PresRelease

Today I was very pleased to read in the Stamford Times that the new Devin T. Gaines Student Involvement and Activities Center at our Stamford campus is nearly completed and will be ready for use when students return for fall semester. UConn’s Board of Trustees voted to name the new center in memory of Devin Gaines, Class of 2007, who died in a swimming accident last July after achieving the extraordinary accomplishment of earning 276 credits in five years, enough to earn degrees in computer science, cognitive science, theater studies, linguistics/psychology, and an individualized major in cinema, culture, and cognition. He accomplished this while maintaining a 3.2 grade point average. He had studied at both the Storrs and Stamford campuses.

Devin was a tremendous inspiration to all of us while he was studying at UConn, and he leaves us a legacy of achievement and joy of learning. He was a frequent volunteer at the Yerwood Center in Stamford, where he taught computer classes. He was also known for dropping in to fix the broken computers of his neighbors in the Martin Luther King, Jr. housing development where he lived.

The Center will be formally dedicated at a ceremony in the near future, perhaps during Welcome Week in early September. Devin reminds us all that every day is important, and that what we give to others today is what really matters. And he remains an inspiration for achieving our own dreams.

On May 1 the Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center held its annual recognition banquet at the Rome Commons Ballroom. This annual banquet recognizes graduating seniors as well as outstanding students, faculty and staff who have made a contribution to the UConn Latino community. Myrta Colon Groeneveld, a graduate in the mathematics department, sent me this picture – she’s on the far right.

I found another picture on their web site. It’s from a few years ago but I can tell you that the enthusiasm and welcoming spirit of this Center remains as high as ever. Students and staff interested in getting involved with PRLACC should look them up first thing next fall. Their office is on the fourth floor of the Student Union.

Seven of our UConn faculty were elected to membership in the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering as part of the 2008 cohort of 19 new members. Yale tied us, with seven new members from its faculty. The new members were inducted at CASE’s 33d annual meeting on May 21 at the New Haven Lawn Club. Dr. Michael Snyder, the Cullman Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale received the Connecticut Medal of Science.

CASE is Connecticut’s version of the National Academy of Sciences. It’s comprised of distinguished scientists and engineers from Connecticut’s academic, industrial, and institutional communities. Membership is limited by statute to 250 members. The Academy identifies and studies issues and technological advances of concern to the people of Connecticut, and is often consulted on science- and technology-related issues by state government and other Connecticut institutions. CASES’s recently released study of our Health Center’s facilities is a recent and noteworthy effort. You can read the report here.

New Haven Lawn Club

UConn’s new CASE members are:

Professor Michael Accorsi, School of Engineering (Civil & Environmental)

Professor Baki Cetegen, School of Engineering (Mechanical)

Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor William Fitzgerald, CLAS (Marine Sciences)

Professor Kazem Kazerounian, School of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering)

Professor Leo Lefrançois, School of Medicine (Immunology)

Professor Leslie Loew, Boehringer Ingelheim Chair in Cell Sciences, School of Medicine

Professor Charles Yarish, CLAS (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Marine Sciences)

Mon 4/28/2008 3:06 PM
President Hogan,
My name is also Mike Hogan, we met at x-lot on saturday night. We took a few pictures together (one of which I have attached below)and you told me to send them to you to put on your blog. I apologize for the reduced picture quality but all we had were cell phone cameras. Again, nice to meet you and it was a pleasure.

Sincerely,

Michael Hogan

Sophomore Finance Major

I knew that there were other Mike Hogans around campus and ran into one during Spring Weekend. Since this photo leaves something to be desired, Mike agreed to stop by my office later to have another picture taken. Mike looks a lot better in the light, but I’m not so sure about Mike:

During the last week in April I was driving back to Storrs after dark from a meeting, and as I drove along South Eagleville Road I thought I saw suspicious activity next to the road. Being the President, I of course stopped to investigate. I discovered the Alpha Phi Omega community service fraternity, taking their turn decorating the large rock on the south edge of the campus. Left to right are Kristin Walker, Danielle O’Reilly, Kristen Bassilakis, me, Abby Zall, Christine Fraioli, Stacey Berger, Jenn Penna, and Christine Board. (I know, there’s 10 people in the picture, not 9. But, it was late.) Since I wasn’t dressed for painting, I let them proceed. And this was the result…

Rock-painting has a long tradition on the Storrs campus, I’m told.