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‘Good deed’ keeps helping law students who have day jobs

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Grace Merritt

3 min read

When her father died, Susan Widem racked her brain to find a way to honor him and preserve his legacy.

Then she had an epiphany. What if the family set up a scholarship to honor his love of education and the law?

“As Jews, the tradition has always been that when somebody passes, we honor who they were,” she explains. “One way to do this is to do a ‘mitzvah,’ a good deed. I thought if we set up the scholarship, my father’s name lives on as a good deed. We’re helping someone who had the same dreams and desires he did and, hopefully, making it a little bit easier for them.”

Her mother loved the idea but stipulated that the scholarship should support a student who worked during the day and attended UConn School of Law at night, just like her husband.

That was 23 years ago. Since then, the I. Milton Widem Memorial Scholarship has helped 22 students afford to attend the law school’s evening division. The latest recipient is Megan Frayne ’12 MS, a first-generation student from Mystic, Connecticut.

“The Widem scholarship was the difference between my being able to pursue this dream and having to sit it out,” Frayne says. “I remember crying when I received the call informing me that I was to receive this scholarship.”

Frayne previously worked as a researcher and a high school science teacher. But a trip to Greenland, where she studied the damaging effect of climate change on indigenous people, prompted her to apply to law school so she could help. Now in her first year at UConn Law, she is considering going into intellectual property law while pursuing environmental issues and legal matters on a pro bono basis.

Dean Eboni S. Nelson says the Widem Scholarship illustrates the vast impact that generous supporters and alumni can have.

“Gifts of this kind advance our values of accessibility and affordability and support UConn Law students who go on to contribute their talent and efforts in the pursuit of justice,” Nelson says. “We are so very grateful that Mr. Widem’s family chose this way to remember and honor him.”

Susan Widem sympathizes with students like Frayne who are working full time while attending law school. She remembers hearing her father talk about how challenging it was balancing his job at the Hartford Insurance Company with night classes at UConn law school.

“He talked about how he had to struggle through law school to make financial ends meet,” Widem says. Widem recently supplemented the scholarship with a generous planned gift, ensuring that it will continue in perpetuity.

Her father, Milton Widem ’48 (CLAS), ’55 JD, went on to a highly successful career in real estate law, becoming a partner in the law firm of Ribicoff & Kotkin before venturing off on his own. He and his wife, Selma, a teacher, settled in West Hartford, Connecticut, where Susan grew up.

Susan Widem majored in theater and communications at Syracuse University, then moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. Over the next 18 years, she appeared in commercials, movies, and several TV shows, including “One Day at a Time,” “St. Elsewhere,” and “In the House.” Later, she switched gears and ventured into the healthcare field, working as a director in physician development at various hospitals over the years, most recently at Cedars-Sinai, Torrance Memorial Medical Center, and Tenet Healthcare in Los Angeles.

While she has built a successful career and a wide circle of friends in LA, she likes to return to the East Coast every year to meet her father’s scholarship recipient and celebrate his legacy.

“Giving back to the law school is like passing the baton, handing it back to make someone’s life easier,” she says. “I can’t think of a greater legacy for my father than for his name to go on forever with this scholarship.”

Give to the I. Milton Widem Memorial Scholarship

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They Found A Home at UConn. Now, They’re Giving Back

Jennifer Eburg

2 min read

They found a home at UConn. Now, they’re giving back.

When Kent Holsinger and Bill Cannon moved to Connecticut in 1986, they thought they would live here for maybe three or four years. But Holsinger found a home as a professor in UConn’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and they never left.

“We were very much Westerners. We didn’t intend to stay,” says Holsinger, who, like Cannon, grew up in southern Idaho. “After we’d been here a while, Bill felt like he was part of the community, and the department was a very good place for me professionally. It felt like home.”

Holsinger was a professor until 2012, when he became interim vice provost for graduate education. He currently serves as vice provost for graduate education and dean of The Graduate School. Cannon, now retired, is a gifted violinist who worked as IT director for a national business.

Holsinger and Cannon are longtime donors to the University, with decades of generous support for the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, the Ross MacKinnon Endowment for CLAS Graduate Fellows, and other areas.

Holsinger says his support is motivated by wanting to make an impact in his own department as well as provide financial assistance for graduate students.

