2010 - May 8/9
College of Agriculture & Natural Resources and Ratcliffe Hicks School of Agriculture - Jerold Mande
Mande was deputy under secretary for food safety in the U.S. Department of Agriculture and he received a degree in nutritional sciences from UConn in 1978
School of Business - Keith R. Fox
Fox was chief executive officer of the Keith and Pamela Fox Family Foundation
Bachelor of General Studies - Julie Armstrong Muth
Armstrong Muth was director of nursing quality at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Payne Whitney, Manhattan and she received her BGS in 1995 and master’s degree in 2008, both from UConn.
Neag School of Education - Geno Auriemma
Auriemma was head coach of the NCAA Champion UConn women’s basketball team and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
School of Engineering - Robert P. Madonna
Madonna was founder and chief executive officer of Savant Systems and he received a degree in biomedical engineering at UConn in 1982.
School of Fine Arts - Robert Glidde
Glidden was the retired president of Ohio University.
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences - Michael Turvey
Turvey was a UConn emeritus professor of psychology.
School of Nursing -Beverly Malon
Malone was chief executive officer for the National League for Nursing (NLN).
School of Pharmacy -Joseph D. Palo
Palo was president of JD Pharma LLC, a private pharmaceutical consulting firm and received a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and master’s in business at UConn.
2011 May 7 & 8
College of Agriculture & Natural Resources and Ratcliffe Hicks School of Agriculture - Andrea Dennis-LaVigne, D.V.M
Dennis-LaVigne is a private practice veterinarian and a member of the UConn Board of Trustees.
School of Business - Gwo-Duan "David" Jou, Ph.D.
Dr. Jou (CLAS - M.S. 1989; BUS - Ph.D. 1992) is founder and chairman of Bigrock Asset Management Company.
Bachelor of General Studies - Susan Rigano
Rigano, (BGS, 1998) is the executive director of the Stamford Public Education Foundation.
Neag School of Education - Kelci Stringer
Stringer is founder and CEO of the Korey Stringer Institute, a research center based in UConn’s kinesiology program in the Neag School of Education.
School of Engineering - Charles M. Vest, Ph.D.
Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering and president emeritus of the Masschusetts Institute of Technology.
School of Fine Arts - Mia Farrow
Farrow is an acclaimed actress and outspoken champion of human rights.
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences - Cyrus Ernesto Zirakzadeh
Zirakzadeh is a professor of political science in the CLAS Department of Political science.
[NOTE: The announced speaker, William Trueheart, president and chief executive officer of Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, was unable to attend the CLAS ceremony.]
School of Nursing - Robin D. Froman, Ph.D., RN, FAAN
Froman, a multiple UConn alumna and formerly on the School of Nursing faculty, was dean at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
School of Pharmacy - Erica Peitler
Peitler, author, speaker, leadership performance coach, is founder of Erica Peitler & Associates, a leadership coaching and consulting firm.
2012 May 5 & 6
College of Agriculture & Natural Resources and Ratcliffe Hicks School of Agriculture - Marshall Matz
Matz, '78 (BUS) was an attorney specializing in food, nutrition and agriculture.
School of Business - Claire Leonardi
Leonardi was CEO and executive director, Connecticut Innovations, and was a former member of the UConn Board of Trustees.
Bachelor of General Studies - Denis Merrill
Merril, Connecticut's Secretary of the State, was a former State Representative for Mansfield (54th District, Dem.).
Neag School of Education - Stefan Pryor
Pryor was commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Education.
School of Engineering - Arunava Majumdar
Majumdar was director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy.
School of Fine Arts - Ben Cameron
Cameron was program director for the arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences - Susan Herbst and Joelle Katz
12:30 p.m. ceremony - Herbst was president of UConn and previously was executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer of the University System of Georgia.
5 p.m. ceremony - Katz, ('77 LAW), was commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families and an associate justice of the State Supreme Court.
School of Nursing - Donna M. Nickitas
Nickitas was deputy executive officer for the Doctor of Nursing Science Program, City University of New York.
School of Pharmacy - Richard. T. Carbray
Carbray '75 Ph.D., was owner of Apex Pharmacy and Home Health Center, and a member of the UConn Board of Trustees.
2013 May 11 & 12
College of Agriculture & Natural Resources and Ratcliffe Hicks School of Agriculture - Charles Zwick
Zwick '50 (CANR), ’51 MS, was director of the federal Office of Management and Budget, Lyndon Johnson administration.
School of Business - Daniel Toscano
Toscano '87 (BUS), was managing director and head of Global Leveraged and Acquisition Finance, Morgan Stanley.
Bachelor of General Studies - Lauren DiGrazia
DiGrazia '03 (BGS) was the registrar of University of Connecticut.
Neag School of Education - Wally Lamb
Lamb, '72 (CLAS), ’77 MA, was an author and former UConn associate professor of Engish.
School of Engineering - Elizabeth Shanahan
Shanahan was executive director and CEO for the Society of Women Engineers.
School of Fine Arts - Jerry Adler
Adler was an actor and award-winning theatrical director.
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences - Dr. Frank Torti & Denise Merrill
12:30 p.m. ceremony - Torti was dean of the UConn School of Medicine.
5 p.m. ceremony - Merrill, former state representative for Mansfield, was Connecticut's Secretary of the State.
School of Nursing - Barbara Jacobs
Jacobs was director of Clinical Ethics Consultation Service, Hartford Hospital
School of Pharmacy - Robert Bepko
Bepko Jr. '77 (PHARM) was director of professional services, Norwalk Hospital.
Information on the History of Commencement pages was researched and compiled by Mark J. Roy