Alumni Awards go to three in CLAS

Two faculty and an alumna of CLAS will receive 2009 Alumni Association awards.

Theresa Hopkins-Staten, who was a sociology major, graduating magna cum laude in 1981, will receive the Alumni Association Service Award. She is the campaign director for New England East-West Solution Projects for Northeast Utilities, where she directs and plans community relations in Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, she earned her JD degree from UConn Law School in 1984. She is a former member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors and was president of its African American Alumni Council for six years.

Linda Strausbaugh, professor of molecular and cell biology, will receive the Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award for undergraduate level teaching. She has developed and taught a number of genetics courses, including all three genetics courses for undergraduates. She planned and directs the Professional Science Master’s degree program in Applied Genomics. Her research interests are in DNA identity typing and in genome evolution, and she is director of the UConn Center for Applied Genetics and Technology (CAGT).

Sharon Harris, professor of English, will receive the Faculty Excellence in Research award for the humanities and social sciences. She is the author of ten books and was and founding president of the Society for the Study of American Women Writers. In 2005 she was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship. She was a 2008 fellow of the UConn Humanities Institute and is now director.

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