Eastern Magazine Fall 2025 Class Notes by EasternCTStateUniversity

ELEVATING EDUCATION By

Ed Osborn

In his role as the commissioner of the Connecticut Ofﬁce of Higher Education (OHE), Tim Larson ’81 is a strong advocate of the power of learning. “I like to say to students, ‘Learn something every day you are on Earth. … College may not be for everyone, but learning is something everyone can do.’”

Larson and his 30-member team at OHE support students through five key initiatives: managing the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship; regulating private career schools; administering veteran education benefits; overseeing student loan reimbursements; and coordinating programs like the Minority Advancement Program, AmeriCorps, and alternative certification pathways for aspiring educators.

Before his 2019 appointment as commissioner by Governor Ned Lamont, Larson was a member of the East Hartford Town Council (1990-92), mayor of East Hartford (1999-2005), state representative (2008-14), and District 3 state senator (2014-19). He was reelected in 2018, but transitioned to lead the OHE.

Larson has fond memories of his time at Eastern. He was a sociology major and recalls taking classes with Professor Arthur L. Johnson and baseball Coach Bill Holowaty.

“I had a wonderful experience at Eastern,” he said. “I met my wife, Nancy, there and made lifetime friendships with people I still see today. It was a fun time to be in college. Academics, intramurals, and student life made for a healthy atmosphere. The campus was small enough that you knew everybody — it was a close-knit community with a hometown feel.”

That strong foundation at Eastern helped pave the way for his ongoing commitment to higher education. At the OHE, he said, “I have a diverse staff of highly talented people who provide a great service to students looking for higher education opportunities. It’s a very dynamic time to be in the higher education ﬁeld and I get to use my skillset every day in public service.”

Chris Abayasinghe ’02 is the associate vice president of ﬁnance and business operations at Northeastern University.

Ian Smith ’02 is the vice president and operations safety executive at Turner Construction Company.

Noel Wilson ’02 is the director of ﬁeld services at the University of Maine at Farmington.

Andrea Dawley ’03 is the support services director at Rose City Learning Center.

Joaquin Falcon ’03 is the director of federation relations at the American Medical Association.

Jeff Spencer ’03 is the vice president and general manager at Micro Precision Industries.

Daniel Belanger ’04 is the director of nursing at Natchaug Hospital.

Mike Cunningham ’04 is the chief operating ofﬁcer at Vale Sports Club.

Yovan Reyes ’04 is the dean of early college and student engagement at Polk State College.

Joleen Catania ’05 is the director of cyber risk and regulatory engagement at Capital One.

Mayantha Perera ’05 is the director of client services at Boldyn Networks.

Brian Saunders ’05 is the vice president of technical program management at Snyk.

Christopher Gauthier ’06 is the ﬁrst vice president of commercial lending at Dime Bank.

Jeff Grohs ’06 is the associate director of brand support at 5&5, which specializes in digital solutions within the food service industry.

Andrew Simmons ’06 is the vice president of securities and derivatives, as well as senior manager of futures clearing operations at Citi.

Rachael Baker ’07 is the associate director of grants and contracts at Celldex Therapeutics.

Garrett Dukette ’07 is a client partner at FranklinCovey.

Thomas Gardella ’07 is the director of engineering at Venmo.

Chelsea Halpine-Berger ’07 is a partner at Bradford & Barthel, LLP.

Sam Iverson ’07 is the vice president of sales operations at Rectangle Health.

Eric Grundfast ’08 is president of the Des Moines Buccaneers.

Peace Omo-Edo ’08 is the ﬁnancial operations controller at Oreeza Financials.

Alyssa Schatz ’08 is vice president of policy and advocacy at National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

Craig Vallee ’08 is vice president of engineering at Inspect Point.

‘10 PERCENT BOLDER’

By Noel Teter ’24

Jessica Chapman ’11, a history and social studies teacher at Norwich Free Academy (NFA), was recently honored with one of the nation’s top awards for educators — the Milken Educator Award (MEA). Surprised during a schoolwide assembly in fall 2024, Chapman was one of 45 educators across the country to be awarded the $25,000 cash prize.

