In This Section:
Nicholls named provost
UConn, ACS join in cancer fight
Storrs Center plan unveiled
Architects recognize UConn buildings
Next stop, cleaner air
Motoring to a bowl victory in Detroit
Urging grads to be informed citizens
Drotch, Lobo named alumni trustees
Public policy department moves close to Capitol
A fall bounty of titles and tournament play
Hoop tales

Peter J. Nicholls, UConn’s new provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.

Peter J. Nicholls, a mathematician and former dean of liberal arts and sciences, is UConn’s new provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, following the departure of John D. Petersen, who left UConn to become president of the University of Tennessee.

Before arriving at UConn this spring, Nicholls served two years as provost and academic vice president at Colorado State University. He also served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Kansas State University and associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Northern Illinois University.

“I am confident that Peter Nicholls is an excellent choice for UConn and will make a major contribution to our continued progress in teaching, research and service,” says UConn President Philip E. Austin.

A native of Kent, England, Nicholls holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from London University and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Cambridge University.

“I am honored to have been selected for this outstanding opportunity,” Nicholls says. “I have been extremely impressed with the quality and commitment of the faculty, staff and students at UConn. The opportunity to join such a vibrant and energetic University community is tremendously exciting.”

Education and outreach into the community is goal

Photo: Peter Morenus

Mary Ann Vanderjagt of the American Cancer Society, left, and Carolyn D. Runowicz ’73 (CLAS), director of the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The UConn Health Center and the American Cancer Society, New England Division, recently signed an agreement to collaborate on a number of key initiatives, including education programs for medical providers and consumers, advocacy and outreach efforts throughout the community, and special programs for patients and families.

“Working with the American Cancer Society enhances the support services we provide our patients and strengthens our ability to reach out to the community,” says Carolyn D. Runowicz ’73 (CLAS), director of the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center. Runowicz was also recently named president-elect of the national American Cancer Society and will become president later this year.

Through the collaborative agreement, the UConn Health Center and the American Cancer Society will educate medical providers on new advances in all aspects of cancer care, share new information about cancer care throughout the greater Hartford community, provide supportive services to patients at the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, and promote awareness about cancer prevention and early detection among the nearly 4,000 employees of the UConn Health Center.

The Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center provides a full spectrum of cancer services, and its patients can participate in a range of clinical trials and research studies.

 

Plans for a vibrant, tree-lined Storrs Center village that will draw alumni, faculty, staff, students, parents, visitors and local residents to Mansfield was unveiled to UConn and community members in November.

The proposed 15.5-acre village features narrow streets and wide sidewalks, lined with dozens of multi-story buildings that will have retail shops on the first floor and apartments and offices above them. Tucked into the woods behind the village will be town houses, condominiums and open spaces.

Mansrfield Downtown Partnership

An artist’s rendering of the proposed Storrs Center village that will feature narrow streets and wide sidewalks, lined with multi-story buildings. Plans call for retail shops on the first floor of buildings and apartments and offices above them.

The village is plotted in the midst of a 45-acre site on the east side of Storrs Road, from Mansfield Road to South Eagleville Road. A landscaped town square, built at the intersection of Dog Lane and Storrs Road, will serve as an entrance to the site from campus. The center is adjacent to the entrance to the fine arts complex, where visitors will be able to enjoy theater, art exhibits and concerts.

Planners say there will be 35 to 60 different businesses in the village, reflecting a mix of primarily local and regional shops, and a limited number of carefully selected national retail outlets, including restaurants, entertainment venues, movie and clothing stores, and cafés. The village will be designed primarily as a pedestrian-friendly area, with a number of public places for people to sit and talk or read.

Up to 600 units of housing are planned including apartments, condominiums and townhouses.

The plan requires a range of approvals and permits with officials anticipating a groundbreaking for the first phase of the four-phase project in spring 2006. The entire process could be completed within five to seven years.

Photo: Al Ferreira

The Biology/Physics Building, Recognized with an award by the American Institute of Architects.

The designers of the UConn Biology/Physics Building (right) and the new UConn campus in downtown Waterbury were both recognized in December with top awards from the Connecticut chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Allan Dehar Associates of New Haven, the group that designed the Biology/ Physics Building, and the firm of Jeter Cook & Jepson Architects Inc., of Hartford, who designed the UConn campus in Waterbury, earned the AIA recognition.

