Throughout the academic year, the Neag School is proud to share the latest achievements of its faculty, staff, students, and alumni.

Explore their most recent promotions, awards, retirements, publications, and more:

• Dean’s Office
• Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Office of Teacher Education
• Department of Educational Leadership
• Department of Educational Psychology
• Faculty/Staff
• Students
• Alumni
• In Memoriam

Dean’s Office

The Neag School announced the current members of its Alumni Board on UConn Today. Members of the board volunteer to work toward engaging and connecting with Neag School alumni throughout the year.

Three Neag School graduate students were awarded Neag School Alumni Board Scholarships. The awardees include John Burrell, a doctoral student in giftedness, creativity, and talent development; Joshua Sukumar, a doctoral student in research methods, measurement, and evaluation; and Damiao Zoe Xu, a doctoral student in learning, leadership, and education policy.

Three Neag School alumni, Megan Lester ’23 (ED), ’24 MA; RayQuiner Hills ’18 (CLAS), ’22 MA; and Mhret Wondmagegne ’23 (ED), ’24 MA, were featured in a UConn Today article about scholarships established by Ray and Carole Neag. The article was part of a series published in honor of the School’s 25^thanniversary.

The Neag School hosted an orientation for the doctoral students across all three of its departments: Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Leadership, and Educational Psychology. The event was organized by Taylor Strickland, a doctoral student in Leadership and Educational Policy, and featured welcoming remarks from Dean Jason Irizarry and Jennie Weiner, the Neag School’s doctoral program coordinator. The event also included presentations from department representatives: Michael Coyne, Educational Psychology; Todd Campbell, Curriculum and Instruction; and Jennie Weiner, Educational Leadership. View photos from the event.

Department of Curriculum and Instruction (EDCI) and Office of Teacher Education

Fifth graders from E.B. Kennelly School in Hartford, Connecticut, visited UConn Storrs in June to tour the campus and learn more about the Neag School’s academic programs. During their visit, the students heard presentations on the teacher education and sport management programs in the Gentry Building and then enjoyed lunch in the Student Union.

Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s (IB/M) Program juniors and seniors were welcomed back to campus in August with an orientation. Office of Teacher Education faculty and staff shared information about the upcoming year, setting the stage for collaborative learning and professional growth. View photos from the event.

Faculty from UConn’s Departments of Chemistry, Curriculum and Instruction, and Digital Media and Design hosted three days of professional development for high school chemistry educators this summer. The goal is to eventually create a new K-12 curriculum that teaches quantum chemistry concepts. The Quantum Chem Teacher workshop was part of the QuantumCT initiative, which the state has funded as a partnership between UConn and Yale. Learn more about the initiative here.

The Office of Teacher Education held the inaugural IB/M Curriculum Retreat for graduate students and adjunct instructors in August. Participants learned how their courses will support preservice teachers’ development. Organized and facilitated by Alyssa Hadley Dunn, Sandra Quiñones, and Anna Roberts, the event also taught participants how to support students’ mental health and well-being, with instruction from academic advisor Sydnee Jones. Best practices for supporting students with disabilities in a college classroom were also covered by guest speaker Shea Charles, a doctoral student in special education. View photos from the event.

The Connecticut Noyce Math Teacher Leaders program, led by UConn faculty members including Megan Staples, continues to engage experienced secondary math teachers who seek to advance more equitable outcomes in mathematics education. They met at UConn Hartford in July to continue their work and professional development. Check out photos from the event.

Tutita Casa and Kenya Overton, a doctoral candidate in curriculum and instruction, were interviewed by the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics’ (NCSM) Leadership in Mathematics Education podcast. They talked about their passion and dedication to ensuring that each learner has opportunities to voice their reasoning in mathematics and engage in meaningful, high-quality mathematics education. Listen to the podcast.

Department of Educational Leadership (EDLR)

Adam McCready and three doctoral students in educational leadership, Katherine C. Rohn, Kelly Farrell, and Ayaa Elgoharry, prepared a rapid research brief with the Center for Education Policy Analysis, Research, and Evaluation (CEPARE). The brief summarizes key findings from an analysis of 45 social media and technology policies from 32 Connecticut school districts that operate middle and high schools. Read more in the executive summary.

