Alumni ConneCtions

22 Observer

Alumni ConneCtions

University of Hartford Alumni Board 2012—13Da’Rel J. Eastling ’99, M’11, President

Celia D. Lofink ’79, Vice President

Heather L. Fraser ’99, Treasurer

Barbara Q. Beaudin C’82

Eileen C. Bredice ’89, M’91

Christopher Carr ’11

Robert J. Carr ’93

Elsa Chin A’07, ’09

Sarah K. Conroy ’08

Michael M. Darby ’79

John Demma M’12

David T. Dyson ’81

Angela Henke ’97, M’99

George L. Henriques A’83, ’84

Bernard Kavaler ’79, M’88

Bobbi McNeil ’94

Eileen Peltier A’86

O. James Purnell III A’69

Daniel P. Purushotham M’75

Paul A. Sittard ’85

Adam Stanisic ’09

Michele L. Swanson ’92

Naomi L. Tussin ’77

Alumni ConneCtionsDear Fellow Alumni,It is my honor to represent you as president of the University of Hartford

Alumni Association and to have the wonderful experience of working

with your peers who serve on the Alumni Board. These graduates give

generously of their time and talent to provide opportunities for all alumni

to connect with the University.

The Alumni Board sponsors many programs throughout the year that

enable alumni to enjoy fun, networking, and supporting students. For

example, this fall, President Harrison joined Chicago alumni for a

rousing Red Sox–Cubs game at Wrigley Field, and he met with Euro-

pean alumni at a reception in London. We also held two very successful

networking events—a Leadership Series event in the Hartford area,

hosted by TDBank, and another in Boston, where alumnae met with

Provost Vasquez to discuss women in business. Have an idea for an

event in your area? Let us know at [email protected].

I hope you were able to come back to campus to join fellow alumni,

current students and parents, and faculty for Hawktober Weekend. If

you were here, I know you enjoyed seeing old friends and connecting

with new ones, as did many of us on the Alumni Board. We all are

impressed by the many remarkable graduates the University has

nurtured and produced, including you. If you weren’t able to attend,

please visit www.hartford.edu/hawktober to view photos from the

weekend and start making plans now to come next year.

I invite you to become familiar with the names of your Alumni Board listed

below. We all believe deeply in the value of our University of Hartford

education. That is why we show our loyalty and appreciation by financially

supporting the University’s Anchor Fund. In 2012, 100 percent of the

Alumni Board made a gift to the Anchor Fund. Increasing annual support

from alumni is among the University’s top fundraising priorities, and my

colleagues and I encourage you to join us in support of this essential

program. Unrestricted gifts to the Anchor Fund help provide essentials like

student financial aid and faculty compensation, and help keep our campus

beautiful. Please consider making a gift by using the enclosed envelope,

going online, or answering the phone when a University of Hartford student

calls you from the Telefund. Gifts of any size matter.

This year, we are seeking new ideas and increased involvement from

our alumni, and we hope you will want to participate. We need your

intelligence, energy, and spirit to ensure the success of our University.

Please take a few minutes and complete the short survey on the inside

back cover of this issue of the Observer and return it to us. We will take

your ideas and keep you informed of gatherings, lectures, and service

and volunteer opportunities in your area.

Thank you in advance for completing the survey and supporting the

University of Hartford. Your participation matters and makes our alma

mater stronger!

Best,

Da’Rel J. Eastling ’99, M’11

President, Alumni Association

01-32obsv_fall12.indd 22 11/12/12 1:54 AM

1950FREDERICK WARD (BARNEY; ’52, M’63 BARNEY) of Wethersfield, Conn., and his wife, JANET WARD A’50 (BARNEY), celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary in August.

1953G. WAYNE McCARY (BARNEY) of Longmeadow, Mass., retired as head of the Eastern States Exposition and was presented with the Spotlight Award at the 2012 Howdy Awards for Hospitality Excellence, held in Holyoke, Mass.

GIL PERLROTH (HARTT) of Gulfport, Fla., has more than 20 successfully produced musicals to his credit. His latest, Once upon a Time in Central Park, premiered in September at the Venue Theater in Pinellas Park, Fla. In November 2012, his musical Fallout will have its world premiere at the West Coast Playhouse in Clearwater, Fla.

1960THOMAS M. HASLER (A, A&S) of Baltimore, Md., is negotiating with Matej Minac to make an international, feature-length film about his father, Karel Hasler, a leading Czech songwriter, actor, and director, who defied the Nazis by satirizing them. He died at the Mauthausen concentration camp. A documentary on Karel Hasler and the son who never met him, titled The Immortal Balladeer of Prague, was shown at the University’s Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies in 2010. Tom’s mother, the late Charlotte H. Clark, was a longtime professor of German at the University.

