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1970–1979
1976: RICHARD NEAL
House Democrats voted U.S. Representative Richard Neal M (Barney), H'17 of Springfield, Mass., as the chamber's Ways and Means Committee chairman. In that new role, he is expected to focus on health care and issues tied to the recent GOP-backed tax overhaul legislation.
1980–1989
1980: JULIUS P. WILLIAMS
Julius P. Willams M (HARTT) of Jamaica Plain, Mass., has been named the first African-American president of the Conductors Guild, a global membership organization encompassing conductors of symphony, opera, ballet, choral, band, contemporary, and chamber ensembles. Currently, he is a professor of composition at the Berklee College of Music.
1984: STEVEN DIGIORGIO
Steven DiGiorgio (Ward) of Lido Beach, N.Y., opened his second Steve's Bagels in Vernon, Conn. The opening of the New York-style bagel and deli shop came after the success of his first store in Manchester, Conn. DiGiorgio recently retired after nearly 30 years of running his own construction business.
1985: DAPHNE HALPERN
Pratt Institute has named Daphne Halpern (A&S) of Oceanport, N.J. as its vice president for institutional advancement. The highly-accomplished non-profit leader has more than 25 years of experience in fundraising and executive management. She came to Pratt from CCS Fundraising where she was a senior executive.
1990–1999
1991: CHRIS CHRISTIAN
Chris Christian (A&S) of Clinton, Conn., co-edited a new book, Psychoanalysis in the Barrios: Race, Class, and the Unconscious. The book is an interdisciplinary collection of essays by distinguished international scholars and clinicians, and refutes the idea that psychoanalysis is an expensive luxury only for the wealthy.
1994: GEORGE KOSTELIS
Hartford Athletic, Connecticut's new professional soccer franchise, which began play in the United Soccer League in the spring of 2019, named George Kostelis A'91 (Hillyer), (ENHP) of Cromwell, Conn., goalkeeper coach. The former Hawks standout in goal was, most recently, associate head women's soccer coach at the University of Rhode Island.
1995: LUKE REILLY
The Hartford Courant published an article on East Catholic High School Basketball Coach Luke Reilly (ENHP) of Glastonbury, Conn., and his "basketball family." The article focused on Luke, a former point guard for the Hawks, and his nephew, Joey, a standout player on his uncle's team. Luke has been at the helm of the program for the past 18 years.
1995: ROBERT RYAN
Angel Island Capital named Robert Ryan (Barney) of Wilton, Conn., its chief financial officer. He was the former COO and CFO of Archview Investment Group.
1997: GARY EVANS
Gary Evans (A&S) of Wethersfield, Conn., has been named town manager there. The long-time resident was previously a grants administrator and deputy director for the city of New Britain. He had previously served in similar capacities for the cities of Norwich and Hartford.
1998: KRISTEN ROBERTS
Middlesex United Way in Connecticut presented its community service award to Kristen Roberts C'92 (HCW), M (Barney) of Old Saybrook, Conn. It is the most prestigious honor for a United Way volunteer. Across 16 years, she has served in many capacities, including campaign and marketing chairwoman.
2000–2009
2000: JAVIER COLON
Season one The Voice winner and recording artist Javier Colon (Hartt)of West Hartford, Conn., sang the national anthem at the January inauguration of Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont.
2000: MARIN IRELAND
Blue Ridge, a play featuring Marin Ireland (Hartt) of New York, N.Y., made its off-Broadway debut at the Atlantic Theatre Company in January. In the play, set in Southern Appalachia, Ireland stars as a high school teacher who, after lashing out at her boss, was sent to a church-sponsored halfway house.
2003: STEVE FRENCH
Steve French (Hartt) of Silver Spring, Md., continues a successful career as a voice actor. His work has been heard on a wide range of projects, including DC Universe's Young Justice, television shows Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Match Game, the Netflix series Maniac, and in commercials for Hershey's.
2004: JESSIE BERNSTEIN
The Baltimore Jewish Times ran a Q&A article featuring Jessie Bernstein (ENHP) of New Freedom, Pa. The piece centered on her roles as a community advocate and a 13-year second-generation massage therapist, currently with Indigo Physiotherapy. The American Cancer Society and hospice care are among her volunteer interests.
2007: PHIL SALATHE
Imaginary Birds: Music for Oboe and English Horn is the latest release from Phil Salathé M (Hartt), AD'07 (Hartt) of Potsdam, N.Y. The CD is collection of five chamber works penned for long-time collaborators such as an Oboe Dup Agosto. Salathé, a former Jeopardy champion, is a composer, teacher, author, and analyst.
2007: BRIAN CUTINO
Brian Cutino (Barney), (A&S) of Windsor, Conn., was elected board chairperson of the non-profit InterCommunity, Inc., based in East Hartford, Conn. He has worked at The Hartford since 2007 and is currently an IT delivery manager. He has experience in project management, HR management, technology consulting, and financial management.
2007: LIANE HANSEN
The Dover Post featured an article on retired National Public Radio host Liane Hansen H of Bethany Beach, Del. The article centered on her career, her affection for her community, and her continued involvement with the arts. Hansen has been active at the Clear Space Theatre Company and recently wrapped up a role in A Christmas Carol.
2008: ESTHER ROGERS BAKER
Bach Around Town, a short chamber music monthly concert series featuring cellist Esther Rogers Baker (Hartt) of Keene, N.Y., took place at small venues throughout the Adirondacks region in early 2019. Each concert featured a different guest artist. Baker is a strings teacher at Keene Central School in Keene Valley, N.Y.
