On Sunday, May 17, 2009, 137 undergraduate students and 41 graduate students received their degrees from the University of Hartford and CETA in two ceremonies, a University-wide one followed by ceremonies in the individual colleges.
The University ceremony featured an address by Peter Eio, retired president of LEGO, who received an honorary Doctor of Commercial Science degree. Eio reminded the audience that, though the economy may pose difficulties, LEGO was founded around the time of the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Among the various awards presented during the main ceremony was the Roy E. Larsen Award for Excellence in Teaching, which went to CETA’s Dr. David Pines, chair of the Civil, Environmental, and Biomedical Engineering Department and advisor to the student chapter of Engineers Without Borders. Dr. Pines spent many years as a practicing engineer before joining the faculty here, and he brings his real-world experience into the classroom. In addition, through his work with the Engineers Without Borders chapter, Dr. Pines and his students designed and installed a solar-powered well and rooftop rainwater-collection system that has given Abheypur, India, a small village near New Delhi a steady and sustainable water supply. That project now involves students from the Hartford Art School, who are designing posters to promote health practices in the village, along with students from the College of Arts & Sciences, who are evaluating the effects of the program, and students from the College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions, who are working on public health issues. The professional Hartford chapter of Engineers Without Borders has also joined the project along with students from local high schools. And now Dr. Pines is working with the University’s provost, Dr. Lynn Pasquerella and members of the University’s Department of Politics and Government, along with colleagues from Brown University and the University of Rhode Island on a project for a village in Kenya. For more information on Dr. Pines, please click here.
The University ceremony featured an address by Peter Eio, retired president of LEGO, who received an honorary Doctor of Commercial Science degree. Eio reminded the audience that, though the economy may pose difficulties, LEGO was founded around the time of the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Among the various awards presented during the main ceremony was the Roy E. Larsen Award for Excellence in Teaching, which went to CETA’s Dr. David Pines, chair of the Civil, Environmental, and Biomedical Engineering Department and advisor to the student chapter of Engineers Without Borders. Dr. Pines spent many years as a practicing engineer before joining the faculty here, and he brings his real-world experience into the classroom. In addition, through his work with the Engineers Without Borders chapter, Dr. Pines and his students designed and installed a solar-powered well and rooftop rainwater-collection system that has given Abheypur, India, a small village near New Delhi a steady and sustainable water supply. That project now involves students from the Hartford Art School, who are designing posters to promote health practices in the village, along with students from the College of Arts & Sciences, who are evaluating the effects of the program, and students from the College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions, who are working on public health issues. The professional Hartford chapter of Engineers Without Borders has also joined the project along with students from local high schools. And now Dr. Pines is working with the University’s provost, Dr. Lynn Pasquerella and members of the University’s Department of Politics and Government, along with colleagues from Brown University and the University of Rhode Island on a project for a village in Kenya. For more information on Dr. Pines, please click here.
Dr. David Pines receives the Roy E. Larsen Award for Excellence in Teaching from University President Walter Harrison.
- Juniors Kimberly Powell and Neftali Torres
- Seniors Tiffany Cartier and Sara Murray
- Graduate Student Tyson Douglas Dorman
Dr. Michael Crosbie announced the winner of the Tai Soo Kim Travel Fellowship for Architecture students, an award supported by the generosity of Tai Soo Kim, a Hartford architect, University regent and member of the Department of Architecture Board of Advisors. The fellowship is given to a graduating Master of Architecture student to support travel anywhere in the world to continue architectural study independently. This year’s winner is Michael Varesio.
Dr. Chittaranjan Sahay presented the Dr. Girija Sahay and Ahilya Devi Award to Jason Smith. This award honors Dr. Sahay’s parents, who encouraged his achievements.
Dr. Bob Celmer, winner of this year’s Professor of the Year Award bestowed by the CETA chapter of Tau Beta Pi, presented the Robert Bradford Newman Medal for Merit in Architectural Acoustics. This medal is an international award recognizing excellence in the study of acoustics and its application to architecture. Students selected for the Newman Medal must have demonstrated excellence in the discipline and in the application of acoustical design principles in the course of their study. This year, two CETA students were selected to receive this prestigious award: Meghan Ahearn and Matthew Schaeffler.
Dr. Chittaranjan Sahay presented the Dr. Girija Sahay and Ahilya Devi Award to Jason Smith. This award honors Dr. Sahay’s parents, who encouraged his achievements.
Dr. Bob Celmer, winner of this year’s Professor of the Year Award bestowed by the CETA chapter of Tau Beta Pi, presented the Robert Bradford Newman Medal for Merit in Architectural Acoustics. This medal is an international award recognizing excellence in the study of acoustics and its application to architecture. Students selected for the Newman Medal must have demonstrated excellence in the discipline and in the application of acoustical design principles in the course of their study. This year, two CETA students were selected to receive this prestigious award: Meghan Ahearn and Matthew Schaeffler.
Among the students receiving CETA degrees on Sunday were six faculty members from Herat University in Western Afghanistan who have been studying in CETA for 18 months and who earned master's degrees in Civil Engineering. The six are part of a group of 12 Herat instructors who are studying engineering and architecture here as part of a partnership between the University of Hartford and Herat, which is funded by an almost $2 million grant from the World Bank.
The first Herat instructors to graduate from CETA, l. to r., Noman Moheb Rahmani, Khalil Ahmad Sarwari, Ahmad Sohail Rahimi, Azizurahman Azimi, Noor Sayed Jami, and Sayed Abdul Basit Mododi.
Dean Louis Manzione announced that Joseph Thomas Buonagurio, a CETA student who died four weeks before the graduation ceremony but who had completed his degree requirements, was granted his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Accepting the diploma were Joseph’s father and sisters. Following the graduation ceremonies, a tree planted in Joseph’s memory in the courtyard between United Technologies Hall and Dana hall was dedicated.
Graduating student Jason Smith and Jospeh Buonagurio, Joseph Thomas Buonagurio's father, install the plaque dedicating a newly planted dogwood tree to the memory of Joseph Thomas Buonagurio.
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