1968SUSIE B. HINTON (M, ENHP) of Hartford, Conn., is relinquishing her seat on the Rocky Hill City Council, as she is moving to an area outside of her current jurisdiction. However, Hinton intends to stay involved with the community.

JOHN A. MUETER (HARTT) of Kansas City, Mo., has retired from the faculty of the University of Missouri–Kansas City, Conservatory of Music and Dance, after 25 years of service. He is now an adjunct vocal coach at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

1970KEVIN FAHEY (BARNEY, M’73 ENHP) of Coventry, Conn., has retired from a 43-year career in higher education student activities. Beginning his career as coordinator of student activities at the University of Hartford in 1969, Fahey served as director of Gengras Student Union for three years in the 1970s. He spent 34 years at the University of Connecticut before retiring.

1971CHARLES J. MARGOLIS (HAS, M’76 HAS) of South Windsor, Conn., is the author of “Did I Really Say That?” The Complete Pageant Interview Guide. The book offers stories, instructions, and hints to pageant contestants. A well-known interview coach, Margolis is executive director of Interview Image Associates,

which helps political candidates, job seekers, college applicants, and pageant contestants with presentation skills and image development.

1972SUSAN KOSCIS (HARTT) of Alexandra, Va., is director of communications at Search for Common Ground in Washington, D.C. She was recently in Brussels, Belgium, at the European Union to address a gathering of European government representatives on the utility and impact of arts-based programming in peace building.

GEORGE L. RIGGS (BARNEY) of Wethersfield, Conn., joined Fiondella, Milone & LaSaracina LLP as a partner in the accounting firm’s assurance and advisory services practice.

1973ALAN B. GERTNER (A&S) of Union, N.J., has been promoted to full professor in the School of Communication Disorders and Deafness at Kean University in Union.

CAROLE P. KUNSTADT (HAS) of New York, N.Y., had artwork featured in a Center for Book Arts exhibition, Tell Me How You REALLY Feel: Diaristic Tendencies, which ran through Sept. 22. Work in the exhibit was inspired by the concept or content of graphic novels, memoirs, and travel journals.

1974KENDRA J. DOWD (HCW) of Arlington, Mass., has launched Blue-Eyed Crow Studio as a venue for showcasing her textile work. Shown here is Dowd’s award-winning quilt titled Murder Among

the Birches. See more of her work at www.facebook .com/blueeyedcrowstudio.

1975ALAN S. GOLDBERG (A&S) of New York, N.Y., has been appointed to the Acoustic Neuroma Association’s (ANA) board of directors. ANA is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to inform, educate, and provide national and local support networks for those affected by acoustic neuroma, a benign brain tumor, and to be an essential resource for healthcare professionals who treat patients with this condition. Goldberg’s wife was diagnosed with acoustic neuroma two years ago.

DEGREE KEY Alumni Connections entries are distinguished by types of degrees and certification:

A associate’s degree AD artist diploma C sixth-year certificate D doctorate GPD graduate professional diploma M master’s degree

No letter designation before a degree year indicates a bachelor’s degree.

Marlow Shami ’75 (HAS), Last Stand, 2012 (digital photographic composite, 24” x 24”). Her grandfather’s olive grove in Kfar Kama, Israel, is the subject matter of the artist’s dissecting and reassembling the visual field into an intriguing balance of organic-world imagery. The University of Connecticut, Torrington branch, will host Homelands, a full, solo exhibition of Shami’s digital photographic composites, from Jan. 28 to April 4, 2013. The show will be mounted in the school’s Brick Wall Gallery, located at 855 University Drive, Torrington, and open to the public Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Shami will give an artist’s talk about her work on Monday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m. in the Whitson Gallery on the UConn-Torrington campus. A preview of her work may be seen at http://marlowshami.com.

Alumni ConneCtions

FALL 2012 23

The 2012 Donor List is available at www.hartford.edu/giving.

01-32obsv_fall12.indd 23 11/12/12 1:54 AM

24 Observer

1975 continuedGEORGE TIRADO (ENHP) of Waterbury, Conn., is a new inductee into the Silas Bronson Library’s Waterbury Hall of Fame for his lifelong work in education, youth athletics, and other community organizations.

1976SCOTT KALICKI (BARNEY, M’77 BARNEY) of Nashua, N.H., has been appointed president of Lakes Region Community College in Laconia, N.H.

