June 12, 2000

The late Edward V. Gant, a former provost who served as the University's acting president for brief periods in the 1960s and '70s, was once described as smart, kind and considerate.

Each of this year's three recipients of the Edward V. Gant Scholarship embrace those characteristics. And each will receive a $1,500 scholarship for continuing study at the University.

The recipients, announced in May, are: Kristine Byron, a Ph.D. candidate in comparative literary and cultural studies; Deborah Bubela, who hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in education; and Stephanie Foran, a May graduate who will return to the campus in the fall to complete her integrated bachelor's/ master's program in education.

Bubela is now in the University Affiliated Program at the A.J. Pappanikou Center for Disability Studies and will complete a master's degree in allied health in August.

Bubela graduated in 1981 from the University and spent most of her career as a physical therapist in Connecticut's Regional School District 10 in the Harwinton/Burlington area, before returning to UConn to pursue advanced studies full-time.

After completing her Ph.D., she hopes to embark on an academic career, teaching physical therapy.

Byron, a native of Wisconsin, expects to complete her Ph.D. next May. She holds a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., and a master's in comparative literary and cultural studies from UConn.

She is now working on a dissertation, "Gender Revolution and Representation: Women's Lifewriting," about autobiographical writings by women revolutionaries, such as Dolores Ibarruri, a leader in the Spanish Republic prior to Spain's Civil War.

Foran, an honors student, received a bachelor's degree in elementary education at this year's Commencement. This spring she was the University's nominee for a Connecticut Higher Education Community Service Award and during her four years at the University has built a solid reputation as a volunteer in a myriad of educational roles.

Margaret Gant, the 80-year-old widow of Edward V. Gant, said she looks forward to meeting the scholarship recipients. "We've had a real parade of bright people as scholarship recipients. They've been spectacular," she said, adding that she has met all the recipients since the scholarship was initiated in 1987.

"It just seemed to me that the name of Edward V. Gant was important, at least for the remainder of my life," said Mrs. Gant, who still resides within walking distance of the Storrs campus and the Gant Science Complex, which was dedicated in memory of her late husband. Gant died in 1985.

In addition to serving as acting president, Gant was acting dean and then assistant dean of the School of Engineering, but he is perhaps most remembered as UConn's provost and professor of civil engineering.

The three new Gant scholars were honored at a reception on May 11.

Claudia Chamberlain