We are very pleased to announce two leaders who have assumed new roles at UConn this fall:
The first is Dr. Nina Heller, already familiar to many as Dean of the School of Social Work and Judith M. Zachs Chair of Social Work. Dr. Heller continues in her role as Dean, but now is also serving as interim Director of the Hartford Campus. As a faculty member, her work has focused on the integration of psychological theories and their nexus with social work mental health practice and has been published by leading clinical social work journals and publishers in the U.S. and internationally. Her current research and scholarship focuses on the areas of suicide and suicide prevention, social work theory, integrative approaches to practice, and mental health. She is a consultant to the State of Connecticut Suicide Advisory Board. Dr. Heller led the development of the state suicide prevention plan and serves on several related statewide committees. She has served as Dean since early 2015. We are grateful she has agreed to assume this additional leadership role. Her deep knowledge of the University and the Hartford Campus are invaluable as the campus transitions to its new location to open there in fall of 2017.
The second is Dr. Lloyd Blanchard, who recently joined UConn as Associate Vice Provost for Institutional Research and Effectiveness. Dr. Blanchard’s appointment is the result of a national search that concluded in August. Dr. Blanchard is a seasoned administrator with wide-ranging government and academic leadership experience. He has been a senior White House budget official, chief operating officer of two public organizations, and an academic executive at Louisiana State University and the Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York. Since 2011, Dr. Blanchard has been Director of Public Performance Management at IEM, Inc., a major risk management consulting firm. Dr. Blanchard’s own research and published work has centered on social capital, education policy and finance, racial and ethnic disparities in education, and disparities in small business lending. His expertise in performance, financial management, grant monitoring, data analytics, and organizational analysis and his knowledge of academic administration will allow him to continue the transformation of the Office of Institutional Research as an organization that proactively provides timely official data and analysis for planning, institutional effectiveness, and decision making, and to develop new robust capabilities in business analytics, decision support, and performance measurement.
Please join us in thanking Nina for her service and in welcoming Lloyd to UConn.
Sincerely,
Mun Y. Choi
Provost
Sally M. Reis
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
Amy K. Donahue
Vice Provost for Academic Operations
For more information, contact: Office of the Provost at provost@uconn.edu