UMass Boston Magazine - Spring 2022 by UMass Boston

Spring 2022

UMass Boston A M AG A Z I N E F O R A L U M N I A N D F R I E N D S O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F M A S S AC H U S E T T S B O S TO N

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A Message from the Chancellor As Commencement nears, we look forward to celebrating the extraordinary achievements of the Class of 2022. I know that our graduates and the entire UMass Boston campus community are eagerly anticipating the keynote address, to be delivered by the Honorable Michelle Wu—the first woman, first person of color, and first Asian American elected to serve as mayor of the great city of Boston. Mayor Wu’s story—a child of Taiwanese immigrants who was educated in public schools and embraced opportunities to give back through public service—is one that resonates deeply here at Boston’s only public research university. As the third most diverse university in the country, many of us in the UMass Boston community come from similar backgrounds and life experiences. This issue of UMass Boston magazine highlights some of the ways Beacon alumni, faculty, and students who are either children of immigrants or immigrants themselves embrace an ethic of care and responsibility, and in so doing, lift and empower historically underrepresented groups, the vulnerable, and the marginalized. We shine a light on the power of diversity, how it cultivates empathy, compassion, resilience, cognition, and metacognition— essential skills and values that shape the trajectories of our students, both as citizens and as professionals in their disparate domains of work. In our cover story, you will meet Jaffna-Rose Innocent ’24, a Haitian immigrant who found a university “home” on Columbia Point, reveling in the extraordinary diversity she encountered here. These days she flourishes as a mentor in the Student Multicultural Affairs office to fellow immigrants with similar lived experiences. Jaffna-Rose’s story is emblematic of the demographic trends we are seeing, as well as a reminder that Boston has always been a city of immigrants. You will read about Natalicia Tracy ’05, G’05, a Brazilian immigrant and labor advocate who experienced discrimination early

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in her career but resolved to fight for justice for herself and for others like her. Now a high-level public servant at the Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration, Natalicia is dedicated to empowering workers and strengthening workplace safety and inclusivity—in other words, doing the work of justice. You will read about Erin Noël ’22, daughter of immigrants, Udall Undergraduate Scholarship winner, and global citizen whose parents “came [to the U.S.] with nothing.” Erin has her gaze squarely fixed on planetary well-being and equity for all as she tackles food security, climate change, environmental justice, and conflict. Her rise as a young leader speaks volumes about individual agency, in this case, embarking on a journey to literally change the world. And you will read about Stan McLaren ’89, a Beacon in every sense of the word—the son of immigrants, longtime advocate in the neighborhoods of Dorchester, and now, president of Carney Hospital, over on Dorchester Avenue. For Stan, the wellspring of his leadership is his deep connection to the diverse communities he serves, and he pays it forward to low-income families, immigrants, and people with substance abuse or mental health challenges. Indeed, Stan credits his time at UMass Boston for learning how to work with many different people. UMass Boston stands as a beacon of social progress, a place where diversity, equity, and inclusion are cornerstones of academic excellence. Year after year, members of our Beacon family from all backgrounds embody academic excellence and contribute to the public good, strengthening civic life in Boston and beyond. I hope you enjoy reading about the good works of these exemplary Beacons, and I thank all of you for your continued support of UMass Boston. Please continue to stay safe. Sincerely,

Marcelo Suárez-Orozco

UMass Boston SPRING 2022 UMass Boston magazine celebrates the lasting connection alumni and friends have with the University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston State College, and our legacy schools. We endeavor to convey insightful stories and inspiring profiles of alumni, students, faculty, and friends through compelling imagery and prose.

Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco Provost Joseph Berger Vice Chancellor for University Advancement Adam Wise Assistant Vice Chancellor for Alumni Engagement Allison Duffy

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IN THIS ISSUE

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Director of Alumni Engagement Steven Whittemore Writers Heather Brigham G’18 Vanessa DiCarlo Carta G’11 Vanessa Chatterley Adrienne Harris-Fried ’22 Andrea Kennedy Gray Milkowski ’18 Britny Solares-Depaz ’23 Crystal Valencia G’14 Designer Kaajal Asher www.kaajalasher.com Copy editor Sasha Nyary sashanyary.com Photo and Illustration Credits Bartosz Kosowski (p. 27) Bauman Photographers (San Diego, p. 30) Brian Stauffer (p.18) Dominick Ferreira ’23 (p. 23) Ed Collier Photography (back cover) Eli Turner Studios (Washington, DC, p. 31) Gray Milkowski ’18 (p. 2, 4, 18) Hitched Photo (Los Angeles, p. 30) Javier Rivas Photography (Boston, p. 31) Matthew Mikaelian Photography (San Francisco, p. 30, 31) Sarah Hanson (cover, p. 10, 13) U.S. Dept. of Labor (p. 9) We welcome your inquiries and comments. Please direct them to: UMass Boston Magazine Office of Alumni Engagement University of Massachusetts Boston 100 Morrissey Boulevard Boston, MA 02125-3393 Phone: 617.287.5330 Email: alumni@umb.edu

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Creating Safe and Inclusive Workspaces Lived experiences guide Natalicia Tracy ’05, G’05 New Face, Same Place How UMass Boston and its city are changing— and staying the same Named Fund Honors Pamela Strout Herbst ’77 AEW Capital Management pays tribute through a new scholarship Here Come the Men in Blades Hockey Humanitarian Award finalists Jacob Adkins ’23 and Andrew Walker ’23 are on a roll THRIVEing and Surviving Innovative technologies benefit Black and Hispanic communities

20 Leading with Compassion

President Stan McLaren ’89 looks to the future of Carney Hospital

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Renaissance Man John Picardi ’93 creates worlds beyond his own Meet Grace Smith ’22 Mass Media’s editor-in-chief prepares for next move

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UNews Major happenings on campus since our last issue

24 About Alumni Class notes from the ’70s to the present, and in memoriam

28 Investing in UMass Boston The impact of philanthropy on the university 30 Alumni Events and Initiatives

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Erin Noël ’22 Awarded Udall Scholarship for Work on Sustainability, Environmental Justice

rin Noël’s ’22 passion for the environment and inclusion has won her the prestigious Udall Undergraduate Scholarship, awarded annually by the Udall Foundation to one student from each state and territory who does exemplary work in tribal policy, native health care, or the environment. Noël’s research portfolio includes time at Stanford University studying the effects of climate change on human conflict, specifically whether increasingly hotter weather in regions closer to the equator contributes to increased levels of unrest. She also spent two summers

as a Doris Duke Conservation Scholar at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, where she researched how farmers markets can bridge gaps in food instability, and how they can become more equitable spaces. With tradition, representation, and her love for being outside in mind, Noël has her sights set on a career built around protecting the planet and making it a more inclusive place. She’s planning to pursue a dual JD/PhD program, knowing that both degrees will better position her to drive real progress in environmental justice.

“ My parents came here with nothing, and they became something, and for their child to be a doctor and a lawyer, that’s a lot in one generation … it memorializes their struggles, and everything they gave up for me to have a better opportunity.”

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UMass Boston Report Cites Factors in State’s Paid Leave Compromise Considered one of the strongest in the nation, the Massachusetts paid family and medical leave law is notable for its robust caregiving supports and protections for workers. A new report from UMass Boston’s Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy (CWPPP), Getting to Yes: The Makings of Paid Leave in Massachusetts, offers an in-depth look at the negotiation process between labor and business that led to the passage of paid family and medical leave legislation in 2018. The report also offers data on the initial year of program utilization by workers and overall program implementation. With 85,887 approved leave applications in 2021, employees across the Commonwealth have benefited from the program.

“As discussions regarding paid family and medical leave occur at the federal and state level, this case study provides important learnings at a critical juncture,” said Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson, CWPPP director and the study’s principal investigator. “With women, persons of color, and low-income workers disproportionately impacted by the lack of paid leave policies across the nation, developing feasible paid leave programs will help address such inequities currently facing many employees and their families.”

The report, based primarily on in-depth Lead author Christa Kelleher, research interviews with those closely involved and policy director at CWPPP, stated, “The in the negotiation process that led to consensus on a paid leave procompromise legislation, details gram achieved between labor the multifaceted effort to achieve and business leaders demonconsensus on a feasible program The full strates what’s possible when in Massachusetts and offers report can trust, collaboration, and data be viewed recommendations for effecting on our are centered in the policymakpaid leave laws in other states. website: ing process. I am hopeful that Mainers for Working Families future policy issues in Massasponsored the report, as legislators chusetts will benefit from the and advocates look at offering important lessons highlighted paid family and medical leave for in this case study.” Maine’s families and businesses.

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UMass Boston, US Coast Guard Academy Partner to Provide Cadets with Expertise in Engineering, Cybersecurity

Mass Boston and the United States Coast Guard Academy are partnering on a pilot program that will help recruit a diverse cadet corps and prepare them for successful careers in the Coast Guard’s engineering and cybersecurity workforce. The partnership, known officially as the Engineering & Cyber Security 5-Year STEM Pilot Program, will provide students who are studying engineering and cybersecurity the opportunity to take one year of classes in their field at UMass Boston before entering the Coast Guard Academy. Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco praised the agreement’s commitment to service, a core tenet of both UMass Boston and the Coast Guard Academy.