The two awards mark the fourth and fifth time the AIA has recognized architectural achievements for University facilities constructed through the UCONN 2000 building program.

Photo: Tina Covensky

Gerry Bailey, from motor pool repairs, pours biodiesel fuel into a UConn campus shuttle bus. The bus is powered by a fuel mixture composed of 20 percent biodiesel fuel, produced using about 10 gallons of waste cooking oil used in a campus dining hall.

The “Biodiesel Express” began rolling around UConn’s main campus in November.

This UConn bus, a standard 30-passenger campus shuttle, is powered by a fuel mixture composed of 20 percent biodiesel fuel, produced using about 10 gallons of waste cooking oil from the dining halls on campus. Students led by Joseph Helble, professor of chemical engineering, spent about six months in the lab, attending national conferences, researching other campuses, and doing the hands-on work to develop the fuel.

Combined with 80 percent diesel, the resultant formula produces a bus trip that emits fewer hydrocarbons and greenhouse gases into the air; makes use of a readily available cooking byproduct; and, if used regularly, the fuel will act like a detergent, helping clean the bus engine as it flows through the system, making it more efficient.

The project was funded through a $15,000 grant from the Provost’s Office. Gregory Magoon ’06 (ENG) also received funding from the Summer Undergraduate Research Fund.

Several universities have recently begun to power their buses with biodiesel, but they buy the vegetable-based fuel.

“We’re the only University with students making it, using it, and researching it, learning the regulations and designing a lab,” says Richard Miller, director of UConn’s office of environmental policy.

Photo: Peter Morenus

Head football coach Randy Edsall discusses the Motor City Bowl victory with reporters.

Throughout their years at UConn, head coach Randy Edsall described the class of 2005 Husky football players as “special” because they chose to accept the challenge of establishing the foundation of a new era of UConn football in Division I-A competition. The expectation was that future Husky players would more likely reap the larger rewards of their hard work, such as playing in a postseason bowl game.

That made 2004 more remarkable as UConn capped its first football season in the Big East with its first postseason bowl invitation and a 39-10 victory over Toledo in the Motor City Bowl on Dec. 27 in Detroit.

Senior quarterback Dan Orlovsky was selected Most Valuable Player and senior defensive end Tyler King returned from a mid-season injury to be named the United Auto Workers Lineman of the Game. Kicker Matt Nuzie ’07 (BUS) set a new Motor City Bowl record with four field goals.

More than 6,000 UConn alumni, students, faculty and fans were part of the record crowd of 52,552 at Ford Field, including military families and representatives of local charities who received tickets donated by UConn fans. Nationally, an estimated 3.8 million viewers watched the game on ESPN, the most to ever watch a UConn football game.

Human rights expert Aryeh Neier urged graduates to fulfill their civic responsibilities during winter commencement ceremonies at Gampel Pavilion on Dec. 19.

Photo: Peter Morenus

“As informed citizens, you will help steer this country on the right course,” said Neier, president of the Open Society Institute, a private grant-making foundation that is the hub of the Soros Foundations network.

Neier, who was given an honorary Doctor of Laws degree during the ceremony, spent 12 years as executive director of Human Rights Watch, of which he was a founder. Prior to that, he worked for the American Civil Liberties Union for 15 years, including eight as national executive director.

More than 760 students received their diplomas at the end of fall semester.

Peter S. Drotch ’64 (BUS) and Rebecca Lobo ’95 (CLAS) were appointed to the University’s Board of Trustees by Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

Drotch is a retired investment management executive and emeritus director of the UConn Foundation board. Before retiring he was the head of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ U.S. Investment Management Industry Group.

A member of the UConn School of Business Hall of Fame, Drotch earned his accounting degree before joining PricewaterhouseCoopers. He was named a partner in the business in 1975 and named leader of the investment management division two years later. He joined the UConn Foundation board in 1986 and served as chairman from 1990-1994. He currently serves as an ex-officio member of the Foundation’s audit committee. He and his wife, Hinda, are Constitution Circle lifetime members of the UConn Founders Society.