1977NANCI CARNABUCI FITZGERALD (HAS). See ROBERTA SCHWARTZ FRIEDMAN ’78.

1978ROBERT CELMER (ENGINEERING). See ARI LESSER ’11.

ROBERTA “Bobbie” SCHWARTZ FRIEDMAN (HAS) (left) of Cranston, R.I., reunited with former suitemate NANCI CARNABUCI

FITZGERALD ’77 (HAS) (right) of Unionville, Conn., in May 2012 after 35 years. Friedman exhibited in the RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) Alumni Show held at the Jamestown (R.I.) Art Center.

1979DEBRA F. DELMER (BARNEY) of Washington, D.C., has been appointed executive vice president of finance and chief financial officer at Arbitron, a media and marketing research firm based in Columbia, Md.

1980JAMES C. ROVELLA (A&S, M’83 BARNEY) of Wethersfield, Conn., was recently named chief of police for the city of Hartford. He has been serving as acting chief of police since February.

HENRIETTA “Hennie” STARGARDTER (M, HAS; M’81 HAS) of Bloomfield, Conn., exhibited her work at the UConn Health Center in Farmington, Conn., through mid-October.

WAYNE P. STRATTMAN (ENGINEERING) of Boston, Mass., is exhibiting in his first solo museum show, titled Self: Illuminated, at the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation in Waltham, Mass. The show opened in July and runs through Jan. 15, 2013. Known to millions for the high-voltage plasma he designed to light up the Borg ship in the Star Trek movies, Strattman has built a dozen kinetic installations that use light in wildly imaginative ways to question how technology shapes how people interact with others and themselves.

1981JEFFREY M. BECKER (WARD) of Easton, Conn., had his artwork featured as part of the CapaCity Project at the Islip Art Museum in East Islip, N.Y. The exhibition ran from June 13 to Sept. 1.

PATRICIA BARON CHARLES (M, ENHP) of Westbrook, Conn., has been appointed superintendent of schools in Middletown, Conn. She also serves on the board of directors of the Middlesex United Way.

FRANC (FRANK) J. D’AMBROSIO (HARTT) of New York, N.Y., appeared at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts’ Peck Pavilion in Milwaukee, Wis., in “Franc D’Ambrosio’s Broadway,” based on the singer’s own career on the Broadway stage.

DAVID T. DYSON (HARTT) of West Hartford, Conn., was honored at a gala in May in recognition of his years of work for Tabor House, an AIDS residence program in Hartford, Conn. Mayor Pedro Segarra declared it “David Dyson Day” in Hartford.

BRUCE MONAHAN (M, BARNEY) of Newton, N.J., has been appointed senior vice president, chief audit executive, at Selective Insurance Group, Inc.

1984CHARLES E. PAGANO (ENGINEERING, M’07 A&S) of Waterbury, Conn., was honored with the cable industry’s highest honor, the Vanguard Award, for his accomplishments in science and technology. Pagano accepted the award in Boston, Mass., at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association’s annual Cable Show. He was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in October.

1985JEFFREY KRIEGER (M, HARTT) of East Hartford, Conn. See WILLIAM SOLOMON ’07.

1986DAVID M. HAYES (HARTT) of Philadelphia, Pa., has been appointed music director of the New York Choral Society for the 2012–13 concert season.

Playing Her Cards RightHartt alumna Anoush Khachoyan NeVart M’87 won the 2012 Best Actress Award at the Tokyo International Short Shorts Film Festival for her role as Dahab (shown) in the short film High Card Trumps. NeVart plays a Middle Eastern mother in a script that confronts prejudice and illusions. The actress, who makes her home in Toluca Lake, Calif., is a former student of Professor Luiz de Moura Castro.

Alumni ConneCtions

01-32obsv_fall12.indd 24 11/12/12 1:57 AM

fall 2012 25

1987ROBERT A. LOSINNO (HARTT) of Sunrise, Fla., performed the Danzi Concertino Op. 47 for clarinet and bassoon with Ian Burr and the CVE/Deerfield Beach Symphony Orchestra in February in Deerfield Beach, Fla.

1988LUCETA C. McROY (A&S) of Duncan, S.C., has received her PhD in health administration from the University of Alabama–Birmingham. She is one of fewer than 300 African Americans qualified to be a management professor in the United States.

1989LORNE EPSTEIN (BARNEY) of Arlington, Va., a corporate recruitment specialist and motivational speaker, has opened his own recruiting agency called Electric Cow. Epstein is the author of You’re Hired! Interview Skills to Get the Job (E3 Publishing, 2006).

