A-D | E-H | I-L | M-P | Q-T | U-Z
Alderette, Paula – is assistant dean for student academic services and instructor in psychology in Hillyer College. Trained in psychology and the law, she specializes in mental health law and in the psychotherapeutic treatment of trauma. She is also fascinated by the way in which our brains perceive and interpret the world around us. 
Aliotta, Jilda – associate professor of the Department of Politics and Government, teaches classes in law, American politics, and women in politics. She has published on decision making in the Supreme Court, women in law, and related topics. Her current research investigates the impact of women on the judiciary in the United States. 
Baker, Chris – senior dramaturg at Hartford Stage and Lecturer in Theatre at the University of Massachusetts. He previously served as dramaturg for the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC, PlayMakers Repertory Company, and the Alley Theatre. He has taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Moscow Art Theatre School, and the International School of the Philippines, and served as a literary advisor to the Juilliard School of Drama. As a director he staged Oleanna, Calliope Jam (his own play for children) and touring productions of Julius Caesar and Twelfth Night for the Alley Theatre, and Orestes for the University of North Carolina.
Ball, Kevin – PhD, assistant professor and academic program director for the Master of Science in Prosthetics and Orthotics program and director of the Human Performance Laboratory. His research interests are in gait, posture and balance.
Barreca, Gina – Dr. Gina Barreca, author of It’s Not That I’m Bitter: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered the World, has appeared on 20/20, The Today Show, CNN, BBC, Oprah and Dr. Phil to discuss gender, power, politics, and humor. Her earlier books include the bestselling They Used to Call Me Snow White But I Drifted: Women’s Strategic Use of Humor, and Babes in Boyland: A Personal History of Coeducation in the Ivy League. She is Professor of English and Feminist Theory at the University of Connecticut. Her BA is from Dartmouth College, her MA is from Cambridge University, and her PhD is from the City University of New York. Gina writes regularly for Psychology Today, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Huffington Post. She grew up in Brooklyn, now lives with her husband in Connecticut, and has two step-sons. She is a member of the Friars’ Club, a “Voices and Visions” honoree of the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, winner of UConn’s most distinguished teaching award, and a keynoter at events ranging from the Erma Bombeck Conferecne to the Chicago Humanities Festival.
Barstow, Jane – recently retired as professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences. A specialist in contemporary American literature, she is the author of One Hundred Years of American Women Writing, 1848-1948 and has written numerous articles on contemporary women writers. She is particularly interested in the work of Toni Morrison and of Margaret Atwood.
Boothe, Power – dean of the Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, since 2001, and on leave this academic year, is an abstract painter and set designer for theater, dance and video productions. He has taught at the School of Visual Art in New York and at Princeton University, and directed graduate programs at Maryland Institute and the Ohio University School of Art. As an artist he has received NEA, Pollock Krasner, and Guggenheim awards, designed sets for Obie-Award winning productions, received a Bessie Award for set design, and a Film/Video Arts Foundation Award for film. He has had over 20 solo exhibitions and his work is in many public collections, including the Guggenheim, Whitney, MOMA, the New Britain Museum, and The British Museum.
Borucinska, Joanna – trained as a veterinarian, earning a doctorate in veterinary medicine from the Agricultural Academy, Warsaw, Poland, and working in Poland and Germany before coming to the United States. In the US, following a residency in the department of pathobiology at the University of Connecticut, she earned a second doctorate, in veterinary pathobiology, from UConn and began teaching at the University of Hartford, rising to the rank of full professor. Much of her scholarly work has been focused on marine biology, particularly the study of sharks and shark populations. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Fish Diseases.
Buckberrough, Sherry – associate professor and Chair of the Art History Department, received her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and spent over a decade in Paris doing research on French modernist art. She is currently curating a major exhibition of women artists from the collection of the New Britain Museum of American Art for spring 2011. Her interests also include contemporary ecological art, and she is co-organizer of Park Water Arts, a multi-year campaign that coordinates arts and environmental organizations within the Park River Watershed to program events that benefit the ecology of greater Hartford.
Bullard, Stephan – is an assistant professor of biology in Hillyer College, received his PhD in Marine Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research concerns invasive species, particularly sea squirts, and plankton, and is currently centered on Long Island Sound. His publications include work on ascidians and bryozoans, crabs, and plankton.
Celmer, Robert D. – graduated from the University of Hartford with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1978. He went on to The Pennsylvania State University where he earned his master’s degree and doctorate in acoustics in 1980 and 1982, respectively. He joined the Mechanical Engineering Department in 1982 and became Director of the Acoustics Program and Laboratory in 1985. He was promoted to the rank of Full Professor in 1994, and received the Roy. E. Larsen Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1995. He plays the piano and does a weekly jazz radio program on WWUH-FM.
Certo, Catherine – PT ScD. FAPTA is professor of physical therapy and chair of the department, with expertise in cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, and exercise prescription for high-risk populations.
Close, Stacey – professor of history, philosophy and political science at Eastern Connecticut State University, recently served as an American Council on Education Fellow (ACE) at Wesleyan University. He has taught at Eastern since 1993 and was a recipient of Eastern’s Teaching Excellence Award in 2004. He is a leading authority on the history of African Americans in the Hartford area, and has published widely on the subject, including a forthcoming book on the history of African Americans in Connecticut to be published by Connecticut Explored, The Amistad Center for Art & Culture, and Wesleyan University Press.