Neag School doctoral students and faculty members from the Higher Education, Racial Justice, and Decolonization Ph.D. concentration gathered this month at UConn’s William Benton Museum for an evening of networking and socialization. They enjoyed the museum’s current art displays, which provided the opportunity for the faculty and students to kick off the school year and connect. View photos from the event.

The Neag School’s Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) program hosted its orientation day for incoming first-year students and welcomed back second-year students. View photos from the event.

The Sport Management Program hosted a Networking Night in August at Elicit Brewing in Manchester, Connecticut. The event allowed alumni and friends to gather and reconnect. View photos from the event.

Department of Educational Psychology (EPSY)

The Neag School’s Renzulli Center co-hosted the Wallace Research Symposium on Talent Development this summer. The national symposium came to Storrs for the first time, bringing together experts on gifted education and talent development.

The Neag School hosted the 34th Annual Postsecondary Disability Training Institute (PTI) in Portland, Maine, in June. Sponsored by the Collaborative on Postsecondary Education and Disability (CPED) at the Neag School, PTI is an intensive training opportunity for professionals working with students with disabilities in higher education. View photos from the event.

For the second year in a row, UConn’s collaborative project Feel Your Best Self (FYBS) has been honored for its excellence in video at the 45th Annual Telly Awards. In addition, FYBS co-creator Sandra Chafouleas and team members spent a week at the American Nicaraguan School in Managua to lead training. Learn more here.

The Neag School’s 46th Annual Confratute conference was held in July, welcoming educators from across the U.S. and worldwide. View photos from the event.

The Department of Educational Psychology hosted a special presentation by Alan Kaufman, a UConn research professor and expert in psychometrics and clinical assessment. Kaufman discussed the recently published fifth edition of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale; the reduction of the Flynn effect among adults, which has implications for intellectual disability diagnoses; and issues related to age-based norms to measure adult intelligence. View photos from the event.

Over 440 educators attended May’s 13th annual Northeast PBIS Network (NEPBIS) Network Leadership Forum in Mystic, Connecticut. The conference was a regional opportunity for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) leaders and implementers in the Northeast to learn, share, refine, and discuss their implementation experiences to improve schools’ effectiveness, efficiency, and equity. View photos from the event. Neag School graduate students attended the forum, giving poster presentations and volunteering, which allowed them to gain professional and academic experience. Check out photos from the forum.

Faculty/Staff

Todd Campbell was named a Top Scholar by ScholarGPS, which recognizes scholars for their outstanding performance in various fields, disciplines, and specialties. Campbell has also been appointed to a three-year term on the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for STEM Education Advisory Committee.

Jackie Caemmerer was featured on UConn’s Collaboratory on School and Child Health (CSCH) website about Project Equitable Screening to Support Youth (ESSY).

Rachael Cody, a postdoctoral research fellow, published a commentary for The Conversation on strategies to help college students pick a major.

Morgaen Donaldson has been reappointed for a second three-year term as the Philip E. Austin Endowed Chair, following a successful first term beginning in 2021. Her reappointment highlights her exceptional contributions to policy-relevant research, public engagement, interdisciplinary scholarship, and student mentorship.

Danielle Filipiak was recognized with an honorable mention for the Research in the Teaching of English’s Alan C. Purves Award for her article, “‘I’m Outside the Box. Too Outside the Box, I Explode It!’: Exploring Literacies of Dignity with Middle School Youth.” The award is intended “to recognize research likely to have a significant impact on teachers’ understanding of literacy learning and teaching.” Filipiak will be honored at this year’s annual National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) conference.

Preston Green was the plenary speaker of the National Head Start Association’s Fall Leadership Institute in Washington, D.C., in September.

Steven Hoff, a new visiting professor, joined the Department of Educational Psychology’s School Psychology programs. Learn more about Hoff.

Elizabeth “Liz” Howard was a featured speaker at the Cultivating the Pedagogy of Translanguaging Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in June.

James Kaufman co-published a chapter, “Creativity in Terms of Constraints: Categories and Characteristics,” in the book “Constraints in Creativity” (Brill Publishing 2024). He also co-published “What Could Go Wrong? Anxiety Fuels, but Optimism Buffers Negative Counterfactual Divergent Thinking” for the July issue of Anxiety and Counterfactual Divergent Thinking; co-published “Measuring Self-Beliefs of Creativity and Well-Being” for the September issue of Thinking Skills and Creativity; co-published “Do You Think You Are Creative? Patterns of Self-Perceived Creativity in Adolescents and Young Adults” for the June issue of Creativity Research Journal; and co-published “The Costs of Curiosity and Creativity: Minimizing the Downsides While Maximizing the Upsides” for the May issue of Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

Craig Kennedy published “Single-Case Designs for Applied Research” for Sage Publishing (2024).

