With this issue I begin what I hope will be a column in every issue of The Observer. In our new magazine format, I believe The Observer brings the intellectual excitement, the youthful and not-so-youthful enthusiasm, and the artistic and athletic life of the University of Hartford to our alumni and friends with new energy and vitality.

To the window on our University provided by The Observer, I hope to add my perspective on the excitement, the opportunities, and the challenges facing us today. And I invite you to respond to my comments by writing me in care of the President's Office, University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06117, or by e-mail at<horky@mail.hartford.edu>.

Diana Simonds, editor of The Observer, would be glad to print your letters to the editor if you write to her, too.

This first column might be titled, after that old exercise all of us remember from grade school, "What I Did On My Summer Vacation." For three weeks in June and July I traveled with Steve Jeffrey, our vice president for external relations, and my wife, Dianne, to six countries in Asia to visit our alumni and the agencies that send us students. We visited Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Hong Kong. It was for me both a life-shaping experience and a new perspective on what the University of Hartford means to our alumni.

I was, to put it directly and honestly, overwhelmed by the enthusiasm our Asian alumni have for the University and for their experiences here. In each city we were welcomed at wonderful receptions by dozens of alumni of various ages from a wide variety of schools and colleges within the University. Last winter we made a similar trip to England and France, and I was similarly impressed by the reception our alumni there afforded us. But to experience this enthusiasm for and commitment to the University of Hartford literally halfway around the world was wonderful.

The University has a proud and long tradition of serving international students. From its very beginning, international students have come to the University of Hartford full of ambitions and dreams. In March I met Eiko Johnson, who came to Hartford from Japan in 1960 as a young girl with no English skills. She graduated five years later to begin a successful career that saw her become the highest-ranking woman engineer at Hewlett Packard.

On this trip, I met many other alumni with similar stories. Consider, for example, Kazuo Ninomayo, who came to the Barney School of Business in the late 1960s and earned his MBA in 1973 while his wife, Yuuko, was first a student and then an adjunct faculty member at The Hartt School. She continues her piano career as a teacher in Japan while Kazuo is now CEO and president of Cyanamid in Japan. Kwan-Hei Park, who earned a BS in mechanical engineering in 1969, is now CEO and president of the Daewoo Flour Mills in Korea. Desmond Wong, who earned an MA in communications in 1991, is now director of marketing communications for Texas Instruments in Taiwan. I cite these four people as only a few of the examples of our successful alumni throughout Asia.

The receptions in each country, three of which were underwritten by the Aetna, were extremely successful. Especially memorable were the receptions in Bangkok, where 55 alumni came to greet us, and in Kuala Lumpur, where 110 alumni (some from Penang, a four-hour drive away) came for a wonderful supper and tea. In each case I was impressed by the friendships our alumni developed in Hartford, their clear memories of the faculty who had taught them, and the career knowledge they gained at the University. I couldn't help but think that these are the experiences that all our alumni share. Our alumni are proud of their University education, and we are proud of their successes.

This past year, 430 international students from 66 countries studied at the University of Hartford. That accounts for approximately 8 percent of our student population. I hope we can build that number in the years to come, and I have as an informal goal reaching an international student body that makes up 10 percent of our student population. Having international students on campus makes for a rich learning environment for all of our students and helps us fulfill our historical mission of providing educational experiences for students from a wide variety of backgrounds.

A final note: at the Bangkok reception I met the Sodtivarakul family, which sent us four siblings -- Daorin, Mukarin, Narin, and Nucharin -- all of whom earned MBAs from the Barney School. I was so impressed, and I wondered aloud if any other family in the world could claim four siblings with University of Hartford degrees. But what do you know? I found that there are several other such families, including one with ties to my own office! Suzanne, Mary, Michael, and Kenneth -- all children of my administrative assistant, Mary Daglio -- earned Hartford degrees. Mathematics Prof. Ray McGivney's four children -- Karen, Katie, Jean, and R.J. -- all graduated from the University as well, and Ray's wife, Betty, earned a master's degree here. I've been absolutely delighted to discover that the University of Hartford has been, on occasion, a true family affair! It's a wonderful testament, both to the families and the University. If there are other families out there like the Sodtivarakuls, the Daglios, and the McGivneys, I'd love to hear about them.