Cloutier, Marissa – is an instructor in Biology and Human Nutrition, Hillyer College.
Christova, Elina – piano, has appeared in Europe and the US as recitalist, soloist and chamber musician. Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and raised in Vienna, she studied in the preparatory division of the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst. She is a graduate of the Sofia Music School and the Sofia Music Academy. As a Fulbright grantee, she joined the Manhattan School of Music, where she earned master's and doctoral degrees.
Cooper, Pamm – gardener and nature photographer, she has been documenting flora and fauna in Connecticut for many years. Currently she is employed by the University of Connecticut Home and Garden Education Center, a resource for information on a wide variety of home, gardening and environmental topics. Last year she worked with Dr. David L. Wagner, an entomologist and a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and with Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Proection, collecting caterpillars for a biosurvey of the state's newly acquired Tankerhoosen property in Vernon. Her particular interests in recent years have been studying birds and insects, and especially documenting life cycles of butterflies, moths, caterpillars, and other insects by means of photographic records.
Cornwell, Bernard – best-known books feature the adventures of Richard Sharpe, an English soldier during the Napoleonic Wars. There are 24 books in the series; a highly popular television series was based on the Sharpe novels. Other works include the Starbuck Chronicles, a teatralogy set during the American Civil War; the Warlord Chronicles, three novels set in Arthurian Britain; the Grail Quest, a trilogy on the search for the Holy Grail; the five Saxon Stories, set in Anglo-Saxon England; and five modern mysteries, all with sailing themes. His most recent novel, The Fort, deals with the War of American Independence. The novel Agincourt, published in Britain in 2008 and newly released in the US, revolves around Henry V’s defeat of the French at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.
Crosbie, Michael – Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Architecture, is the author of more than twenty books on architecture, including five books for children. He has made significant contributions in the fields of architectural journalism, research, teaching, and practice, and has served as an editor at Architecture: The AIA Journal and Progressive Architecture. Since 2001 he has been editor-in-chief of Faith & Form, a quarterly journal on interfaith religious art and architecture. He has practiced with Centerbrook Architects and Steven Winter Associates, and is a registered architect in the State of Connecticut. He received his Ph.D. from Catholic University.
Cumming, Edward – is the Primrose Fuller Associate Professor of Orchestral Studies at The Hartt School. Before leading the Hartford Symphony Orchestra (2002-2011), he was Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and has been guest conductor with orchestras throughout Europe, Asia and South America. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, and Yale University, and received an honorary doctorate from Trinity College.
Cupolo, Marco – is assistant professor of Spanish and Hispanic Studies. Thanks to a Fulbright-LASPAU scholarship, he received his PhD from the University of Connecticut. He has studied and taught in Italy, Mexico, Venezuela and United States, and published books, articles and translations in English,
Davis, Zina – is a curator of contemporary art in New England and throughout the northeast. Through her work as director of the Joseloff Gallery at the University of Hartford, she created and presented highly acclaimed exhibitions by many of today’s most influential artists. The impact of these exhibitions extended far beyond the campus to make the gallery a major cultural resource throughout the region. Davis is currently pursuing independent curatorial projects for museums and galleries and private consulting for individuals interested in acquiring art. Davis served on the faculty of the university, developed courses in museum and curatorial practices, and has written extensively on the subject of contemporary art. Echo-April 4; Echo-April 18; Echo-April 25.
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Ealy, Nicholas – is an assistant professor of modern languages and cultures and in charge of the French program. He received his PhD in Comparative Literature from Emory University and specializes in the literature and culture of medieval France and Iberia. At the University of Hartford he teaches all levels of French language and literature as well as courses in European literature.
Eppich, Linda -– has been archivist at the Preservation Society of Newport County, Rhode Island, curator at the Rhode Island Historical Society, and faculty member at colleges in Michigan and Rhode Island. She is a specialist in early American interior design and textiles. Today she works as museum consultant and fundraiser.
Feierabend, John – is considered a leading authority on music and movement development in early childhood. He is Professor of Music and Director of the Music Education Division at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford and is a past President of the Organization of American Kodály Educators. Dr. Feierabend makes frequent presentations both in the United States and abroad and is the author of over 60 books, CDs, and DVDs. A music educator for over thirty years, he continues to be committed to collecting, preserving and teaching the diverse folk music of our country and to using that folk music as a bridge to help children understand and enjoy classical music. His research has resulted in two music curricula; “First Steps in Music”, a music and movement program for infants through early elementary aged children and “Conversational Solfege,” a music literacy method for use in general music classes. Dr. Feierabend also helped develop the PBS children’s television series Lomax: The Hound of Music, which is based on his First Steps in Music curriculum.
Dr. Feierabend has been honored by the National Association for Music Education (MENC) as a Lowell Mason Fellow, and received the Outstanding Educator Award from the Organization of American Kodály Educators (OAKE). He was the first American recipient of the international LEGO prize, an award given annually to someone who has “helped to make the world a better place for children to live and grow.”
Filburn, Thomas – Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, is Director of the Engineering Applications Center, Director of the Connecticut NASA Space Grant Consortium, and Assistant Director of the Clean Energy Institute.
Firkatian, Mari – (PhD, Indiana), Associate Professor of History in Hillyer College, specializes in East European history. Trained as a linguist and historian, she has lived and traveled extensively in Southeast Europe. Her research interests include minority populations, diplomatic history, and intellectual history. Her books include The Forest Traveler: Georgi Stoikov Rakovski and Bulgarian Nationalism (1995), and Diplomats and Dreamers: The Stancioff Family in Bulgarian History (2008).