1990LAUREN BERNOFSKY (HARTT) of Bloomington, Ind., was commissioned by that city’s Roundabout Opera for Kids to write a children’s opera based on a libretto by Scott Russell Sanders. The resulting Mooch the Magnificent is programmed for 15 performances this season.

SELETTE M. JEMISON (BARNEY) of Bloomfield, Conn., financial advisor for Edward Jones Investments, opened a new branch office in Bloomfield.

MARY MURPHY (ENHP, M’99 ENHP) of Vernon, Conn., was awarded the 2012 Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing, Connecticut’s largest, statewide nursing recognition.

YOUSSEF H. SQUALI (BARNEY, M’92 BARNEY) of Larchmont, N.Y., has joined Cantor Fitzgerald & Company’s Equity and Research Group as managing director and global head of Internet and media research.

1991MERI HARARY FLEISCHMAN (A&S) of Hamden, Conn., won the 2012 Leo Connellan Poetry Prize from the Connecticut State University System. Fleischman is currently a student in Southern Connecticut State University’s MFA program and working on her second poetry chapbook.

1992LISA LYONS ’92 (A&S) of Los Angeles, Calif., and MARC REINGOLD ’92 (A&S) of Plymouth, Mass., are pleased to announce their engagement. A January 2013 wedding is planned in Santa Monica, Calif.

1993MARK L. BOBRUFF (A’91, HILLYER; A&S) of Cheshire, Conn., has joined Barnum Financial Group, an office of MetLife, as a financial advisor.

1994MICHAEL J. WOOD (HAS) of Newington, Conn., owner of Wood & Wood Seamless Gutters, has been awarded the prestigious Angie’s List Super Service Award.

Hawk Hatchlings B i r t H s & A d o p t i o n s

Clockwise from top left: Amanda Backer Nelson ’04 & Thomas Nelson ’04 (Parker Grey, 4.15.12)

Marcy Gotterbarn Weiss ’03, M’04, & Ivan Weiss (Caleb Micah, 2.25.12)

Mindy S. Rockower ’02 & Jeff Rockower ’03 (Arianna Sydney, 5.12.12)

Muge Peker & Burak Peker ’95 (Naz, 7.4.12)

Not pictured: Michael J. Gonzalez ’02 (Loren Natale, 4.28.12)

Alumni ConneCtions

01-32obsv_fall12.indd 25 11/12/12 1:58 AM

26 Observer

1995PHILLIP BOYKIN (HARTT) of Montclair, N.J., was nominated for a Tony Award for his work in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, which won the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical.

CHRISTINE KICINSKI PORTER (HARTT) of New Cumberland, Pa., appeared in a spring episode of Morbid Curiosity on the Paranormal TV Network. The episode was filmed at the library where Porter works.

1996DONNA LYNN FESTA (M, HAS) of West Grove, Pa., had her oil paintings featured in Thirty Portraits, an exhibition at The Painting Center in New York City during the month of September.

STEPHEN PORTER (HARTT). See PETER GREENFOGEL ’97.

CHERYL-ANN RESHA (M, ENHP; D’06 ENHP) of Coventry, Conn., was inducted into the Academy of Fellows for the National Association of School Nurses.

1997PETER GREENFOGEL (HARTT) of Cherry Hill, N.J., has released his new CD, Halfway Between Places, a mix of jazz standards and original compositions. Fellow band members and Hartt alums include bass player STEPHEN PORTER ’96 and JONATHAN BARBER ’11 on drums. Greenfogel plays tenor saxophone.

MIA LOVE (HARTT) of Saratoga Springs, Utah, was profiled in the July 10 issue of The Hill newspaper. Currently the mayor of Saratoga Springs, Love is in the running in the November election to become the first African American Republican woman in Congress.

1998CHOTSANI DEAN (HAS) of Windsor, Conn., has been selected for a 2012–13 Fulbright Award. An instructor of art and ceramics at Three Rivers Community College in Norwich, Conn., she will teach and conduct research this fall at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India.

AREE KUNAPONGKUL (M, HARTT) of Bangkok, Thailand, gave a piano performance in an August fundraising concert of Schubert’s classical music at Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya. She is a full-time faculty member at the Conservatory of Music at Rangsit University and head of piano studies at the New Frontier Music Academy, Bangkok.

