Hats off to UNH grads

WEST HAVEN — The University of New Haven will hold its Winter Commencement at 2 p.m. Jan. 17 in the UNH Athletic Center.
Stanley Aronowitz, distinguished professor of Sociology and Urban Education, Graduate Center, City University of New York is commencement speaker. Aronowitz will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
Also, Robert M. Lee, a 1978 graduate of UNH and a member of the UNH Board of Governors and executive vice president of The Lee Co. will receive an honorary Doctor of Business degree and Jim Vlock, president and CEO, The Fox Steel Co., will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
Aronowitz is a critically acclaimed author, columnist, politician, professor and champion of the American worker, UNH officials said. Aronowitz, "a modern intellectual virtuoso who studies labor, social movements, science and technology, education, social theory and cultural studies, is an esteemed social and cultural critic, who has written more than two dozen books including "How Class Works: Power and Social Movement" and his newest, "Against Schooling: For an Education that Matters," UNH said in a statement.
He has written more than 200 published articles and reviews, is founding editor of the journal Social Text, and has served on advisory and editorial boards for numerous journals related to his areas of expertise. A graduate of the New School and the Union Graduate School, he was a steelworker, union organizer, community organizer and associate director for an anti-poverty organization early in his career, and was an anti-war activist during the 1960s. An educational innovator and political activist who has taught at the College of Staten Island, the University of California-Irvine and the Center for Worker Education at City College of the City University of New York, he ran a grassroots campaign for governor of New York on the Green Party ticket in 2002.
Lee is an engineer and successful executive in the Lee Co., a Connecticut firm at the forefront of development of miniature precision control components for aerospace, medical and scientific instrumentation, machine tools and inkjet printing. He was responsible for the formation of the company’s Electro-Fluidic Systems Group in 1984, creating a product line with separate product and engineering facilities whose sales grew to $40 million from $4 million during his tenure. Lee has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of New Haven. In 2003, he was the recipient of the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus award from the University. He is chairman of the Advancement Committee of the UNH Board of Governors of the University, and is a member of the Student and Academic Affairs Committee and the Career Services Subcommittee.
Vlock is chairman and CEO of the Fox Steel Co. of Orange and president of Vlock Family Realty Inc., and an innovator in development of non-profit housing for low-income older citizens and a contributor to numerous community initiatives in the state. He was a founder and is president and chairman of the board of directors for Tower One and Tower East, in New Haven. He attracted internationally acclaimed architect Cesar Pelli to design Casa Otonal, a highly successful low-income housing facility for Latino seniors in New Haven. He was a founder and serves as a member of the board of directors of the Casa Otonal Housing Corp. Vlock is an associate fellow of Morse College at Yale University, and serves on the advisory board of the Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center. He was a member of the first freshman class at Bronx High School of Science, and a member of the first class of the Cornell School of Business and Public Administration, now the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell. In 2008, a gift from Vlock and his family enabled the creation of the Laurel Vlock Center for Convergent Media at UNH.
He earned a bachelor of arts degree and an M.B.A. from Cornell, and has served on the Cornell University Council and the Executive Council of the Johnson Graduate School of Management.