“There is so much philanthropic support for undergraduate students but not as much for graduate students,” Holsinger says. “Even before I became dean of The Graduate School, I was interested in supporting graduate students in their studies.”

Holsinger and Cannon considered planned giving as a way to maximize their impact, and recently established two new scholarships at UConn: the Bill Cannon Scholarship in Music and the Bill Cannon Scholarship Fund.

Cannon’s personal experience was the inspiration behind the music scholarship, which supports students enrolled in the School of Fine Arts. Just prior to starting college, he realized that he wanted to attend a different school than he had planned, one that would give him the most opportunity and allow him to continue studying with his longtime instructor, whom Cannon describes as “the teacher to work with in southern Idaho.”

There was just one problem with this plan: he couldn’t afford the school’s tuition.

Cannon shared the dilemma with his instructor. After their conversation, “somehow the money came out of nowhere and I was able to get in and afford it,” Cannon says. “If people hadn’t done this for me, I could not have attended the College of Idaho. This was the inspiration for me to try to do something for somebody else.”

The Bill Cannon Scholarship Fund supports students with a connection to UConn’s Rainbow Center. One of five cultural centers on campus, the Rainbow Center provides support and advocacy for UConn’s LGBTQIA+ communities.

“In today’s environment, kids who are viewed differently in society can have a difficult experience. It can be hard to navigate, and I understand what that’s like,” Cannon says. “I’m very impressed with the Rainbow Center’s work and wanted to help them out.”

It was important to Cannon and Holsinger that the scholarship be open to allies as well as the LGBTQIA+ community.

“I believe you should embrace people who are embracing you,” Cannon says.

For Holsinger and Cannon, it was natural to give back to a place that has embraced them personally and professionally.

“UConn is a place where I have been professionally well supported and have developed a number of good friendships,” Holsinger says. “The institution has been very good to me over the 37 years I’ve been here. It felt right to return the favor.”

Give to the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Endowment Fund

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From Forest Labs to Rare Diseases

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Grace Merritt

5 min read

Philanthropic Grants Boost UConn’s Research Partnerships with Industries

By Grace Merritt and Jessica McBride

Deep in the woods behind Horsebarn Hill, UConn has its own forest lab.

There, you’ll see sensors on trees of different species shifting and swaying under ice, snow, wind and torrential rain. It’s all about the biomechanics in a carefully cultivated forest to glean state-of-the-art data on how trees sway and bend with the wind and develop wind-firmness.

Across campus, expert scientists and engineers combine laser technology images from planes to create 3-D computer models of a neighborhood’s trees and phone, cable and power lines. The outcome – a real-life snapshot of tree growth rates that can impact utilities.

A dedicated UConn and Eversource Energy Center team works daily with these and other state-of-the-art tools to improve electric reliability, enhance emergency preparedness during storms, and reduce and shorten outages during storms. Leveraging the expertise of UConn’s faculty, post-doctoral and graduate researchers, and industry partners, the Center is building the electric grid of the future, today, together with federal and state agencies.

Partnering with Leading Businesses

This academia-utility partnership represents an expanding direction for UConn. Industry partnerships like these fund researchers and teach graduate students research skills while leveraging the research capabilities of the state’s flagship public university. Together, they support economic growth in Connecticut and lead to innovative discoveries.

“With our partnership with UConn, our vision for the Eversource Energy Center as a scientific, research, and operational hub is a reality,” said Ken Bowes, Eversource Energy Vice President – Transmission Performance. “The grid of the future will be unlike anything we’ve encountered, with smart homes, smart cities, and an intelligent, interactive, automated grid. Our Center is ready to lead these important conversations, driving the innovations and advances that will create the grid of the future.”

Another sponsored research collaboration focuses on the targeted cellular repair platform work of Catherine Wu, PhD, and George Wu, MD, PhD, Director, Hepatology Section, Division of Gastroenterology-Hepatology at UConn Health have been pioneers in the field of targeted restoration of damaged cells. The husband-and-wife team’s innovative technology is being used in collaborative research to determine if normal cell function can be restored in defective cells that cause rare diseases.

A record-breaking year for philanthropic grants

The $9 million grant from Eversource contributed to a record year in fiscal 2016 for the UConn Foundation’s philanthropic gifts and grants for research, more than doubling its prior record year. The Eversource grant, along with a $5.7 million award from the John Templeton Foundation to study how to balance humility and conviction in public life, and other gifts, funneled $25.3 million from the UConn Foundation into research.

