Sunday, March 2, 2014

Congratulations to President Hanno!

Isn't it wonderful when great things happen to really good people?!

This blogpost is to celebrate the selection of Dr. Dennis Hanno, former Associate Dean of the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, and an Isenberg PhD '90, who also served in various top administrative posts at Babson College, as the newly selected President of Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts!

One of my favorite photos, which I have in my collection in my home office in Amherst,  is the one below.
 
It was taken in our beautiful Massachusetts State House in Boston on April 11, 2007. We were there to celebrate the selection of our former Dean of the Isenberg School, the one and only Dr. Tom O'Brien, who was being recognized, with several others, with an annual Distinguished Alumni Award from the UMass Alumni Association. I am in the above photo along with Tom O'Brien, who has his arm around Dennis Hanno.

I had nominated Tom O'Brien for this award, which he received (I also nominated Dr. Tony Butterfield, who got the award a few years later).

When Hanno was our Undergrad Dean, one could never say no to him - whether it was to participate in "Pizza with a Professor" or any other activity or event. His energy, charisma, love of students we miss even today. He gave so much of himself - never missing one of our INFORMS Student Chapter parties and coming even to the dedication of our  Supernetwork Laboratory for Computation and Visualization, which was founded in the Fall of 2003 with support from Dean Tom O'Brien and then Associate Dean Dr. Jane Miller (who, would you believe, is back to being an Associate Dean again -- she is terrific)

Plus, Dr. Dennis Hanno was a neighbor of mine in Amherst and his pool parties were great! We all missed him and his wonderful family when they left our area.

Wheaton has posted some great videos introducing its new President.

Wheaton has produced some great leaders, including Ms. Shelley Borror Jackson, the Head of the fabulous Bement School, where my daughter went to elementary school. Several of her classmates from Bement are now at Wheaton. and, before too long, should be receiving their college diplomas from our great former colleague, President Dennis Hanno.