Fitzgerald, Susan – after nearly twenty years of service in student affairs at the University of Hartford, is now Associate Secretary of the University and Senior Advisor to the President.
Flagg, Aaron – has been dean of The Hartt School since June 30, 2009 and is an accomplished trumpet player, educator, and administrator. He has performed internationally as a chamber and orchestral musician, and recital and concerto soloist. He has composed music for dance, theatre, and has worked with living composers Tania Leon, Gabriella Frank, and Harrison Birtwistle in performing their music. He has lectured for Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center Institute, Curtis Institute of Music, and has served as national spokesperson for the National Association for Music Educators. He holds an undergraduate and graduate degree from the Juilliard School and his doctorate from the University of Michigan.
Fontaine, Virginie L’Homme – Paris liaison artist, is planning a trip to carry you across eras of literary Paris, all while giving you immediate access to French scholars, journalists, writers and artists. Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the Bibliothèque Nationale. Trace the steps of Anglo-American expatriate writers on a walking tour that will bring you back to 1920s and 30s Paris.
Frank, Maria Esposito – chairs the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures. Educated at the University L’Orientale of Naples, Moscow State University (MGU), and Harvard (PhD), she has taught at Boston College and the University of California at Los Angeles. She is a specialist in late medieval and Renaissance Italy. Her publications include a book on Renaissance humanism (1999), an edited volume, The Translator as Mediator of Cultures (2010, with Humphrey Tonkin), and articles on Dante, Leon Battista Alberti, Machiavelli, 15th-century demonology, and Marsilio Ficino. She has also published critical essays on various modern and contemporary poets.
Gaddis, Eugene – is the William G. DeLana Archivist and Curator of the Austin House at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. He holds an AB from Amherst College and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of a biography of A. Everett Austin, Jr., Magician of the Modern: Chick Austin and the Transformation of the Arts in America (Alfred A. Knopf, 2000) and editor and principal author of Magic Façade: The Austin House (Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 2007).
Giollagáin, Conchúr Ó – heads the Language Planning Unit in Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge (Irish-medium university), at the National University of Ireland Galway and is the academic director of the Acadamh’s (NUIG) Master of Arts in Language Planning. He co-authored the government-commissioned Gaeltacht survey Comprehensive Linguistic Study of the Use of Irish in the Gaeltacht (2007). Alongside his interest in language planning, his published work includes research on sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology and oral biography. He has devised, in conjunction with local communities, language planning strategies for several Gaeltacht communities.
Gouwens, Kenneth – is associate professor of history at the University of CT and a specialist on the history of Renaissance Italy. His book Remembering the Renaissance deals with the Sack of Rome in 1527, and he has also edited several volumes of essays on the period. The recipient of several major historical research awards, he is currently writing a biography of Pope Clement VII.
Griswold, Renwick – associate professor of sociology at Hillyer College, is an expert on the history and ecology of the Connecticut River, and coordinates the Environmental Studies concentration at Hillyer. In kayaks, rowboats, or water taxis, students in Griswold’s class spend a lot of time on the river and its tributaries. “Studying the Connecticut River is a great way of bringing together a number of disciplines: biology, ecology, history, anthropology, and archeology,” says Griswold. “The course helps students become aware of the link between human beings and nature.” Recently (2012), he has published A History of the Connecticut River. Following his presentation, copies of the book will be available for purchase (and signing).
Grossberg, Benjamin S. – assistant professor of english, teaches creative writing. His poems have appeared in many venues including the Paris Review, the New England Review, and The Pushcart Book of Poetry: The Best Poems from the First 30 Years of the Pushcart Prize. His books are Sweet Core Orchard (University of Tampa, 2009), winner of the 2008 Tampa Review Prize and a Lambda Literary Award, and Underwater Lengths in a Single Breath (Ashland Poetry Press, 2007). A chapbook, The Auctioneer Bangs his Gavel, was published by Kent State in 2006.
Gutierrez, Edward – winner of the Ramsey Award for Creative Excellence from the University of Hartford, worked in France as a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and is currently on a Guggenheim Fellowship, writing a book tentatively titled “Sherman was Right”: The Experience of AEF Soldiers in the Great War. The book studies how combat affected ordinary men and women, and the psychological changes it produced.
Hager, Christopher – assistant professor of English at Trinity College, studied modern and contemporary American fiction at Stanford and did graduate work on 19th-century American literature in relation to slavery and the Civil War. He recently finished a book, Word by Word: Emancipation and the Act of Writing, which will be published by Harvard University Press in February.
Hale, Virginia – is an emeritus professor of English. She is a medievalist with a special interest in Chaucer. Dr. Hale is known to many President’s College fellows as the author of a recent biography of Beatrice Fox Auerbach.
Hansen, Dee – is a professor and chair of Graduate Music Education at The Hartt School, University of Hartford. She regularly performs as a soprano and Baroque Flutist with Amherst Early Music and at the Boston Early Music Festival. She sang for several years with the Choral Arts Ensemble, a professional choral ensemble in Kansas City, Missouri. Dr. Hansen holds a masters degree in music history and Doctorate of Musical Arts degree. She is a member of Amherst Early Music and Early Music America.