UConn's philanthropic grants spike upward. The UConn foundation helped bring in millions more in philanthropic grants over the last three years.The Foundation’s fundraising through philanthropic gifts and grants have grown dramatically from $7.1 million in 2014 and $9.6 million in 2015, to $25.3 million in 2016.

These philanthropic gifts and grants are just a fraction of UConn’s nearly $250 million annual research enterprise, which includes federal grants. But in an era when state and federal research funds are shrinking, these industry partnerships pay for research and much more.

“The partnerships provide valuable research for companies, as well as scholarships and fellowships for the students and faculty doing the research,” said Joshua Newton, president and CEO of the UConn Foundation. “They are helping to build the next generation workforce by training researchers and scientists and often hiring them.”

UConn’s Research & Innovation Pipeline

UConn is committed to supporting existing industries and growing new entrepreneurial ventures. To help foster these partnerships, UConn has hired an executive director of venture development, has launched early-stage funding programs to advance promising technologies, and has taken other steps to help bring UConn’s research and innovation to the community.

The University uses its in-house expertise to transform UConn discoveries into products and services that benefit society. A team of technology commercialization experts in the Office of the Vice President for Research helps faculty and students with patent protection, licensing, business mentorship, startup formation, and connections with industry partners.

The goal of this support is to move life-saving technologies from the lab to the marketplace. One such technology in development is a new drug to treat and cure patients with advanced heart failure. Dr. Bruce Liang, Dean of the School of Medicine and a clinical cardiologist, is developing a treatment that can help patients with advanced heart failure.

“Due to advanced age or coexisting conditions, we can’t try to help these patients with a cardiac transplant or ventricular-assist device,” said Dr. Liang. “I formed Cornovus Pharmaceuticals Inc. in 2011 with UConn’s support to pursue a treatment for this critical unmet need and to give these patients a chance to survive and thrive.”

Cornovus has already secured funding from the SMARTT (Science Moving towards Research Translation and Therapy) program from the National Institutes of Health and has raised an additional $3.5 million for preclinical testing to gain FDA approval for an investigational new drug (IND). At that point, Cornovus would be in a position to carry out first-in-human testing and will need to raise another $20 million to conduct advanced human clinical trials.

“A critical part of UConn’s research mission is to support the development of innovative technologies coming out of University labs that could benefit Connecticut’s citizens and grow the state’s economy,” said UConn Vice President for Research, Jeff Seemann, PhD. “We’ve seen very positive growth in the area of technology commercialization over the last several years, and we’re confident the trend will continue as UConn supports University startups and fosters new and existing relationships with our industry partners,” he said.

New UConn startups and external technology ventures can find the physical space and the business support they need in UConn’s Technology Incubation Program (TIP). Industry leaders can collaborate with faculty through corporate-sponsored research agreements. This has led to innovations in several fields, including: precision medicine, sustainable technology, diagnostics, advanced materials and additive manufacturing, software, polymers and composites, bioinformatics, drug development and delivery, biomedical devices, nanotechnology, and cybersecurity.

Emerging immunotherapy company CaroGen Corp. is located at TIP in Farmington and is currently collaborating with UConn Health researchers to develop a vaccine to treat patients with colon cancer.

CaroGen’s proprietary technology platform is being applied to several diseases, including a specific target studied by UConn Health researchers Kepeng Wang, assistant professor of immunology, and Anthony T. Vella, professor and Boehringer Ingelheim Chair in Immunology.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work so closely with UConn’s internationally-recognized faculty,” said CaroGen CEO Bijan Almassian. “Working with UConn lets us aggressively pursue our vaccine technology for several devastating diseases, like colon cancer, so that we can more quickly reach the market and provide a solution for patients.”

The UConn Technology Incubation Program has already generated:

  • 239 ongoing research projects with promise for future innovation
  • 129 technologies available for license
  • 35 startup companies in the UConn Technology Incubation Program
  • About 60 new inventions annually
  • About $1 million annually in licensing revenue
  • More than 500 U.S. patents based on UConn technologies

To help support these ventures and established industry leaders, the University is building the Innovation Partnership Building at the UConn Tech Park in Storrs, which will provide physical space and state-of-the-art equipment to encourage collaboration between the University and industry. At the same time, UConn is constructing a five-story engineering and science building in Storrs that will house labs for its growing research programs in genomics, biomedical, chemical engineering, and cyber systems.

