Joyride
In honor of Valentine’s Day, a roundup of recent UConn weddings.
Category: Community Impact
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!)
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.
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
Refuge
Two new pharmacy grads and their “Cambodian mom”
By a Thread
How Three Professors are Saving Cambodian Refugees — 40 Years After the Genocide
Elizabeth Charash ’18
This Newtown, Connecticut, native is committed to preventing gun violence.
The Future of (Almost) Everything
Our incredibly talented, altogether brilliant, highly accomplished alums predict the future of absolutely everything everywhere.
Hans Rhynhart ’93 (CAHNR)
This alum never imagined his admiration for law enforcement would lead him to the top spot at the UConn Police Department.
#OneUConn
On Campus #OneUConn At convocation, freshmen wore shirts with “#oneuconn” on the front and on the back this Nelson Mandela quote: No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. Peter Morenus Jack Templeton ’18 (CLAS)
Local Heroes
Peter Morenus is the magazine’s photographer. But that job title doesn’t even begin to cover his secret-weapon status here. He seems to know everyone on campus, and can tell us exactly where anything is and what it will look like before we get there.
Joel Gamoran, Host of FYI’s “Scraps”
For this alum, scrappiness is a state of mind. He can turn everyday garbage into gourmet meals.
A Cuban Exchange
Biostatistics professor Tania Huedo-Medina is working with medical professionals in Cuba to better the health prevention strategies in both our countries.
The Next Generation of Farming
Conventional wisdom be damned — young people are embracing farming. But we’re talking hydroponics, heirloom tomatoes, and small-batch goat cheese.
UConn Nation Gives Back
UConn alumni lent a helping hand to their local communities during a month-long community service project in April called UConn Cares.
Green Thumb, Bleeds Blue
James Gagliardi ’05 (CAHNR) has an encyclopaedic mind for all things ecological, a fact quickly apparent on a tour of his gardens — which happen also to be every U.S. citizen’s gardens.
Michael Zacchea – Dispatch from Iraq
In the wake of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Michael Zacchea ‘12 (BUS) eagerly accepted his assignment to build, train, and lead an Iraqi Army.
UConn Foundation thanks you for your generosity in 2016.
By the Numbers UConn Foundation thanks you for your generosity in 2016. Source: The UConn Foundation/www.foundation.uconn.edu
Letters to the Editor – Summer 17
Readers weigh in on “Saving Civility”