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“We are grateful to the Coast Guard for partnering with UMass Boston on this pilot program. We stand ready to honor this partnership to ensure that participating students are prepared to be Coast Guard officers who serve with distinction,” he said. Rear Admiral William Kelly, superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, touted the benefits that the program will bring to the academy, its students, and the Coast Guard as a whole. “We are all in on our commitment to this opportunity,” Kelly said. “The relationships we have formed [at UMass Boston] will ensure we prepare the future officers of the Coast Guard with the STEM skills needed to compete in the dynamic arenas where our service is asked to protect, defend, save, and shield our nation.”

The partnership, which will start with a three-year pilot, was designed strategically with UMass Boston’s strengths in mind. With the third most diverse campus community in the nation and STEM programs that enroll significant numbers of women and people of color, UMass Boston is uniquely positioned to begin the pipeline the Coast Guard needs. The university’s waterfront location and proximity to the academy were other key factors in the partnership.

Bookshelf

Girl in Ice is a dark and visceral thriller by Erica Ferencik ’82. The novel follows Valerie “Val” Chesterfield, a linguist trained in the most esoteric of disciplines: dead Nordic languages. Despite her successful career, Val leads a sheltered life and languishes in the shadow of her twin brother, Andy, an accomplished climate scientist stationed on a remote island off Greenland’s barren coast. But now Andy is gone, a victim of suicide who willfully ventured unprotected into below-zero weather. Val is distraught—and disbelieving. She suspects foul play. With time running out, she embarks on an incredible frozen odyssey—led by the unlikeliest of guides—to rescue the new family she has found in the most unexpected of places.

In her latest book, My Kind of People, Lisa Duffy ’09, G’12 takes readers to Ichabod Island, a jagged strip of land 13 miles off the coast of Massachusetts. Ten-yearold Sky becomes an orphan for the second time after a tragic accident claims the lives of her adoptive parents. Grieving the death of his best friends, Leo’s life is turned upside down when he finds himself the guardian of young Sky. Back on the island and struggling to balance his new responsibilities and his marriage to his husband, Leo is supported by a powerful community of neighbors, many of them harboring secrets of their own.

The Invisibility Bargain: Governance Networks and Migrant Human Security offers a new conceptual framework for understanding how migrant integration, political participation, and security relate to each other. Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance Jeffrey Pugh deploys evidence from 15 months of fieldwork spanning 10 years in Ecuador, including 170 interviews, an original survey of Colombian migrants in six provinces, network analysis, and discourse analysis of hundreds of presidential speeches and news media articles.

In investigating advocacy around a critical economic and social prerogative—the right to food—Assistant Professor of Political Science Michelle Jurkovich challenges existing understandings of the relationships among human rights, norms, and laws. Most important, Feeding the Hungry: Advocacy and Blame in the Global Fight Against Hunger provides an expanded conceptual tool kit with which we can examine and understand the social and moral forces at play in rights advocacy.

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The Pride & Prejudice That Almost Got Away

Community Leader Mel King ’52, H’14 Donates Papers to Archives Mel King ’52, H’14, the legendary Bostonbased organizer, politician, activist, mayoral candidate, and educator, has donated his papers to the Africana Studies Department and the Joseph P. Healey Library.

Back in February 2020, UMass Boston’s Performing Arts Department was deep into rehearsals and beyond excited to stage Kate Hamill’s raucously funny, lovingly irreverent adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride & Prejudice.

were still enrolled, and Quinn thought it appropriate to honor their original role offers. Most roles, including principal characters, were wide open. Quinn chose actors with a sense of play that matched the madcap energy of Hamill’s work.

Director Carrie Ann Quinn had a killer cast, tickets were selling fast, and then…  “One of the great parts of Hamill’s adaptation is that it’s decidedly not the “Like theater artists everywhere, we stuffy vibe of a 19th-century classic,” were devastated to have to cancel a she said. “While the characters explore production,” Quinn said. “Rehearsals games of romance, family, and society, were going wonderfully, and a part of Hamill’s script calls on the actors to me will always regret not seeing that play actual games—from bouncing particular cast take the stage.”  balls and dance routines to gendercrossing—as metaphors in a whirlwind, Two years after cancelling the almost chaotic, theatrical experience.” production at the onset of COVID-19, Quinn finally cast and directed Pride & Performing Arts hosts plays, musicals, Prejudice in spring 2022. Most of the original cast had since graduated. A few members of the cast

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concerts, and dance performances throughout the academic year. Subscribe to our email list to learn more: alumni.umb.edu/subscribe.

The Melvin H. King papers comprise 80 boxes of original archival materials documenting King’s lifetime of work, including correspondence, journals, poetry, speeches, campaign materials, and articles. They will be preserved and made publicly available for research by the University Archives and Special Collections Department. The materials cover a wide range of topics, from restorative justice, housing, education, agriculture, and urban farming to advocacy for formerly incarcerated people and computer literacy training. “Given UMass Boston’s deep commitment to anti-racism, community engagement, and social justice, we are honored to serve as the research home of the Mel King papers,” said Interim Dean of Libraries Joanne Riley. This acquisition was made possible by Professor Jemadari Kamara and Senior Lecturer Tony Van Der Meer in the Africana Studies Department. The Archives also recently acquired the papers of Charlotte Golar Richie, who has had a long career in politics and public policy work in Massachusetts, and Boston State College alumnus Dan Rea ’70, H’08, an award-winning broadcaster and news reporter.

Alumnus Wins Prestigious National Academic Award in Physics

UMass Boston’s online bachelor’s degree and graduate programs, including the MBA and master’s in education, were listed among the nation’s best in the 2022 U.S. News & World Report Best Online Programs rankings, released earlier this year.

Recent alumnus Joseph Farah ’21 won the prestigious LeRoy Apker Award from the American Physical Society, the highest honor awarded to undergraduate physics students in the United States, for his contributions to the Event Horizon Telescope’s (EHT) success in taking the first image of a black hole.

Most notable among the rankings was the university’s online bachelor’s program, which jumped 54 spots. “While the true measure of our online programs’ success is in the successes of our students, I am pleased that these data agree that UMass Boston’s programs rival the best in the country,” said Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco. “Our online students, and indeed our entire university, should be proud to be a part of Boston’s public research university, as we only foresee even more success in the years to come.”

While a physics major and Honors College student at UMass Boston, Farah worked on the selective dynamical imaging method, which has applications for studying rapidlyvarying black holes. “I had the great fortune of being instructed in physics at UMass Boston by some of the brightest minds on the planet,” Farah said. “The advising and mentoring structure UMass Boston provided is a huge part of the reason I had the flexibility and freedom to pursue collaborating with the EHT, despite demands from coursework.” Farah’s work was reported in a paper submitted to The Astrophysical Journal and was a large part of his contribution as the only undergraduate student to be a part of the EHT Collaboration. The 347-member team won a $3 million Breakthrough Prize for their scientific achievement.

UMASS BOSTON EARNS HIGH MARKS FOR ONLINE PROGRAMS FROM U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT

THE NEW RANKINGS INCLUDE:

Farah’s impressive undergraduate career was recognized in several ways, with the 2019 National Science Foundation Diamond Achievement Award and the 2019 Barry Goldwater Scholarship Award. He is currently enrolled as a first-year PhD astrophysics student and NSF Fellow at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), doing research on supernova and dark energy with UCSB Senior Scientist Andy Howell at the Las Cumbres Observatory.

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Online master’s in business

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Online bachelor’s

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Online master's in education

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Online MBA for veterans

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“ My story can be a story of empowerment for many other women like me, because it shows that it is possible to achieve against all odds.” Natalicia Tracy ’05, G’05 is working to make safe and inclusive workplaces a reality for millions

atalicia Tracy’s career speaks for itself. A double Beacon who went on to earn her PhD, become a UMass Boston professor, and lead Boston’s Brazilian Worker Center as executive director, she has spearheaded labor initiatives in Boston and around New England, and now has the chance to affect change on a national scale. Tracy ’05, G’05 was recently appointed to serve as senior policy advisor for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA). It is success that she has earned over years of tireless effort on behalf of workers. But what truly makes Tracy’s story stand out is what she had to overcome to achieve it.

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GRAY MILKOWSKI ’18

Originally from Brazil, she was brought to the United States at the age of 19, speaking little English and having very little formal education. In her first years in the country, she worked in disparate conditions as a nanny, where she was paid far below minimum wage while working more than 90-hour weeks.

hand in making safe workplaces a reality for millions. Working alongside the assistant secretary, Tracy has been part of the team responsible for issuing COVID-19 safety and health standards and guidance for the nation’s jobsites, with an eye on keeping workers as safe as possible during the pandemic.

“I always felt that I had gone through hell and back,” said Tracy, recalling what she endured. It was an experience that would go on to shape a career focused on making sure no other person would have to go through the same things she did.

Another key part of her role is focused on the department’s diversity and inclusion agenda, specifically, “assessing what we can do to expand our efforts to protect our workers, including workers who have been historically underserved and have been susceptible to more dangerous working conditions.”