Thomas Levine and Alan Marcus co-published “Is the United States Exceptional? Inviting Students to Consider American Democracy, Liberty, Opportunity, and Optimism During Troubled Times” for the July issue of The Social Studies.

Alan Marcus’ project Breaking Bias and Creating Community, an experience that features interactive Holocaust survivor testimony and a photo exhibit that focuses on identity, was featured in UConn Today.

Joseph Renzulli co-published “The Field of Giftedness — Past, Present, and Prospects: Insights From Joseph S. Renzulli and Robert J. Sternberg” for the July issue of Conceptions of Giftedness and Intelligence.

Del Siegle gave the keynote address titled “Shifting Through the Essentials of Gifted Education for Talent Development: Separating the Wheat From the Chaff” for the 19th annual European Council for High Ability (ECHA) Conference: Expanding Horizons – The Odyssey of Talents & Gifts in Thessaloniki, Greece, in August.

Megan Staples published an article on real equity in math education for The Conversation.

Saran Stewart has been selected as a co-editor of the American Educational Research Association’s American Educational Research Journal for 2025-2027.

Jaci L. VanHeest, a former Team USA Swimming Physiologist, is featured in UConn Today on contemporary advances and challenges at the Summer Olympics.

Mike Young co-authored “In-Person Learning During the Pandemic: Student Take-up and School-Level Effects of Remote and Hybrid Instruction on Student Outcomes” for the July issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Students

Three agricultural education TCPCG students, Paris Hinderleider, Emilie Caron, and Kelly Chmielewski, attended the National Association of Agriculture Educators/Future Agriscience Teachers (NAAE FAST) Symposium held in Raleigh, North Carolina, this month. The opportunity was made possible by CAAE, the state affiliate of the national organization, which sponsored fees for student membership in NAAE. 

Luz Burgos-López, an assistant dean of students at UConn and a current doctoral student in educational leadership, is a 2024-2025 recipient of the David Putter Scholarship Fund and its first-ever Brock-Ransby Award. Read more on UConn Today.

Hannah Cooke, a doctoral student in curriculum and instruction, co-authored “Environmental Service Learning as University-Community Partnership: Using Actor-Network Theory to Examine a New Model of Engagement” with Todd Campbell, Dorothea Anagnostopoulus, and Chester Arnold, another doctoral student, for the July issue of SAGE Open.

Jaime Morales, a doctoral student in educational leadership, wrote an article for The Conversation on the Catholic Church’s use of the Paris Olympics to engage with young people.

Amanda Sutter, a doctoral student in educational psychology, was the lead co-author of “Developing Evaluation Capacity Building Competencies: Participant Reflections From the Evaluation Capacity Case Challenge” for the May issue of Research and Practice Notes.

Alumni

Symone James Abiola ’16 (ED), ’17 MA, ’22 6th Year published Anti-Racist Teaching (Hack Learning Series, 2024).

Kelli Bates ’19 (ED) is a games operations specialist with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and worked at the Paris Olympics this summer. Learn more about her work.

Lauren Bird ’08 (ED), ’09 MA, ’15 6th Year has been appointed assistant principal at Cos Cob School in Greenwich, Connecticut. Bird was previously assistant principal at Cider Mill and Miller-Driscoll Schools in Wilton, Connecticut.

Two Neag School alums, Jeremy Crouse and Rachael Orbe Crouse, got married this summer at Harkness Memorial Park. The Crouses are East Hartford High School teachers in East Hartford, Connecticut.

Anna Cutaia ’12 Ed.D., the current superintendent of Milford Public Schools in Milford, Connecticut, was awarded a three-year contract extension.

Matthew Dunbar ’02 6th Year was appointed Suffield Public Schools’ new superintendent. Dunbar most recently served as assistant superintendent for administration and personnel in Glastonbury, Connecticut.

Fany DeJesús Hannon ’08 MA was officially appointed UConn’s Dean of Students. Hannon has served in this role on an interim basis since November 2022. Learn more in this UConn 360 podcast episode.