DARREN McMANUS (HAS) of Lambertville, N.J., had his paintings featured in Chroma: A Group Show at the Parlor Gallery in Asbury Park, N.J. The exhibition, exploring color, pattern, and texture in contemporary art, ran through July. See McManus’s work at www .darrenmcmanus.com.

SCOTT A. MEIER (HAS) of Carlisle, Pa., is a patrol officer with the Susquehanna Township Police Department. He is also an artist whose oil paintings are represented by the 2nd Floor Gallery in Mechanicsburg, Pa. Meier has two pieces in the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center’s permanent collection.

‘Politics and Public Service’With the November election in mind, Jade (Jasmaine) Seaberry A’08, ’10, M’11 (second row, far right), volunteered last March at a New York City event that was the brainchild of Desi (Desirée) K. Robinson

’07 (second row, third from right). The “Women in the Making Politics and Public Service Summit for Girls” introduced girls ages 11–19 to a panel of diverse women in the political arena, including New York City councilwomen. Attendees participated in a mock debate and learned ways in which they can effect change in their own communities through public service and involvement in the political process. Women in the Making: Tomorrow’s History Today is Robinson’s health and lifestyle radio show highlighting the views, questions, goals, and accomplishments of today’s young women within environmental, emotional, and social contexts.

MarriageSarah Klein and Jeremy Clowe ’94 (A&S) took their wedding vows out-doors on a warm July 15, 2012, in Altamont, N.Y., then headed north for a Montréal and Québec City, Canada, honeymoon. The bride is an educator at the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology. An independent filmmaker and artist, the groom is also manager of media services at the Norman Rockwell Museum. The newlyweds have settled in Schenectady, N.Y.

AluMni ConneCtionS

01-32obsv_fall12.indd 26 11/12/12 1:58 AM

Fall 2012 27

BRETT PELLEGRINO (A&S) of North Middletown, N.J., was awarded a Doctor of Psychology in school psychology by Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

1999JOSEPH R. GORNEAULT JR. (HAS) of Cromwell, Conn., exhibited his work at ArtSpace Gallery in Hartford, Conn., in September.

MARIE G. KULESZA (M, BARNEY) of Plantsville, Conn., was selected as the 2011–12 recipient of the Reverend John J. Stack Teaching Excellence Award.

EARL C. SNYDER (A&S) of Raleigh, N.C., was honored at the 13th annual Plainville Sports Hall of Fame dinner. Snyder was a power-hitting infielder who helped to carry the Plainville High School Blue Devils to three consecutive Class L championship games (1992–94) and two titles.

JOAN SONSKI (M, ENHP) of West Hartford, Conn., was awarded the 2012 Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing, Connecticut’s largest, statewide nursing recognition.

2000CHRISTOPHER T. BUTWILL (M, ENHP) of Burlington, Conn., has been named the new principal of Woodside Intermediate School in Cromwell, Conn.

LORI CERONE (M, ENHP) of South Windsor, Conn., was awarded the 2012 Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing, Connecticut’s largest, statewide nursing recognition.

MARIN IRELAND (HARTT) of Camarillo, Calif., has a role in the film Hope Springs as the daughter of Meryl Streep’s and Tommy Lee Jones’s characters.

2001KAREN FICHER (A&S) of Myrtle Beach, S.C., was promoted to preaward services manager in the Office of Research Services at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C.

ORIN WOLF (HARTT) of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, is a producer of the Broadway hit Once, which won eight Tony Awards this year, including Best Musical.

2002BRADFORD LANDRY (ENHP, M’04 ENHP) of Rochester, Minn., was elected as the new intern and resident representative to the American Osteopathic Association’s board of trustees during its annual meeting. Landry is completing his last year of residency with the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

LIANE SMITH (ENHP) of West Hartford, Conn., was awarded the 2012 Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing, Connecticut’s largest, statewide nursing recognition.

SURESH V. THEKKENMAR (M, BARNEY) of South Windsor, Conn., has been appointed senior vice president of customer services for Calypso Technology.

2003ANDREW P. BARSOM (A&S) of Middletown, Conn., has joined Murtha Cullina LLP as counsel to the firm’s Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights Practice Group and the Litigation Department.

JOHN J. DESILVESTRI (A&S) of Matawan, N.J., made his Cortland Repertory Theatre debut playing Lord Edgar and Jane Twisden in Charles Ludlum’s The Mystery of Irma Vep in Preble, N.Y.

2004JIN-SHAN DAI (HARTT) of Boca Raton, Fla., has joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

ROGER DULUDE (M, ENHP) of Enfield, Conn., was awarded the 2012 Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing, Connecticut's largest, statewide nursing recognition.

