Sally Reis, the Leticia Morgan Chair in Educational Psychology at the Neag School of Education, first connected to the University of Connecticut during her master’s program at Southern Connecticut State University in the mid-1970s. While in one class, she heard UConn Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Joseph Renzulli talk about his work in educational psychology, specifically his internationally-known and pioneering work in gifted and talented with the Enrichment Triad Model.

Joseph Renzulli served as founding director of the Neag Center, the Lynn and Ray Neag Endowed Chair for Talent Development, as well as the first director of the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT), then one of a dozen centers in the U.S. focused on addressing significant issues in the education of gifted and talented students, and enrichment education. Under Renzulli’s guidance, the Neag Center evolved into one of the leading centers in gifted education and talent development in the world.

Ray Neag ’56, of Goshen, Conn., and Wyomissing, Penn., a philanthropist who built his fortune in the medical device industry, died Thursday, April 19, at age 86. He died at home with his wife, Carole, by his side.