Elsie Fetterman ’49 (ED), ’60 MS, ’64 6th Year, ’66 Ph.D. was featured in the Daily Hampshire Gazette regarding a book about her life. Fetterman was on UConn’s faculty from 1966 to 1979 as the consumer education specialist for the Cooperative Extension Service.

Kerry Jones ’13 ELP retired as director of elementary education for West Hartford Public Schools in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Sarah Isaacs ’06 (CLAS), ’07 MA, was appointed interim principal of Hall High School in West Hartford, Connecticut. She has been the assistant principal since 2018.

Bob Janes ’97 (ED), ’98 MA, ’06 6th Year won two awards for his work as the secondary mathematics curriculum supervisor for East Hartford Public Schools in East Hartford, Connecticut. The first award was the Associated Teachers of Mathematics in Connecticut (ATOMIC) Mari Muri Award and the second was the Outstanding Leadership Award from the Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS).

Karen Kukish ’12 (CLAS, ED), ’13 MA, ’19 6th Year has been named principal at Sedgwick Middle School in West Hartford, Connecticut. She most recently served as the school’s assistant principal.

Deborah “Debbie” Luzietti ’24, 6th Year was hired as the special education coordinator at Farmington High School in Farmington, Connecticut.

Charles Macaulay ’17 MS, ’21 Ph.D. co-authored an editorial, “The Real Score: College Athletes Are Going to be Paid,” for the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

Stephen Nelson ’96 Ph.D. was interviewed in a podcast by Hartford International University (formerly Hartford Seminary) about his book, “Searching the Soul of the College and University in America.”

Jessica Raugitinane ’13 (ED, CLAS), ’14 MA has completed an intensive, two-year process to earn National Board Certification, a status achieved by only 4% of teachers nationwide. Before joining the faculty of an elementary school in Alexandria, Virginia, she taught English as a second language to university students in Quito, Ecuador.

Sofia Read ’17 MS is a recipient of the National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals’ Dr. Gerald S. Gurney Research Award and Model Practice Awards.

Jeffrey Russell ’12 (ED), ’13 MA, ’24 6th Year was appointed assistant principal at Farmington High School in Farmington, Connecticut. He most recently taught mathematics at E.O. Smith High School in Storrs, Connecticut, where he gained experience in curriculum, instruction, assessment, instruction coaching, and operations.

Violet Jiménez Sims ’02 (ED), ’05 MA, ’11 6th Year, the managing director of academic programming at the Connecticut Teacher Residency Program, was recognized as a 2024 Distinguished Educator Fellow by Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) International.

Jocelyn Tamborello-Noble ’03 (ED), ’04 MA, and ’09 6th year has been named principal of Conard High School in West Hartford, Connecticut.

In Memoriam

Ronald A. Badstuebner ’57
Vincent P. Bartozzi Jr. ’76
Karen M. Benore ’97
Kenneth R. Bilodeau ’54
Richard J. Celotto ’77
Beverly S. Clark ’67
Karen R. D’Auria ’78
Miriam S. Epstein ’79
Anita M. Fink ’70
Adele C. Firshein ’94
Richard J. Grenier ’59
William Haddad ’69
Hugh C. Haggerty ’65
Sandra B. Harty ’73
David W. H. Harvey ’72
Joseph A. Hassett Jr. ’67
Richard L. Herbert ’56
Mary Furtado Holloway ’85
Ann Lee Huckenbeck ’70
Roger F. Ings ’80
Roland R. Joyal ’70
Patricia H. Kenny ’85
Joyce A. Lund ’85
John J. Maynard ’65
Robert S. Metsack ’75
Edward J. Mongillo ’76
Martin E. Mullen ’78
Walter L. Phillips ’69
Francesca Poulos ’04
Janet K. Puccelli ’80
Rita A. Quattrucci ’69
Marjorie Jean (Backus) Romano ’77
Kathryn W. Ruef ’68
Kenneth F. Scholtz ’64
Robert B. Sernoffsky ’56
Michele C. Tamaren ’69
Patricia C. Thevenet ’44
Michael F. Tierney ’81
Ralph J. Viola ’53
Susan E. Wernick ’71
Catherine “Cat” (Dakers) Williams ’80
Edward A. Zajac ’83