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Leadership & Founding Vision of TMRI Director Jay White

Dr. Jay White’s path to TMRI began long before his scientific and academic career—in the woods and fields of the working farm where he grew up. When chores were done, he spent his hours building, observing, drawing, and asking questions of the natural world. Those quiet experiences in the fields and forest sparked a lifelong curiosity that carried him into astrophysics, college leadership, and global STEM-education work—from studying explosive stars to helping build scientific capacity on six continents.

After decades in higher education and international engagement, Jay has returned to the source: pairing rigorous research with the hands-on wonder that first shaped him. TMRI reflects that origin, a place where nascent researchers and STEM scholars engage in authentic inquiry, where imagination meets method, and where scientific discovery is lived from within rather than observed from afar. Jay’s vision, as well as that of the whole Talcott Mountain Science Center, Academy, and Research Institute, is to build not only knowledge, but the next generations of discoverers.

Peter’s career has been devoted to the resolution of difficult conflicts, through his practice of over 30 years at the law firm of Shipman & Goodwin, LLP, where he engaged in healthcare and commercial litigation handling high stakes, multiparty disputes with complex factual and legal issues both in Connecticut and in courts throughout the country. He served for 10 years as Chair of the firm’s Commercial Litigation Practice Group and for four years on the Management Committee.

Peter’s commitment to and accomplishments in serving clients to find better ways to resolve disputes led to starting own dispute resolution practice in January 2010. That shift enabled him to focus entirely on dispute resolution as a mediator and arbitrator.

***My new book, We the People:  one town & the collective magic of it’s citizens, may be purchased online through the two links below…

Noah Webster House –  Online Gift Shop

Brilliant Editions

The book is also available in West Hartford CT. at River Bend Bookshop, Good Cause Gifts, Kimberly Gift and the Noah Webster House.

I’m drawn to art that doesn’t try too hard – art that’s understated, calm, and always meaningful. Not surprisingly, the photographs I love feature only the most curious detail. Regardless of the subject…beautiful architecture, forgotten object, authentic grin, zooming in beyond the noise leaves me tender-hearted. The backstory behind a person or artifact may be a mystery, but just knowing that everyone and everything has a tale to tell is reassuring. It reminds me that I’m not alone in the ups and downs of my own story.

A curiosity for the unknown and connecting with others dates back to when I was little. My sisters, cousins and I spent countless hours exploring our grandparents’ farm in Michigan. My favorite spot was a shed full of old stuff – equipment, tools, photos, even handwritten letters. Sifting, I worked hard to imagine the history and people attached to it all.

The excitement from those early days is the same feeling I have when getting to know someone as I photograph or roaming a city searching for details. I was (and am) a sucker for finding the beautiful and unexpected hidden in our busy world. Although the Michigan farm days are no longer, I still love to bring light to important narratives. Only now, a camera helps me sift.

When I’m not out photographing people or places, I can usually be found in an old green house in West Hartford, CT. It’s where I live with my husband, our three kids, and one dog…creating stories.

Daniel Sterner is the author of two books about the history and architecture of Hartford: A Guide to Historic Hartford, Connecticut (which won an award from the Hartford Preservation Alliance) and Vanished Downtown Hartford, both published by the History Press. He also has a YouTube channel called History With Dan Sterner, where he presents content about the history of Hartford and other topics. He recently launched a new Substack newsletter called Remembering Old Hartford.

Daniel has given talks on Hartford’s historic buildings and streetscapes at many venues in the greater Hartford area, including the 1892 Club, the Hartford Club, the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford, the Wethersfield Senior Center and the Public Libraries of West Hartford, Enfield and Burlington. He has presented his popular series Historical Hartford at the Elmwood Senior Center in West Hartford and the South Windsor Senior Center. He has also taught a course on “Great Buildings of Hartford” for West Hartford continuing education.

A graduate of Wesleyan University with a B.A. in History, Daniel also has Masters Degrees from Trinity College (in American Studies) and the University of Chicago (in Middle Eastern Studies). For many years Daniel was a guide and museum educator at the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum in Wethersfield and a historic interpreter at two Hartford institutions, the Mark Twain House & Museum and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center,

Robin H. Clare, MBA, RCP, is the Executive Director of Seniors Job Bank, a nonprofit organization serving adults age 50 and older throughout Greater Hartford. Since assuming leadership of the organization, she has helped expand its reach, strengthen employer partnerships, and increase opportunities for mature workers seeking meaningful employment and community engagement.
With a professional background spanning corporate, nonprofit, and entrepreneurial leadership, Robin brings decades of experience in workforce development, human resources, finance, and organizational management. She is a nationally certified speaker, Recovery Coach Professional, and passionate advocate for challenging outdated assumptions about aging and employment.
Robin is also a best-selling author and creator of the Harmony Method™, a framework that explores the connection between personal fulfillment, purpose, and meaningful contribution. Through her writing and speaking, she encourages individuals to recognize the value of their experience and to embrace new possibilities at every stage of life.
Robin is passionate about helping individuals recognize that retirement is not an ending, but often the beginning of a new chapter filled with opportunity, meaningful work, connection, and purpose.

