Tag Archive for employees

Employees Recognized for Years of Service to Wesleyan

by Olivia Drake • December 3, 2020

Associate Vice President for Facilities Joyce Topshe is celebrating her 20th year working at Wesleyan. She credits her love for the job to a “lifelong passion” for design and construction. LEGOs, Lincoln Logs, and Etch A Sketch were among her favorite childhood toys. “I am so lucky to be getting paid to do the things I love and with people that I care about,” she said.

For 19 years, Joyce Topshe took on the role of managing Wesleyan’s construction services, environmental services, rental properties, and Physical Plant-Facilities.

Now in her 20th year of working at Wesleyan, the associate vice president for facilities is powering through “the most challenging year of my career,” she said. “As we approach the end of the fall semester during a raging pandemic, I am feeling like we almost won the World Series. My entire team has worked exhaustively to make our campus safe during the pandemic, and I am so grateful to every member of my team for staying the course despite the challenges and concerns that the pandemic brought.”

Topshe, a member of Wesleyan’s Pandemic Planning Committee and the Campus Community Emergency Response Team (C-CERT), helped oversee the COVID-19 testing operation on campus and was heavily involved with the University’s reopening plans last fall.

Despite the pandemic, Topshe “continues to love coming to work every day because I enjoy the people that I work with,” she said. “Many of us have been working together for the entire time and we have this incredible sense of ownership and loyalty to our Wesleyan community, to each other, and even more so to the students that we serve. I enjoy working as a team and I am grateful for my talented colleagues who have contributed to the wonderful accomplishments that our team has achieved. I can’t believe that it has been 20 years since I joined Wesleyan. It is true that time flies when you are having fun.”

by Olivia Drake • May 10, 2020

Bon Appétit cashier Brooke Rich, center, pictured here with her three children, is the posthumous recipient of Wesleyan’s 2020 Morgenstern-Clarren Social Justice Employee Prize. Rich died March 4.

Brooke Rich, a former employee of Wesleyan’s food service provider Bon Appétit Management Co., was honored posthumously with Wesleyan’s 2020 Morgenstern-Clarren Social Justice Employee Prize.

The award was created in 2009 in memory of Peter Morgenstern-Clarren ‘03, who pursued social justice while a student at Wesleyan. Morgenstern-Clarren’s activism included securing benefits for Wesleyan custodial staff, participating in the United Student and Labor Action Committee, and contributing his leadership to the campus chapter of Amnesty International.

by Editorial Staff • December 3, 2019

(By Ann Bertini)

Gemma Fontanella Ebstein is leaving her role as Wesleyan’s Associate Vice President for Advancement at the end of December, following a 30-year career at the University.

During her tenure, Fontanella Ebstein has helped the Office of Advancement expand and foster lifelong alumni and parent loyalty and support for Wesleyan. An important part of this work has come through facilitating local and global events, and overseeing the merging of Reunion and Commencement weekends (2000) and Homecoming with Family Weekend (1995). Fontanella Ebstein also led University Communications and the Gordon Career Center through leadership transitions, and has helped cultivate a culture of Wesleyan pride among her teams and anywhere her work has taken her.

“My entire time at Wesleyan has been spent under Gemma’s leadership and tutelage,” said Director of Special Events Deana Hutson, whom Fontanella Ebstein hired 21 years ago to help centralize Reunion and Commencement. “I have learned so much from her—from her innate ability to problem-solve through collaboration to the importance of empowering her team in a way that is genuine, nurturing, and respectful. I am so appreciative of how much she has contributed to my experience at Wesleyan and for the friendship that resulted from this journey.”

by Lauren Rubenstein • September 30, 2019

Renell Wynn is Wesleyan’s new vice president for communications.

Renell Wynn has been hired as Wesleyan’s new vice president for communications, President Michael Roth ’78 announced in a campus email on Sept. 27. She will start on Oct. 21.

Roth shared Wynn’s “deep experience in higher education communications and marketing,” with leadership positions at the University of Denver, George Mason University, and The College of William & Mary, among others.

“In these positions, she has led efforts to elevate institutional reputation, played a critical role in successful fundraising campaigns, and served as a trusted senior advisor. Renell is skilled at developing productive working relationships with diverse populations and using skillful storytelling to advance strategic priorities. She brings a strong record of strategic, data-based thinking, creative energy, and dynamic leadership,” he wrote.

by Lauren Rubenstein • July 24, 2019

Amin Gonzalez. (Photo by Adrienne Battistella)

Amin Abdul-Malik Gonzalez ’96 has been hired as Wesleyan’s new vice president and dean of admission and financial aid, President Michael Roth announced in an email to campus on July 17. He will begin in August.