Hansen, Eric – was a professional bassist and lutenist for more than 12 years. He performed in concerts and on recordings with nationally known performers. He holds a masters degree in music history and completed post graduate work in musicology at the University of Chicago with the late Howard Mayer Brown. Today he is Electronic Resources Coordinator with iConn.org, the Connecticut re-Search engine. He continues to perform regularly on the lute as a member of the Lute Society of America, Amherst Early Music, and Early Music America.
Harney, Jacob – is a professor of Biology at the College of Arts and Sciences.
Harrison, Dianne – did graduate work in English at the University of Michigan and is widely sought-after as a lecturer on modern detective novels and on Victorian literature. She has taught for the Presidents’ College in the past, most notably on one of her favorite writers, Anthony Trollope. “These won't be romantic Victorian novels, but works that hit hard and ask difficult questions,” she says of the novels of Stieg Larsson.
Healey, Marie – has been an adjunct professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures for five years. She holds advanced degrees in French and Spanish from Yale and Middlebury. She taught Advanced Placement French for many years and finds reward in making the language learning process fun and successful for students.
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Knapp, Anne B. – is an adjunct professor of Political Science at Hillyer College, specializing in American government. She has lectured widely and curated numerous exhibitions on a variety of topics including First Ladies of the United States, the Civil War, Women and the Sea, and the history of Trinity College. She collaborated with Peter J. Knapp on writing a book about the history of Trinity College. They are presently working on a book about the Civil War focusing on family letters of two brothers who served on the Union side.
Kidder, Deborah L. – associate professor of management, received a BA in Economics from Swarthmore College, and a PhD in Industrial Relations from the University of Minnesota. She has won teaching awards at three universities and is an active scholar on the topics of fairness and justice in the workplace. In addition, she is a trained mediator, specializing in employment disputes, volunteering for the New England Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, as well as serving as a mediator for the United States Postal Service.
Kosloff, Doris – music director of The Hartt Opera, has held many prominent positions in the field of opera. From 1990 to 2005, she was a professor of music and the director of the Opera Studio at the Aaron Copland School of Music. In November 2005, she was appointed artistic director of the Connecticut Concert Opera. She has served as the executive director of the Hartford Conservatory, and as artistic director and managing director of the Connecticut Opera and the Waterbury Opera Theatre. In 2009, she was appointed principal guest conductor of Miami Lyric Opera. Her guest conducting career includes appearances with the Syracuse Opera, Orlando Opera, Hartford Ballet, Southern Ballet Theatre, Opera Columbus, Treasure Coast Opera, and Miami Lyric Opera.
Lankester, Michael – who served for fifteen years as music director of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, combines an international conducting career with work as composer, arranger and commentator in opera, theatre and broadcasting. He has worked as guest conductor with major orchestras in Britain and North America, including the Pittsburgh, Toronto, City of Birmingham, and London Symphonies, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic. As music director of the National Theatre (UK), he worked with such distinguished directors as Jonathan Miller and Franco Zeffirelli. He collaborated extensively with Laurence Olivier, working with him on several television productions. He served as conductor for the inaugural production of Tom Stoppard’s play Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (with music by André Previn) at London’s Mermaid Theatre. He studied at the Royal College of Music with Sir Adrian Boult and has had close professional collaborations with Benjamin Britten, William Walton, and Michael Tippett. A regular contributor to President’s College programs, he will teach a course on the birth of Modernism in Paris, beginning on April 4, 2011.
Lechner, George –George Lechner was a 2012 recipient of the Gordon Clark Ramsey Award for excellence in teaching. A reference librarian at the Mortensen Library, he is also a scholar of the Italian Renaissance, and he has been sharing his knowledge and passion as an adjunct faculty member for the past twenty years. His innovative assignments give students the confidence to write essays contrasting the social and political ideas of the past with their own social, cultural, and political beliefs. An authority on Italian Baroque art and symbolism, he contributed a chapter to Secrets of Angels and Demons, a book critiquing the 2000 Dan Brown bestseller. His expertise led to an appearance as a commentator in a documentary broadcast on A&E and the BBC examining Angels and Demons. He was also a commentator, researcher, and script consultant for a second documentary on the subject that aired on the History Channel. Most recently, he was an invited lecturer providing his expertise at two Yale University talks. Echo-April 25
Logan, Robert – a graduate of Williams College, with a PhD from Harvard, Robert Logan is Professor of English at the University and chairs the English Department. A former President of the Marlowe Society of America, he has written articles and book chapters on Marlowe and Shakespeare, and edited two collections of critical essays on Marlowe. His book Shakespeare’s Marlowe: The Influence of Christopher Marlowe on Shakespeare’s Artistry won the Roma Gill Prize for the best new work in Marlowe studies during 2007-08. He is now working on a book tentatively entitled: Measuring Up: Standards of Measurement in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra and the Phenomenon of Celebrityhood. He is general editor for a series of six volumes on each of the Renaissance writers known as the University Wits and has himself completed the volume on Christopher Marlowe.
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Martens, Chris – is the winner of six Emmy Awards and two Ace Awards. After studying English at St. John’s University, he worked as senior producer for Major League Baseball Productions, joining ESPN in 1988. Among his numerous achievements at ESPN, he conceived and developed “Ringside”, a series of eighteen three-hour programs taped at Gleason’s Gym on the history of boxing, hosted by Brian Kenny and Burt Sugar. Guests included Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, Larry Holmes and George Foreman. A baseball historian, author, collector, and pitching coach, he has supervised more than 150 documentaries for the critically acclaimed biography series Sportscentury. He is currently developing a Broadway musical on Babe Ruth, based on the revealing book he wrote in 1988 – My Dad, the Babe - with Ruth’s only biological daughter, Dorothy Ruth Pirone.
