The Board of Regents has welcomed 11 new members, including six alumni and two faculty members serving as Regents, and three students serving as Student Representatives.
A total of 30 members now serve on the Board, having been charged with fiduciary responsibility for the University of Hartford, overseeing matters of basic policy, and appointing and reviewing the University president. The Board of Regents is actively involved in the University’s current presidential search, expected to be completed by late spring.
Anthony Assante ’91, M’93, Kathy Behrens ’85, Sonya Halpern M’90, Jay Malave M’98, Paul Sittard ’85, and Deverell Smith ’00 join as UHart alumni.
Assante is a co-founder of Atlantic Wealth Advisors with 30 years of professional financial management experience. He is active in his community, serving as chair of the East Haddam Economic Development Commission and on the Board of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce. He earned his bachelor’s degree and his MBA from the Barney School of Business and most recently served on the Investment Subcommittee as a non-Regent.
Behrens has served as president, Social Responsibility & Player Programs, with the National Basketball Association (NBA) since 2015. She oversees all NBA programs that coordinate league, team, and player social responsibility and impact efforts; foster youth basketball development; promote greater civic engagement; enhance marketing opportunities for current and former players; and more. She is a graduate of the College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions and previously served as a Regent from 2010 to 2022, including as vice chair 2018-2022.
Halpern is in her second term as a member of the Georgia State Senate representing the 39th district. She has authored/sponsored 10 bills that are now Georgia state law, and serves as vice chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus, as well as chair of the Fulton County Senate Delegation. Halpern is also the principal and founder of Whiskey in a Teacup Consulting, an arts and cultural consultancy and communications firm, and received her MBA from the Paris MBA program at Barney.
Malave, chief financial officer of Lockheed Martin, is responsible for all aspects of the corporation’s financial strategies, processes, operations, and investor relations. Additionally, he plays a key role in the development of the corporation’s strategic growth plan and mergers and acquisitions. He earned his MSPA in accounting from Barney, and was inducted into the Barney School of Business Hall of Fame in 2022.
Sittard is a global strategic account manager for TE Connectivity, a global industrial technology company headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. He has served on the University Alumni Board, on numerous University college boards, and previously as a Regent from 1999 to 2008 and 2009 to 2022. Sittard is a proud alumnus who received a BSEET in electronic engineering technology.
Smith works in retail real estate and development at Apple. He was previously director of store development at Tiffany Co. in Hong Kong, where he first began as director of architecture. Smith has served on the College of Engineering, Technology and Architecture Board of Visitors and on the Alumni Board. He earned a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering technology from CETA.
New faculty members include Joanna Borucinska and Randy Jacobs.
Borucinska, the newly elected Faculty Senate Chair, has been a biology professor at the University since 1995, and teaches courses in anatomy and physiology and comparative animal physiology. Borucinska has a DVM degree from the Agricultural University in Warsaw, Poland, and a PhD in veterinary pathology from the University of Connecticut. She has published over 30 peer reviewed articles and three book chapters on the health of marine fish with specific emphasis on the effects of environmental pollution on the health of sharks.
Jacobs, newly elected Faculty Senate Vice Chair, is an associate professor in the School of Communication where he teaches courses in advertising, integrated communication, and mass media. Jacobs has advised district-winning student teams in the American Advertising Federation’s National Student Advertising Competition. His most recent research is focused on ethnic differences in media use. Jacobs earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in advertising from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in communication from The Ohio State University.
New student representatives are graduate student Abigail Reed, and undergraduates Maliqa Mosley-Williams ’23, M’24 and Rachel VanOlmen ’25.
Reed is a third-year student in UHart’s clinical psychology doctoral program from Reston, Virginia. Her research interests include neurodevelopmental disorders and psychiatric comorbidities, educational advocacy, and identity-affirming practices that support self-efficacy and self-advocacy related to accessibility. This is informed by her background in education, as she came to UHart with a masters in special education from George Mason University and four years of special education teaching experience.
Mosley-Williams, of Ansonia, Conn., is completing Barney’s 3+1 accelerated program, having earned a bachelor’s in marketing with a minor in management, and is now on her way toward a master’s of business administration with a concentration in business analytics. She has been involved in the Student Government Association, Strong Independent Sisters, and the Barney Leadership Council.
VanOlmen is a double major in finance and risk management and insurance at Barney. She has been involved with the Student Government Association, is the Leadership Chair for Alpha Phi Omega, and serves as a Resident Assistant. VanOlmen hails from Hillsborough, New Hampshire.