Today, as she approaches her fifth month working with the Department of Labor, she is in an unprecedented position to have a

Reflecting on her work and everything she has accomplished, Tracy credits her family for instilling in her the

values she has used to achieve success and overcome barriers. “I came from a family that believed that if you work hard and you’re honest, you can accomplish, you can dream, and you can achieve,” she said. Tracy says that being a firstgeneration immigrant and woman of color, she likely “came through more barriers than maybe if I was a white male immigrant.” “I feel like every day in my life, I had to deal with discrimination based on gender, color, immigration, language, accent,” she said. “But I feel that part of America that is really wonderful is the fact that you can fight for justice, and you can fight for what is right, and there are ways for you to succeed

if you can really work hard enough.” Those were the same values that Tracy tried to call her students’ attention to during her time as a lecturer in Labor Studies, Sociology, and Human Services at UMass Boston. Many of their stories were—and continue to be—like her own. She is hopeful that their successes will be just as similar. “I always asked them questions about their plans. Where do you want to be? Where do you want to see yourself in the future? It’s never too late—you can do that,” she said. “Many of us were not born with our paths already crafted for us by our parents,” Tracy said. “We have to figure out our own path as we go along. We don’t always know where it will lead us, but we can still find a good

direction, where our efforts can make a difference, and we can be change makers. Along the way, we can also find what resources we need to make that happen.” While she is no longer the one teaching, she is practicing these lessons at the highest levels. Tracy soldiers on in pursuit of safe, welcoming, and inclusive spaces for the workforce—the same theme of empowerment that has carried on throughout her career, from her beginnings as a nanny to the highest levels of government. “I feel like my story can be a story of empowerment for many other women like me, because it shows that it is possible to achieve against all odds.”

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In Boston’s changing demographics, UMass Boston faculty see echoes of the city’s past—and a continuation of the university’s mission

BY ANDREA KENNEDY \ Additional reporting by Vanessa Chatterley

hen Jaffna-Rose Innocent ’24 and her family emigrated from Haiti in 2010, they landed in Florida. The six-year-old, the only Black child in her class, was bullied relentlessly because of her accent and uncertain English. At the urging of family friends, they soon moved to Taunton, Massachusetts, where there were more opportunities. So later, when Innocent was looking at colleges, the diversity she found at UMass Boston was part of the appeal. Today, Innocent serves as a mentor for other immigrant students through the Student Multicultural Affairs office, reveling in the human variety she encounters at the university. “You don’t really see one specific type of person,” she said. “We generalize diversity in terms of race, color, religion. I feel like we shouldn’t make it as broad as that. Diversity is ‘Who is an individual person?’ You can find someone who is the same ethnicity as you are, same race, same cultural background, but they’re still so different from you.”

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AN ONGOING MISSION Innocent’s experience is increasingly common at UMass Boston, where students currently hail from 138 countries. Between 2008 and 2018, the proportion of students of color among new enrollees grew from 45 to 56 percent. The student body has had a Black, Indigenous, and people of color majority since 2016. This makes UMass Boston the third most diverse four-year college in the country, said 24/7 Wall St. in 2020. By that publication’s definition, UMass Boston is the only large four-year public school in America with a greater than 80 percent chance that two randomly selected students would have a different race, ethnicity, or U.S. citizenship status. Has this change made UMass Boston a different place? In some ways yes and in some ways no. At the level of mission, UMass Boston Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco’s answer is a resounding “no.” It’s not new; UMass Boston was founded in 1964 with the intention of “providing our students equality of opportunity,” according to its original Statement of Purpose. At the level of the students it is serving, most definitely the answer is “yes”—the student body of UMass Boston reflects the new demographic complexity of Boston. “Educating diverse students,” Suárez-Orozco said, “is both our history and our destiny.”

CITY OF IMMIGRANTS That destiny is serving a changing city. Boston—and UMass Boston by extension—is in the midst of a profound transformation. In 2020, for the first time, census data revealed that the majority of Bostonians identified as Black, Asian, Native American or Pacific Islander, Hispanic, or mixed race.

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According to the 2019 Boston Foundation/ UMass report “Changing Faces of Greater Boston,” every city in Greater Boston saw a growth in residents of color between 1990 and 2017—an astonishing 245 percent increase over just 25 years. More than 90 percent of this growth is due to the immigration of families like Innocent’s. But Boston has always been a city of immigrants, said Suárez-Orozco, a renowned scholar of human migration. The share of the foreign-born population in Boston was much higher a century ago than it is today (36 percent in 1910, versus 28 percent in 2020). “The grammar is the same,” he says. “In the past it was the Irish working class, the Italian working class, Syrians and Lebanese searching for a better life in our city. Now it’s Chinese, its Dominican, it’s Haitian, it’s Cambodian. The spirit that drives the immigrant journey is the same. New faces, same story.” The current explosion in numbers of people of color is coming from immigration, he noted. Greater Boston’s Black population, once fed by the Great Migration from the American South, is 38 percent foreign born today, with significant populations from Haiti, Cape Verde, and other Caribbean and African nations. Massachusetts’ Asian American population is now almost 70 percent foreign born. Thirteen Asian origin nations have more than 2,000 immigrants living in Boston today. “Within each of these groups, you have the whole universe,” said Suárez-Orozco. “In Boston, we have something never seen before: the whole world thriving in a city that has a population that is 1/13th the size of New York City.” Of course, cultures have clashed in the past in Boston, said Lorna Rivera, director of UMass Boston’s Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy. But bussing riots and other dark chapters are not the city’s whole story.

“If you look at our history, yes, there’s that ugliness,” she said. But communities have also come together to solve problems. In the 1960s, Irish and Puerto Rican communities banded together to fight the construction of the Southwest Corridor expressway in the South End. Today, the Rian Immigrant Center ( formerly the Irish International Immigrant Center) provides resettlement services to newcomers of all nationalities. “There are real, strong alliances, historically and to this day, in welcoming immigrants,” Rivera said.

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE … The details may have changed over the decades but the students themselves have not, said Steven Neville PhD’17, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs. “These are students who have aspirations of doing what students have done all along, and that is to better their lives and create opportunities for themselves through the higher educational process,” he said. “That’s always been UMass Boston’s bull’s-eye. It’s just that the students are coming from different communities now.” The university’s commitment to its students is ongoing, he noted. The faculty and administration continue to develop programs that support the unique needs of immigrant and first-generation students. The university has also invested considerable resources in both understanding and serving Boston’s major ethnic and racial groups, notably through its Collaborative of Asian American, Native American, Latino and African American Institutes. UMass Boston is one of only two universities in the U.S. to have freestanding research centers dedicated to studying the Asian American, Black, Latinx, and Native American experiences. The Chancellor notes, “not surprisingly, the other university is UCLA,” where he served as dean

and distinguished professor before returning to the commonwealth. An increasingly diverse faculty is also a vitally significant change on campus. “My father is Nigerian, my mother is American. So, this idea of two cultures coming together is something that I grew up in and also something that I carry with me,” said Bodunrin Banwo, who joined the faculty in fall 2021 as an assistant professor of leadership in education. “To be able to interact with a more diverse student body—students whose life experience is similar to mine—is really powerful.”

THE POWER OF DIFFERENCE Serving a diverse student body makes UMass Boston stronger, say university faculty and administrators. That’s true on a stability level—students from immigrant families are making up an increasing share of overall college enrollments in the U.S.— as well as for the university’s educational and research missions. “I see the transformation in my own students in my classes,” said Paul Watanabe, professor of political science and director of UMass Boston’s Institute for Asian American Studies. “The interchange of students from different countries and different places and different backgrounds is thrilling to see.”

As Boston’s population continues to evolve, providing educational opportunity for the public—whoever that public is—will remain a foundational value for UMass Boston.

“UMass Boston has tried to serve that particular mission no matter what the The research has shown that diversity makeup of the student body has been,” said brings innovation and new ideas, said Watanabe. “And that commitment Professor of Biology Adán Cólonis one that serves everybody. It Carmona, who studies how Read the lifts everybody up.” “Changing students from underrepresented Faces of groups learn and succeed in Greater Boston” Innocent is testament to that. STEM fields. “That’s where the report diversity piece is really important. “Everyone has their own unique And that’s exciting, because it experiences that they can bring to means the potential that UMass the table,” she said. “UMass Boston Boston has, it’s enormous.” really embraces those differences.”