Gonzalez, who was a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow and earned his bachelor’s degree in history at Wesleyan, previously worked in the University’s Office of Admission as an associate dean in the late 1990s and 2000s. In this role, he selected, trained, and supervised the senior interviewers; coordinated the University’s fall Ambassador Program and supported spring yield efforts; served on the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship and University Scholarship selection committees; and worked with the QuestBridge partnership team.

“Since Wesleyan is both where I learned to think critically as an undergrad and got my start in the admission field two decades ago, I’m incredibly excited and honored to serve as its next dean of admission and financial aid,” said Gonzalez. “I look forward to collaborating closely with members of my team, senior administrators, faculty, current students, alumni, and community partners to ensure Wes continues to attract, enroll, and graduate some of the most exceptionally talented, socially conscious, and dynamically diverse students from across the country and around the globe.”

by Lauren Rubenstein • March 26, 2019

Alison Williams ’81

Alison Williams ’81 has been hired as Wesleyan’s new vice president for equity and inclusion/Title IX Officer, President Michael Roth announced in a campus email on March 26. Williams, who earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Wes and later served as an alumni-elected trustee in the 1990s, will begin on July 22.

She is currently the associate provost for diversity and intercultural education at Denison University. There, she is responsible for directing and supporting diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives across all sectors of the University, with a focus on faculty recruitment and retention and inclusive pedagogies. She also supports Title IX work at Denison, and has helped to increase consciousness on that campus about sexual violence and encourage reporting.

Previously, Williams worked as the associate dean of academic diversity and director of the Multicultural Resource Center at Oberlin College. Prior to becoming an administrator, she worked as a chemistry faculty member for 24 years at several institutions, including at Wesleyan from 1997-99. On the national level, she serves on the steering committee of the Consortium for Faculty Diversity, and is a member of the Liberal Arts Diversity Officers Consortium.

Outside of work, Williams is a mom to two teenage children, a semi-professional oboist, and a die-hard fan of Cleveland and Ohio State sports teams.

In the email, Roth thanked the faculty and staff who worked to fill the role, and especially thanked Debbie Colucci for her service over the past several months.

“Debbie will continue in this interim role through June 30, and Alison and I look forward to her continued and valued contributions as Equity Compliance Director and Deputy Title IX Coordinator,” he wrote.

Faculty, Staff Earn Cardinal Achievement Awards

by Olivia Drake • March 25, 2019

Cardinal Achievement Award winners were celebrated at a luncheon with President Michael Roth on May 14.

The following employees received Cardinal Achievement Awards in September 2018 through February 2019. These employees demonstrate extraordinary initiative in performing a specific task associated with their work at Wesleyan University. This special honor comes with a $250 award and reflects the university’s gratitude for their extra efforts.

The recipients are:

Hrissi Haldezos, associate director of student accounts, Student Accounts Office
Gina Driscoll, associate director of alumni and parent relations, University Relations
Noreen Angeletti, associate director, Student Accounts Office
Robert Mirabal, director of student accounts, Student Accounts Office
Penney Jade Beaubrun, assistant director for alumni and parent relations, University Relations
Mary Kelly, senior associate director, Continuing Studies
Jenna Starr, assistant director of alumni and parent relations, University Relations
Cathy Race, administrative assistant, Psychology Department
Tina Frazer, administrative assistant, Continuing Studies
Robert Spignesi, area coordinator, Residential Life
William Ollayos, area coordinator, Residential Life
Jennifer Collingwood, administrative assistant, Center for Global Studies

by Cynthia Rockwell • May 25, 2018

Frantz Williams Jr. ’99, a 19-year veteran of University Relations, will succeed Barbara-Jan Wilson as vice president for University Relations when Wilson retires at the end of 2018. (Photo by Olivia Drake MALS ’08)

Frantz Williams Jr. ’99 has been named the successor to Vice President for University Relations Barbara-Jan Wilson, who has announced her upcoming retirement at the end of December 2018. A government major as an undergraduate, Williams joined the University Relations team right after his graduation and has continued to serve the University, most recently as assistant vice president for development.