Lobo is a television basketball analyst and a leader of UConn’s undefeated 1995 women’s basketball team (See p. 38). She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science and was a candidate for a Rhodes Scholarship. A member of the 1996 gold medal U.S. Women’s Olympic Basketball Team, she was one of the Women’s National Basketball Association’s (WNBA) original players and played several years with the New York Liberty.

In 2003, she played her final season for the Connecticut Sun. Lobo has been a college basketball commentator for CBS, ESPN, and Connecticut Public Television. In October 2001, Lobo and her mother launched the RuthAnn and Rebecca Lobo Scholarship in Allied Health at UConn.

The new department of public policy, part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, combines the existing master’s degree programs in public administration and survey research with the Center for Survey Research and Analysis (CSRA). It also will offer certificate programs to mid-career professionals in non-profit management and public finance in a location close to the state Capitol.

Headed by Kenneth Dautrich, an associate professor of political science and former director of the CSRA, the department is located at UConn’s campus in Greater Hartford, where the master’s degrees are offered through the tri-campus program.

“These programs are already an enormous resource to state government,” Dautrich says. “Through the CSRA we’ve worked with the governor’s office, the legislature, and state agencies. By bringing these programs together in our new location, we will continue an important public service for the state while developing more internships for our students.”

“It perfectly fits the tri-campus focus on urban issues, community issues and applied social sciences,” says Edna McBreen, associate vice provost for the tri-campus. “There is a benefit to having public policy research and studies close to cities and towns that are laboratories for a range of issues in different stages
of development.”

Having the program near the Capitol has already borne fruit: Connecticut Lt. Gov. Kevin B. Sullivan ’82 J.D., visited a class to speak with UConn students about challenges facing state government.

(Above) Jamie Hadenfeldt ’05 (CLAS) was named first team All-Big East in volleyball. (Below) Jason Parajeckas ’07 (ED) finished third overall in the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association fall championship tournament.

UConn athletic teams captured three Big East tournament championships, advanced to NCAA play and made history during the fall season.

The Husky football team posted an 8-4 record in its first season as a member of the Big East Conference and won the 2004 Motor City Bowl after receiving its first-ever postseason bowl invitation.

Nancy Stevens earned her 400th career coaching victory and was named the Big East and regional coach of the year while guiding the field hockey team to both the Big East regular season and tournament titles with a 20-2 record. UConn advanced to the NCAA Championship for the 16th time, led by Lauren Henderson ’05 (CLAS), the Big East offensive player of the year, and Abby Ostruzka ’05 (ED), the Big East defensive player of the year, who were each named first team All-Americans.

The women’s soccer team won the Big East tournament championship over eventual national champion Notre Dame in the Big East final. Head coach Len Tsantiris posted his 400th career coaching win during an 18-7-1 season before advancing to the third round of the NCAA Championship, making UConn one of only two teams to play in all 23 NCAA women’s soccer championships. Kristen Graczyk ’05 (BUS) was named a finalist for the Hermann Trophy—recognizing the top women’s player in the country—and a third team All-American.

Steve Sealy ’07 (BUS) was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the Big East Tournament and freshman Karl Schilling was the Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the tournament, as the men’s soccer team won the Big East tournament to qualify for the NCAA Championship. Head coach Ray Reid guided the team to a final record of 12-8-3.

Head coach Ron Dubois led the men’s golf team to the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association fall championship as Jason Parajeckas ’07 (ED) finished third overall in the tournament.

Jamie Hadenfeldt ’05 (CLAS) was named first team All-Big East as the women’s volleyball team completed an overall record of 17-10 for head coach Kelli Myers.

The men’s cross country team finished sixth at the Big East Championship for head coach Greg Roy, and the women’s team was eighth for head coach Bill Morgan.

Robert Porter ’71 (CLAS), former WHUS play-by-play broadcaster, and Wayne Norman, color analyst for UConn for more than 1,000 radio broadcasts since 1979, have teamed up to write Hoop Tales: UConn Huskies Men’s Basketball , a history of 50 years of Husky basketball from the 1954 upset win over Holy Cross through the 2004 NCAA championship. The book is published by Globe Pequot Press of Guilford, Conn., and includes historic photos of UConn stars from Art Quimby ’56 (ED), ’68 M.A. to Emeka Okafor ’04 (BUS).

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