Francis Cabot Lowell Alumni Awards and Honors Fellows

Awardees

Lawrence J. Ardito ’69
Francis Cabot Lowell Award for Outstanding Achievement in Business

Lawrence Ardito ’69 is president of Toscano & Ardito PC, a financial services firm serving individuals and closely held companies in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Mr. Ardito specializes in business and tax planning, business valuations, succession planning and personal finance planning.

He has testified as an expert witness on the value of closely held businesses and has practiced before the Massachusetts Department of Revenue’s Estate Tax Bureau as an advocate for his clients in business valuation matters.

Mr. Ardito earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Lowell Technical Institute in 1969. In addition to being a CPA, he holds an ABV (Accredited in Business Valuation) designation from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. In 2000, the U.S. Small Business Association named him the Massachusetts Accounting Advocate of the Year.

Mr. Ardito plays an active role in local business, professional and civic organizations. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce. He also served as president of the local chapter of the American Cancer Society and is currently chairman of the Caritas Holy Family Hospital Foundation.

He and his wife, Linda Carpenter Ardito MA ’89, live in North Andover.

Claire Chamberlain
Francis Cabot Lowell Faculty Award

Before retiring in 2008, Claire Chamberlain devoted 37 years to UMass Lowell, teaching in the fields of physical education, physical therapy and exercise physiology and serving as academic coordinator of Clinical Education.

Ms. Chamberlain earned her bachelor’s degree in education, diploma in physical education and a master’s degree in education, all from Tufts University, and a certificate of advanced graduate study from Northeastern University. After five years of teaching at Bradford Junior College, she came to Lowell State College in 1971, where she taught physical education activity, lecture and coaching courses.

She served as chair of the Physical Education Department from 1983 to 1991. In 1991, Ms. Chamberlain joined the Physical Therapy Department to develop the exercise physiology clinical practicum and was instrumental in teaching exercise physiology courses to sophomores and seniors. She was named UMass Lowell’s first Outstanding Faculty Advisor.  

Ms. Chamberlain is active in a number of professional organizations, including the Eastern Association for Physical Education of College Women and the Massachusetts Association for Intercollegiate Athletics of College Women. She served as president of both organizations and was presented with their highest awards. In addition, she has served on numerous state, regional and national boards and committees. Ms. Chamberlain has also been inducted into the Northeast Hall of Fame for her pioneering work for Title IX and women’s athletics. Numerous students have benefited from her teaching and coaching skills.

Swanee Hunt
Community Honors Fellow

Swanee Hunt is the Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Her life mission is to achieve gender parity, especially as a means to end war and rebuild societies, as well as to alleviate poverty and other human suffering.

In 1997, Dr. Hunt founded Harvard’s Women and Public Policy Program, a research center concerned with domestic and foreign policy, which she directed for more than a decade.

An expert on domestic policy and foreign affairs, Dr. Hunt is president of the Hunt Alternatives Fund, through which she has committed more than $120 million in endowments and grants to provoking social change at local, national and global levels. The Fund is focused on strengthening youth arts organizations, supporting leaders of social movements, bolstering women’s leadership in conflict regions, combating sexual trafficking and increasing philanthropy. Hunt also chairs the Washington-based Institute for Inclusive Security. She has conducted research, training and consultations for women leaders in some 60 countries.

From 1993 to 1997, Dr. Hunt served as U.S. ambassador to Austria, where she hosted negotiations and international symposia focused on stabilizing the neighboring Balkan states. Her book, “This Was Not Our War: Bosnian Women Reclaiming the Peace,” won the 2005 PEN/New England Award for non-fiction and included a foreword by former President Clinton. Her memoir, “Half-Life of a Zealot” was published in October 2006. Hunt has also provided news commentary and analysis on international and domestic television networks, including CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and CBS Evening News.

Dr. Hunt is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the board of Crisis Group. She holds two master’s degrees, a doctorate in theology and six honorary degrees. She has received numerous awards from groups as varied as the United Methodist Church, United Way, Anti-Defamation League, American Mental Health Association, National Women’s Forum, International Education Association, Boston Chamber of Commerce, and International Peace Center. In 2007,Dr. Hunt was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Mary Kramer
Honors Fellow
College of Arts and Sciences

Mary Kramer served the University for 40 years as a dedicated teacher, inspiring countless students to meet high standards and to stretch themselves intellectually.
Dr. Kramer received her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin and her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Kansas, specializing in Renaissance literature. In addition to teaching, she wrote academic articles and presented papers at various conferences. She had a long career as a freelance writer, working for such publications as Playbill, the New York Times, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, The Pilot and Parents. She was also a regular book reviewer for the Boston Herald.