“We’re fortunate that Frantz will lead University Relations,” said President Michael S. Roth ’78. “He is eminently well prepared to continue Barbara-Jan’s legacy of immensely successful fund-raising and friend-raising, and I am grateful that he will be at the helm when we launch Wesleyan’s next campaign.”

“Wesleyan has a strong, dedicated leader in Frantz,” said Wilson. “A loyal alumnus, he is a mentor to students and staff and alumni alike. His warmth, his care for the University and all of its people shine through in everything he does.”

Williams’s family was from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, moving to the States when Frantz, the third of four children, was 9: “In January 1986, on a very cold day, we landed at JFK airport, never having seen snow, and speaking only Creole—that was our start,” he recalls. “I entered the fourth grade, taking ESL courses, and trying to catch up with my classmates. It has been a journey.”

In a Q&A with the Connection, Williams traces his route to Wesleyan, talks about the mission that has kept him here, and reflects on what continues to engage him in Wesleyan’s future.

by Bill Holder • March 19, 2018

Vice President Barbara-Jan Wilson will retire this year. (Photo by Olivia Drake)

Barbara-Jan Wilson, vice president for University Relations, recently announced that she will retire in December, ending a Wesleyan career that began in 1982 and included leadership of two major capital campaigns.

Wilson assumed her present role in 1999, but she is also well known to generations of alumni through her prior leadership of Admission and before that, Career Resources – the position she took when she was hired by President Emeritus Colin G. Campbell Hon. ’89.

Her efforts as Wesleyan’s energetic and highly successful fundraiser spanned two presidents and four Board chairs. She worked with President Emeritus Douglas J. Bennet ’59, Hon ’94, P’87, ’94 on a campaign that raised $281 million and more recently with President Michael S. Roth ’78 on the $482 million THIS IS WHY campaign. In announcing Wilson’s plans to the campus community, Roth said her leadership had made an enduring contribution toward establishing a sustainable economic model for Wesleyan and has greatly strengthened Wesleyan’s endowment.

by Himeka Curiel • January 16, 2018

In this Q&A, we speak with Amy Bello, administrative assistant for the Center for African American Studies and newly elected mayor of the Town of Wethersfield.

Q: How long have you been at Wesleyan?

A: Five years. I started in November 2012 as a temp at the Wasch Center for Retired Faculty.

Q: What do you do here now?

A: I work as an administrative assistant for the Center for African American Studies (CAAS), the African American Studies Program (AFAM) and the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program (MMUF). I have a beautiful office on High Street and am lucky to be working with vibrant, engaging faculty, staff and students.

Q: What do you like best about working at Wesleyan?

A: I love the energetic, intelligent people I work with—both students and faculty. Their breadth and depth of knowledge is amazing. I also enjoy seeing the world from another perspective, which only enhances my vision.

by Olivia Drake • January 16, 2018

Jeanine Basinger, the Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, spoke on her latest work during the Staff Luncheon Series Nov. 28 in Daniel Family Commons. Basinger, who has been employed at Wesleyan for 58 years, recently completed her 12th book manuscript with a working title of “Musicals: History and Definition.” The book tells the history of the musical and defines the genre. Basinger, who’s collected film memorabilia her entire life, said film studies is a relatively new field of study. “Film was officially born in 1895, it wasn’t until the 1960s that it began to become an academic field. Wesleyan was one of the pioneers; we were one of the first universities (in the country) to add it to our curriculum.”

by Olivia Drake • January 16, 2018

Whether you live in Middletown or elsewhere in the region, commuting to work is often time-consuming, stressful and costly. Setting up a carpool—an arrangement between people to travel together in a single vehicle—is a great way to save money, connect with coworkers and cut your carbon footprint, explains Sustainability Director Jennifer Kleindienst.

The Wesleyan Sustainability Office, in conjunction with CT Rides (a service of CT DOT), is hosting an Employee Commuter Event in February for Wesleyan faculty and staff. This will be a chance to meet other faculty and staff who live near you and potentially find a carpool buddy. CT Rides helps commuters find the best way to get to work or school and offers information and resources for travel options throughout Connecticut.

The event will take place from noon to 1 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 20, in Usdan 110. RSVP by Friday, Feb. 16, at bit.ly/ctridesrsvp. Contact Jen Kleindienst at jkleindienst@wesleyan.edu with any questions.