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Adam D. Hill \u201908<\/h4>\n
As Hill applied to colleges, he was first attracted to Trinity by its chemistry offerings, and he was admitted into the College\u2019s Interdisciplinary Science Program. Years later, with his Ph.D. in hand, he found himself comparing every college chemistry department with Trinity\u2019s. He ultimately jumped at the chance to join the faculty he saw as his ideal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe faculty here have a degree of cordiality and rapport with one another that really is exceptional,\u201d Hill says. \u201cPrior to joining the department, I did research about how a chemistry curriculum can be set up, and I found that inevitably the best way to approach each aspect was the way that Trinity\u2019s Chemistry Department was already doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hill additionally cites Trinity\u2019s increased commitment to developing its STEM fields, the College\u2019s robust science facilities, and instrumentation available to students and researchers as factors in drawing him back to his alma mater.<\/p>\n
As a Trinity student, Hill published a research article in the Journal of Chemical Education <\/em>with one of his mentors\u2014and fellow Bantam\u2014Maria L. Parr \u201990, associate professor of chemistry, who is now his faculty colleague.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t help but grin every time I step on campus; it\u2019s a place that authentically feels good to be,\u201d says Hill, who married a fellow Trinity chemistry major he met when they were both undergrads. \u201cI like to show my students that I\u2019m proof that the Trinity approach works. Now I want to contribute to every student experiencing the kind of Trinity that I got to experience.\u201d<\/p>\n With generations of her family in Hartford and research rooted in the city, Miller says that returning to Trinity felt almost inevitable. \u201cI was looking to come back to Hartford. This community continues to ground my work, which delves into Black women\u2019s experiences and Black motherhood in America,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Miller\u2019s Trinity connections go back to her childhood, when she was involved in programs the College hosted for local youth. She also was part of the first graduating class of Hartford Magnet Middle School, now Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy, located just across Broad Street from the College.<\/p>\n \u201cI liked the way my American studies classes at Trinity addressed what interested me about Black communities in the U.S.,\u201d Miller says. \u201cAnd I appreciated the way we were trained to engage through reading and writing in different types of disciplines and through diverse ways of getting to know communities.\u201d Miller\u2019s senior project adviser was Davarian L. Baldwin, Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of American Studies, with whom she is working through Trinity\u2019s Social Justice Initiative.<\/p>\n Miller believes she and her fellow alumni faculty members can relate to what it feels like to be a Trinity student and to navigate campus life in their shoes. \u201cHaving lived through many of the same challenges, I can perhaps offer solutions I\u2019ve tried or tested,\u201d she says. \u201cI also provide the perspective of someone who\u2019s from Hartford, this complex and beautiful city with so much history.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to return to the place that molded me in so many ways,\u201d Miller adds. \u201cNow I get to be part of that process for young folks at Trinity\u2014to return the gifts that I received here and to show current students the possible pathways ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n All faculty members remember what it was like to be a student, but not all faculty members teach in the very Seabury Hall classroom in which they took undergraduate courses.<\/p>\n \u201cI try to remind myself what I was thinking about while in class in Seabury, to understand my students a little bit more,\u201d says Gabriel F. Hornung \u201907, assistant professor of religious studies. \u201cThere\u2019s something about being at the same place where I went to school<\/p>\n that helps me to figure out the students. What\u2019s in faculty\u2019s minds is not always what\u2019s in students\u2019 minds.\u201d<\/p>\n It was never Hornung\u2019s plan to teach at Trinity, but he always held fond memories of faculty members he admired and wanted to emulate, including Ellison Banks Findly, Scott M. Johnson \u201997 Distinguished Professor of Religion, Emerita. \u201cThe opportunity to join them arose right when I was finishing my dissertation,\u201d he says. Hornung first took a visiting position at Trinity, then was hired in a tenure-track role in 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cComing back to campus was also a little bit strange at first,\u201d Hornung says. \u201cMy office window overlooked my first-year residence hall.\u201d<\/p>\n Gazing out across campus and remembering his time as a student, Hornung says he is frequently reminded how much he\u2019s changed in 20 years. \u201cI try to remind students that they\u2019re just starting out and that they\u2019ll likely change a fair amount at Trinity and beyond. My hope is to help them keep their larger trajectories in perspective,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n David Sterling Brown \u201906, associate professor of English, never wanted to leave Trinity. \u201cIt\u2019s just a magical place for me\u2014a place where I know it is OK to be myself,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Brown says he was continually drawn back to the place he considers home. After graduating from Trinity\u2014where he fell in love with Shakespeare under the mentorship of Milla C. Riggio, James J. Goodwin Professor of English, Emerita\u2014he found himself back on campus as the Connecticut recruitment director for Teach For America. He first became part of Trinity\u2019s English Department in 2013\u201314 as the Ann Plato Fellow and joined the faculty full time in 2022.<\/p>\n He said he believes that being a Trinity alumnus has allowed him to connect with and inspire students in a unique way. \u201cI would love for every student to see themselves in me,\u201d Brown says. \u201cI pull from all of my past Trinity professors and their different qualities . . . their sensitivity, listening to me when I was going through something difficult, giving advice and encouragement.\u201d<\/p>\n Alumni faculty members occupy a privileged hybrid identity, according to Brown. \u201cWe have a sensitivity to these students and their needs in a way that takes really knowing this place and how it operates,\u201d he says. \u201cI care a lot about students and their experiences, and I think that makes me a better teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n *excluding emeriti<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Story by Andrew J. Concatelli Photos by Nick Caito Many Trinity alumni come back to campus every five years for Reunion. Others come back every day to teach. \u201cIt felt like a dream to return to Trinity as part of the faculty,\u201d says Mitchell Polin \u201996, associate dean for curriculum and professor of theater and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"parent":1685,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2177","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChannon S. Miller \u201911<\/h4>\n
\nA special perspective<\/h4>\n
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\n \n ACTIVE TENURED\/TENURE-TRACK ALUMNI FACULTY MEMBERS*:<\/h4>\n
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