McCaughey, Patrick – art historian and writer, is former director of the National Gallery of Victoria (Australia), the Wadsworth Atheneum, and the Yale Center for British Art. He writes frequently for publications in Britain, the United States, and Australia, and is known as an accomplished lecturer on all aspects of art.
McDonald, James – associate professor of physics, is an accelerator physicist with experience in low-energy measurements in astrophysics and applied radiation protection. He has a secondary interest in applied photonics and the use of lasers in manufacturing. His experience with building unusual chambers and detector arrays has been applied to projects in places such as the Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory at Yale University, the High Intensity Gamma Source at Duke University, the Institut de Physique Nucléaire at the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium, and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. He holds a PhD from the University of Connecticut and an undergraduate degree from Clarkson University. As an educator, he specializes in teaching introductory physics to pre-medical majors and using other subjects, like art or science fiction, to illustrate scientific concepts.
McDonald, Nicholas G. – is a geology and biology instructor at Westminster School in Simsbury and emeritus chairman of the Science Department. His abiding interest in paleontology was awakened at the age of 12 during a Sunday afternoon field trip to a local Jurassic fossil site. After graduating from Franklin and Marshall College, he continued his geologic studies at Wesleyan University, completing a Master's thesis on the fossil fishes of Connecticut and Massachusetts. An inveterate collector, Nick has brought to light literally thousands of well-preserved specimens from early Mesozoic rocks once thought to be largely devoid of fossils. His discoveries of fishes, plants, mollusks, insects, crustaceans and trace fossils have broadened the understanding of Jurassic ecosystems in the region. For more than 20 years the author has been a Visiting Scholar (research associate) in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Wesleyan, and he is currently a Curatorial Affiliate at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.
McEnroe, Colin – columnist and radio personality, hosts the Colin McEnroe Show on WNPR (Connecticut Public Radio), writes for the Hartford Courant, and hosts a blog, ToWit, on the Courant's website. A graduate of Yale, he teaches occasional courses at Trinity College on the mass media and related topics. His writing appears frequently in places as diverse as Mademoiselle and The New York Times, and he is the author of four books, including a biography of his father and a novel – and also of the play A Woman of a Certain Age (performed locally in 2003). Particularly well-known as a witty commentator on politics and the oddities of 21st-century life, he has also thought hard and long about the future of communication and its relation to personal privacy.
McGivney-Burelle, Jean – is an associate professor of mathematics and chair of the Department of Education at the University of Hartford. She is also the Director of the Secondary Mathematics Education program. Jean has been on the faculty since 2005 and teaches a range of undergraduate mathematics and mathematics education courses. Her research interests are in the area of technology and the teaching and learning of K-16 mathematics.
McGrory, Kathleen – holds a PhD from Columbia University in comparative literature. A native of New York City, she was a Sister of Divine Compassion in New York, then professor of English and founder of the Irish Studies graduate program at Western Connecticut State University, Danbury. She was Dean of Arts and Sciences and Academic Vice President at Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU), President of Hartford College for Women until its merger with the University of Hartford, NEH fellow at Stanford University, and senior fellow at the University of Virginia’s Commonwealth Center for Literary and Cultural Change. As Executive Director of the Society for Values in Higher Education at Georgetown University, she also taught medieval literature at Georgetown. She currently teaches part-time at ECSU and is completing a book-length study of the legend of the Holy Grail.
McLaughlin, Robert – His new book Irish Canadian Conflict and the Struggle for Irish Independence 1912-1925 will be published by the University of Toronto Press this April. He teaches twentieth century history at the University of Hartford in both the College of Arts and Sciences and Hillyer College.
Miller, Stephen – has collected, researched, and published extensively on Shaker material culture for the past thirty-five years. He served as curator for the major 2010 exhibition at the New Britain Museum of Art titled “Inspired Innovations: A Celebration of Shaker Ingenuity” and wrote a full-length book—based on the exhibition—of the same title. From Shaker Lands and Shaker Hands was awarded the “book of the year” by the American Communal Societies Association. This spring he was honored by Historic New England with its third annual Prize for Collecting Works on Paper. Steve has been a long-term member of the boards at Hancock and Canterbury Shaker Villages. He lives in West Hartford.
Morrison, Malcolm – Malcolm Morrison is University professor of theatre and former dean of The Hartt School and director of the Theatre Division at Hartt. He has directed theatrical productions at many major theatres and Shakespeare Festivals in the USA, including three productions of Hamlet, and his publications include the handbook Classical Acting (1995). He will be directing Coram Boy this October for The Hartt School and teaching a course with Humphrey Tonkin on the play and the preparations for the production.
Morrison, Watson – loves to talk about, and perform, music. He has taught piano at the Hartt School for half a century. He began his career as a jazz trumpeter, taking up piano at age 18 and going on to receive his doctorate from Boston University. In addition to his teaching, he has performed under many noted orchestral conductors and on radio and television, and has served four terms on the Fulbright National Screening Committee for pianists.
Onuf, Alexandra – one of the University’s most dynamic younger scholars and teachers, teaches art history with a concentration on the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods, as well as the history of printmaking and landscape art. Her research explores the historical significance of landscape prints in early modern Europe, particularly how their style connects to the changing political and cultural circumstances of the sixteenth and seventeenth-century Low Countries. Her scholarship has appeared in several art history and interdisciplinary journals, and she is currently working on a book of landscape prints and the depiction of the countryside in early modern Netherlands.
