Hard work pays off as UConn awards diplomas
Storrs -In 12 separate commencement events, approximately 7,000 students were awarded undergraduate or graduate diplomas at the University of Connecticut's graduation ceremonies this weekend.
The ceremonies for the Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine will be held today, while the School of Law's commencement ceremony is Sunday.
Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of the General Electric Corp., gave the commencement speech at Saturday's ceremony for students receiving graduate degrees. He was also the recipient of an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters
The Schools of Engineering, Pharmacy, General Studies, and Fine Arts also held their commencement ceremonies on Saturday. The executive director and CEO for the Society of Women Engineers, Elizabeth Shananan, spoke to the engineering students and received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the school. Actor and director Jerry Adler addressed the School of Fine Arts and received an honorary doctorate degree from that school. The schools of pharmacy and general students were addressed by UConn graduates Kerry Blanchard (pharmacy), Robert Bepko (pharmacy) and Lauren DiGrazia (general studies).
The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Ratcilffe Hicks School of Agriculture held their commencement on Saturday evening. The commencement speaker at that event was Charles Zwick, a 1950 graduate of CANR. Zwick, an honorary degree recipient, was the director of the Federal Office of Management and Budget under President Lyndon Johnson and has supported the university's research efforts in the area of food and resource policy.
Although the School of Social Work's students participated in the graduate ceremony, the school held a separate recognition ceremony on Saturday morning at which it awarded honorary degrees. Gary Bailey, a leader in the field of social work, spoke and received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. The school also presented that degree to Lyudmila Harutyunyan, who is referred to as the "mother of Armenian social work" in a university press release.
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, with about 2,500 graduates, is so large that its ceremony was split into two events, both held on Sunday. The speaker at the first ceremony was Dr. Frank Torti, dean of the School of Medicine. Graduates at the second event were addressed by Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill, a 1988 graduate of the university.
The Schools of Business, Nursing and Education also held ceremonies Sunday. The School of Business commencement speaker was UConn alum Daniel Toscano, now managing director and head of Global Leveraged and Acquisition Finance at Morgan Stanley. Barbara Jacobs, director of Clinical Ethics Consultation Service at Hartford Hospital, addressed the school of nursing graduates. Graduates of the Neag School of Education were addressed by award-winning author Wally Lamb, a 1977 graduate of that school, who received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letter degree Sunday.
Dr. Ferid Murad, who received the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, will address the Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine today and receive an honorary Doctorate of Science.
Neal Kumar Katyal, who recently argued several Supreme Court cases as acting solicitor general of the United States, will address the School of Law on Sunday.
Graduates from area towns
Associate of Applied Science
Groton: Evan Grasser.
Plainfield: Erin Duerr.
Bachelor of Arts
Baltic: Alexis Giroux, Addison Zhao.
Bozrah: Hannah Carey, Katherine Ericson, Chelsey Gribbin.
Canterbury: Tyler Campbell, Erin Niles.
Colchester: Matthew Ciccone, Ronald Clark, Meghan Coletta, Ian Emerling, Rachel Govoni, William Gunther Jr., Kyle Josephs, Michael McKiernan, Cara Pianta, Brytnie Porter, Benjamin Rafala, Cathryn Ryan, Stollman Jason, Trantalis Nikolos.
Deep River: Nicholas Stanford.
East Lyme: Jennifer Lee, Donald Karg, Charles Modzelewski, Christina Yuschalk.
Gales Ferry: Jennifer Brouwer, David Figueroa, Rachel Hipplewitz.
Griswold: Chris Anthony, Justin Blades, Elizabeth Carchidi, Ashley Lagace, Brittany Rondeau, Jonathan Walker, Joel Warzecha.
Groton: Angela Aguilar, Amanda Cordeiro, Emily Eastty, Casey Finn, Bryan Hakenjos, Tyler McCarthy, Michael Muehe.
Lebanon: Devon Allegro, Alexandra Caraganis, Luci Chaplin, Chloe Duhaime, Drew Dunnack, Michael Lukaszewicz, Bethany Postemski.
Ledyard: Denzel Allen, Joseph Bingaman, Daniel Giorlando, Kathleen Jackman, Caroline Rossi, Felicia Ting.
Lisbon: Tanya Lane.
Lyme: Courtney Becher, Elizabeth Parsons.
Mystic: Brittany Duclos, Whitney Dunning, Samantha Luca, Steve Luong, Ariana Quinn, Harrison Smith, Sean Starnauld.
New London: James Armstrong, Jasmine Bondcavanagh, Christopher Campbell, Tiffany Gaudenzi, Elizabeth Passero, Anastasia Pilato, William Satti, Justin Tarr, Catherine Wargo.
