Dear WestConn Colleagues,

It was a joy to come together last week to celebrate the service milestones of our colleagues, and I wanted to take a moment to share my congratulations again with our entire community.

I have been talking about about weaving our strengths and building our future at WestConn. Moments like this remind me that those words are not abstract. They live in people. They live in the care shown in classrooms, offices, residence halls, labs, studios, and across every corner of our university. They live in the countless ways our colleagues show up for students and for one another, day after day, year after year.

This year, we recognized 55 employees for milestone years of service. Together, these honorees represent an extraordinary 1,050 years of service to our university. That is a remarkable legacy of commitment. It is also part of a larger story. Across the university, 65% of our 508 current full-time employees have served WestConn for 10 or more years. In addition, 24 employees have surpassed the 30-year milestone and continue to serve our students and community, with our most senior employee approaching 42 years of service.

Those numbers are powerful, but what they represent matters even more. They reflect commitment, resilience, institutional memory, and a deep belief in this place and its people. They reflect colleagues who have helped steady WestConn through change, supported generations of students, and contributed quietly and consistently to the life of this university.

To each of our honorees, thank you. Thank you for staying. Thank you for caring. Thank you for helping make WestConn the kind of place where students can find their way, where colleagues lift one another up, and where our future is being built on a strong foundation.

You can view photos from the celebration on our WestConn Instagram or Flickr.

Please join me in congratulating this year’s honorees:

10 Years

Dr. Daniel Baluha, Dr. Diane Bennett, Dr. Jessica A. Coronel, Dr. Krista Heybruck, Mr. Timothy Howard, Mr. Bashkim Imeri, Dr. Xiaowen Jiang, Ms. Annmarie Krzanowski, Dr. Rotua Lumbantobing, Dr. Karen McLean, Dr. April Moreira, Mr. Guy Rotondo, Mr. Lenbert Wilson, Ms. Joanne Zanella

15 Years

Dr. Rée Gunter, Dr. Carol Huang, Dr. Douglas O’Grady, Dr. Monica Sousa

20 Years

Dr. Katherine Allocco, Dr. Galina Bakhtiarova, Mr. Jamie Begian, Dr. Emilio Collar, Mr. Richard DaSilva, Ms. Rebecca Devine, Mr. Michael Ercoli, Ms. Angelina Espinal, Ms. Amanda Favale, Mr. Mark Gegeny, Dr. Stacey Hawkins, Ms. Sherri Hill, Mr. Vincent Lagano, Ms. Catherine Lewis, Ms. Dawn Lipke, Mr. Kenneth Lynch, Ms. Mary Mazza, Ms. Danielle McDonnell, Mr. Ramon Nieves, Ms. Patricia A. O’Neill, Mr. Jeffrey Shpunt, Ms. Keisha Stokes

25 Years

Mr. Charles Alexander, Dr. Marjorie Callaghan, Mr. Frank Conte, Mr. Robert Eisenson, Dr. Russ Hirshfield, Dr. Bozena Padykula, Dr. Jeffrey Schlicht, Ms. Jennifer Zdziarski

30 Years

Mr. Fred Cratty, Dr. Marsha Daria, Mr. Mauro Ongaro, Dr. Zuohong Pan, Mr. Peter Rosa, Dr. Xiaodi Wang, Dr. Robert Whittemore

Congratulations again to all of this year’s honorees. Your service has helped shape WestConn, and your example continues to strengthen our community.

With gratitude,
Jesse M. Bernal, Ph.D.
President