One of the unique aspects of the University of Connecticut Leadership Legacy Experience is the presence of Faculty/Staff Mentors; each paired with a Legacy Student. The Faculty/Staff Mentors volunteer their time to work with Legacy Students to maximize their year-long experience with Legacy. Legacy Mentors attend lectures, socials, and meet one-on-one with their Legacy Students throughout the Experience. Faculty/Staff Mentors help Legacy Students synthesize their academic work with their co-curricular involvement and leadership experiences and help students understand how their experiences outside of the classroom complement their academic work and development as leaders while preparing them for their future careers beyond the University.
Dr. JC Beall
Department: Department of Philosophy
Mentee: David Steuber (Legacy '07)
Dr. Joseph Crivello
Department: Department of Physiology and Neurobiotics
Mentee: Wenhui Sun (Legacy '09)
Dr. Michael Darre
Department: Department of Animal Sciences
Mentee: Jennifer Elman (Legacy '07)
Dr. Jill Deans
Department: Office of National Scholarships (Undergraduate Enrichment)
Education: B.A., English and Religion, Bowdoin College; M.A. & Ph.D., English, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Mentee: Erica Morse (Legacy 08)
Favorite Part about being a Legacy Mentor? Watching my "mentee" connect with an impressive peer group and gain confidence in her abilities. I enjoyed meeting the alumni mentors, too and the other student participants.
Dr. Tom Deans
Department: Department of English and Writing Center
Education: B.A. and M.A., Georgetown University; Ph.D., University of Massachusetts
Mentee: Yoo Mi Thompson (Legacy 09)
Why did you become involved in the Legacy Program? I had heard promising things about the program and I already nominated a few of my students.
Dr. Julie Elkins*
Department: Student Affairs
Mentee: Robert Slattery (Legacy 08)
Dr. John Enderle
Department: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Mentee: Bryan Banville (Legacy 08)
Dr. Anita Garey
Department: Human Development and Family Studies
Education: B.A., English, California State University, Sacramento; M.A., Political Science, University of California, Berkeley; Ph.D., Sociology
Mentee: Chelsea Ambrozaitis (Legacy 09)
Favorite Part about being a Legacy Mentor? Getting to know my mentee in a variety of situations.
Dr. David Goldhamer
Department: Department of Accounting
Mentee: Jonathan Sierakowski (Legacy 07)
Dr. Larry Gramling
Department: Department of Accounting
Mentee: Jonathan Sierakowski (Legacy 07)
Dr. Jim Hill
Department: Academic Center for Exploratory Students
Education: B.A., Biology, Hartwick College; M.S., Botany, University of New Hampshire: Ph.D., Ecology, University of Connecticut
Mentee: Valen Diaz (Legacy 09)
Favorite Part about being a Legacy Mentor? I have worked in an academic setting for 20 plus years, and it has always been about the same thing - STUDENTS. Students continue to inspire, challenge and intrigue me
Valen is the primary reason. She is a tremendous person, and a natural born leader. I felt I could learn as much from her as she might from me.
Dr. Steven Jarvi
Department: Institute for Student Success
Education: B.S., Springfield College; M.Ed., Boston University; Ph.D., University of Connecticut
Mentee: Alixandra Grasson (Legacy 08)
Favorite Part about being a Legacy Mentor? Legacy students have lots of ideas and energy. I enjoy helping them look for themes in their activities and achievements and I encourage them to keep all their options open.
Dr. Debra Kendall
Department: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology
Mentee: Heeren Makanji (Legacy 08)
Ms. Donna Korbel
Department: Center for Students with Disabilities and Higher Education and Student Affairs
Education: B.A., Psychology and Sociology, Framingham State College; M.Ed., Springfield College; Doctoral student, University of Connecticut
Mentee: Elisabeth Werling (Legacy 09)
Favorite Part about being a Legacy Mentor? It has been a pleasure working with my mentee and watching the development of her leadership skills.
Dr. Jeffrey Kramer
Department: Health Systems Management
Mentee: Akina Warner (Legacy 09)
Mr. Leo Lachut
Department: Center for Academic Programs
Mentee: Brandon Luna (Legacy 09)
Dr. Richard Langlois
Department: Department of Economics
Mentee: Joseph Antelmi (Legacy 09)
Dr. Jennifer Lease Butts
Department: Honors and Undergraduate Research
Education: B.A.,History, University of Arkansas; M.Ed., Higher Education, University of Arkansas; Ph.D.,Counseling and Human Development and Student Affairs Administration, University of Georgia
Mentees: Linda Drozdowicz (Legacy 08), Samantha Sherwood (Legacy 07)
Favorite Part about being a Legacy Mentor? The best part is getting to connect with the two wonderful women that have been by mentees. I'm so proud of all that they have accomplished already, and it's been great to have the opportunity to continue to work with them over their college careers. I've also really enjoyed meeting the other Legacy students. It's always inspiring to hear about their lives and their ideas, and then to be able to watch those ideas come to fruition. They all make UConn better because of the time they invest in campus leadership.
Dr. Michael Lynes
Department: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology
Education: B.A., Biology, Colby College; Ph.D., Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Mentee: Philip Gorecki (Legacy 09)
Favorite Part about being a Legacy Mentor? I enjoy watching the development of the student's capabilities.
Mr. Adrian McCleary*
Department: Academic Center for Exploratory Students
Mentee: Adonis Chamble (Legacy 07)
Ms. Marie McCain
Department: Institute for Student Success
Mentee: Camille Patterson (Legacy 08)
Dr. David B. Miller
Department: Department of Psychology and Honors Undergraduate Studies
Education: B.A., Psychology, University of Florida; M.S. and Ph.D., Experimental Psychology, University of Miami
Mentee: Leah McDermott (Legacy 09)
Favorite Part about being a Legacy Mentor? Having a chance to interact with some very bright, talented, and highly dedicated students.
Dr. Sally Neal
Department: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Mentee: Allison Lemkin (Legacy 07)
Mr. David Ouimette
Department: First Year Programs
Mentee: Ryan Matthews (Legacy 08)
Dr. Mayte Perez-Franco
Department: Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center
Education: B.A., Education & Spanish, Georgia State University; M.A., Spanish, Georgia State University: Ph.D., Higher Education, University of Arizona
Mentee: Juan Carmona (Legacy 08)
Favorite Part about being a Legacy Mentor? Spending time with my mentee and getting to know him personally.
Dr. Katherine Ratcliff
Department: Department of Sociology
Mentee: Charlayne McStay (Legacy 07)
Ms. Angela Rola
Department: Asian American Cultural Center
Mentee: Daniel Lin 08, Matthew Lin 07
Ms. Beth Shapiro Settje
Department: Career Services
Education: B.S., Business Administration, Marketing, and English, Beaver College (Arcadia University); M.A. College Student Personnel, Counseling and Student Development, University of Maryland
Mentee: Alyssa Moss (Legacy 07)
Favorite Part about being a Legacy Mentor? I liked hearing about the activities and seeing how the student grew as result of the program.
Ms. Rebecca Taylor
Department: Counseling Program for Intercollegiate Athletics
Mentee: Brendan Bayers (Legacy 07)
Dr. Mike Willenborg
Department: Department of Accounting
Education: B.S., Accounting, Bucknell University; Ph.D., Business and Economics, Pennsylvania State University
Mentee: Christian Mendonca (Legacy 07)
Favorite Part about being a Legacy Mentor? I very much enjoyed getting to know the student whom I was mentoring.
Dr. David Yalof
Department: Department of Political Science
Mentee: Rachael Forker (Legacy 08)
* No longer with the University of Connecticut.
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