SHU Names Board of Overseers for Horizons at SHU Summer Program

FAIRFIELD, Conn. Sacred Heart University has named 11 members to the Board of Overseers for the Horizons at Sacred Heart University program that will launch this summer. The inaugural program will bring 32 low-income students entering first and second grade from Bridgeport Public and Cathedral Education Cluster schools to the SHU campus for six weeks in the summer of 2012.

The goal is to address summer learning loss, a phenomenon in which low-income students fall behind in reading and math skills in the summer, while middle-income students keep pace or jump ahead. This contributes to an achievement gap, leaving some low-income students as much as three years behind by fifth grade. The students who attend this program will actually gain reading and math skills this summer and will hopefully develop an appreciation for academics and campus life that will lead to college aspirations.

The newly appointed board members are:

Dr. Patrick J. Carolan, an orthopedic surgeon and principal member of the Merritt Orthopedic Associates in Bridgeport, who serves as chief of Orthopedics at St. Vincents Medical Center in Bridgeport. He has served more than five years on the Board of Trustees of Sacred Heart University. He is a graduate of UMDNJ New Jersey Medical School. He lives in Fairfield with his wife, Betty.

Mary Lou DeRosa, MBA, vice provost for Special Academic Programs at Sacred Heart University, who is a graduate of the University of Dayton and Sacred Heart University. She has 15 years of higher education experience and is responsible for part-time adult enrollments, English as a Second Language and Special Academic Programs.

Sean Dowling, CFP, EA, president and owner of the Dowling Group Wealth Management, who is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and Sacred Heart University. He serves on the Board of the Financial Planning Association and the Greenwich Swim Committee and is an All American Master Swimmer. He is an expert in investment management and financial tax planning strategies. He lives in Stamford with his wife, Jennifer.

R. Bradford Evans, who is a senior advisor for Morgan Stanley. He is responsible for managing certain client relationships for the firm and advising companies of significant strategic transactions. He joined Morgan Stanley in 1970 and became vice president in 1976. He was elected managing director in 1979 and a vice chairman in 2000. During his career, he has served as co-head of Morgan Stanleys Mergers and Acquisitions department and head of the firms European investment banking business, based in London. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Columbia University and resides in Southport with his wife, Barbara.

Yvonne F. Hickey, who is general manager for Public Sector Operations in the State of Connecticut for Xerox Corporation, has over a decade of service to Xerox and its many customers in New England, across all segments and disciplines. Prior to her current role serving higher education, K-12 and State and Local Government in Connecticut, she was an officer of Harvard Universitys Office of Information Technology and Harvard Business School Publishing for a collective 12 years. She is a graduate of Massachusetts College of Art and resides in Attleboro, Mass., with her husband and son.

Hobart C. Kreitler, who is the founder of Horizons at Greens Farms Academy, which was established in 1999. He served as board chair from 1999 2004 and is a lifetime board member. His past experiences include positions at Westinghouse Electric, Dictaphone Corporation and New Hermes, Inc., where he was chairman and CEO. He graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Business School and lives in Southport with his wife, Sally.

Edward Malin, Ph.D., interim dean of the Isabelle Farrington College of Education at Sacred Heart University, who joined the Department of Psychology at SHU in 1970, teaching statistics, research methodology and experimental and applied psychology. His career at Sacred Heart has included more than 20 years as chair of a range of academic departments. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a bachelors degree in liberal studies. He earned his masters degree in general psychology and his doctorate in experimental psychology from Fordham University. He lives in Trumbull with his wife, Judy.

Laura Niesen de Abruna, Ph.D., who is provost, vice president for Academic Affairs and professor of English at Sacred Heart University, and has 14 years of higher education management experience. She holds a bachelors degree in English with a minor in French from Smith College and a doctorate in modern American and British literatures with a minor in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American literatures from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She also recently earned a M.S. Ed. in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.

Barbara Omohundro, who co-chaired the board of Horizons at Greens Farms Academy for three years and is currently employed by Karp Associates in New Canaan. Her past experiences include work in admissions at Barnard College, assistant dean of students at Manhattanville College and director of telecommunications at University Hospitals in Cleveland. She is a graduate of Connecticut College. She and her husband, Dan, an ophthalmologist, live in Fairfield.

Angela Pitcher, director of Summer/Winter Sessions and Special Programs at Sacred Heart University, who is a resident of Trumbull. She earned her bachelors degree in business management from Sacred Heart University and is currently pursuing her MBA. She is responsible for summer and winter sessions and special academic programming for the University.

Nan Ruben, who will serve as the Greens Farms Academy liaison to the Board. She is a graduate of George Washington University and the University of Pittsburgh. She was a founding member in 2000 of the Board of Directors of Horizons at Greens Farms Academy, chaired two strategic planning initiatives, served five years as the board chair and currently is chair of the Educational Programs Advisory Committee. She and her husband, Richard, an obstetrician-gynecologist, live in Redding.

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