Parente, Matthew – PT, CPO, is the clinical director for the Master of Science in Prosthetics and Orthotics program; he is certified by the American Board of Certification in Prosthetics and Orthotics and a practicing clinician for Hanger Orthopedics Group.
Patt, Avinoam J. – is Philip D. Feltman Professor of Modern Jewish History at the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford, where he also directs the Sherman Museum of Jewish Civilization. Previously, he was the Miles Lerman Applied Research Scholar for Jewish Life and Culture at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). He received his PhD in Modern European History and Hebrew and Judaic Studies from New York University. His first book, Finding Home and Homeland: Jewish Youth and Zionism in the Aftermath of the Holocaust (published by Wayne State University Press, May 2009) examines the situation of young survivors in Europe in the aftermath of the Holocaust and their role in the creation of the state of Israel. He is also the co-editor of a collected volume on Jewish Displaced Persons, titled We are Here: New Approaches to the Study of Jewish Displaced Persons (Wayne State University Press, February 2010.
Patterson, Jeremiah – is associate professor of drawing at the Hartford Art School, has exhibited widely in New York, and in such venues as the Fort Wayne Museum of Art in Fort Wayne, IN, Arnot Art Museum in Elmira, New York, the Arkansas Art Center Museum, Albright-Knox Art Museum in Buffalo, NY, the Flint Museum of Art in Michigan, The Connecticut River Museum in Essex, CT, and The Ridderhof-Martin Museum at Mary Washington College. His work can be found in over 100 private and corporate collections. Since 2000, he has served as Co-director of Summer Workshops in Italy, leading small groups of artists to study painting, drawing, and Renaissance techniques in Italy each summer. These groups have included artists from Canada, Mexico, England, Australia, Greece, and the United States.
Peters, J. Lee – holds a doctorate in education from the University of Utah, was Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs at Montana State University, Billings, and is now Vice-President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at the University of Hartford.
Pier, Stephen – director of the Dance Division of the Hartt School. He has achieved a uniquely rich and varied career as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer. For many years he danced with the Jose Limon Company, going on to become a leading soloist with the Hamburg Ballet in Germany and the Royal Danish Ballet. He has taught at the school of the Royal Danish Ballet, the Alvin Ailey School, the Martha Graham Center, Regional Dance America, and the New York International Ballet Competition, and for many notable companies in Europe, America and Asia, and he was on the faculty of the Juilliard School from 1996 until 2010. He has created over 30 works for the concert stage, opera, theater, and film.
Pike, John – joined The Hartt School in 2003 where he currently teaches theatre history and text analysis as well as performance. He has also been on the music theatre faculty of Syracuse University. Prior to that time John was Artistic Associate for Goodspeed Musicals where he worked on more than 100 productions in various capacities including dramaturg and musicologist. John was publisher of Show Music Magazine, the foremost periodical on the musical theatre in the US where he oversaw the premiere text editions of Parade, Big, Triumph of Love and A Class Act. Recently he edited the book HAIR: The Story of the Show That Defined a Generation. His articles have appeared in Playbill Magazine, The Sondheim Review and Dramatists Quarterly. He has served on ASCAP's New Works panel, the Connecticut Commission on the Arts music and theatre panels and has worked for the NEA. He holds degrees in theatre, music, Latin and management from Wake Forest, University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School) and the Yale School of Drama.
Pines, David – associate professor of civil, environmental and biomedical engineering, won the Roy E. Larsen Award for Excellence in Teaching last year. He spent more than a decade as a practicing engineer before joining the faculty. His engineering experience has brought an increased emphasis on practical applications to the engineering curriculum. Working through Engineers Without Borders (EWB ), Pines and his students designed and installed a solar-powered well and a rooftop rainwater collection system to bring a clean, sustainable water supply to residents of Abheypur, India. That project has now expanded well beyond CETA, involving students from other schools and colleges at the University, as well as area high school students and professional engineers. He has also worked at several other schools on an even more comprehensive project for a village in Kenya.
Poggio, Natacha – is assistant professor of Visual Communication Design in the Hartford Art School. She is an experienced multidisciplinary designer who holds a Master of Fine Arts in Design from the University of Texas at Austin. In her work she examines objects and environments with which people interact, and looks for ways to make these interactions aesthetically pleasing and functional for the greatest number of users. Her design philosophy maximizes human experience; it embodies the importance of engaging multiple senses in each designed activity, to create meaningful experiences fully accessible to everyone. Designs resulting from this approach serve a wider array of people—regardless of age, race, gender, abilities, economic or educational background. Among them were the inhabitants of Abheypur, India, where she worked on the same project as David Pines.
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Reagan, Timothy – CSU Professor of Education at Central Connecticut State University. His former positions include serving as Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Professor of Linguistics at the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), Dean of the School of Education at Roger Williams University, and Professor of Foreign Language Education at the University of Connecticut. He was one of the founders of the International Society for Language Studies, and the founding co-editor of the Society's Journal Critical Issues in Language Studies. The author of numerous publications in applied linguistics, he is especially well-known for his work on the linguistics of sign languages and on language policy and planning.