Niantic: Patrick Murphy, Hadlai Neff, Justin Saunders.
North Stonington: Mary Biekert, Caitlin Moore.
Norwich: Luis Aponte, Egzon Balidemaj, Katia Barragan, Heng Chen, James Conner, Alexander Croxton, Carolyn Depot, Kyle Guertin, Keriana Kachmar, Austin Longendyke, Nayab Rani, Sabella Salim, Hina Samnani, Patrick Sawyer, Thomas Teixeira, Corinne Trudeau, Bonnie Villane.
Oakdale: Steven Caouette Jr., Haley Dragoo, Peter Godin, Alanna Riley.
Old Lyme: David Faenza, Jessica Hopper, Stephen Jablonowski, Maeve Mackey, Christine Nyberg.
Old Mystic: Andrew Ellis.
Old Saybrook: Kyle Gregoire, Gregory Johnson, Scott Macleod, Christian Shurtleff.
Pawcatuck: Kelly Blanchard, Anthony Inzana, Patricia Reynolds, David Tieu, Stephanie Wuenscher.
Plainfield: Alyssa Grimshaw, Nadiya Krul, Ashley Lincoln, Avery Yoshimine.
Preston: Izabel Carver, Mason Perrone, Rebecca Redhead, Gregory Wissell.
Quaker Hill: Hilary McGarry.
Salem: Maura Lasky, Elizabeth Sistare.
Sterling: Jon Turban.
Stonington: Amanda Calobrisi, Grace Dzilenski, James Moran, Katherine Williams.
Taftville: Larissa Zohren.
Waterford: Meika Freeman, Matthew Jones, Thomas Lacey, Shruthi Reddy, Mikhail Shapiro, Michael Stroneski, Sean Terry, Amanda Trehern.
Westbrook: Jason Cane, David Cole, Alexandra Delorenze, Ryan Macdonald, Maria Risatti.
Westerly: Lindsay Morrone.
Bachelor of Fine Arts
East Lyme: Kathryn England.
New London: Amanda Vallario.
Norwich: Carolyn Depot, Julia Hoffner.
Pawcatuck: Elizabeth Brogno.
Bachelor of General Studies
Canterbury: Barbara Diaz, Daniel Malo.
Colchester: Rebecca Britton, Elaine Cady.
Deep River: Emily Scott.
East Lyme: Ryan McKee.
Griswold: Newell Seal.
Groton: Angela Delgrosso, Maxine Edmondhannibal, Shirley Obrien, Roy Paul Jr., Christopher Walters, Daniela Walters.
Jewett City: Heather Wong.
Ledyard: Elwood Leftridge, Scott Lesage, Cherokee Spears, Kyle Stammel, Shronda Thomas.
Lisbon: Lori Angel, Joan Frazer, Samuel Garrison.
Mystic: Ann Esposito, Tamara McCarty, Mary Tibbals, Sandra Velazquez.
New London: Kathryn Conway, Petersean Hart, Susan Hoffenbacher, Aimee Lee, Gertrude Morneau, Margarita Ortiz.
North Stonington: Melanie Greenleaf, Mark Sebastian.
Norwich: Angie Lalanne, Elizabeth Rhoads, Timothy Rykowski.
Old Saybrook: Sara Neely.
Pawcatuck: Kristina Banker.
Plainfield: Peter Coffey.
Preston: Shailyn O'Connell.
Quaker Hill: Marlee Clark.
Salem: Cathy Freiert.
Uncasville: Jeffrey Creighton, Monica Jenkins.
Waterford: Jon Peterson, Beth Rogers, Marilyn Spera.
Westbrook: Nancy Pytlik.
Westerly: Deborah Mercogliano.
Bachelor of Professional Studies
Groton: Sean Adkins, Brendan Luce, James Vincentczbas.
Bachelor of Science
Baltic: Douglas Surprenant.
Bozrah: Christopher Gordon, April Moon.
Canterbury: Kelly Coya, James Diederich, Kevin Galinat, Leisa Leo, Allison Parent, Marshal Burns.
Colchester: Jacob Conshick, Katherine Gagnier, Deven Galon, Stephanie Karavolis.
Deep River: Jenna Burns, Sara Gemmill, Nicholas Stanford.
East Lyme: Eden Brevik, Jillian Buonanno, Jonathan Doty, Paul Fogle, Jacob Leeser, Priya Ranade, Surav Sakya, Kevin Santamaria, Christopher Seery, Hanfa Sultan, Siyuan Xie.
Gales Ferry: Kristina Koltavary, Laura Baumann, Danielle Donahue, Robert Elton, Carrie Hostetler, Lisa Kranich, Stephanie Leach, Kathryn McCarthy, Jasmine McDowell, Analyn Miller.