These innovations also extend to UConn Health in Farmington, Conn. Five years after state lawmakers made a massive investment to grow bioscience sectors in Connecticut, the UConn Health campus has become a thriving hub for bioscience R&D activities. The Bioscience CT initiative has included major renovations to research and hospital facilities and the relocation of The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine to the UConn Health campus.

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UConn Nation Launches ‘Drive for 5K’ Initiative

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Jack Kramer

3 min read

Noel Thomas and the Oleksiws
Noel Thomas flanked by Jim (left) and Marylee Oleksiw (right).

UConn’s prowess in the sporting world is well known. UConn Nation has come to expect—and receive—national championships in exchange for their loyalty and passion.

What sometimes gets lost in that effort, however, is that student-athletes are no different than “regular” students. The need for scholarship support to keep attracting these top students to UConn has never been higher.

As the cost of tuition continues to rise, private support is more essential than ever for the success of our 24 varsity sports and more than 700 student-athletes. And what also sometimes gets forgotten is that UConn student-athletes continue to excel: more than 50 percent earned a grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

In the 2014-15 academic year, $12 million was paid by the Athletic Department in tuition costs, as 216 athletes received partial scholarships and 196 received full scholarships. That cost will be going up this year.

UConn’s championship success has been achieved in large part due to the continued generosity of donors, season ticket holders, alumni and friends who annually support UConn Athletics.

This year a new fundraising initiative, the “Drive for 5K,” is being launched with the goal of increasing the number of contributors from 4,400 to 5,000.

[Listen to our radio spot on the Drive for 5K, featuring UConn Athletic Director Warde Manuel]

The “Drive for 5K” comes at the same time the UConn Foundation is in the midst of its Transform Lives fundraising initiative that aims to double the amount of financial support—including merit and need-based scholarships—that the Foundation raises for the benefit of the UConn student body.

There are tangible benefits to making a donation to UConn Athletics. A gift enrolls you in The UConn Club and provides priority seating and parking privileges at games, invitations to special events, tax benefits and other exclusive benefits associated with membership.

Numbers are great—but to put a face on one of the scholarship recipients, meet Noel Thomas, a junior wide receiver from Norwalk, Conn., who caught 26 passes, gained 305 yards and caught a team-high four touchdowns during the 2014 season.

Noel, a junior majoring in communications who says it’s his dream “to be a coach someday,” is this year’s recipient of the Oleksiw Family Football Scholarship.

“My family has one less thing to worry about” thanks to the scholarship, said Noel. “I have a lot of self-motivation to keep my grades up. Plus we have a good team of academic advisors to help us out.”

Time management, said Noel, is a challenge for student-athletes, especially during the time of year when the sport the athlete is playing is in season. “Studying—and playing—is a full-time commitment,” he said. “But it’s a commitment that I am more than willing to make.”

Noel’s scholarship donors, the Oleksiws, have a long history of contribution and service to the UConn Club and the UConn Division of Athletics.

Jim ’75 (ENG) and Marylee Oleksiw said they are thrilled to help pay for Noel’s education. “He and his teammates,” said Marylee, “are such an impressive group of young men. We are so happy to be able to help him, on and off the field.”

“We just wanted to do what we could to support the (football) program,” said Jim Oleksiw.

A native of Manchester, Conn., Jim was an engineering major at UConn and served as a resident assistant in Buckley Hall. Marylee is from a small town in Massachusetts and grew up watching sports as a cheerleader at her high school. Both of their children are also UConn graduates.

The Oleksiws are faithful followers of the Huskies both at home and on the road. They have attended all four of the men’s basketball team’s appearances in the Final Four and all five of UConn’s bowl games in football. They have also attended numerous women’s Final Fours and followed the Huskies to locations such as Hawaii and the Virgin Islands.

“Supporting UConn athletics is a family activity for us,” said Marylee. “When our kids were young coming to UConn sporting events was a big part of our lives.”

“And it still is,” added Jim.

If you have questions about the “Drive for 5K” or any other fundraising question, please call the UConn Athletic Development Office at (860) 486-3863 or email at UConnClub@foundation.uconn.edu.

Go Huskies!