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etirement after a long and fulfilling career in itself is a milestone achievement to celebrate. But for alumna Pamela Strout Herbst ’77, it also became an opportunity to pay homage to her alma mater. Herbst retired from AEW Capital Management, a leading global realestate investment management company, in December 2021, after 26 years with the firm. To honor her many contributions, AEW is endowing a scholarship at UMass Boston in her name. “Over the course of her career, Pam had a tremendous impact on the success of our business. Another important part of her legacy was her tireless efforts to shape AEW’s strong charitable culture and the firm’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. She set a high standard for all of us, and for that we will remain forever grateful,” said Jon Martin, AEW’s Chief Executive Officer of North America. “To be able to partner with her alma mater and make a gift in her honor was a great way to acknowledge her leadership and assist others who want to follow in her footsteps.” The AEW Capital Management – Pamela Strout Herbst Legacy Scholarship at the University of Massachusetts Boston will support undergraduate students pursuing a career in economics, investment management, and commercial real estate who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing equity and inclusion in business. In addition to financial support, AEW will provide mentorship

and professional advancement opportunities to scholarship recipients. When trying to find the most powerful way to pay tribute to Herbst, Martin said he immediately turned to UMass Boston. “We want to target students that are like Pam—people who are ambitious, hardworking, and who are putting themselves through school. With an endowed permanent scholarship, our gift will have a lasting impact for UMass Boston students for years to come,” he said. Herbst earned her bachelor’s in economics from the College of Liberal Arts at UMass Boston and her MBA from Boston University. She was managing director of AEW Capital Management and head of the firm’s Direct Investment Group. She was also a leader in the real estate industry as a whole, serving as a board member and eventual chair of the board at the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers and as an active member in the Massachusetts chapter of the commercial real estate development association NAIOP. “To hear that AEW created this scholarship at UMass Boston was incredible because it will provide assistance to students who may not be able to afford a private education but have been working incredibly hard to get through school,” Herbst said. “It just all came together for me. I’m blessed to have had the career I had, and I think it’s incredibly important for people to give back.”

Throughout her career, Herbst has used her expertise as a force for good. She is the former chair of the board and head of the real estate committee for Boston’s Home for Little Wanderers, as well as a current board member for the United Way of Mass Bay and chair of their finance and real estate committees. And she remains a trustee at the Urban Land Institute, a professional association dedicated to decarbonizing real estate, increasing access to housing around the globe, and educating the diverse real estate leaders of the future. “The fact that AEW is establishing a scholarship program with internship opportunities to tap into UMass Boston’s diversely talented population is incredible. This program is an extension of what we’ve been trying to do in this industry for a long time. It really is a great tribute,” said Herbst. For Martin, that tribute is also an investment in the future of the real estate field and AEW itself. By expanding the scholarship into a mentorship and internship program, he hopes to pave the way for students with as much drive and dedication as Herbst. “We’re looking to bring top talent into our firm, and we think that this is a great way to do that. Not only will we be able to help someone with their schooling, but our goal is to also mentor these students and build a pipeline of talented individuals that can hopefully have careers as long and successful as Pam’s.”

AEW Capital Management Establishes Scholarship Fund to Honor Pamela Strout Herbst ’77 BY VANESSA CHATTERLEY

Pamela Strout Herbst ’77 (right) is joined by (from left to right) Liz Brunner, Joan Wallace-Benjamin, and Joanne Jaxtimer at charity event for The Home for Little Wanderers

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DAY 1

DAY 2

DAY 3

MEN IN BLADES HIT THE ROAD FOR CANCER AWARENESS Britny Solares-Depaz ’23 In summer 2020, UMass Boston men’s ice hockey players Jacob Adkins ’23 and Andrew Walker ’23 embarked on an 875-mile journey from UMass Boston to Walker’s home in Mason, Michigan—on rollerblades. Over nine and a half days, the friends— dubbed the “Men in Blades,” or “MIB” for short— raised awareness and more than $30,000 to fight cancer, a disease that has impacted both of their families.

and launched their trip in July 2020. As their story spread, it was picked up by outlets such as ESPN, CNN, the NHL, and The Boston Globe.

Today, Walker and Adkins are back in the classroom and playing hockey at Edward T. Barry Ice Rink. But the MIB are still rolling, now “finding ways to raise money without shaving more years off our lives,” Adkins joked, including organizing a rollerblading 10K and an annual “Hockey Fights Cancer” home The MIB idea was born when coronavirus closures game at UMass Boston. In February, they were hit campus in March 2020. Adkins and Walker named finalists for college hockey’s annual Hockey found themselves isolated in Peninsula Apartments Humanitarian Award for the second year in a row. with no classmates, no hockey practice, and no gym “I’m extremely proud of them,” said UMass Boston access. So they started rollerblading—a lot. Men’s Ice Hockey Coach Peter Belisle. “They are tireAfter 600 miles of training jaunts, the MIB set up lessly working to promote this amazing cause. I’m social media accounts and a GoFundMe page pretty sure they’ll never stop.”

SPRINGFIELD TO POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. 96 MILES, 688 TO GO

DAY

1 BOSTON TO SPRINGFIELD, MASS. 91 MILES, 784 TO GO

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HONESDALE TO BLOSSBURG, PENN. 111 MILES, 481 TO GO

3 POUGHKEEPSIE TO HONESDALE, PENN. 96 MILES, 592 TO GO

SMETHPORT TO MEADVILLE, PENN. 97 MILES, 299 TO GO

5 BLOSSBURG TO SMETHPORT, PENN. 85 MILES, 396 TO GO

CLEVELAND TO FREMONT, OHIO 82 MILES, 132 TO GO

7 MEADVILLE TO CLEVELAND, OHIO 85 MILES, 214 TO GO

CHELSEA TO MASON, MICH. 27 MILES, 0 TO GO

9 FREMONT TO CHELSEA, MICH. 105 MILES, 27 TO GO

Day 1 Adkins and Walker left Boston at 4 a.m. on July 13, 2020. “No one really thought we were going to do it until the first day. We posted on social media ‘The boys are heading out today,’ and we got a nice news interview,” Adkins recalled. “Before we even got to the first 50-mile mark, our phones were blowing up. We were all over Twitter...at that point, everyone was like, ‘All right, these guys are actually serious.’”

DAY 4

DAY 5

Day 4 Adkins and Walker logged 111 miles on day four, and battled heat exhaustion. Friends in their follow car supported them every mile of the way. “One time they quite literally revived me when I passed out on the side of the road. Them putting us above themselves really made it that much more worth it for us to put the American Cancer Society above us,” said Adkins. By the time they made it to Blossburg, they had raised nearly $15,000.

Day 6

DAY 6

DAY 7

Wheel troubles on Day 6 called for a pit stop to meet the mayor of Centerville, Penn. (pictured third from right).

Day 7 Adkins and Walker stopped for an interview at Cleveland’s Silber Hope Lodge, an American Cancer Society lodging facility for patients undergoing cancer treatment and their families. The support of the cancer community kept the MIB motivated. “People we have no connection to would DM us and tell their story and say how inspirational our trip was. That was one of the main reasons we didn’t quit,” said Walker. Adkins drew strength from his mother’s two battles with cancer: “My mom got through that, so I can get through this.”

DAY 8

DAY 9

Day 9 On Day 9, the GoFundMe campaign passed the $20,000 mark.

Day 10 The Men in Blades wrapped up their journey around 1 p.m. at Walker’s home in Mason, Mich., but support continued on GoFundMe. Back in Boston, they presented a $30,735 check to the American Cancer Society.

DAY 10

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ore than 650,000 people undergo chemotherapy treatments each year, and for anyone who has experienced it—or knows someone who has—the procedure takes a toll. One of the serious side effects is a weakened cardiovascular system, and scientists have spent years researching how to help patients recover. Though they have had a great deal of success, the studies have had one problem—participants are overwhelmingly white. “Black and Hispanic patients only make up six to eight percent of whole participants who are enrolled in those research studies,” said Dr. Huimin Yan, an assistant professor of exercise and health sciences. That means the results cannot be generalized for everyone, which is a barrier for people of color who need care. It’s a problem that researchers from UMass Boston’s Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences and the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC) are set on solving as part of a three-year, nearly $1 million study—known as the THRIVE study—being funded by a U54 grant from the National Institutes of Health. Yan is working with Professor of Nursing Dr. Laura Hayman and Dr. Christina Dieli-Conwright of DF/HCC to measure how home-based exercise improves participation and the cardiovascular health of Black and Hispanic patients receiving chemotherapy for breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer.

THRIVEING AND SURVIVING: UMASS BOSTON, DANA FARBER TEAM STUDIES HOW EXERCISE HELPS BLACK AND HISPANIC PATIENTS RECOVER FROM CHEMO Gray Milkowski ’18

It’s research that is groundbreaking for two reasons: the team is exclusively working with Black and Hispanic patients with cancer, and they are using next-generation technology and inclusive methods. The research uses blood pressure as a key indicator of the subject’s cardiovascular health, but measuring it is a little different from the cuff you put on in a doctor’s office. Yan and her team use a machine to noninvasively measure aortic arterial pressure, which is a better predictor of future diseases. The device “senses the pressure at its highest, but then also all the way through.” The generated pressure waveforms tell researchers how stiff the patient’s arteries are. “The techniques Dr. Yan is using are really innovative technologies that are designed to be more predictive of those at risk

for hypertension and other cardiovascular risks in oncology patients,” said Hayman, an expert in cardiovascular disease risk factors and health disparities. The study then asks patients to undergo an exercise regimen and track improvement, something that those in the medical field wouldn’t have dreamed of until recently. “In the past people thought that if you’re receiving chemotherapy, you’re too tired or too fragile to exercise,” said Yan. “But there is emerging evidence that suggests it’s feasible, and that’s beneficial.” One of the challenges that the study faces is overcoming mistrust of medical research in the Black and Hispanic communities, bred by a long history of malpractice and unethical treatment. It makes it difficult to recruit participants, but the study is built to get past this by meeting participants where they are. “We go to the community more, we talk to potential participants, and we explain what we’ll be doing to them, and that’s really helped with recruitment,” said Yan. Recruiting student researchers who can have those conversations with participants has also helped. “I welcome students with diverse backgrounds into my lab, because when they go out and talk to people to try and recruit them for research studies, they can relate more and can communicate better—there’s more trust,” said Yan.

