Dear Southern Alumni,

I am proud to serve another year as the president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. With the support of the Board of Directors, the Office of Alumni Relations, and my fellow alumni, I hope to continue to embrace Southern’s rich traditions while moving forward in step with our evolving university and the changing needs of our alumni.

With this in mind, the past year was marked by numerous new and innovative programs for our graduates. These included a wine tasting experience in Stamford, an alumni reception at the performance of The Three Irish Tenors at John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts, a Business-After-Hours reception in Hartford for young professionals, and a day-long reunion celebrating the School of Arts and Sciences. When combined with our traditional programs — Homecoming, the Alumni Awards Banquet, the Scholarship Awards Brunch, and co-sponsorship of the Distinguished Lecture Series — these new offerings contributed to a very successful year.

Looking forward, my goal is to continue to increase and improve programming for our alumni. The board has been working tirelessly with Michelle Rocheford Johnston, director of Alumni Relations, to bring a comprehensive, meaningful program of events to our alumni of all ages.

One of the most exciting events this past year was the Celebration of the School of Arts and Sciences. There were events throughout the day for both children and adults, with plenty of time to catch up with old friends, while making new ones. The next alumni celebration, which will be held on May 16, 2009, will focus on the School of Health and Human Services and the School of Business. Once again, the weekend will include activities throughout the day and relevant seminars for adults and their children through the Alumni College. Stay tuned for more details on our Web site: www.SouthernCT.edu/alumni.

If you have not done so already, I hope you will join me by becoming a member of the Alumni Association. I urge you to join or renew your Southern Alumni Association membership by participating in the Annual Giving drive going on now. You may already have received a request. If not, you may make a gift online at Giving.SouthernCT.edu or by returning the inserted gift envelope located in the magazine. Your support makes a critical difference in the continuing success of our university and its students.

Thank you for your consideration and efforts. I look forward to seeing you at one or many of the alumni events this year. Please join us in celebrating Southern and our alumni.

Cordially,

Michael Roshka, Jr., ’73, M.S. ’79
President
Alumni Association Board of Directors

Five Southern graduates were newly appointed to the Alumni Association Board of Directors, joining an existing group of 15. The new members were elected by active members of the association.

Patricia Giulietti, ’76, M.S. ’87, a physical education teacher at Hamden Middle School, was reelected to the board. Giulietti has been employed at the middle school since 1992, and has long served as an educator in the town of Hamden, where she was raised and continues to reside. Her husband, Arthur, is also a Southern graduate, having earned his degree in 1973. They have two daughters.

Anne Hollingworth Leon, '51, M.S. '61

Anne Hollingworth Leone, ’51, M.S. ’61, went on to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut. She taught in the public school system and at the University of Bridgeport, where she retired as associate professor emeritus of education. She is married to classmate Gene Leone and has two daughters and two sons, both of whom are Southern graduates. Her grandson also is attending the university. Leone has remained active at Southern, serving on a number of class reunion committees and helping to raise funds for the Class of 1951 Frank Gentile Scholarship, which is now fully funded.

Marc Nivet, '92

Newly elected board member Marc A. Nivet, ’92, is the chief operating officer and treasurer for the Josiah Macy, Jr., Foundation, which focuses on improving the education of health professionals. Nivet is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the foundation and manages an endowment of $160 million. Previously, Nivet was the associate executive director of the Associated Medical Schools of New York. He recently was inducted as a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. In 2008, he earned a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.

Judit V. Paolini, '73, M.S. 6th yr. '93

Fellow board member and committed educator Judit V. Paolini, ’73, M.S. ’79, 6th yr. ’93, was a reading consultant at Stiles Elementary School (1997 to 2002) and Washington Elementary School (2002 to 2005), in West Haven. Previously, she instructed English and reading at Carrigan Middle School, West Haven, where she served on the steering committee when the institution applied for accreditation.

An active community volunteer, she has participated in Head Start and the Naugatuck Junior Women’s Club, which selected her as its Woman of the Year. She also volunteers with the Special Olympics World Games, serving as the Delegation Host Leader for Team Hungary, and was named the 2004 Woman of the Year by the American Business Women’s Association Nutmeg Chapter.

Christopher Piscitelli, '93

Returning board member Christopher Piscitelli, ’93, was elected to serve as vice president of the Alumni Association. For more than 14 years, he has been employed at Southern in the areas of residence life and student affairs. He is currently director of judicial affairs and serves as an adviser to the Student Government Association, the Senior Class, and the newly formed SCSU Golf Club.

In the greater community, Piscitelli is a commissioner for the City of New Haven Humane Commission and volunteers for the Connecticut Special Olympics and the Wooster Square Association.

As a high school sports superstar, Rick Capozzi, ’83, appeared to be headed for a top football college and then, a career as a professional. But Capozzi’s dreams took a detour in his senior year when his back was broken during a high school all-star game at Giants Stadium. The injury dashed any hope of attending a Division I football school and, instead, brought him to Southern Connecticut State University as a football recruit. It was at Southern that Capozzi nurtured a love of learning that made him a star in another big league — Wall Street.

The Capozzi family vacationing in Positan, Italy, [from left] Rick, Bianca, Barbara, and Emilia.

As the managing director in Morgan Stanley’s Global Wealth Management Group, Capozzi is part of the team responsible for the firm’s national network of 8,000 financial advisers, who are based in nearly 500 offices across the United States. Drawing on his three-plus decades of business experience, Capozzi has written two books, “Soar Higher,” about how to be successful in financial services, and the upcoming, “The Reinvented Wealth Advisor.” He is also an adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University and speaks throughout the world on leadership and business development. “My competitive nature translated into Wall Street,” says Capozzi.

“I don’t think I’d want to change anything. I feel fortunate to have had such a gratifying career over the last 25 years, and I feel Southern had a lot to do with that success,” Capozzi says. “Who knows, I might not have found Southern if not for the injury. I became a real student at Southern.”

Capozzi, who was just an average student in high school, discovered another side of himself at Southern. He began to thrive academically, largely, he says, because his professors were so dedicated, dynamic, and willing to spend many extra hours indulging his thirst for learning.

Although he never made a career of sports, Capozzi has held fast to the qualities that helped make him successful as an athlete: determination, hard work, and perseverance. “It’s not how many times you fall, it’s getting back up that counts,” says Capozzi. “You’re always going to get curve balls.”

Capozzi was raised in northern New Jersey, the son of Emanuele Capozzi, a mason, and the late Emilia Capozzi, a homemaker whom Capozzi credits with instilling in him many valuable life lessons — among them, to shoot for the moon. He has been married for 18 years to his wife, Barbara, a former commodities trader whom he met through mutual friends from Southern. The Capozzis live in New Jersey with their daughters, Bianca, 9 and Emilia, 7.

Capozzi is committed to giving back to the community, and in addition to being active in St. Elizabeth Roman Catholic Church in New Jersey, he is on the U.S. Olympic Committee and the former co-chairman for New Jersey’s committee. He also spends time sharing his business acumen with others, whether that means chatting one-on-one with someone in need or giving talks to students.

“I’ve become a student of the business, constantly learning. My goal is to make a positive difference in the business community and help those who are less fortunate,” he says.