She was an early and enthusiastic supporter of the Honors Program at UMass Lowell. She found her work with honors students among the most rewarding of her academic career, appreciating the challenge, stimulation and interest they brought to her classes. She was a strong supporter of the UMass Lowell College Bowl team through the Honors Program and regularly played on the faculty team against the students.

Dr. Kramer also supported programs that shape future honors students. She has mentored students in the Gifted and Talented Program in Chelmsford, coached teams for Odyssey of the Mind competitions, and served as a judge for the regional competitions for National History Day.

Dr. Kramer retired in May of 2009, but remains active as a volunteer merit badge counselor for the Boy Scouts. She knits for a local veteran's hospital and oversees an annual book sale that makes over $30,000 each year for a local library.

Ehud D. Laska ’75
Francis Cabot Lowell Award for Outstanding Achievement in Business

Ehud David Laska is president and CEO of Pelion Financial Group Inc., a diversified financial service company with operations in asset management, securities trading and trade execution, insurance brokerage and retirement plan services. Mr. Laska is experienced in building companies from the ground up through acquisitions and consolidations, internal growth, restructuring, reengineering and reenergizing existing companies. His expertise includes the installation of management and operations control systems and protocols, financial and cash flow forecasts and reporting and communication with owners, investors and diversified management teams.

Prior to Pelion, Mr. Laska founded and served as the chairman and CEO of American Benefit Resources, a national retirement benefits company, which he sold in 2005.  Previously, he was a senior investment banker with The First Boston Corp., Drexel Burnham Lambert and Paine Webber, focusing on financial institutions, restructuring and general investment banking and corporate finance services. He also served as the deputy CFO of Citicorp with responsibilities for long-term capital funding. 

Mr. Laska received his bachelor’s degree in engineering from UMass Lowell, his master’s degree in engineering from Brown University and an MBA from Stanford University. He has completed the Wharton School/Spencer Stuart Board of Directors Institute. Currently, he is serving as the vice chairman of the advisory board of UMass Lowell’s College of Engineering.

The Laska Family Endowment Scholarship Fund awards scholarships to students in the Francis College of Engineering who have demonstrated interest in entrepreneurship.

He and his wife, Kathy, live in Chappaqua, NY.

Peter O’Connell
Honors Fellow
Graduate School of Education

Peter O’Connell, the recently retired director of the Tsongas Industrial History Center, is considered a pioneer in history museum education. He demonstrated that today’s youth can engage with the past, but they do so in ways that connect deeply with their own values and experiences.

Dr. O’Connell joined Old Sturbridge Village in 1972, working to strengthen the institution’s ties with teachers in the region’s public schools by working with them to develop lesson plans and encouraging them to bring their classes to the Village for repeat visits. He promoted role-playing, hands-on activities and exposure to primary documents to enrich students’ understanding of history and complement their classroom learning. Under his leadership, the education programs at Old Sturbridge Village became national models.

Dr. O’Connell brought this experience with him when he moved to the Tsongas Industrial History Center in Lowell in 1996. While there, he capitalized on a strong collaboration between the National Park Service and UMass Lowell to bring new resources to the Center. These resources supported greatly enhanced exhibitions and public programs that conveyed the impact of the industrial revolution on the development of the United States and Lowell’s central place in that story. More than 60,000 students annually benefit from these programs.

He was also a teacher of teachers, training thousands of educators in the use of artifacts, historic sites and primary documents. Today, the Center is a model for experiential learning.

Dr. O’Connell received the 2007 Commonwealth Award for Individual Achievement, given by the Massachusetts Cultural Council for overall excellence in the body of work by an artist, humanist or interpretive scientist.

Diana Tran ’02
Francis Cabot Lowell Young Alumni Award

Diana Tran ’02 is the founder and owner of Diana’s Hair Fashion and Design in downtown Lowell.

A true American success story, Ms. Tran was born in Vietnam to an American soldier and a Vietnamese mother. After her mother died when Ms. Tran was four, she was raised by her stern but loving grandfather, who taught her the value of independence and the importance of caring for others. Her life in Vietnam was difficult. She spent 14 hours a day carrying rice and water and fishing in the nearby river.

With no formal education and limited English, she came to the United States in 1995 to live with relatives and work 12-hour days in their restaurant. She earned her cosmetology license and continued to refine her English skills, eventually securing a job at Dufresne’s Hair Salon in Lowell. In 1999, she graduated with an associate’s degree from Middlesex Community College and became an American citizen. She graduated from UMass Lowell with a double major in finance and management in 2002.

After earning her bachelor’s degree, Ms. Tran left her job at Dufresne’s to open her own salon. The business was such a success that after two years, Ms. Tran moved across the street into a 3,500-square-foot location to accommodate her growing clientele. In addition to adding more stylists, she added services to create a true spa experience.