April 2018 Class Notes

1979: ALY RYERSON

Jazz flutist Ali Ryerson (HARTT) of Brookfield, Conn., was profiled in wnpr.org ahead of a performance at Waterbury Palace’s Poli Club in Waterbury, Conn. She has made her mark as a player, teacher and composer, and has recorded nearly two dozen albums. Ryerson has performed with many jazz greats, as well as legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

1982: JOANNE TATHAM

Singer Joanne Tatham (A&S) of Beverly Hills, Calif., has released a new CD, The Rings of Saturn. The CD, her fourth, comprises lesser-done jazz tunes and original composition. Tatham and the CD release were featured on allaboutjazz.com.  

1982: MARK BOXER

Mark Boxer (CETA), (A&S) of Glastonbury, Conn., successfully defended his dissertation at the Medical University of South Carolina and earned his doctorate in Health Administration. This is his second doctorate, having earned a degree from Arizona’s School of Health Sciences. Boxer is executive vice president and Global CIO at Cigna.

1983: STEVEN CHASE

Steven Chase (A&S), M’90 (BARNEY) of Middleburg, Va., was appointed deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, W.V. The NCTC is the nation’s premier training center for professionals from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service and the general conservation community.  

1983: KATE MCGRAW

The Kent County Arts Council announced the election of Kate McGraw (HARTT) of Worton, Md., to its Board of Trustees. She is currently the deputy director of the Psychological Heath Center of Excellence at the Department of Defense. McGraw is also an accomplished musician and self-taught artist.  

1988: DOUGLAS MCCRORY

Crown Me King: A Legacy Unveiled, consisting of conversation and workshops, explored the historical effects of urban trauma on young men of color, and explored strategies for breaking these cycles and being active participants for change. Held at UHart’s Gengras Student Union, the event was organized by ANTHONY BARRETT ’03 (A&S) of Bloomfield, Conn., along with DOUGLAS MCCRORY (Barney), M’95 (Barney) of Hartford, Conn.  

1990: ELLEN KAPLAN

Ellen Kaplan (ENHP) of Columbia, Md., was named as the first learning specialist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md. In that role she will be working with medical students and Ph.D. candidates in all areas of learning and test preparation.

1993: TRISH SLOCUM WITKIN

Trish Slocum Witkin A’93 (A&S), (A&S), M’96 (ENHP), the director of athletics at Glastonbury H.S., was part of a feature article in an issue of Seasons of the Farmington Valley. The New High School Sports Landscape profiled five ADs from Connecticut and how they handle current issues involving fans, parents and student-athletes.  

1998: VICTOR PACHECO

The frog sculptures of Victor Pacheco(HAS) of Worcester, Mass., were displayed at the Worcester Center for Crafts Krikorian Gallery in Worcester. A Beautiful Connection is a series of sculptural scenarios, humanlike frogs, made from high impact polystyrene. It explores the link between a phone and tablet-crazed world and the non-digital reality around us.  

2003: STEPHEN AMATO

A production of Pippin, under the direction of Stephen Amato (HARTT) of New York, N.Y., was staged at Central Connecticut State University in April and received positive reviews.  

2003: MATTHEW BROOKS

The University of Nebraska at Omaha, School of Music, has appointed Matthew Brooks (HARTT) of Redding, Calif., as director of orchestras.  

2005: MEAGHEN WILLS

]Developing New Leaders, an article by Meaghen Wills (A&S) of Frederick, Pa., appeared in the publication Sprinkler Age. It focused on volunteering as a path to company leadership. Chair of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the AFSA the past six years, Wills does sales and project management for Anchor Fire Protection in Periomenville, Pa.  

2006: NOAH FICKLER

Noah Fickler A’03 (HILLYER), (ENHP) of Collegeville, Pa., was profiled in In Our Schools, a weekly feature in the Reading Eagle which spotlights area teachers and administrators.

2011: MARK GAGLIARDI

Mark Gagliardi (HARTT) of Lynnfield, Mass., is producing a musical for the New York Musical Festival. Interstate: A New Musical is an Asian-American pop-rock poetry musical that follows two transgender people at different stages of their life journey and their parallel experiences with love, family and finding a community.

2011: TARA SHOUCAIR

Tara Shoucair (A&S) of Weston, Fla., was profiled by the Jamaica Observer.  She is owner and operator of Something to Sip About, a company that produces painted wine glasses. The article explored her Jamaican roots and her creative journey. The young entrepreneur is also a child advocate, focusing her efforts on nutrition and mental health.

2012: SAMANTHA STERN

Capitolcommunicator.com published an article by Samantha Stern (A&S) of Washington, D.C. The article, Why Social Media Should be Every Campaign Manager’s BFF, was episode three of the BRINKdown series. Stern, senior strategist at BRINK, has more than six years of experience working in social media and brand management. 

2014: MARY MATTHEWS

Mary Matthews (HARTT) was awarded a tenure-track faculty position as assistant professor of flute at Tennessee Tech University. She will also serve as flutist in the faculty woodwind quintet and perform as principal flutist of the Byran Symphony Orchestra in Cookesville, Tenn.

2016: TYLER BERRY

Tyler Berry (HAS) of Middlefield, Conn., has been accepted into the core program at the Grand Central Atelier in New York, N.Y. The Grand Central Atelier fosters artists that strive for aesthetic refinement, beauty and a high level of skill in the classical tradition. The program accepts 12 international students per year.

2016: CHAZ DAVIS

Chaz Davis (A&S) of Grafton, Mass., received extensive publicity as he competed in his first Boston Marathon. Davis, a member of Team USA in the Rio Paralympics, is currently pursuing a master’s degree in social work from the University of Denver. He finished the Marathon in 2:56:22.