
When this Ph.D. student isn’t working in a genomics lab, he’s biking — and finding some truly wild things on the side of the road. (And, often, eating them!)
Rescue Mission
Kinesiology alum Yuri Hosokawa ’16 (CAHNR) uses methods she learned at UConn to train the Japan Coast Guard.
Our Librarian
Edwina Whitney (1868–1970) was the second and longest-serving head librarian at UConn, then Connecticut Agricultural College. Hired in 1900, she first worked in a cramped two-room library lit by kerosene lamps.
G-Man: Frank Figliuzzi’s FBI Story
Frank Figliuzzi ’87 JD, host of the podcast “The Bureau with Frank Figliuzzi,” MSNBC analyst, and author of “The FBI Way,” maintains a “fidelity, bravery, integrity” mission despite retirement.
A Husky and a Cypriot
Irene Soteriou ’23 (CLAS), UConn’s 10th Truman Scholar, wants to stop human rights violations, particularly in the Middle East. She’s starting now.
Leo Can Handle It
From behind the wheel of a stretch, Leo Lachut ’89 (CLAS) has seen a lot of things. While abiding by the “limo code,” UConn’s director of Academic Support shares a few favorite stories.
EDCI 2100: Power, Privilege, and Public Education
Who is the “public” in “public education”? Future teachers in this class tease apart that question, using history and current events to examine the inequities in our educational systems and to posit real-world fixes.
Michael Zacchea
A colleague honors beloved Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans leader Michael Zacchea ’12 MBA, who died unexpectedly in April.
The Stigma Buster
UConn policy practice Master of Social Work graduate, Amanda Brenner’s work on mental health policy, is an extremely personal mission — she’s hoping her lived experience can give others hope.
UConn in the Media
UConn faculty making news about sexism, guns, Russian popular resistance, and more.
“There Was Suddenly a Fatwa on my Head”
For reporting on terrorism, extremism, and atrocities against women in her country, Marvi Sirmed found herself under the most serious of death threats. The Pakistani journalist found the freedom to live — and to work and teach — at UConn.
Highest NAACP Honor Goes to Laurencin
University Professor Dr. Cato T. Laurencin was awarded the 106th annual Spingarn Medal, the highest honor of the NAACP.
Revenge of the Data Scientists
Talitha Washington ’98 MS, ’01 Ph.D. is turning tables on the data science that has worked against Black and Brown people — by creating science and math pathways for students of color.
Harrison ‘Honey’ Fitch
In 1934 UConn students rallied against racism shown UConn’s first Black basketball player.
“The Wheels Are Part of the Dancing”
Beverly Weurding’s popular wheelchair dance program now includes Bollywood and hip-hop.
So Handsome
When LaShawnda Phillips (RHSA ’20, CAHNR ’22) first moved to her neighborhood in Hartford at age 13, she set out to do some exploring. She found horses.
Keep the Change
Dennis Pierce ’15 MBA never got the memo about how humans tend to be change averse. During his 34-year tenure at UConn Dining Services the recently retired Pierce created a culture of change.
Call Cowen!
The more extraordinary the challenge, the more likely UConn Distinguished Alumnus Scott Cowen will be asked to help.
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Lectures
The man behind those gorgeous campus photos on Instagram is a longtime UConn professor and wildlife biologist.
Cool to be Kind
Aysha Mahmood’s job is, in short, to make kindness cool, a goal as ambitious as it is straightforward
Love, Life, and the Miracle Movies of Oscar Guerra
Emmy Award–winning filmmaker Oscar Guerra wants to have a conversation about immigration. Not a policy debate or a campaign rally or, god forbid, a made-for-cable screaming match. But an honest and open talk about what it means to be a working-class Latinx immigrant in America in the 21st century.
The Long Game
Neag School of Education professor and former Major League Baseball star Doug Glanville has no right to be this good at this many things.
Rise Up
A sociology graduate, Larkin-Wells honed her abilities as a breadmaker through UConn’s Sustainable Community Food Systems minor — a unique and intensive interdisciplinary program that combines theory and practice through service learning and hands-on experience with community partners.
Connecticut Foodshare’s CEO
Jason Jakubowski ’99 (CLAS), ’01 MPA enlisted Husky help to get food to Connecticut families during the worst of the pandemic.
3,081 Miles
After Hannah Bacon ’15 (CLAS) lost her job at an environmental nonprofit due to the pandemic, she decided to use her time off to walk across the country to raise money and awareness for climate action.
Farms = Food = Life
When alum Steven Were Omamo sees someone planting, he sees hope. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee seems to agree.
Thank You
A few of UConn’s finest share experiences from the past year.
She Fought for What is Right and What is Fair
Gifted mind, steadfast advocate, and caring friend.
Say it With a T-shirt
Former Husky baller Chris Smith ’92 (BUS), far right, gathered current basketball players to help Foodshare’s Jason Jakubowski ’99 (CLAS), ’01 MPA, center.
Underachiever No More
No one who knew Jim LaFlamme back in the ’70s would have predicted what he’s doing now.
This Land
Sage Phillips ’22 (CLAS) is unearthing more of UConn’s origin story.