Since receiving the award, Chapman has adopted the MEA’s motto of “being 10 percent bolder” as a personal mission. “I now have a network of incredible educators who have my back and want to make positive change,” she said. Her renewed focus includes advocating for systemic improvements in the education of multilingual learners.

At NFA, more than 30 languages are spoken within the school community. Chapman’s advocacy centers on ensuring equitable access to education for these students. “They are just ﬁguring out how to navigate both social and academic English,” she said. “I work to ensure laws are followed and programs are effective.”

Her passion for multilingual education was further shaped by a year teaching in El Salvador. “I want to better connect with students and families,” she said of her decision to immerse herself in a foreign language. “I knew I couldn’t learn 30 languages, but I could learn Spanish.”

Chapman realized that the collectivist culture of her students in El Salvador could inform her teaching approach at NFA. Accordingly, she nurtures an environment where “kids can work together, pull each other up, and support each other.”

Chapman studied history and social science at Eastern after initially pursuing education. “I was confused about what I wanted, and Eastern supported my transition,” she said. Now, she draws inspiration from her history professors. “I hope my students feel about my class the way I felt at Eastern — where history came alive.”

Jason Andersen ’09 is the director of business development at Legacy Building Systems, LLC.

Nick Hulten ’09 is the director of business process management at Travelers.

Steve Lane ’09 is president at FC Development Corp.

Pooja A. Virdee ’09 is a human resources business partner at Yale University.

Kenton Webley ’10 is the sales director at Benestar Brands.

Kelly Bryant ’11 is the director of the life and MoneyGuard inbound sales teams at Lincoln Financial.

Whitney Cadett ’11 is vice president of marketing and strategic growth at Sikorsky Credit Union.

Nick Gallo ’11 is the director of Lowe’s Pro selling solutions.

Kayla Kudla ’11 is the director of operations at Mill Rock Packaging.

Alexander Freilich ’12 is the creative director at Digital Sports Partners.

Jillian Librandi ’12 is vice president of account management at Dynata.

Josh Poudrette ’12 is vice president of ﬁnance at Flexcon.

Broderick Sawyer ’12 is the director of clinical training at Loyola University Chicago.

Ryan Sullivan ’13 is the director of operations at Hitchiner Manufacturing.

Jose Colon ’10 is the chief operating ofﬁcer at Hartford Public Schools.

Kristen Forster ’10 is the senior director of operations at Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Centers.

Bobbi-Jo Wathen ’10 is the director of pre-college summer programs at the University of Connecticut.

Colin Salko ’11 is the senior director of portfolio analytics and strategy at Amgen.

Megan Savage ’11 is vice president of communications and public involvement at WSP, a professional services consulting ﬁrm.

Dan Schmiemann ’11 is vice president and management director at AREA 23, an IPG Health Company.

Jeremiah Blankenbaker ’14 is the executive director at Dudley Housing Authority.

Haley Heslin ’14 is the director of human resources at LAZ Parking.

Shannon Lane ’14 is vice president of program strategy and delivery at Essex, a Veridix AI Company.

Jaime Zamudio ’14 is the director of operations HSMC-S at Pratt & Whitney.

Tyler Nese ’23 is an associate banker at Chase.

Aoife Casey ’24 is the assistant sales and marketing manager at The Standard at Four Corners with Landmark Properties.

Aidan Gallagher ’24 is a retail merchandiser at Allan S. Goodman, a familyowned, full-service wine and spirit wholesale distributor.

Joseph Ouellette ’24 is a data migration analyst at Windsor Solutions, Inc.

Gabriel Arevalo ’25 is an associate software engineer at Empower.

Amani Jones ’25 is a technology risk auditor at Ernst & Young, a multinational professional services network and one of the “Big Four” accounting ﬁrms.

Isabella Piazza ’25 is a human resources generalist at ServiceNet, a non-proﬁt mental health and human services agency.

Felishka Ramirez ’25 is a hall director at Sacred Heart University.