Accolades – below are news and notes from our alumni, faculty, staff, and students. We are proud of all the amazing accomplishments by our Neag family. If you have an accolade to share, we want to hear from you! Please send any news items (and story ideas) to shawn.kornegay@uconn.edu

Students

Regina Hopkins, an EDLR doctoral student, was just named 2014-2016 UCFA Jackson Scholar. The Jackson Scholars Network is an exceptional opportunity for graduate students of color to take advantage of formal networking, mentoring, and professional development opportunities to enhance their pathway as professors of educational leadership.

Alumni

Brianna Clark, an alumna of the sport management undergrad and master’s program, is the co-author of “I Didn’t Want to Look Stupid”: Exploring the Impact of an All-Women Leisure Education Class. She is also an assistant professor at Temple University.

Jennifer W. Graham was selected as a 2014-2015 National Association of Independent Schools Teacher of the Future award. She is a 2 Summers 2013-2014 student who teaches Computer Science and Media Arts. In addition, she also instructs classes on Digital Design, Digital Media Communications, and Foundations of Computer Principles and Media at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, CT.

Terry A. Osborn, PhD ‘98, was named interim regional chancellor for academic and student affairs at USF Sarasota-Manatee. She will also serve as interim regional chancellor as a nationwide search takes place for a more permanent candidate.

Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis ‘05, ‘06 founder & executive director of Classes 4 Classes and teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School, has a book deal with G.P. Putnam’s Sons. The book, “Choosing Hope: Moving Forward from Your Life’s Darkest Hour,” will be released next spring.

Alumni Passing

The following Neag alums have passed away:

Margaret A. Hanlon (’69)

Sharon E. Hayes (‘85)

Faith V. Jones (’63)

Kevin J. Swick Ph.D. (’70)

Dr. Richard T. Day (’71)

Donald V. Nelson (’75)

Anna M. Posiadala (’75)

Donald R. Bronsard Ph.D. (’76)

Leda T. Hirsch Ph.D. (’81)

Raymond V. Kalinowski (’65)

Henrietta M. Recko (’78)

Paul R. Burch (’64)

Faculty

HuskyTeach: The Next Generation STEM Teachers was awarded a grant of $1,199, 568 by the National Science Foundation in support of the project. The project is under the direction of John H. Settlage, J. Evan Ward, Penny Vlahos, George B. McManus, and Suzanne M. Wilson.

Faculty, students, and alumni are members of the Neag Nemesis softball team, who finished in first place with a record of 13-1 at the UConn Summer Softball Championship. This is Neag Nemesis’s fourth championship.

Tamika La Salle was selected as an Early Career Scholar for the School of Psychology Research Collaboration Conference. She was also invited to participate as an Early Career Scholar in the 2015 conference in Orlando, Florida.

Catherine Little and Jonathan Plucker were elected to NAGC. They have NAGC individual and lifetime memberships to the NAGC Board of Directors. Little was named Treasurer, with her term ending August 2016. Plucker was named At-Large Member, with his term ending August 2017.

D. Betsy McCoach was elected a fellow of the American Psychological Association.

Natalie Olinghouse received the highest average score by the Research Committee of the Council for Learning Disabilities for her article, “Preparing Students with Learning Disabilities for Large-scale Writing Assessments.” As the lead author, she is invited to present her work at the Must Reads session at the fall CLD conference in Philadelphia, and attend an awards ceremony in recognition of her honor.

George Sugai was invited to serve as an expert on school climate at a conference sponsored by America Achieves, a national nonprofit organization. The conference, Convening of World Leading Schools in Washington, DC, will have approximately 350 school and district leaders from the United States and Spain attending this conference, which will cover education law, policy, and strategy with a mission to improve public education.