TKD for ASD
Taekwondo master Daniel Andrew Chasse ’85 (SFA) teaches classes designed for kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Committed to Social Work
At age 97, Esther Pahl ’52 MSW is still very much making a difference.
Monopoly Busters
Daniel Hanley ’12 (BUS), ’19 JD and Jackie Filson ’16 (CLAS) lead a growing anti-monopoly movement at the Open Markets Institute in D.C.
Humanizing Human Rights
“My clients restore my faith in humanity,” says Ellen Messali ’10 JD of her immigration work with New Haven Legal Assistance.
Raising Her Voice to Amplify Other Voices
Saving a festival youth program in her hometown of Paraty, Brazil, made Pauline Batista ’16 MA a hero there.
Feeding the Fish that Feed Us
Peter Goggins ’21 (CAHNR) started his company with a school of goldfish and an aquarium purchased at Petco.
Advocating for Animals
Professor Jessica Rubin worked with animal rights groups to pass and implement the groundbreaking 2016 Desmond’s Law.
Human Rights Institute Gets Big Gift
The matching gift challenge comes with support from longtime donors Phyllis and Gary Gladstein ’66 (CLAS), ’08 (HON).
Her Fight Against Human Trafficking
Mary-Ellen Barrett ’88 JD says her whole career has led her to this battle.
Take Them Down
History professor Manisha Sinha, an Indian American who is one of the world’s leading experts on the Civil War and slavery in the U.S., on removing Confederate statues.
In the Media
Profs weigh in on new ways to teach, meet, age, get creative, and more.
Si Se Puede
This extraordinary class of seniors (and near-seniors) had already weathered a number of major storms before the pandemic hit.
In Fashion
Ahmed Diakhate ’23 (BUS) created and donated 250 face masks to frontline health care workers.
Local Hero
Louis Goffinet ’17 (CLAS) offered in a Facebook post to shop for elderly neighbors. Two months later he was still shopping, and overseeing a $30,000 Neighbors Grocery Fund.
Our Defining Moments
These Huskies — students, staff, professors, doctors, nurses, and graduates new and old —are finding innovative ways to help us all navigate a global pandemic.
Recycle, Reuse, Re-Everything
Josh Cohen’05 (BUS) wants to make landfills obsolete.
On the CW
Adetinpo Thomas ’15 MA is happy to be acting in Atlanta.
Genetics for Justice
Anthropology professor Deborah Bolnick analyzes ancient DNA in a state-of-the-art Clean Lab in Storrs where her work is, among other things, helping to shed light on Native American histories.
The Isis Terminator
“The intellectual rigor at UConn, in the political science program, really prepared me for everything from the Supreme Court to the White House to building up one of the largest counterterror coalitions in the world,” says Brett McGurk ’96 (CLAS).
Swiss Miss
How alum Autumn (Backman) Sutherland (and her dog Mulligan) built Canton, Connecticut’s Matterhorn Mini Golf.
Building Futures
Michael Smith ’08 MS took his team to the national championship — and won.
Jess Kelly ’08 (CLAS)
She wants women to run.
The World Wide Web
What’s this Wi-Fi you speak of?
The Wait Is Over
Bongi Magubane ’76 is determined to fix the Connecticut DMV.
“Our Stonehenge”
Cover Artist Blanche Serban is painting 365 days of Horsebarn Hill.
100 and Counting
Still practicing law at 100 years old, Morton Katz ’39 (CLAS) ’51 JD has worked as a special public defender at Hartford Superior Court for the past 20 years.
Wanjiku (Wawa) Gatheru ’20 (CAHNR)
For the first time, a UConn student is named both a Truman and a Udall scholar.
Now Playing: Elsa Nocton
Elsa Nocton has not quite hit teenagerdom and yet she has headlined the Hard Rock Café in New York City and is a member of the UConn Women’s Volleyball Team.
The Husky Ticket Project
Despite living in New York City for the past five years, true fans Kevin Solomon ’14 (BUS), Jeremy Longobardi ’12 (BUS), and Kevin Kortsep ’12 (BUS) have made it a mission to keep supporting UConn Nation.
Chris Murphy Walks the Walk
“It’s become Forrest Gumpish, because you can find me if you follow social media, so people come and join.” says Sen. Chris Murphy ’01 JD of his summer walks across Connecticut.
Team Impact
This national nonprofit matches children with serious and chronic illnesses with college athletic teams. UConn has the most pairings of any Division 1 school in the country.
Dave Barnett ’78 (CAHNR)
Mount Auburn Cemetery is not only the final resting place of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, it is a beautiful public park overseen by a UConn horticulture alum
UConn in the Media
UConn profs weigh in on obesity, fake news, climate change, and more
Top Cop
David Rosado ’93 (CLAS) ’07 JD is Hartford’s First Latino Police Chief
Susan Brillhart ’84 (NUR)
Hers is a voice for the most vulnerable among us
Akshayaa Chittibabu ’19 (CLAS)
UConn’s own Truman scholar is dedicated to health care both at UConn and globally
Karl L. Schultz ’92 MPA
The new Commander of the U.S. Coast Guard