CLAS Alumni

Graduates of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences have distinguished careers in fields that range from the sciences to the arts, from medicine to business, from law and politics to freelance writing. The skills and knowledge learned in CLAS prepare students to adapt to a changing world and to pursue a lifelong love of learning. We share some of their stories here:

William P. Robinson III

The Honorable William P. Robinson III, justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, had a classic liberal arts education – studying philosophy as an undergraduate, earning a master’s in French literature, and coming to CLAS at UConn to earn a PhD in French and Spanish literature (1971) where he met his wife, Marlene (CLAS ’72), a French major. Fluent in French, Spanish, Latin, and ancient Greek, he also knows some German, and “a smattering of Catalan.” The day you graduate from grammar school, he says, “You think, in 40 years, this is what I’ll be doing.” Not so, he learned; but a liberal arts education enabled him to change course. More

Tom McCabe earned his master’s degree in mathematics in 1966. After serving in the US Army and working for the National Security Agency, he started his own software company. He later sold it and now works on research projects for his own technology company. He also writes poetry. McCabe is on a mission to tell math students that their background leaves them well prepared to follow their dreams. More.

Jeremy ’64 and Irene ’65 Joyell were English majors at UConn who became teachers. Jerry has written a book about growing up in Waterbury in the 1940s and 1950s, A Lifetime Ago: Before the Death of Childhood. Hear a podcast about the book. Click here for more.

Daniel Waters , CLAS '91, has written his second Generation Dead novel, Kiss of Life , for young adults. Published by Hyperion, it continues the story of teenagers who die and re-emerge into society as zombies.Click here for more.

Eugene Boman , '93 PhD (mathematics), won the Mathematical Association of America's Carl B. Allendorfer Award for excellent expository articles published in Mathematics Magazine . Boman is associate professor of mathematics at Pennsylvania State University in Harrisburg. You can find the article, “Mom! There's an Asteroid in My Closet!” in the April 2007 issue.

Four women alumni have received top business awards. Sibongile Magubane , '77 BS (mathematics), head of finance, information services at Aetna, was named to The Network Journal's 2009 list of “25 Influential Black Women in Business.” Rosemary Burton , BS '66 (child development and family relations), Kimberly Manning , BA '83 (English), and Caren Kittredge , BA '83 (individualized major) were cited as 2009 Remarkable Women in Business by the Hartford Business Journal.

Louis M. Sorkin , '75 BS, '78 MS (entomology) is an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History, New York City. An expert on bed bugs, he received 9,413 calls last year from New Yorkers seeking advice. Read his story in The New York Times , Feb. 20, 2009: “The Man Who Lets the Bedbugs Bite,” More

Bo Tan , '96 MA (economics) was appointed chief financial officer of 3SBio, Inc., a leading biotechnology company in China that focuses on research, development, manufacturing and marketing of biopharmaceutical products: www.3sbio.com

Karen Wayland , BA '88 (economics), MS '95 CANR, is the new policy adviser for energy to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Emmet Dennis , '67 PhD (entomology) has been named president of the University of Liberia.

James C. Stolzenbach , '76 BS (biological sciences), won Abbott Laboratories' Outstanding Researcher award for achievements in pursuit of scientific excellence. Stolzenbach earned a PhD from Oregon State University.

Catherine M. Mitchell Fuentes , '01 MA, '05 PhD (anthropology) was appointed by North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley to the Governor's Crime Commission. She has been a victim's court and jail advocate for United Family Services in Charlotte and is a lecturer at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.