CLASS NOTES 1967
Jo-Ann (Weiss) Siena (MS ’73) was named the 2019-20 Elk of the Year by the Middletown Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks #771.
1968
Diana (DeMunde) Boorjian (MS ’76) retired in 2011 after teaching for 42 years at Southington High School in the English Department. She also served as the school’s fine arts coordinator. In 2017, the Rotary Club of Avon-Canton honored her as a Paul Harris Fellow, and in 2020 she earned the Lions Club’s Outstanding Lion award.
1974
Kathleen Raymond is pleased to announce her poetry website, poetkathyraymond.com, which features Raymond’s new and published poems. Paul J. Vessella was elected chairman of the Newington Board of Education in November 2019.
1979
Professor David McAllister, director of the Master in Counseling program at Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Massachusetts Mental Health Counselors Association’s annual meeting on Nov. 2, 2019. Professor McAllister is a long-standing member of MaMHCA and has served as its president, chair of the Scholarship Committee, and associate executive director and first director of Public Policy and Legislation.
the geostationary operational environmental Satellite-R series user services coordinator/lead at NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction in College Park, Md., and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
1984
CCSU Geological Sciences faculty member Dr. Kristine Larsen won the 2020 award for best article at the annual Tolkien Society Awards, held online on April 18. The Tolkien Society Awards recognize excellence in the fields of Tolkien scholarship and fandom. Dr. Larsen’s article, “Deconstructing Durin’s Day: Science, Scientific Fan Fiction, and the Fan-Scholar,” appeared in the Journal of Tolkien Research, vol. 8, no. 1.
1985
Mark Park, who recently retired as FBI Supervisory Special Agent at the FBI Academy, joined the Thompson Consulting Group, LLC, in Oswego, New York, on Aug. 26. TCG specializes in consultative training services for financial institutions. Park worked for two regional accounting firms performing corporate audits, financial statements, and tax returns for five years before joining the FBI in 1991.
1986
Donald M. Casey Jr. of Monroe was honored with the Red
1982
Joseph Fiore accepted a new position at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service as
Nose Award in February from the International Shrine Clown Association. The award recognizes members who achieve at least 150
hours in makeup and raise funds to assist children in need who receive medical services through the association’s Sneaker Fund. Robert Laraia of Northstar Wealth Partners, LLC, in West Hartford was elected in October to the U.S. Chapter Board of Directors of the International Association of Registered Financial Consultants.
1988
Dan Lakey joined the executive team at Genesis Networks Telecom Services, LLC, as senior vice president of global sales. Before joining the team at Genesis, Lakey led the Americas Telco sales team at VMware. Anne M. Burns was named controller at Arbors of Hop Brook, a continuing care retirement community in Manchester. Burns previously served for 12 years as chief opening officer and chief financial officer at the Rideshare Co.
1989
Marie L. Benedetto, CPA of Middlefield, was named president of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants Board of Directors for the 20202021 activity year. Benedetto is the owner of Innovative Business Solutions in Middlefield.
1990
Richard Rioux was promoted to vice president of sales for the eastern region at Druva, a data protection and management software firm. The Watertown Board of Education named Lisa Jones as the new business manager for Watertown Public Schools on Oct. 26. Jones also earned a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from CCSU in 1995. FALL 2020 – 23