Robinson, Michael – is associate professor of history at Hillyer College, University of Hartford. He is the author of The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006), which won the 2008 Book Award for the History of Science in America. Robinson has been invited to give lectures about his work to the American Museum of Natural History, The Explorers Club, and the Geographical Society of Philadelphia, among others. He serves as the advisory editor to the history of science journal Isis and writes a blog about the history of science and exploration called Time To Eat the Dogs, which was nominated for a 2008 Weblog Award.
Rose, Elizabeth – PhD, is Library Director at the Fairfield Museum and History Center. She is a historian who has taught at Central Connecticut State University, Trinity College, Wesleyan University, and Vanderbilt University.
Rust, Maureen – is library media specialist at Wheeler High School/Middle School in North Stonington, and an American Friends of Kenya (AFK) library volunteer.
Sampson, Amy – a residential and commercial landscape designer, is the owner of AES Landscape Design and Consultation located in Chesire, CT. She has taught landscape design and horticulture courses at Naugatuck Valley Community College and is the landscape design instructor for the Connecticut Nursey & Landscape Association's accreditation program. She has also taught classes for the Connecticut Master Gardener continuing education program and conducts talks for nurseries, garden clubs, and horticulture-related groups across Connecticut.
Schiano, Michael – associate professor of Musical Theory in The Hartt School, is interested in every aspect of 20th-century music – from Schoenberg to pop – and in the history of music in earlier periods, particularly Beethoven. He has lectured for the President’s College on the Beatles and on Mozart.
Shire Laurel Clark – assistant professor of History (PhD, George Washington University), is currently revising a book manuscript drawn from her research on US expansion into Florida. Taming the Territory: Women on the Florida Frontier uses Florida to explore the ways in which American leaders and settlers negotiated Americanizing new territories. It argues that women – and ideas about women – were central to how the US justified and managed its expansion into Florida and the territories that followed it into the United States. Dr. Clark has a long-standing love of social and cultural history, and enjoys teaching and researching all aspects of the American past that touch on the ways that people, especially women, shaped it.
Sinche, Bryan – is an assistant professor of English at the University of Hartford, where he teaches American and African-American literature. He has published on numerous nineteenth-century American writers and is working on a book about sailors in antebellum American literature. Echo 360 Course
Smith, Andrew – was a prizewinning violin student at the Royal Academy of Music, London. He moved to the US in 1996 as Assistant to the Emerson String Quartet, receiving his doctorate at the Hartt School. As a soloist he has performed with orchestras throughout Europe, China and the US, and his concerts have been broadcast on radio and TV in Italy, Portugal, Spain and China as well as BBC Radio in the UK and CTPTV, WTTW II, and WFMT Chicago in America.
Sokolowski, Peter – Editor at Large at Merriam-Webster, joined the company in 1994. He has worked on several best-selling dictionaries including Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary andMerriam-Webster's French-English Dictionary, is featured in language videos and podcasts at Merriam-Webster.com, and represents the publisher as a lecturer and spelling-bee pronouncer worldwide.
Steadman, Jennifer Bernhardt – (PhD, Emory University) is Adult Programs Manager at the Connecticut Historical Society, and has taught at Emory University and Trinity College in the English and Graduate Studies departments. Her research focuses on women’s history and women’s writing and she is the author of Traveling Economies: American Women’s Travel Writing (2007).
Steinway, Kate – who holds a graduate degree in art history from the University of Chicago, has been associated with the Connecticut Historical Society for the past 25 years and its director for the past five. Recently she has overseen a major refurbishment of the Society’s headquarters on Elizabeth Street in Hartford.
Stevenson, Catherine – former Academic Dean for International and Honors Programs at the University, is the author of Victorian Women Travel Writers in Africa (1982) and many scholarly articles on English literature, theater, and women’s studies. In her 30 years at the University of Hartford, she has served as a department chair, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Assistant Provost and Dean of the Faculty, and the Harry Jack Gray Distinguished Teaching Humanist. She has received the University of Hartford's Outstanding Teachers Award and the Trachtenberg Award for Service to the University.
Stores, T. – currently chairs the Department of English, where she is an associate professor of creative writing. She is the author of three novels, Getting to the Point, Sidetracks, and Backslide. Her fiction, poetry, and essays have been published in journals including Out Magazine, Kudzu, Bloom, Cicada, Literary Bohemian, Blueline, Earth’s Daughters and others. Her MFA is from Emerson College.
Tonkin, Humphrey – has pursued several parallel careers. Educated at Cambridge University and Harvard, he established himself at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University as professor and scholar in English Renaissance literature, particularly the poetry of Edmund Spenser, branching out into Shakespeare studies and into sociolinguistics. After a dozen years in senior administrative positions at Penn, he moved to SUNY Potsdam as President, and then to the University of Hartford, where he was President from 1989 to 1998. He returned to teaching, and now also serves as director of the Presidents' College, an adult learning community at the University. He has published books and articles on English literature, international education, and language policy and planning, along with translations between English and Esperanto, most recently (in 2010) Crusoes in Siberia, a book about World War I by Tivadar Soros, father of financier George Soros. He also translated Soros’s other book, Masquerade, published in the year 2000. Echo-April 2; Echo-April 9; Echo-April 16; Echo-April 17;
Echo-April 23; Echo-April 30.
Troy, Michele K. – is associate professor of english and directs the Honors Experience in Hillyer College. She has two articles appearing this year on the Albatross Press, drawn from her book-in-progress, Strange Bird: The Albatross Press and the Third Reich.
