All News & Notes

The News & Notes is a resource for alumni and current students of the University of Connecticut School of Business to stay up-to-date with their alumni network. We hope by providing information about our accomplished alumni, students and other alumni will have the opportunity to gain a better understanding about their industry and broaden their network.


Tammy L. Rapp ’09 Ph.D.

Tammy L. Rapp ’09 Ph.D.is an Assistant Professor at Ohio University. Dr. Rapp has conducted extensive research in the area of team effectiveness and team leadership. Her research has been published in leading journals, including the Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, Leadership Quarterly, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Small Group Research, and Human Performance.


Dawn M. Symonaitis Barry ’05 MBA

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Dawn M. Symonaitis Barry ’05 MBA has been named President of Luna DNA, the first and only genomic and medical research knowledge base powered by the blockchain and owned by its community.  In this role, Ms. Barry will be responsible for leading operations, communicating and implementing company mission, and guiding overall strategy, direction, and growth. She was most recently the Illumina Vice President.


Amanda N. Balboni ’08, ’10 MSA

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Amanda N. Balboni ’08, ’10 MSA has been named Assistant Vice President at Kaman.  Last July, Kaman commemorated the first deliveries of the new K_MAX helicopters.  The company also established Women Advocating Leadership at Kaman to hire, retain and promote more women. The program also seeks to change Kaman’s culture “to be more accepting of women in leadership roles,” give women equal access to development opportunities and create a family-friendly workplace.



Tracy L. McCarthy ’02 MBA

Tracy McCarthy, '02 MBATracy L. McCarthy ’02 MBA has been named Director of Operations at Sylvester Manor.  In this newly created position, Mrs. McCarthy will oversee day-to-day activities and will assist in monitoring budgets, personnel evaluations and recruitment, communications and marketing, as well as creating policies and procedures.  Previously, Ms. McCarthy led the operations of Media Ventures, Inc. as owner and president.


David J. Whitehouse ’95 EMBA

David J. Whitehouse ’95 EMBA has been appointed Chief Medical Officer of Senscio Systems, Inc., which developed the nation’s leading home-based digital health solution, Ibis™.  Prior to joining Senscio, Dr. Whitehouse served as Chief Medical Officer at UST-Global, where he spearheaded their digital health transformation initiative.  He has served on the clinical faculty at Dartmouth, Harvard, and Yale.  He currently serves on the Board of Brain Net, in addition to the Healthcare Management Advisory Board at UConn.

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John R. McFarland ’03 MBA

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John R. McFarland ’03 MBA was promoted to Vice President of Commercial Marketing and Contractor Strategy at Hubbell Incorporated, expanding his role in developing Hubbell’s strategy and focus on the construction market. In this position, Mr. McFarland will focus on large contractors, design engineers, and architects, expanding Hubbell’s reach in this vertical market. The position includes responsibility for Hubbell’s web resource development and strategy, as well as Hubbell’s social media direction.


Thomas J. Banisch ’86 MBA

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Thomas J. Banisch ’86 MBA has been elected to the Board of Directors of both the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) and the Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Association (CIRMA).  Mr. Banisch is serving his second term as First Selectman in Madison, CT.  Before becoming the Town’s chief elected official in 2015, he was in the chemical industry for over 40 years, the last 32 of which he has owned his own chemical brokering business.


Karina J. Alvarez ’10

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Karina J. Alvarez ’10 is an entrepreneur who moved with her family from Peru when she was 14, traveled to Spain for her MBA, and is now located in New London, Connecticut.  Last year she founded EZ-Occasions, an event design and rentals company.  While her family has helped keep her in southeastern Connecticut, and while she likes the “peace of mind” and lack of big-city traffic, she sees much that needs to be done to attract and retain young people.


Joseph A. Reppert ’94 MBA

Joseph A. Reppert ’94 MBA has been promoted to Chief Financial Officer of Adventist Health, a non-profit health system serving more than 75 communities on the West Coast and Hawaii. Mr. Reppert spent the majority of his career as a CFO with several different health organizations, including CFO for North Mississippi Health Services, where he helped lead a team to win the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award twice.