• Two of the department’s alums – Jason R. Jakubowski ’99 (CLAS) ’01 MPA and Julio A. Concepcion ’04 (CLAS) – have been named to the Hartford Business Journal Power 50 List for 2022. Also featured on the list was UConn’s Interim President, Radenka Maric.
• WIlliam Brustein ‘69 (CLAS), the former Vice President for Global Strategies and International Affairs at West Virginia University, gave a talk on “Why Do You Think They Call It The Oldest Hatred? Antisemitism Past & Present” at the Konover Center in early April. Dr. Brustein is currently the Special Assistant to the President of West Virginia University for Global Affairs and an Eberly Family Distinguished Professor. 

• Samuel Rostow ‘17 (CLAS) has been admitted into Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, where he will pursue an MA in Security Studies. Sam started in a GS-13 Program Manager federal position at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency this past January. He will continue to work in that job while taking classes in the Georgetown program at night.
• Gabriela Tafoya ‘19 Ph.D. was featured in The Paper of Wabash County, where she provided analysis about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Dr. Tafoya is currently an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Manchester University in Indiana.

• Kyle Adams ‘20 (CLAS) has been promoted to the position of Business Development Manager at Data Trust, where he drafts proposals for data products/services, does CRM management, and conducts research on new opportunities and competitors in the political data ecosystem.

• Richard Bachoo ‘85 (CLAS), ‘87 MPA, ‘08 Ph.D. recently retired from public service in Connecticut after more than 34 years. Dr. Bachoo’s service ranged from being an administrator in the United States Navy, to serving as Chief Administrative Officer at Central Connecticut State University. During that time, he managed over 300 personnel and oversaw budgets in excess of $30 million.

• Bryan Pollard ‘85 (CLAS) is currently serving as the Associate General Counsel of Operations with Raytheon Technologies Corporation. His responsibilities include providing legal advice and counsel with respect to complex commercial contracts with global suppliers, dispute resolution, and compliance matters.

• Rosemary Shinko ‘05 Ph.D. continues to serve as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education at American University. She has held that position since 2017.
• Danielle Filson ‘14 (CLAS), a former spokesperson for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, was hired in January to serve as spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Acting in that capacity, she was quoted in a March 23, 2022 New York Times article entitled “Trump Is Guilty of ‘Numerous’ Felonies, Prosecutor Who Resigned Says.”

• Maman Cooper ‘17 (CLAS) is working as a West African Refugee and Education & Enrollment Specialist at IRIS (Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services) in New Haven.

• UConn was well-represented at the 2022 International Studies Association Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee on March 28-April 2. Jennifer Sterling-Folker organized an informal luncheon gathering for those who could make it, including four Ph.D. alumni, two current Ph.D. students and two faculty members. Attendees included Rosemary Shinko, Brian Urlacher (currently Department Chair of Political Science at the University of North Dakota), Ph.D. student M. Aynal Haque, Douglas Becker (Associate Professor at USC Dorfside & a producer/host of Scholars Circle Radio), Miles Evers, Ph.D. student San Lee, and Marc O’Reilly (currently Chair of the International Studies Committee at Heidelberg University).