2009: PETER CORDEAU
Peter Cordeau M (Barney) of Goshen, Conn., was named President of Norwalk Hospital in Connecticut. He came to Norwalk from Sharon Hospital, where he went from chief nursing officer to chief operating officer to CEO. Cordeau has had a 30-year career in hospital administration, operations, nursing leadership and service line management.
2009: DOUGLAS LYONS
Broadway composer, lyricist, and actor Douglas Lyons (Hartt) of New Haven, Conn., was one of three UHart graduates named to Connecticut Magazine's 2019 40 Under 40. The others were Broadway actor Juwan Crawley '16 (Hartt) of Bridgeport, N.Y., and singer-songwriter Nekita Waller A'14 (A&S) of Bloomfield, Conn.
2009: MIKE WIMMER
"Will Work For..." is the title for the latest exhibit from artist Mike Wimmer M (HAS) of Edmond, Okla. The exhibit opened at the Oklahoma History Center in January, and features 17 portraits. The exhibit's title was inspired by Winner's view of himself as a "natural observer of people and all the differences that make us unique."
2010–2018
2010: ROBERT ALLEN
Robert Allen (A&S) of Seattle, Wash., is a merchandise manager with the Prime Video international expansion team. His team is responsible for Prime Video acquisition and engagement in Canada, Mexico, Australia, Brazil, and more than 200 countries without an Amazon retail presence.
2011: STEPHEN FULLER
Blumshapiro appointed Stephen Fuller M (Barney) of Cromwell, Conn., and Amber Monaghan M'12 (Barney) of Manchester, Conn., partners. They have been with the firm in their West Hartford office since 2008 and 2015, respectively.
2011: MIKE MILLAN
Mike Millan (Hartt) of Bay Shore, N.Y. was one of 21 participants who performed as part of the CBS Diversity Comedy Showcase in six shows in Los Angeles in January 2019. The Showcase was attended by talent representatives from throughout the industry. Millan has appeared in Escape to Margaritaville and in the national tour of Sister Act.
2011: ROBERT MACHUGA
Robert Machuga (HAS) is a senior designer with the NFL and played a key role in creating much of the branding that was seen around the Super Bowl in Atlanta, including the game ticket. He has been with the NFL since July 2016. Previously, Machuga was the creative director at Catch 24 Advertising and Design.
2012: KEVIN BRANDON
An article on billypen.com highlighted Kevin Brandon (A&S) of Philadelphia, Pa., and his efforts in rejuvenating the Philadelphia Runners Track Club. Now its president, he came across the semi-dormant club on Facebook and has grown its membership to 85 athletes. Brandon works as a business operations analyst at Starr Companies.
2012: JIM MELLO
Jim Mello D (ENHP) of Steubenville, Ohio, executive director of institutional effectiveness at Franciscan University, was part of a panel discussion at the annual meeting of the North East Association for Institutional Research held in November 2018. The panel was titled "Data-Informed Decision Making: Challenges, Strategies, and Lessons Learned."
2012: KATIE TRAINER
Katie Trainer (Hartt) M'16 (Hartt) of Guilford, Conn., is the winds instructor for the East Haven/North Branford Co-Op marching band that took home a second win in the state-wide and New England championships. She is a music teacher at North Branford High School. Trainer was featured in an article on Zip06.com.
2012: AMBER MONAGHAN
Amber Monaghan (Barney)
See Stephen Fuller '11 (Barney)
2014: BETHANY SNYDER FERNBAUGH
Bethany Snyder Fernbaugh M (Hartt) of Weirton, W.Va., is one of 30 national board certified music specialists in the state of West Virginia. A general music and chorus teacher at Oak Glen Middle School in New Cumberland, W.Va., she gained her certification in November 2018.
2014: NEKITA WALLER
Nekita Waller A (A&S)
See Douglas Lyons '09 (Hartt)
2015: CARLY GLENN
Booked It, a short film by Carly Glenn (Hartt) of Chicago, Ill., made its New York premier on February 9.
2015: KATIE LUKE
Katie Luke (Hartt) of New York, N.Y. was the recipient of the Syracuse Area Live Theater (SALT) award for Best Actress in a Musical for playing the lead in the musical Newsies at the Cortland Repertory Theatre.
2016: ALEXA KEENERAlexa Keener (Barney), M'18 (Barney) of Torrington, Conn., is part of the 43rd class of Quest, a program for high-performing mid-career professionals. The 10-month program provides training on advanced leadership practices and is supported by Leadership Greater Hartford. Keener is an HR consultant at Aetna.
2016: JUWAN CRAWLEY
Juwan Crawley (Hartt)
See Douglas Lyons (HARTT) '09
WEDDINGS
Jasmine Dumas '12 (CETA) and Jenna Daly '12 (CETA) of Glastonbury, Conn., were married in their home on September 22, 2018. Jasmine is a senior data scientist at Fastly, while Jenna is a freelance data scientist and engineer. Nine UHart alumni and staff were among the guests at the wedding.
HAWK HATCHLINGS
Latasha Raineault '08 (ENHP), D'10 (ENHP) and Jordan Raineault of West Hartford, Conn., welcomed their second child, Sydney Hayes Raineault, on January, 27, 2019. Latasha, a former student-athlete at UHart, is the site director at the Hartford Hospital Rehabilitation Network. Jordan is a school counselor working for Manchester Public Schools.