’Neath the elms once again

Three Trinity alumni return to campus as tenure-track faculty members

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.

“It felt like a dream to return to Trinity as part of the faculty,” says Mitchell Polin ’96, associate dean for curriculum and professor of theater and dance. “Trinity’s incredible faculty members introduced to me ideas that changed me as a person and inspired me to be who I am. That I’m in the position to do that for others now is really a gift.”

Teaching at Trinity for 23 years, Polin has experience working with fellow Bantams who are also faculty colleagues. “As students at Trinity, there’s a certain set of values instilled in us: building relationships with others, a culture of curiosity, the value of an interdisciplinary liberal arts education, and what it means to contribute not just to the College but to the world,” Polin says. “Trinity faculty who are alumni of the College are foregrounding those remarkable priorities in our relationships with students and our relationships with the College and in the way we step into the classroom and onto the campus on a daily basis.”

While it is not new for Trinity’s former students to become its next generation of teachers, the number of alumni faculty members has increased notably this academic year with the addition of three assistant professors with tenure-track positions: Jonathan T. Ashby ’09 and Adam D. Hill ’08 in chemistry and Channon S. Miller ’11 in American studies and history.

Jonathan T. Ashby ’09

Ashby had the unique opportunity to fill a faculty position upon the retirement of his Trinity adviser, Janet F. Morrison, principal lecturer in chemistry, emerita. “It is surreal being in her old office, sitting on the other side of the table. I like it, but it felt intimidating the first couple of days,” Ashby says.

Working with Morrison while he was studying at Trinity led Ashby to an interest in analytical chemistry. “I grew to like the intersection of chemistry with other disciplines. That’s influenced the work I do now,” he says. A position as a supplemental instruction leader at Trinity first helped Ashby realize that he enjoyed teaching.

Back on campus this year, Ashby says, he feels a mix of nerves and excitement. “I remember how strong a lot of the faculty in the department were in supporting me to get me to where I am now. It’s a high bar to reach, but I know the department will help me get to that level,” he says.

Ashby says he is encouraged by the increasing diversity among Trinity’s faculty, particularly in the sciences. “I hope to bring programming and opportunities for students of color to more easily meet and network with other scientists and potentially present their research,” he says.

As he remembers his own experiences as a Trinity student, Ashby says he plans to support students in any way he can. “The advice I wish I had been given as a student is don’t feel intimidated by your faculty. Embracing opportunities to meet one-on-one will help you get so much more out of your class.”

Adam D. Hill ’08

As Hill applied to colleges, he was first attracted to Trinity by its chemistry offerings, and he was admitted into the College’s Interdisciplinary Science Program. Years later, with his Ph.D. in hand, he found himself comparing every college chemistry department with Trinity’s. He ultimately jumped at the chance to join the faculty he saw as his ideal.

“The faculty here have a degree of cordiality and rapport with one another that really is exceptional,” Hill says. “Prior 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’s Chemistry Department was already doing it.”

Hill additionally cites Trinity’s increased commitment to developing its STEM fields, the College’s robust science facilities, and instrumentation available to students and researchers as factors in drawing him back to his alma mater.

As a Trinity student, Hill published a research article in the Journal of Chemical Education with one of his mentors—and fellow Bantam—Maria L. Parr ’90, associate professor of chemistry, who is now his faculty colleague.

“I can’t help but grin every time I step on campus; it’s a place that authentically feels good to be,” says Hill, who married a fellow Trinity chemistry major he met when they were both undergrads. “I like to show my students that I’m proof that the Trinity approach works. Now I want to contribute to every student experiencing the kind of Trinity that I got to experience.”

Channon S. Miller ’11

With generations of her family in Hartford and research rooted in the city, Miller says that returning to Trinity felt almost inevitable. “I was looking to come back to Hartford. This community continues to ground my work, which delves into Black women’s experiences and Black motherhood in America,” she says.

Miller’s 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.

“I liked the way my American studies classes at Trinity addressed what interested me about Black communities in the U.S.,” Miller says. “And 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.” Miller’s senior project adviser was Davarian L. Baldwin, Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of American Studies, with whom she is working through Trinity’s Social Justice Initiative.

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. “Having lived through many of the same challenges, I can perhaps offer solutions I’ve tried or tested,” she says. “I also provide the perspective of someone who’s from Hartford, this complex and beautiful city with so much history.

“It’s exciting to return to the place that molded me in so many ways,” Miller adds. “Now I get to be part of that process for young folks at Trinity—to return the gifts that I received here and to show current students the possible pathways ahead.”

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A special perspective

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.

“I try to remind myself what I was thinking about while in class in Seabury, to understand my students a little bit more,” says Gabriel F. Hornung ’07, assistant professor of religious studies. “There’s something about being at the same place where I went to school

that helps me to figure out the students. What’s in faculty’s minds is not always what’s in students’ minds.”

It was never Hornung’s 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 ’97 Distinguished Professor of Religion, Emerita. “The opportunity to join them arose right when I was finishing my dissertation,” he says. Hornung first took a visiting position at Trinity, then was hired in a tenure-track role in 2018.

“Coming back to campus was also a little bit strange at first,” Hornung says. “My office window overlooked my first-year residence hall.”

Gazing out across campus and remembering his time as a student, Hornung says he is frequently reminded how much he’s changed in 20 years. “I try to remind students that they’re just starting out and that they’ll likely change a fair amount at Trinity and beyond. My hope is to help them keep their larger trajectories in perspective,” he says.

David Sterling Brown ’06, associate professor of English, never wanted to leave Trinity. “It’s just a magical place for me—a place where I know it is OK to be myself,” he says.

Brown says he was continually drawn back to the place he considers home. After graduating from Trinity—where he fell in love with Shakespeare under the mentorship of Milla C. Riggio, James J. Goodwin Professor of English, Emerita—he found himself back on campus as the Connecticut recruitment director for Teach For America. He first became part of Trinity’s English Department in 2013–14 as the Ann Plato Fellow and joined the faculty full time in 2022.

He said he believes that being a Trinity alumnus has allowed him to connect with and inspire students in a unique way. “I would love for every student to see themselves in me,” Brown says. “I 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.”

Alumni faculty members occupy a privileged hybrid identity, according to Brown. “We have a sensitivity to these students and their needs in a way that takes really knowing this place and how it operates,” he says. “I care a lot about students and their experiences, and I think that makes me a better teacher.”

ACTIVE TENURED/TENURE-TRACK ALUMNI FACULTY MEMBERS*: Samuel D. Kassow ’66, Charles H. Northam Professor of History (retiring) Alden R. Gordon ’69, Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts Maria Parr ’90, Associate Professor of Chemistry Harry Blaise ’94, Associate Professor of Engineering Mitchell Polin ’96, Professor of Theater and Dance and Associate Academic Dean Laura J. Holt ’00, Professor of Psychology David Sterling Brown ’06, Associate Professor of English Gabriel F. Hornung ’07, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Adam D. Hill ’08, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Jonathan T. Ashby ’09, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Channon S. Miller ’11, Assistant Professor of American Studies and History *excluding emeriti