What’s Your Plan?Nina Paranov Fagan is the daughter of The Hartt School’s legendary director, Moshe Paranov. Among the many roles she has played behind the scenes, Nina founded Hartt’s recording studio with her own equipment in 1954 and influenced the consolidation of the University’s audiovisual facilities. After her husband, Edward, passed away in 2001, Nina devoted herself to taking care of her best friend and stepmother, the late Elizabeth “Libby” Warner-Paranov.

Libby Warner-Paranov’s plan was to make generous provisions for both Nina and Hartt through her estate by establishing a scholarship fund in memory of her husband, Moshe, and his first wife, Dot. Nina Fagan’s plan was, in turn, to create and endow the Edward and Nina Paranov Fagan Scholarship Fund for music production majors at Hartt. Nina supplemented her generous gift by setting up a charitable gift annuity that will make regular payments to her for life, after which the remaining proceeds will be distributed to Hartt.

The Paranov family legacy at The Hartt School is profound and endur-ing on many levels. Nina’s planning is already helping the University fulfill its educational mission.

Visit www.hartford.edu/plannedgiving to learn more about how your planning today can strengthen the future for the University.

To discuss a planned gift to the University of Hartford, contact

Peter H. Congleton Director of Planned Giving

University of Hartford 200 Bloomfield Avenue

West Hartford, CT 06117 [email protected]

860.768.2415

F o u n d e r s ’ s o c i e t y

The A&S School of Communication alumnae worked so well together that they teamed up again in August for the “Live. . . Breathe. . . Survive Fashion Showcase,” held at the Zahzo Gallery in New York City. Robinson’s (left) and Seaberry’s (right) participation helped to raise funds for the American Cancer Society, specifically current patients and families who are caring for someone with cancer.

01-32obsv_fall12.indd 27 11/12/12 1:58 AM

28 Observer

Alumni ConneCtions

I n M e M o r I a M

Austin Dunham barney II, former University regent (1980–86, 1994–2003), died on June 22, 2012. A passionate supporter of the Hartford Art school, barney was a member of its board of trustees for many years and served two terms as board president. The University’s barney school of business is named for his uncle.

Laurence “Larry” D. Cohen, longtime adjunct faculty member at the University, died on Aug. 27, 2012. He was 64. In addition to teaching in the College of Arts and sciences’ school of Communication, Cohen enjoyed a 40-year career as a reporter, editor, and widely read columnist for several publications, including the Hartford Courant.

ernest “ernie” Gardow, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering, died at the age of 77 on June 30, 2012. A professor at the University for more than three decades, he taught in the Department of Mechanical engineering and served as department chair for many years. A professional engineer, Gardow was a longtime officer of the American society of Mechanical engineers.

Betty L. Guiney A’42 6.26.12Jessica E. Rhoades ’42 8.5.12Carol N. Duncan A’46 6.8.12Everett Kaplan ’47 4.24.12Gardner R. Williams ’47 5.24.12Thomas Kirkwood ’48 3.23.12Dorothy W. Zeppa ’48 6.4.12Mary I. Fitzgerald A’49 5.22.12Anthony Bovi ’50 8.4.12Louis A. Della Fera ’53 7.27.12Thomas F. Donahue ’54 3.18.12Richard H. Charland ’55 12.31.08Gary H. Cominotti ’56 6.14.12John M. Daniels ’56 7.15.12Burton S. Knight ’56 8.4.12Marion Strindberg M’56 1.25.12Joseph P. Bove Jr. ’57 6.16.12Francis P. Dillon ’57 6.10.12John Sanzo M’57 7.28.12Rose Carley ’58 4.18.12Paul Devlin ’58 6.14.12Franklyn G. Hendrickson ’58 5.3.12Frank Lattanzio A’52, ’58 6.11.12Elizabeth Chapin M’62 4.12.12Henderson Duval ’62, M’67 7.23.12Matthew D. Emirzian ’62 5.29.12Edward M. Lawton ’62 3.27.12Donald E. Lepard ’62, M’68 7.18.12Eugene Marquette ’62 4.10.12Philip A. Pottinger ’62 4.18.12Richard B. Tustin ’62, M’65 5.11.12Silvio Conte ’63 5.13.12Stuart A. McFayden ’63 3.30.12Evelyn Petterson M’63 6.13.12Norman D. Schussler M’64 4.5.12Nelio L. Nanni A’60, ’64, ’67 5.7.12Frank E. Badstuebner M’65 3.27.12George R. Munson ’65 4.14.12