The study also puts money and resources into inclusivity. Typical studies might ask for participants to travel to a lab to do their exercise, meaning that participation was much more difficult for people using public transit, who need to find childcare, or even pay for parking. But Yan and her colleagues instead ask people to stay home. They send exercise equipment, iPads, Fitbits, and Wi-Fi hotspots to each participant, and by doing so, each person can have reliable internet, video call with researchers, and track their exercise without being impeded by travel or money. “We’re trying to make the intervention targeted to lower the barriers for our target population to exercise,” said Yan. UMass Boston Spring 2022

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LEADING WITH COMPASSION: PRESIDENT STAN MCLAREN ’89 LOOKS TO FUTURE OF CARNEY HOSPITAL BY VANESSA CHATTERLEY

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UMASS BOSTON ALUMNUS STAN MCLAREN ’89 has been a leader and advocate in the Dorchester community for over 30 years. Now the former president and CEO at Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center (HSNHC) has been appointed president of Carney Hospital, a role that has come with its own set of unique challenges amid an all-consuming global pandemic that continues to impact the health care community. “We’re being called during a historically important time. The pandemic has had a significant impact on me, on my family, and families around me, but I’ve been thinking about how it’s impacted hospital employees,” said McLaren, calling health care worker burnout a “national problem.” “The pandemic continues to create tremendous staffing challenges for the health care industry. Studies show that we have the second-highest rate of employee attrition in the country.” But McLaren is prepared to tackle this. Prior to assuming his new role in May 2021, he served as a board member at the hospital for four years. And during his tenure on the board of HSNHC, McLaren served in the roles of treasurer and then chairperson. McLaren knows that being present, involved, and informed are the key tenets of a successful leadership. “Checking in, on every floor and in every department, allows me to get a pulse for the environment of the hospital, to see what adjustments we need to make in our working environment. Our employees work on the frontlines. By being present, you are able to witness firsthand what and how they are doing. It’s also import-

ant to acknowledge and celebrate those that are going above and beyond to deliver on our mission,” said McLaren. Above all, McLaren said, you can’t deliver on a mission without a deeply committed staff who share the values and caring and concern for the community.

low-income girls and their families. He also worked with a variety of Boston nonprofits as an accounting consultant. Additionally, he founded a fatherhood program through the Boston Public Health Commission that serves low-tono-income families and provides men with emotional and financial resources.

“I am committed to the delivery of high-quality care and, as time permits, I plan to spend more time going out in the community, establishing partnerships, and connecting with others who share our vision of health and healing,” said McLaren, adding that he intends to engage with the Dorchester community and establish linkages with trusted partners while building overall awareness of Carney’s various services.

Those experiences, McLaren said, cumulate to form the type of leader he is today.

McLaren’s immigrant parents instilled in him at an early age that education was the key to success. When he enrolled at UMass Boston to earn his degree in economics, he was immediately aware of and reveled in the diversity on campus.

McLaren’s vision is for Carney Hospital to be at the forefront of public health and a cornerstone of health and healing in the community—a task, he said, he can’t do alone.

“UMass Boston gave me an exciting opportunity to learn in a very diverse environment, and that diversity to me was extremely important,” he said. “The community at UMass taught me lessons on how to work with a lot of different people. Those are the invaluable skills that have served me today.” McLaren has utilized those same skills beyond the walls of his UMass Boston classroom—taking them straight to the Dorchester community, where he’s resided for over three decades. He previously served as the director of finance and operations for an independent tuition-free school in Grove Hall, which serves

“All those experiences help connect you with people on a personal level, which allows you to see the different paths people take in life,” said McLaren. “My goal is to provide leadership that will help us to further our mission of providing the highest quality of care, with compassion and respect.”

“We can’t deliver on our mission without deeply committed employees at all levels. Employees must share the values of caring and concern for our community,” he said. “This includes those who have experienced trauma and those struggling with substance use disorder and mental health issues. We must be accepting of cultural differences, especially those from immigrant backgrounds where English is not their first language. Carney has to be a solid, high-functioning institution that is responsive to all those needs.” He added, “I’ll tell you this: I have a lot to do here at Carney, so I’m not planning to go anywhere any time soon.”

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Renaissance Man John Picardi ’93 Creates Worlds Beyond His Own

BY VANESSA CHATTERLEY

UINCY NATIVE JOHN PICARDI ’93

didn’t have to look very far

to find inspiration for his latest book. In Nincompoop, aspiring playwright Leonardo arrives in New York City in the early ’90s. Beyond his professional Broadway dreams, he wants to find a husband and start a family, nearly a decade before the legalization of same-sex marriage. Fresh out of graduate school, Leonardo’s new beginning is hampered by the harsh realities of the big city. Picardi calls the protagonist optimistic, ambitious—and semiautobiographical. Like Leonardo, Picardi moved to New York in the ’90s, during a time when prejudice toward the LGBTQ+ community was overwhelmingly widespread, rampant, and destructive. Picardi said the experience took a toll on his self-esteem, calling the novel a “cautionary tale.” “It has a negative effect on your psyche. ‘How come I’m not equal to everyone else?’ or ‘How come I’m being treated differently?’” he said. “[The book] is a journey of self-love, coming to terms with who I am, who the protagonist is.” Released in May 2021 by Adelaide Books, Nincompoop is the most recent of Picardi’s many ambitious undertakings. Not only is he a successful author with two published books under his belt (Oliver Pepper’s Pickle was his debut novel), Picardi is also a professionally trained chef, having studied at Johnson & Wales University; a skilled painter; and—like his protagonist—an accomplished playwright. He is the author of award-winning plays “The Sweepers” and “Seven Rabbits on a Pole,” both of which have been produced on off-Broadway and across the United States. Picardi’s own story is one that couldn’t be written without first

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attending UMass Boston. He originally enrolled at the university with the intention of majoring in business. It was only after he took his first writing class that Picardi changed his mind, his major, and, consequentially, the trajectory of his life forever. “UMass Boston was one of the most amazing times of my life. It opened the world for me,” said Picardi, who earned his bachelor’s in English before pursuing his MFA at Carnegie Mellon University. “I had great professors who were there for me, nurtured me, believed in me, and encouraged me.” Picardi now teaches English at Framingham State University, where he’s thrilled to pass on the wisdom he acquired from former English and creative writing professors at UMass Boston— like former faculty member Geoffrey Goodale and late professors emeriti Lee Grove and Duncan Nelson. Additionally, he’s exploring his interest in painting, a self-taught hobby that has since flourished into a market with its own loyal fan base of art lovers. “You have to follow your passion because in the long run, we’re only here for a short time,” he said.

MEET MASS MEDIA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF GRACE SMITH ’22 BY ADRIENNE HARRISFRIED ’22

Editor-in-Chief Grace Smith ’22 was dedicated to The Mass Media—UMass Boston’s student-run newspaper—before she even stepped foot on campus. Currently finishing up her second year as head of the publication, Smith said her time at the newspaper shaped her college years and presented opportunities that she would not have otherwise had. “The paper has paid for me to do things, and it’s given me connections. We get to go to conferences, and I can get press passes to go to exhibits, concerts, and events,” said Smith. “Those experiences are things that would normally be exclusive or expensive if I wasn’t part of The Mass Media.” Smith chose to enroll at UMass Boston because of the paper, and she attended her freshman orientation with the goal of landing a job on it. “I was able to step into the role as arts and lifestyle editor, which is atypical for a freshman with minimal experience,” said Smith. “But I had a lot of drive and passion for journalism, which I think they saw. Before we even had our first day at school, I had already driven two hours to go to the first Mass Media meeting.” This position opened a new world of possibilities for Smith. She attended concerts, wrote reviews, and interviewed pop singer-songwriter Christian French twice. Smith dined in multiple restaurants and attended events in Boston as well, including Glow Boston’s Halloween Party

in 2019; the Boston Ballet’s Nutcracker; and Boston Fashion Week, where she interviewed the models and head designer. Smith’s ultimate promotion to editorin-chief should have been a celebratory time—but then COVID struck. The global shutdown caused difficulties for the paper. “During COVID, I was completely on my own and had no training. It was harder than usual to get students involved. All the clubs and organizations were struggling. It was hard to build upon the paper with little involvement,” said Smith, adding that the return to campus reignited student interest. “COVID helped me to grow a lot and step up when I really wasn’t fully prepared…. It gave me great experience for the workplace.” The knowledge she gained from The Mass Media allowed her to secure two internships at small businesses, where she handles marketing and communications. Smith is on track to graduate this month with a degree in communications and a concentration in professional and new media writing. After graduation, she hopes to continue writing for a newspaper or magazine that reviews music. But before she leaves, Smith has one more goal. “I would love to see the paper get the recognition that it deserves. I want more

Two students enjoying the student-run paper, circa 1985. Were you part of the The Mass Media when you were a student, or recall your favorite spot to read it? Share your memories with us at alumni@umb.edu.

students picking it up and more students getting involved,” said Smith. “We are a staple of the UMass Boston community. The students that we do have on our team are so hardworking and they deserve to have their work read.” Read more stories by students at The Mass Media at umassmedia.com.