Griswold: Jessica Derico, Ashley Lagace, Alexandra Longacre, Katherine Pearce, Brittany Rondeau.
Groton: Elizabeth Chirillo, Kraig Dandan, Mark Jens, David Kops, Theresa Lalonde, Mafe Rato, Daniel Rush, Gina Shah, Louis Venditti.
Jewett City: Mallory Delleney.
Lebanon: Ronald Coles, Laura Geikie, Cassandra Leone, Adam Morin, Kara Phillips.
Ledyard: Teresa Dzilenski, Daniel Giorlando, Jonathan Huang, Daniel Pealer.
Lisbon: Tia Ciliano, Kaitlyn Elliott, Meagan Obrien, Stephanie Pollard, Victoria Taskoski, Garrett Taylor.
Lyme: Corrie Pierce.
Mystic: Joshua Anunciado, Justin Benavidez, Jennifer Dootz, Andrea Fossa, Michael Hall, Liam Haller, Rebecca Harms, David Herod, Heather Johnson, Kaitlin Merrow, Elliott Olivas, Gretchen Pfisterer, Walter Soeller, David Vandal, Zachary Yakaitis.
New London: Clifford Aguele, Cassandra Blaisdell, Amanda Decker, Ethan Levine, Michelle Punzalan, Anna Sofia.
Niantic: Brianna Ayers, Jacqueline Blodgett, Jeffrey Corbett, Elaine Costick, Matthew Coxe, Kelly Duda, Marc Gillig, James Lagrotteria, Rebecca McKeown, Amanda Pezzullo, Mark Sheehan, Maryelizabeth Taylor.
North Stonington: Heather Buffon.
Norwich: Cheyanne Barclay, Matthew Blackburn, Christopher Brown, Zachary Doty, Colleen Dunion, Helana Kadyszewski, Willis Kelo, Audrey Langston, Divya Parekh, Nisha Patel, Leah Pemberton, Hayley Pryski, Komal Rajpura, Hina Samnani, Lucas Serwinski, Melissa Spillane, Alex Way.
Oakdale: Angela Donovan, Joseph Furman, Karl Granskog, Nicholas Sabilia, Junjing Zhu.
Old Lyme: Jesse Coleman, Matthew Thomas, Despina Topalis.
Old Saybrook: Christine Marshall, Catherine Obrien, Michael Pantages, Nicholas Penrose, Judith Rice, Amy Richardson, Melissa Rodriguezvodak, James Schondelmeier.
Pawcatuck: Kevin Agnello, Nicholas Blanco, Heather Buck, Joseph Conti, Paul Niedbala, Alaina Pasay.
Plainfield: Ramizahmed Desai.
Preston: Cara Brouillard, Russell Jancewicz, Charles Zhang.
Quaker Hill: Amanda Osmanski, Whitney Wadecki.
Salem: Audrey Corman, Erin Cummings, Stefanie Dubois, Kelsey Subiono.
Stonington: Benjamin Chapman, Colin Gibson, Kelley Sanok, Meredith Silagy.
Uncasville: Kayla Bassett, Douglas Chapman.
Voluntown: Michelle Rothbard.
Waterford: Kelsey Boch, Aimee Bourassa, Mary Colonis, Abigail Dyson, John Gallie, Lauren Golden, Sarah Grout, Vivianne Hage, Laura Hong, Renata Kamburi, Mary Murphy, Michael Stroneski.
Westbrook: Shannon Godiksen, Patrick Hamilton, Katy Persutti, Megan Pielli.
Bachelor of Science in Engineering
Canterbury: Ethan Dumaine.
Colchester: Jordon Ford.
East Lyme: Donald Karg, Max Madore.
Griswold: Stephen Lincoln.
Groton: John Leese, Joseph Thibeault.
Lebanon: Gabriel Paun, Jamie Snopkowski.
Ledyard: Garrett Bajorin, Christopher Hobert.
Mystic: Gregory Kononchik.
New London: Meghan Bartholomew.
Niantic: Kevin Johnson, Patrick Lazar.
Norwich: Victor Chen, Nirav Kathrani, Alexandros Mathioudakis, Daniel Mitchell, Ravi Patel.
Oakdale: Timothy Plourde.
Old Saybrook: Kelly Morison.
Pawcatuck: Joseph Drouillard.
Salem: Brian Ciezynski, Kathryn Gage, Shelby Thompson, Preston Tischer.
Uncasville: Eross Guadalupe, Deidre Herdman.
Waterford: Lauren Baxter, Adam Bienkowski, Kelsey Boch, Jason Chan, Muhammadmustaqeem Khatri, Christine Nykyforchyn.
Doctor of Pharmacy
Canterbury: Nathaniel Johnson.
Norwich: Seth Burzycki.
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