Thomas R. Lerario M’66 7.22.12Edna F. Johnson M’67 5.25.12Myrna S. Fishman ’68 8.6.12Ernest L. Gladden ’68 4.8.12Lois B. Crilly M’69 7.31.12Joseph P. Lawler A’65, ’69 6.18.12Russell F. McCain M’69 4.22.12Anne P. Veweger A’61, ’69 5.29.12William M. Burt M’70 7.23.12Joseph P. Molinari M’70 6.17.12Philip T. Freemer M’71 4.6.12Alan E. Green ’71, M’80 6.21.12Charles M. Lyons ’71 8.22.12Jane L. Goedecke ’73 3.16.12Robin M. Worley ’73 7.14.12Robert F. Rose M’74 6.25.12Andrew L. Kohn ’75 5.28.12James G. Senk M’75 6.14.12Peter Steucek ’75 7.12.12Harold C. Allen ’76 5.5.12Mary Louise D’Onofrio ’76 4.18.12LeRoy Scott ’76 9.9.11Thomas F. Walsh ’76 5.12.12Steven M. Reggio ’77 7.28.12Rhonda S. Dvorin A’81 4.20.12Jay C. Jeffes ’81 5.10.12James T. Sinclair ’81 7.16.12Larry P. Sicard ’82 4.5.12Martin F. Fagan M’83 3.23.12Constance Whigham ’83 4.15.12Nancy C. Bristol C’85 7.2.12Allyson S. Hamilton ’85 4.5.12Lucia M. Gulino ’91 6.2.12Mark E. McCue ’92 6.4.12Jordan H. Deschene ’08 8.9.12Douglas B. Horak ’10 9.7.12Valerie Tice ’10 8.7.12

2005MICHAEL J. HANLON (M, BARNEY) of North Haven, Conn., has been elected advisory council chair and member-at-large of the board of directors of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants.

2006SHERI BROWN (M, HARTT). See WILLIAM SOLOMON ’07.

ANASTASIA SEIFETDINOVA (HARTT). See JOSEPH HODGE ’12.

JEANNETTE ZOCCO (M, ENHP) of Cromwell, Conn., was awarded the 2012 Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing, Connecticut’s largest, statewide nursing recognition.

2007PEDRO BERMUDEZ (A&S) of Los Angeles, Calif., was invited to present his short film Antifaz in the “Up Next” showcase for local directors at the Hartford (Conn.) Public Library. The film won the Special Jury Prize in the USA Film Festival.

NICOLE D. FAZIO (HAS) of Portland, Maine, wrote and illustrated Journey of the Sea Glass, a children’s book that imagines the path of one fragment of green glass. This is Fazio’s third Maine-related book for children.

KATHLEEN RICH (ENHP) of South Windsor, Conn., was awarded the 2012 Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing, Connecticut’s largest, statewide nursing recognition.

WILLIAM SOLOMON (M, HARTT) of New Britain, Conn., was the director for the Second Annual Hartford New Music Festival in May in downtown Hartford. The festival featured composers MATT SARGENT ’08 and Hartt School Professor Robert Carl. Other alumni participating in the festival included SHERI BROWN ’06, THEA GROTH ’07, CHARLES HUANG ’10, LING-FEI KANG ’07, LAURA KRENTZMAN ’11, JEFFREY KRIEGER ’85, and THIAGO SOUSA ’11.

2008RYAN SPEEDO GREEN (HARTT) of Suffolk, Va., made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the fall production of Puccini’s Turandot in New York City. He will also star in a new production of Wagner’s Parsifal, opening Feb. 15, 2013.

SANDY HUGHES (HARTT, ’08 A&S) of Portland, Ore., was appointed flutist for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, one of the nation’s leading orchestras, renowned for its wide-ranging repertoire and adventurous commissioning initiatives.

01-32obsv_fall12.indd 28 11/12/12 1:59 AM

Pardon . . .In its spring 2012 issue, the Observer misstated the original site of the Henri Mancini Institute in “New

American Music Lives on at The Hartt School” (p. 10). The Mancini Institute was founded by Jack

Elliott ’51 (Hon. ’97) at the University of California–Los Angeles, where it remained until Elliott’s death.

It was then relocated to the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla.

STEPHEN D. PERRY (D, ENHP) of Middletown, Conn., was the keynote speaker for MeckEd’s inaugural community breakfast in Charlotte, N.C. MeckEd is a nonprofit organization that educates its community about the most critical issues facing education through programs in leadership cultivation, community engagement, and college career readiness. Perry is founder and principal of Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Conn., and a CNN education commentator and columnist for Essence magazine.