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From The Crowd: UConn Makes Hockey East Debut

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Jennifer Doak-Mathewson

2 min read

On Wednesday night, the UConn Men’s Ice Hockey program made its home debut in Hockey East in front of a sellout crowd with a thrilling 1-0 victory over Boston College. As part of this historic event, UConn Athletics was pleased to welcome back many former players and longtime supporters of the men’s ice hockey. Throughout the evening, we had the opportunity to catch up with a few to hear what it means for them to see their beloved program make its debut in the nation’s premiere conference.

Todd Krygier during a UConn Hockey alumni event.

“30 years ago I stepped foot on campus for the first time. When I arrived I remember the first thing I did; I went for a walk across campus to check out the rink. Needless to say, I was in shock when I saw it was outside. That didn’t matter though; my teammates and I always worked hard and took pride in our program. We always talked about UConn Hockey being great and competing at the highest levels. I take great pride in being here for our first home game in Hockey East. This is a dream come true for all those who played and have supported UConn Hockey through the years.”
– Todd Krygier ’87

Jim Mitchell at a  UConn Hockey alumni event.

“When I was at student at UConn in the early 1980s I drove the Zamboni and worked as a goal judge. Back then, we played our games outside, so to be at the XL Center tonight for our first game in Hockey East is great. UConn Hockey holds a special place in my heart. Seeing it grow through the years makes me incredibly happy. It’s great to see so many former players and longtime supporters of our program here tonight. There is energy around UConn Hockey that we’ve never seen before. I am incredibly excited for our future.”
– Jim Mitchell ’83

UConn Hockey supporter Darin Cook during an alumni event.

“I’ve been going to games and supporting UConn Hockey since the year 2000. Back then, the team was part of the MAAC, so being here tonight is very special. My son plays hockey, and practices on campus at the Freitas Ice Forum. Over the years we’ve met a lot guys on the team. They’ve been great role models and my son really looks up to them. Having the chance to watch their first home game in Hockey East with him really means a lot to me.”
– Darin Cook

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Retired UConn Faculty Establish First Endowed Nursing Chair

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Jennifer Doak-Mathewson

2 min read

Steven Owen and Robin Froman
Steven Owen and Robin Froman in California wine country.

UConn’s School of Nursing has received a pledge of $ 2.3 million from Robin Froman and Steven Owen to establish its first endowed faculty chair. The pledge will also support a professorship and research at the school.

The gift, which is the largest ever for the School, is a strong expression of support and affection for UConn and its education and nursing programs from the couple, who have a long affiliation with UConn.

Froman is a multiple UConn alumna, completing bachelor’s, master’s and doctor of philosophy degrees in education from what is now known as the Neag School of Education before discovering her affinity for nursing and completing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the School of Nursing. She later served as a faculty member, a department chair, and interim associate dean in the School. In 1991, Froman established UConn’s Center for Nursing Research and served as its first director.

After nearly 30 years at UConn, Froman was recruited to be associate dean for research at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston where she established a Nursing Research Center that helped move the School into the nation’s top 40. She later served as dean at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and also held an endowed chair of nursing in the University of Texas system.

Owen is emeritus professor in the Neag School‘s Department of Educational Psychology where he taught and conducted research for nearly 30 years. He later served as professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and as professor and statistical scientist in the School of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

“This extraordinarily generous gift will support generations of UConn nursing leaders,” says Regina Cusson, dean of the School of Nursing and a long-time colleague of Froman’s. “Through their long careers in education, Robin and Steve know firsthand the value of an endowed chair in attracting excellent faculty and enhancing our culture of scholarship.”

“We are incredibly grateful for this generous pledge by Robin Froman and Steven Owen, which will provide a lasting source of financial support for the teaching, research and public service activities in the School of Nursing,” says UConn President Susan Herbst, who has made increasing UConn’s endowment a high priority. “Endowment support is an investment in UConn’s long-term excellence and ensures our ability to sustain and protect UConn’s academic mission,” says Herbst.

“Endowed support for faculty not only recognizes excellence, it provides dependable resources so the chair holder can plan and develop long-range teaching and research activities,” says Froman. “Greater support for faculty recruitment and retention is an essential element of addressing the nursing shortage. Too many applicants are turned away from nursing schools because of a lack of qualified faculty to teach them,” adds Froman.

“We believe the endowed chair will strengthen an already great School of Nursing and help the School address the nation’s shortage of nurses over the long term.”

 

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