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ABOUT alumni 1970s Frances Bak ’79 was the first tourist to officially visit Bhutan in 2021 after tourism remained closed since March 2020 due to the pandemic. Even before the pandemic, traveling to Bhutan required a fair bit of coordination. Under the kingdom’s “High Value Low Impact” policy, visiting is prohibitively expensive and designed to prevent overtourism. Bak said all the hurdles were worth it. During her threemonth stay in August, she visited various monasteries and institutions and played her western gong. Marie Finn ’78 retired from Gorman Fort Banks School, marking the end of a superlative 43-year teaching career in the Winthrop school system. Finn started in 1979 at Winthrop Junior High as a physical education teacher. She graduated from Boston State College with her bachelor’s in exercise science/physical education.

1990s Paula Cloghessy ’93 joined Seres Therapeutics, Inc. as executive vice president, chief people officer. She brings to Seres more than 20 years of human resources expertise with broad business experience leading human resources organizations in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Seres is a leading microbiome therapeutics company developing a novel class of multifunctional bacterial consortia that are designed to functionally interact with host cells and tissues to treat disease. Dan Currie ’95, former New England events programming representative for C-SPAN in Boston, created a map of Edgar Allan Poe’s Boston called “The Raven’s Trail” and co-curated a popular exhibition at the Boston Public Library called “The Raven in the Frog Pond: Edgar Allan Poe & the City of Boston.” He then became founding president of the Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston for the purpose of spearheading the

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public art project that resulted in the 2014 unveiling of a permanent life-size bronze statue of the writer at Boylston and Charles Streets in what the city now calls Poe Square. Sean Meagher ’99 was featured in the ninth season of Bravo’s Emmy-nominated hit series Below Deck. Meagher has sailed to the polar ice caps and the South Pacific, which means that he carries quite an impressive resume. Meagher is also impressive off-land, and spent five years photographing wildlife. Ronald Taylor ’98 was named executive vice president and head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) of Natixis Investment, based in Boston. In this role, Taylor leads Natixis IM’s U.S. DEI initiatives and also serves as a resource for Natixis IM’s affiliates in the region to support their DEI efforts.

2000s Nora Rose Adukonis ’06 was named partner at Litchfield Cavo LLP. Prior to this appointment, Nora was awarded the Rising Stars distinction in 2019. Rising Stars is a designation of top-rated practicing attorneys selected through extensive evaluation. Monique Austin ’01, G’05 was named director of equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism (EDIA) at Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, RI. In this newly created position, Austin will develop, organize, and implement equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism initiatives and strategies in support of Trinity Rep’s EDIA goals. Originally from Boston, Austin has spent over 20 years in higher education, having worked at both public and private institutions. The majority of her work has focused on creating opportunities and spaces that promote equity, diversity, and inclusion. Meredith Guerriero ’03 has been named chief operating offer at Klover, a Chicago fintech startup

James Kelleher ’78 James Kelleher ’78 retired as Liberty Mutual’s chief legal officer and executive vice president at the end of 2021. Kelleher held multiple leadership roles during his notable, nearly four-decade career at Liberty Mutual, including managing the corporate litigation group, serving as General Counsel of Liberty International. As deputy counsel, he oversaw the provision of legal services to all of the company’s domestic and foreign insurance operations. In 2016, Kelleher and his wife, Susan, established the James F. and Susan Kelleher Scholarship Fund to support UMass Boston students with strong academic credentials and demonstrated financial need.

that’s creating a new way for consumers to access loans. Guerriero has spent the last four years at Pinterest, where she was VP of sales and partnerships. Before that, Guerriero spent two years as a director at Facebook and a decade at Google.

continue to grow as a place for equity, inclusion, and diverse points of view. Jeffries is the executive director of King Boston, a nonprofit working to create a memorial and programs in memory of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Amy Hackett G’04 joined Peckar & Abramson’s Boston office as a partner. Hackett represents general contractors, owners, developers, and other clients in a wide range of complex construction, real estate and commercial disputes. Her experience includes representing clients in matters involving contract disputes, design and construction defect claims, payment disputes, mechanic’s liens, warranty claims, lease and build-out disputes, shareholder disputes, and unfair and deceptive trade practices.

Kate Woods ’09 joined Foxboro High School as school nurse. Woods has over 10 years of experience as a staff nurse at Boston and suburban hospitals. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing at UMass Boston.

Imari Paris Jeffries ’97, G’99, G’03 was named to the “Power 50 List” by the Boston Business Journal. This list recognizes the individuals in the Greater Boston business community who are taking a stand, creating change, and taking actionable steps to work together to make Boston

2010s Rebecca Arellano ’12 was named senior advisor for the City of Boston earlier this year. Previously, Arellano was a director of scheduling and advance for Mayor Michelle Wu’s office, as well as a sustainability coordinator at a property management company. She has a bachelor’s in psychology from UMass Boston, a master’s in urban affairs from Boston University, and a certificate in equity-based leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School.

A B O U T alumni Kacy Granitsas ’17 recently published The Holy Grail War: The Hedgehog. The book is urban fiction exploring the psychological torment human beings go through when exposed to acts of violence, particularly warfare. Sofya Gray ’16 launched her sustainable swimwear brand ANNAMAY in 2017. Her products are handcrafted in limited quantities and made from 100 percent recycled eco-materials. Gray said she takes serious actions to educate people about the danger of microplastic pollution at sea and proper disposal techniques of their products with respect to the environment. Talita Guerrero’s ’15 company Right Key Mortgage was named to Inc. magazine’s 2021 list of “America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies.” Guerrero, who co-founded Right Key Mortgage, said, “We are very honored to be a recipient of such a prestigious award. Our team’s hard work and dedication propelled Right Key to number 1,612 on the 2021 list. We helped thousands of families, and that’s why we are here today. As a company, we are proud to say that we try, day after day, to provide the best customer service, and entering this list confirms that we are on the right track.” Stephanie Shamoun Levin G’03 was named vice president of Global Human Resources at ChannelAdvisor Corporation, a leading provider of cloud-based e-commerce solutions. Levin brings more than 20 years of experience in human resources, program management, and community engagement to the role. In this role, Levin will oversee the strategic development and execution of global HR programs and initiatives in talent acquisition, learning and development, talent management, employee engagement, DE&I, and benefits and compensation. Tiffany Lillie ’15 has been appointed assistant superintendent for Equity,

Diversity, and Community Engagement for the Framingham Public Schools and began her appointment following a vote by the Framingham School Committee. Prior to this role, Lillie served as the director of Community Resource Development for the Framingham Public Schools. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UMass Boston and a master’s in urban affairs from Boston University. Clarissa Oliveira ’12 has joined Metro Credit Union (MCU), Massachusetts’ largest state-chartered credit union, as a partner in the Training and Development Department. Oliveira joins MCU with over a decade of experience within the financial services industry, most recently as a BSA analyst at Naveo Credit Union. Pavel Payano G’11 announced earlier this year that he is running for state senate for the seat comprised of Lawrence, Methuen, and a piece of Haverhill. The Lawrence city councilor served as the outreach director for the Massachusetts Democratic Party and then as a special assistant and immigration specialist for Congresswoman Niki Tsongas. He also worked on former President Barack Obama’s 2008 electoral campaign as his New Hampshire Latino’s Campaign co-director and field director for a campaign headquarters in Nashua, New Hampshire. He earned his master’s in public affairs from UMass Boston. Sarah Son-Theroux ’18 is leading an art project for Cape Cod Hospital. Five patient-submitted art pieces will be installed in the behavioral health unit of the hospital. The pieces, which are all roughly about 30-by30 inches, range from a colorful “Gratitude Tree” where patients and students wrote things they were grateful for on the leaves, to a blackand-white paper collage titled “City of Refuge.” Alexander Zamenhof ’12 joined McGlinchey Stafford as an associate

Ellise LaMotte PhD’16 Ellise LaMotte PhD’16 was named associate dean of Student Diversity, Inclusion, and Success for the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering at Tufts University. The university conducted a national search, and LaMotte rose to the top of the list, having previously served as director of the Center for STEM Diversity. In her role, LaMotte will lead the Division of Student Diversity and Inclusion, which serves as a resource for undergraduate and graduate students interested in social identities and the ways they impact our lives and the world. The division is composed of the six current identity centers: Africana, Asian American, FIRST, LGBT, Latinx, and Women’s.

John Bysiewicz ’07 John Bysiewicz ’07 has been named a partner of assurance practice at BDO USA, LLP, a global accounting network. In his role, Bysiewicz provides audit and consulting services for private business owners, start-up/ emerging growth companies and established private middle market clients in the construction, real estate and technology industries, along with performing employee benefit plan audits for his clients.

in its New York City office. He has firsthand experience with real estate litigation in supreme and appellate courts, as well as surrogate/estate, eviction, and financial services litigation, mortgage review, bankruptcy, default servicing, mediation, and other civil practice. As an undergraduate student at UMass Boston, Zamenhof spent a semester abroad studying international law at Oxford University in England.

