{"id":949,"date":"2019-07-17T18:19:03","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wcsu.wpengine.com\/news-archives\/tomlonergan\/"},"modified":"2019-07-17T18:19:03","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:19:03","slug":"tomlonergan","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/tomlonergan\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Lonergan"},"content":{"rendered":"
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DANBURY, CONN. <\/strong>\u2014 Growing up in upstate New York, Tom Lonergan spent his early years catching bugs, fishing in streams and watching birds \u2014 so it\u2019s no wonder that he became a biology professor.<\/p>\n

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This fall, Lonergan will start a new career as the head of the biology and environmental sciences department at Western Connecticut State University after 30 years at the University of New Orleans.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI knew since I was 3 \u2014 if it crawled, jumped or flew, I chased after it,\u201d said Lonergan, who holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in biology from SUNY-Albany and a Ph.D. in cellular biology from the University of Illinois-Champaign. He also did post-doctoral work in developmental biology at Yale University and conducted research on the biochemistry of the biological clock.<\/p>\n

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Lonergan, who officially starts Aug. 28, said that he always wanted to head a biology department and said he was attracted to WestConn when he learned the university was looking for someone with bio-technology experience. That\u2019s where his expertise in stem cell research comes in. Lonergan said the state has a stem cell initiative program and funding is available to support faculty research. \u201cDr. Lonergan has the background, experience and drive to help us achieve the vision we have for our department,\u201d Professor of Biology Dr. Thomas Philbrick said.<\/p>\n

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In addition to heading the department, Lonergan also will be teaching \u2014 something he has always enjoyed. \u201cI love teaching \u2014 watching the proverbial light bulb go off,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen a student says, \u2018I\u2019m better than I was when I walked in the door,\u2019 that\u2019s what I\u2019m here for.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Lonergan said that WestConn is similar to the University of New Orleans, which also is part of a state university system. \u201cI felt I could hit the bricks running,\u201d Lonergan said. \u201cThe curricula are similar between the two universities from both an administrative and a teaching standpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In addition to establishing a successful stem cell research program, Lonergan said his goal is to be \u201can excellent chairperson. One who listens to colleagues and assumes the role of a team leader, not the boss.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Lonergan said biology is important, especially in today\u2019s climate. \u201cYou can\u2019t get away from health and environmental issues. If the general public knew more about biology, it would be helpful in our situation. It would help foster a sensitivity of other living things to global changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He also said that WestConn has a large percentage of students interested in biology for a relatively small state university population. Having a state-of-the-art science building, recently constructed on Osborne Street, helps, Lonergan said. \u201cIt certainly is a selling point to have a building like that on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England\u2019s best small private universities.<\/em><\/p>\n

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DANBURY, CONN. \u2014 Growing up in upstate New York, Tom Lonergan spent his early years catching bugs, fishing in streams and watching birds \u2014 so it\u2019s no wonder that he became a biology professor. This …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-949","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/949\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}