Author: Janice Berriault

Brian Chapman, HDFS Faculty Spotlight, December 2020

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Assistant Professor in Residence

Brian ChapmanBrian has worked at UConn since the 1990s in a variety of capacities. He has learned about many aspects of the University through his work at nearly all UConn Campuses including UConn Health. Brian states, “UConn runs through my heart and soul; I have worked on all campuses with the exception of the Law School.” One of Brian’s longest and most rewarding experiences was as founding Director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UConn. He led building the program and brought in $1.6 million to the University. The institute attracted over 800 students (ages 50-98) and offered well over 100 courses and special programs annually. The program also provided work and internship experiences for undergraduate and graduate students.

Brian has taught in HDFS for ten years, at the UConn Hartford, Stamford, Storrs, Torrington, and Waterbury campuses. He has regularly taught Gender and Aging (HDFS 3249) and Diversity Issues (HDFS 2001) and teaches many other aging and lifespan courses. Brian believes that one of the cornerstones of human development is absorbing the richness of human diversity and examining the lives of older adults to help students understand the continuum of human development. Brian is passionate about quality of life issues for women, racial and ethnic minorities, and sexual and gender minorities.

“Community engagement is in many ways the hallmark of my career at UConn,” Brian states. He served on many boards in Waterbury over a ten-year period in areas related to community improvement including arts and culture, economic development, children and families, education, hunger, and other needs. Brian is the recipient of the 2019 Provost’s Award, Excellence in Outreach & Public Engagement and the 2015 Waterbury Neighborhood Council. Brian served as the Director of Outreach, UConn Waterbury and a member of the Public Engagement Forum for ten years.

Brian has presented publicly and published on topics of aging, intergenerational programming, and student development. He led aspects of a summer medical research program for high school students at UConn Health. Brian co-edited a serial publication on the topic of dual/concurrent enrollment and conducted a national study on the topic of minority faculty recruitment. Currently, he is a co-PI on a study that integrates his interests in aging and human diversity entitled, “Drag Expression and how it interfaces with Dragism, Coping, Resilience, and Generativity.”

Brian enjoys spending time in Arizona and on Cape Cod. He is a dedicated fan of New York City Cabaret Clubs (deeply missed during this pandemic). One of his “pinch yourself moments” was spending a New Year’s Eve with Eartha Kitt and seventy-five others in New York City.