Diane Zeitler ’13 accepted the position of fourth grade teacher at the Igo Elementary School. Zeitler comes to Foxboro with five years of teaching experience as a grade four teacher in the Rockland Public Schools and also served many years in Newton Public Schools as a teacher assistant. She earned her master’s degree in education at Endicott College and her bachelor’s degree at UMass Boston.

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A B O U T alumni 2020s Cleo Falvey G’21, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, is studying lizards in the Rutgers University‒Camden Center for Computational and Integrative Biology PhD program. Falvey spent her undergraduate years at UMass Boston working in a lab studying lizards, beginning in her first year of college. She is the co-author of an article published in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society about lizards in urban areas evolving to have shorter, thicker claws than lizards found in forests. Nathalia Benitez Perez ’21 was appointed East Boston Liaison by Mayor Michelle Wu’s Office of Neighborhood Services. In her role, Perez will distribute information and facilitate the delivery of services in collaboration with City departments to the constituents of East Boston. A new graduate of UMass Boston, Benitez Perez earned her bachelor’s in political science.

U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo ’98 U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo ’98 is a ZimbabweanAmerican poet, author, speaker, singer, and educator who has performed internationally in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria, Portugal, and Ireland. She is fiercely passionate about using her voice for women’s empowerment, wellness, diversity, and inclusion and the exploration of translation or “hyphenated identities” through her work. Mhlaba-Adebo is member of the New England Poetry Club and The International Women’s Writing Guild and an advisory board member for Write on the Dot, a community reading initiative in Dorchester. Most recently, she worked as a costume stylist on “Memoirs of a Black Girl.” The comingof-age film was written and directed by Thato Mwosa and won the Best Narrative Feature at the Roxbury International Film Festival in June 2021.

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UMass Boston Spring 2022

IN MEMORIAM Since our last issue, it has saddened us to learn of the passing of the following members of the UMass Boston community. ALUMNI

George B. Adams ’82 Margaret W. Allen G’00 Paul J. Andrews G’60 Ellen P. Bean ’86 Mary F. Sullivan Bertain ’56 Joseph C. Broderick ’66 Anne Marie Naughton Brown ’69 Stephen F. Carey ’87 Sister Mary Clancy ’73 Mary Micheal Connolly ’87 Lawrence J. Conroy ’78 James B. Conway ’72 Helder S. Costa ’79 Patrick J. Crossen ’81 William B. Dalrymple Jr. ’00 Patrice Factor Doherty ’47 Anne Miller Downing ’56 Tegan Dubey ’13 Eileen Fonzo Dwyer ’63 Hinda Lampke Elwyn ’41 Mary E. Farren ’86 Gabriel M. Ferrante ’78 Hugh T. Field ’70 Jane Casey Fitzpatrick ’50 Lois Potts Foley ’63 Michalene Rollins Forsythe ’63 Albert J. Fortier ’74 Judy Friedman ’82 Dorothy E. Gagnon ’73 Professor Moira A. Galvin ’60, G’64 Anestis John Ghanotakis G’97 Ceres V. Greer ’01 Mary P. Dineen Harshany ’70 Edith E. Haynes ’66 Flora Mazzone Joyce ’82, G’86 Anne Doyle Kenney ’78 John Kessinger ’55 Doris M. Travis Keyes ’47 Eileen Kibrick ’46 Edwin H. King G’63 Estelle L. Koutoulas ’57 Alexander Kuznezov ’73 Patricia A. Long ’69 Anne Keefe Lyons ’60 Nobuko Mammoto ’05

Nicole M. Mars ’98 Anne Connolly McCarthy ’49 Michael A. McCarthy PhD ’69, G’72 Barbara Short McDonough ’56 Russell G. McGilvray ’81 Sheila M. McGinty ’73 William H. McIntyre ’82 Rita A. McLaughlin ’41 Consuelo A. Medina ’87 Mary Broderick Melia ’53 William A. Minkle ’89, G’91 Robert T. Moran ’85 Marie A. Morello ’55 Katherine Elizabeth Morrissey ’19 John D. Murphy ’68 Valentina N. Alale Nwosu ’82 Gloria Salamy O’Brien ’61 Patricia M. O’Brien ’88 Gregory J. O’Halloran ’84 Gail M. O’Reilly ’63 Harry Panopoulos ’58 Andrew A. Pevarnek ’79 Mary J. Preskenis ’94, CER’96 Susan D. Prophet ’81 Marguerite W. Quinlan CER’97 Denise A. Radko ’81 Ellen Louise O’Hearn Redgate ’45, G’70 Lourdes Maria Roth ’95 Patricia A. Coghlan Samodelov ’58 Lawrence S. Sands ’77 Hazel McFerson Schiavo-Campo ’69 Thelma Rayman Schwartz ’50 Ralph S. Seastrom ’76, G’08 Claudia M. Semper ’68 John Sforza ’72 Mary K. Shia ’08 Mildred Silverman Stahl ’40 Kyle A. Wallace Sterne G’92 William F. Sweeney ’76 Ursula M. Looney Tafe G’58 Helen Dowd Walsh ’58 Mr. Michael C. Young ’06

FACULTY AND STAFF

William P. Carlo Dr. Joanne H. Frey Professor Emeritus Kenneth C. Kleene Roni A. Lipton Senator William Owens Professor Emeritus Joseph Schork Dr. Claire A. Van Ummerson H’88 Professor Peter Westort Professor Jodie Wigren FRIENDS

Delille Beliard Valerine Beliard Timothy P. Boughner P’24 Peter Carino Professor Jules Chametzky Charles Steward Curran III John S. Duley James T. Farrell Newell Flather Sr. Avram J. Goldberg Marjorie Hamilton Jeanne D. Keller, MD Arlene Kirshen Michael J. Levitt Anne M. Hourihan Marshall Esra McDaniel Joseph McDermott Margaret McDermott David G. Mugar John Sal Munsey Professor Hidegoro Nakano Netchie Patterson Sampson Robert J. Regan Catherine A. Riley Jerry Smith Robert J. Starratt, EdD Ruth Stuart Starratt, PhD Mildred Washington

James “Jim” B. Conway ’72 James “Jim” B. Conway ’72, a health care leader and longtime resident of Woburn, passed away peacefully at Lahey Hospital on July 14, 2021. Conway graduated from St. Mary’s High School in Cambridge and received a bachelor of science from Boston State College and a master of science from Lesley University in Cambridge. He began his health care career at Children’s Hospital in Boston, progressing over 27 years to become assistant hospital director. During his professional career, he was the COO and executive vice president at Dana-Farber Cancer Center, an adjunct lecturer at the Harvard School of Public Health, senior vice president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and later served as a senior fellow. Throughout his career, his focus was on patient safety, patient and family-centered care, crises management and governance, and executive management. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Joanne M. (Duffy) Conway, his children, grandchildren, siblings, and extended family and friends.

Senator William “Bill” Owens Senator William “Bill” Owens, the first Black state senator in Massachusetts, who fought for racial justice and economic equality, passed away on January 22, 2022, at the age of 84. Owens attended Boston English High School and Boston University, earned a master degree in education from Harvard University, and studied in a PhD program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Elected in 1972, he was also a businessman, owning a dry-cleaning business on Blue Hill Avenue. He was one of the founders of the Black Legislative Caucus on Beacon Hill and secured funding to build Roxbury Community College campus. Upon leaving office, Sen. Owens continued to pursue his interests in social policy and human services, procuring legislation that supported the Health Education and Learning Program for Black Males Health (HELP), which serviced communities around the state from its base at UMass Boston. He was a staff member at the Trotter Institute and remained on the advisory board from 2006 to 2011.

Edith Haynes ’66 Edith Haynes ’66 passed away in April 2021. She graduated from Girls’ Latin School and majored in mathematics at Boston State College. She was active in campus activities, serving as class vice president for three years and playing varsity basketball. After college, Haynes joined the Navy, graduated from the Naval Officers Candidate School, and during her military tenure advanced to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. She earned a master’s degree in computer systems management from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1970 and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1980. Haynes worked in the data processing industry, as well as in the banking industry. She operated a natural food distribution company in Portland, Oregon, and led her own management consulting firm.

UMass Boston Spring 2022

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Investing in UMass Boston

BOSTON TEACHERS COLLEGE ALUMNA LEAVES POWERFUL LEGACY BY VANESSA DICARLO CARTA G’11

or Irene Nichols ’52, as for her peers at Boston Teachers College (BTC), the opportunity to attend college was a generational shift that changed her life and set her on a more affluent trajectory. Born in 1929, Irene was one of five children raised in a two-bedroom apartment in Boston by her single mother, Jessie. Determined to see her children overcome the hardships of their youth, Jessie insisted that Irene focus on her education and attend college. Irene took this encouragement to heart, graduating from BTC, then serving in the Boston Public Schools, attending Harvard University for her advanced degrees, and becoming a professor of psychology in education at Northeastern University for 35 years. Along the way, she was a fierce advocate for women’s rights, equity and inclusion, peace, and the promotion of art in all its forms. When Irene passed away in 2020, she left clear instructions for her estate to benefit three scholarships for UMass Boston students: the Jessie A. Nichols Early Childhood Education Fund (named for her mother), the Boston Teachers College Scholarship

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UMass Boston Spring 2022

Dr. Irene Nichols ’52 (R) with her mother, Jessie A. Nichols, on the occasion of her doctoral hooding at Harvard University.