THERESA PIOTROWSKI (US) of Rockfall, Conn., completed the master’s program in marriage and family therapy at Saint Joseph College in January 2012.

MATT SARGENT (M, HARTT). See WILLIAM SOLOMON ’07.

2009MICHAEL R. McGOVERN (US) of Waterbury, Conn., was promoted to Web developer/designer at ForeSite technologies in East Hartford, Conn.

DAVID McWILLIAMS (HARTT) of Brooklyn, N.Y., is the head of music at the British International School of New York in New York City. In addition to teaching, he is minister of music at Grace Episcopal Church in Trumbull, Conn.

RACHEL WADDELL (HARTT) of Henderson, Nev., has been named assistant conductor of the fully professional Canton (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Canton Youth Symphony Orchestra. She is pursuing a doctorate in musical arts at the University of Nevada–Las Vegas.

2010REBECCA L. ALTOMARE (BARNEY) of Ellington, Conn., has joined TAB Computer Systems' sales and marketing team in East Hartford, Conn.

CHARLES HUANG (D, HARTT). See WILLIAM SOLOMON ’07.

SEAN PALLATRONI (HARTT) of Bedford, N.H., won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational/Instructional Program at the 35th Boston/New England Emmy Awards, in recognition for his work on Empowering Connecticut with Connecticut Public Television.

2011JONATHAN BARBER (HARTT). See PETER GREENFOGEL ’97.

MONICA BRASE (D, ENHP) of Hartford, Conn., was named principal of Burns Latino Studies Academy in Hartford.

LAURA KRENTZMAN (GPD, HARTT). See WILLIAM SOLOMON ’07.

ARI LESSER (CETA) of Baltimore, Md., along with ADAM WELLS ’11 (CETA) of Frederick, Md., won a Best Student Paper Award at the 162nd Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in San Diego, Calif. The two students were scored based on the content of their paper and the quality of their presentation, which was on acoustic floor treatments for reducing classroom activity noise. The project was part of a research grant obtained by ROBERT CELMER ’78 (ENGINEERING), professor of mechanical engineering, and Assistant Professor Michelle Vigeant.

ROCCO A. MESITI (D, ENHP) of East Longmeadow, Mass., debuted his film The Joe Baccala Story as writer and director in June 2012. The movie, a mockumentary of Mafioso portrayals of Italian Americans, was filmed in New Britain, Conn. Mesiti teaches Italian American studies at Central Connecticut State University.

DANIEL MOREL (M, HARTT; AD’13 HARTT) of Hartford, Conn., participated in a monthlong artist residency at the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild near Woodstock, N.Y. Morel is director of the Women Composers Festival of Hartford.

ALESSANDRA M. PISANO (HAS) of South Windsor, Conn., showcased her work in a local exhibition, RAW: natural born artists, at the Russian Lady in Hartford.

THIAGO SOUSA (GPD, HARTT) of North Haven, Conn. See WILLIAM SOLOMON ’07.

2012BEN COLE (HARTT) of Earlysville, Va., received a Connecticut Critics Circle Award on for his portrayal of Caliban in the Hartford Stage production of The Tempest. His performance has been praised in The New York Times.

KEISHA GILLES (HARTT) of Waltham, Mass., has joined the Dreamgirls National Tour as an ensemble member and Effie understudy.

JOSEPH HODGE (M, HARTT) of Woodford, Va., directed the Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra at Trinity Episcopal Church in Hartford, Conn. The performance included the overture from Rossini’s La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie); Grieg’s Piano Concerto, featuring soloist ANASTASIA SEIFETDINOVA ’06; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C major.

JANINE HONAN (A&S) of Wantagh, N.Y., is a paralegal at Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum.

PENNY E. MACCORMACK (D, ENHP) of Philadelphia, Pa., is the new superintendent of schools for the Montclair (N.J.) Board of Education.

KATHRYN E. TOMLIN (M, HARTT) of Moore, S.C., is a Suzuki violin teacher at Turtle Bay Music School in New York City.

Fall 2012 29

Send Your NewsWe would love to share your news with the University of Hartford alumni community through Observer magazine. Please send news about your accomplishments, travel, milestones, announcements, and photos to

[email protected] or Observer Magazine Class Notes Office of Alumni Relations University of Hartford 200 Bloomfield Avenue West Hartford, CT 06117

Alumni ConneCtions

01-32obsv_fall12.indd 29 11/12/12 1:59 AM