Trumble, Angus – is Senior Curator of Paintings and Sculpture at the Yale Center for British Art, where he is currently preparing an exhibition on the Edwardians. A native of Melbourne, he was formerly Curator of European Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide. He is the author of A Brief History of the Smile and, most recently, The Finger: A Handbook (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2010).
Turner, Charles – Charles Turner, historian of music, recently retired from The Hartt School. Trained as a medievalist, he holds a D.Mus. from Indiana University and previously taught at Indiana and at the University of Cincinnati. For many years he directed the Early Music Ensemble at Hartt. As a lutenist, he has toured Mexico and the southwestern United States, as well as playing at numbers of venues in the Northeast. He is a member of the Farmington Valley Symphony Orchestra and the Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra.
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Vasquez, Sharon – joined the University in August 2010 as its new chief academic officer. Before being appointed as Provost of the University, she was dean of the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts as Wayne State University. She began her career as a professional dancer and choreographer, moving into the academic world as faculty member and then as chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin, and Dean of the School of Arts and Performance at the State University of New York at Brockport. She is president-elect of the International Council of Fine Arts Deans (ICFAD) and past chair of the Commission on Accreditation for the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD).
Voelker, Joseph – Dean of Arts and Sciences, has devoted a lifetime to the study of Joyce and Irish literature.
Vigeant, Michelle – joined the University as an assistant professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department within the Acoustics Program in 2006. She obtained her PhD in Architectural Engineering, focusing on Architectural Acoustics, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and she received a BSc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada. She plays the piano and clarinet, and has won the Robert Bradford Newman Medal for Merit in Architectural Acoustics.
Walling, Amanda – is assistant professor of English specializing in medieval literature and culture. She teaches courses in the English and European literature of the Middle Ages, women’s writing, folklore, and the history of the English language. Her research is primarily focused on 14th and 15th century English poetry, but she is also interested in medieval religion, politics, and drama, the Renaissance, the history of rhetoric, and responses to medieval literature in later centuries. She received her BA from the University of Chicago and her PhD in English from Stanford University. She has published her work in Chaucer Review and The Yearbook of Langland Studies, and has recently presented conference papers on religious poetry, Arthurian romance, and medieval literary forgery. Echo 360 course.
Warshauer, Matthew – is professor of History at Central Connecticut State University, and holds a PhD in American Studies from Saint Louis University. He has served as editor of Connecticut History since 2003. He is coordinator of Connecticut Commemorates the Civil War, a collaborative endeavor of numerous historical societies and organizations, planning events for the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. His books include Connecticut in the American Civil War: Slavery, Sacrifice, and Survival (2011), Andrew Jackson: First Men, America’s Presidents (2009), and Andrew Jackson and the Politics of Martial Law (2006).
Wasko, Dennis – is assistant professor of biology in Hillyer College. He is a herpetologist (a specialist in reptiles and amphibians) with a strong interest also in spatial ecology, feeding ecology, and vertebrate natural history. In addition to his work with the puff adder, he has written on the fauna of Costa Rica, on boa constrictors, and on alligators. He holds a PhD from the University of Miami.
Waters, Willie Anthony – formerly General and Artistic Director of Connecticut Opera, and Artistic Director of Florida Grand Opera (formerly Greater Miami Opera), has been a guest conductor for numerous American and European opera companies and symphony orchestras, and various opera companies and orchestras in South Africa. In 2002, Maestro Waters debuted at New York City Opera and in 2008, made his debut at the Deutsche Oper, Berlin. Maestro Waters also serves as Artistic Director/Opera of the Houston Ebony Opera Guild. In 2005 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Hartford. He is currently music director of Prelude to Performance, a summer training program for young singers in New York sponsored by the Martina Arroyo Foundation, and an adjunct instructor in opera at the University of Connecticut. He is a regular guest panelist on the quiz of the Metropolitan Opera’s Saturday afternoon broadcasts, and is a widely sought-after lecturer and master-class clinician.
Watson, David – Associate Professor of Theatre, has participated in teaching Brecht and Shakespeare in the Presidents’ College in recent years. His directing credits are extensive and cover academic and commercial theatre throughout the United States. This summer he is directing Shakespeare’s Richard III for Capital Classics at St. Joseph College.
Wilson, Tracey M. – teaches history at Conard High School in West Hartford and has also taught at Trinity College and St. Joseph College. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Trinity College and a PhD from Brown University. Her publications include studies of women workers at Colt’s and Travelers, and of the Connecticut woman’s suffrage movement, and frequent columns in local newspapers. In addition to her role as Town Historian of West Hartford, she serves as an advisor to the Noah Webster House.
Wood, Oliver Noble – teaches 16th and 17th-century Spanish literature. His research interests range from the poetry of Góngora and Quevedo to the history of the book in Golden Age Spain.
Woodward, Walter – Connecticut State Historian and Associate Professor of History at the University of Connecticut, is particularly interested in the early history of the American colonies, including such questions as witchcraft and alchemy. He is the author of Prospero’s America: John Winthrop, Jr., Alchemy, and the Creation of New England Culture (2010).
Yannello, Susan – is a lifelong lover of libraries who started as a volunteer in her sixth-grade school libraries. She has worked in a variety of library settings and is currently employed by the Donohue Group, a library consulting firm providing services to libraries, museums and archives. She volunteered to travel to Kenya in the 2008 AFK work mission and has continued to support the organization by collecting resources to be shipped to Kenya.