Chris Doyle loves history: reading it, teaching it, and writing it. He enjoys conversations about ideas—with students, colleagues, parents, and even strangers at a coffee shop. On campus, he runs with the cross-country team, wrestles with his athletes, and walks with his wife, Bev, and their dogs. At Avon since 2017, Chris has launched courses in Global Studies, “Government and Crisis,” and, with English teacher Dan Hodgson, a class on inequality and protest in the Gilded Age and today. He also spearheaded the Evans History Initiative, which became a full academic conference in 2019 on slavery and its legacies at the 400th anniversary of Jamestown.

Chris holds a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut, an M.A. from Trinity College, and a B.A. from Western Connecticut State University. His commentary has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, and Education Week, and his teaching has been featured in the New York Times. He began teaching in 1985 after a short stint in sales, inspired by his lifelong passion for books and a desire to do meaningful work. “It was so much harder to teach well than I thought,” Chris recalls. “I had to draw students in with stories—so I kept studying to find more.” Now a veteran, he focuses on helping students think like historians. “Memorizing facts isn’t history. History explains the human condition,” he says. For Chris, this demanding approach creates more thoughtful people and better citizens.

Working Globally, Acting Locally: A Community-Based Approach to Staying Healthy

Thomas Buckley, PharmD, MPH, FNAP

Thomas Buckley is Professor Emeritus at the UConn School of Pharmacy. He holds joint appointments at the UConn School of Medicine Department of Public Health Sciences, and the UConn Human Rights Institute. He received his pharmacy and public health degrees from the University of Connecticut, and he completed a pharmacy practice residency at the University of Washington, and a global health fellowship with Johns Hopkins University and the International Rescue Committee. As a public health pharmacist researcher, his work focuses on health disparities and health policy implications, focusing on immigrant and refugee health care in Connecticut and Southeast Asia.

He is a Clinical Consultant and researcher for Khmer Health Advocates, a Cambodian American mental health clinic for genocide survivors in West Hartford, CT. He also provides public health and clinical consultation for the Cambodian Diabetes Association in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and the Mao Tao Clinic in Mae Sot, Thailand. He has authored numerous national and global health publications and been principle investigator or co-investigator on multiple federal grant projects serving racial and ethnically underserved populations.

Anna Swinbourne (PhD) is executive director and CEO of Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, CT, and an independent art historian, curator, and art advisor engaged in publication, exhibition and art-market endeavors. From 1999 to 2009, Dr. Swinbourne was on the curatorial staff of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, where she created a catalogue on the unparalleled Niarchos Collection, and curated—either independently, or with Chief Curators, Kirk Varnedoe and John Elderfield—major exhibitions on Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Édouard Manet, and James Ensor, the last two of which were awarded First Prize for Best Historical Show of the year by the International Art Critics Association (AICA). Prior to joining MoMA, Anna was an Assistant Vice President in the Impressionist and Modern Art Department of Sotheby’s, New York. Trained at the École du Louvre in Paris, Tufts University (BA), and the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University (MA.; PhD.), she is a Trustee of Hill-Stead Museum as well as member of the Board of Managers of Lewis Walpole Library of Yale University and the Art Advisory Committee of King Baudouin Foundation United States.

Cori brings 25 years of executive leadership experience in social justice work, nonprofit management, and faith-based organizing to the Center for Leadership and Justice, where she has served as Executive Director since 2014. Cori’s passion is building power among marginalized and faith-based communities through organizing efforts to bring about systemic change. She is also deeply passionate about the intersection of social justice and congregational life. She holds an M.Div. from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH and is a member of Immanuel Congregational Church in Hartford.

Founder, and president of The Mitman Group, is a 50-plus market advisor with over 30 years of experience studying the mature market. A Ph.D. graduate in Gerontology, Transportation and Education from Michigan State University, Ruth has a diverse professional background in striving to improve the quality of life for the older population.

Dr. Mitman was a Corporate Gerontologist at The Hartford Financial Services Group, has served on the faculty of the College of Lifelong Learning at Michigan State University and was a consultant for AARP.

Ruth lives in West Hartford with her husband, The Rev. John Mitman.  They have two children and four grandchildren.