Fund, and the Gina M. Cappello Scholarship Fund. The first two funds support future educators; the last is a tribute to the late Vice Chancellor for University Advancement whom Irene worked closely with during her years on the university’s Board of Visitors. Irene’s combined bequest to these meaningful scholarships totals in excess of $1 million. As endowed funds, Irene’s contributions will grow the principal of these scholarships and create a ripple of impact in the lives of countless students across generations. “Boston Teachers College changed [my aunt’s] life and gave her a chance to escape poverty,” wrote Irene’s niece, Tracey Nichols. “She loved her time at Boston Teachers College and wants other young people to have the opportunity to become teachers.” Through her deep engagement with UMass Boston over the years, Irene recognized that today’s UMass Boston students share many commonalities with her generation of alumni: hard-working, motivated, passionate students who seek to use their education to build stronger communities and families.

Dr. Irene Nichols ’52 (R) with her sister, Phyllis (L) and mother, Jessie.

Precious Hernandez, the 2021 Jessie A. Nichols Scholar, upon learning of her scholarship award, shared: “This money has taken a huge financial weight off my family’s shoulders... I am hoping to receive my doctor of education in education policy studies. Hopefully, to create change from a higher rank in the system of education.” Irene valued education and the opportunities it provides. The leadership she demonstrated at every turn now lives on in the next generation of UMass Boston Beacons.

Investing in UMass Boston

Supporting Future Educators: Boston Teachers College Scholarship Fund Hits $1 Million BY VANESSA CHATTERLEY

he Boston Teachers College (BTC) Scholarship Fund recently surpassed its $1 million goal. The milestone was announced at the 25th Boston Teachers College reception, an annual reunion for alumni of Boston State College, Boston Normal School, Teachers College of the City of Boston, and State Teachers College at Boston. The BTC Scholarship Fund was founded by alumnae Marie Fox ’52, Mary Doucette Duseau ’57, Virginia M. Duseau ’52, Alice O.C. DeGuglielmo ’52, Virginia Lee Langley ’48, Jane Monahan Milano ’55, and Madeline McLean Smith ’51. Established in 1996, the scholarship was one of the first of its kind to collectively represent UMass Boston and its legacy schools for a specific profession. Since its inception over 20 years ago, the scholarship is annually awarded to deserving

UMass Boston students pursuing a degree in education. To date, 70 students have received the award, and as the fund has grown, so has its annual impact. “Our first scholarship was for $250, and now we’re giving out six of them at $5,000 each. It’s just beyond anything we’ve ever anticipated,” said Scholarship Committee Chair Marie Fox ’52. “It’s beyond description.”

Scholarship recipient Yadi Castillo ’22 said she realized the importance of creating a flexible and inclusive classroom after her own difficult high school experience. A senior majoring in social psychology with a minor in secondary education, Castillo said she plans to pursue a career in teaching psychology at the high school level with a focus on special education. “I am more than honored to be a recipient of the Boston Teachers College Scholarship. I’m doing this for all of the students who had a difficult time in school because they were too afraid to speak up,” she said. Those interested in making a gift to support the BTC Scholarship Fund can contact giving@umb.edu.

The overall response surrounding the scholarship has been overwhelming, said Fox, attributing it to alumni’s eagerness to honor their alma mater and support future educators. “The enthusiasm has been incredible because of the love of the school. It’s beyond anything that we ever expected. It truly has been,” she said.

Marie Fox ’52

Scholarship recipients and luncheon guests gather. L to R: Alexis Poindexter ’22, Mia Čirkić ’22, Christine Tierney, Denise Patmon, Darragh Fahey ’22, Yadielis Castillo ’22 (recipients not pictured: Elizabeth Healy ’22, Samantha Le ’22)

UMass Boston Fall 2021

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Alumni

s Alumni and friends gather for a group picture at our San Diego reception last October.

EVENTS

s Chancellor Suárez-Orozco updates our L.A. alumni on the campus quad project.

s Chancellor Suárez-Orozco addresses the audience at our Los Angeles reception this past fall.

s Alumni and friends enjoy a beautiful view of the San Francisco skyline at our San Francisco reception last November. 30

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UMass Boston Spring 2022

s Prospective student Caroline Holmes joins alumnae Jane Epstein ’69, G’75, CER’76, Selma Sax ’63, and Elliot Sax at the Los Angeles reception last October.

s Alumni and friends gather for an evening of networking and catching up at our San Francisco reception last November.

s David Manning ’15, Natalie Belflower ’15, Noemi Lopez ’07, CER’07, Jethro Dely ’07, and Caitlin Pinkham ’15 pose for a photo at our Washington, DC, reception last semester.

s Chancellor Suárez-Orozco is joined by Catherine Frisone Scott ’38, G’39 at the Washington, DC, reception last November.

s Chancellor Suárez-Orozco addresses the audience at our Washington, DC, reception this past fall.

s Chanel Bryant-Alexander ’17 and guest Lloyd Collins at the Alumni Holiday Reception in December.

s Young Alumni Council members Alexandrea Kreuser ’16, G’19, Heather Powell ’13, Natalie Belflower ’15, Gray Milkowski ’18, Jake Bohenko ’19, Chhenlee Ly ’15, G’18, and Andreia Soares ’15 gather at the annual Alumni Holiday Reception.

s Young Alumni Council member Chhenlee Ly ’15, G’18 and wife Linh Tran G’20 at the Alumni Holiday Reception in December.

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Women Beacons in Business Program Empowers Alumni and Students BY HEATHER BRIGHAM G’18 N THE SPRING OF 2020, faculty in the College of Management noticed a trend among female students as they prepared for the job hunt and life after graduation. “Faculty members and I were seeing that some of our female students were not speaking up in group settings with potential employers and not applying for challenging internships at the same rate as their male classmates,” said Professor Kristen Callahan. “The confidence gap between males and females is not unique to our students.” Research shows that men will apply for a job if they have 60 percent of the skills required, while women will often only apply if they have 100 percent of the skills needed. Director of College Engagement Heather Brigham G’18, an alumna of UMass Boston’s MBA program, worked with College of Management colleagues Allison Rubin and Professor Callahan to launch the Women Beacons in Business Program. Their objective was to give students access to alumni mentors while also providing alumni with a networking platform. The program started by gathering female students and alumni in small virtual meetings to discuss topics from the book Lean In for Graduates. Since then, the program has grown to offer access to conferences such as Boston Business Journal’s Mentoring Monday; a presentation by McKinsey and Co. on their annual Women in the Workplace study; interactive workshops such as “How to Navigate Difficult Conversations in the Workplace,” hosted by College of Management board member Mary Thistle ’83; and a discussion about how

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UMass Boston Spring 2022

Members of the Women Beacons in Business Program gathered in December 2021 for dinner and networking for the first time in person since the program began. Pictured L to R: Allison Rubin, Noshin Omar ’22 G’22, Reshmeen Chowdhury ’22, Kelly Fagan ’21, Dulce Cisneros ’24, and Heather Brigham G’18.

men can be better allies for women in the workplace, featuring a panel of alumni.

students met their mentors over dinner.

Jonas Roessel ’14, managing partner of Roessel Joy, led the event about men being allies for women and said, “I understand the importance of supporting women in the classroom and in their careers. I recognize that I have the opportunity—and obligation—to help make advancements for female students entering the workforce. Men need to be a part of the conversation if we want to see change.”

“I was overjoyed to have the opportunity to meet and thank the women in person who had been virtually mentoring me during my final semester and job search. They constantly made themselves available and taught me important interview skills and guided me through the intimidating job hunt, which resulted in me landing a great job,” said Noshin Omar ’22, G’22, who started as a financial analyst at Northeastern University earlier this year.

All the programming has taken place virtually during the pandemic, except for one opportunity in December 2021 where

For more information or to get involved with mentoring opportunities, please visit alumni.umb.edu/wbb.

alumni achievmnt awards The Office of Alumni Engagement is pleased to announce our inaugural Alumni Achievement Awards ceremony! After receiving nearly 70 nominations, we are excited to name five alumni award recipients from UMass Boston and its legacy schools who have made an impact in their community and on the university. Recipients will be announced at the awards ceremony on June 22, 2022. If you’re interested in attending the event, please email alumni@umb.edu. Space is limited. We will be opening the nomination process for next year’s awards in July 2022. For complete details of the nomination process, as well as award description and eligibility criteria, go to umb.edu/AAA.

UMass Boston Spring 2022

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Office of Alumni Engagement University of Massachusetts Boston 100 Morrissey Boulevard Boston, MA 02125-3393

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INVEST IN THE FUTURE Your generosity changes our students’ lives, and they go on to change our world! Please make your gift at umb.edu/gift by June 30 to be counted as a loyal donor this fiscal year.

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UMass Boston Magazine - Spring 2022

Articles inside

Meet Grace Smith ’22

Creating Safe and Inclusive Workspaces

Renaissance Man

THRIVEing and Surviving

New Face, Same Place

Named Fund Honors Pamela Strout Herbst ’77