Honoring our alumni. MeRCYhuRSt honoRS Five outStanding aluMni duRing Reunion weeKend FeStivitieS
’ CaSSandRa KuBa, Ph.d. ’97 cassandra kuba received a pair of awards on June 1. mercyhurst presented her with the distinguished alumni award for contributions to her chosen feld – anthropology – while california university of pennsylvania gave her its president s gala award for outstanding service. she s been chief forensic anthropologist and assistant professor of anthropology in the department of Justice, law & society at cal since 2007. ’ ’ she earned a master s degree in human biology at the university of indianapolis, focusing on skeletal biology and dna analysis, and a ph.d. in anthropology from arizona state university, where she focused on biological variations – the quirks that diferentiate individuals within groups. when cassandra arrived at california, she helped develop a growth plan to save an anthropology program that faced elimination. it now enrolls 60 majors. outside the classroom, cassandra devotes much of her energy to community outreach, spreading the word about what anthropology is and what it can do – especially to young people in local schools. she and her students get involved in many pro-bono projects near their campus, from helping historic york seek out a roadway leading to a revolutionary war pow camp to locating a stockade house that once protected a farmhouse dating to 1805.
niCholaS PotteR, dPt ’01
’ nick potter, who was recognized with the distinguished young alumni award, earned a doctor of physical Therapy degree from duke university in 2004 and completed several postdoctoral fellowships. hes now assistant director of athletic rehabilitation at duke, teaches in the dpT program and coordinates research for duke athletics. he focuses on biomechanical analysis, identifying and correcting small defcits in normal, healthy athletes to prevent injury and enhance performance. nick shares his expertise at conferences of major athletic training organizations worldwide.
’ he was on the training staf for the u.s. mens basketball teams for the 2008 and 2012 olympics. he was with usa shooting as team physiotherapist at the beijing olympics in 2008 and in london last year. nick does team consulting with the national football league, english premier soccer league and the national hockey league, as well as working with individual athletes, from brazilian soccer star alexandre pato to kyrie irving, the #1 nba draft pick in 2011. “ more recently, nick rehabbed premier quarterback peyton manning through his recovery after neck surgery. manning came to duke for several months, where nick worked on restructuring his throwing motion and mechanics. earlier this year, nick ran what he calls an nfl mini-camp at duke for peyton and eli manning and their receivers. ” nick plans to marry ciara connolly in may 2014. an irish student who graduated from mercyhurst in 2002, ciara has been managing events for fve-star hotels in europe, the middle east and africa.
’ she consults for many agencies and recently became a technical consultant for some of TV s fctionalized forensic programs. it s a perfect job for cassandra, who enjoys creative writing in her limited spare time. she s worked on episodes of csi, bones and rizzoli and isles. ’ ’ “ ”“ ” “ ” - cassandra and her husband, anthony Vincequerra, have a two year old son, maximilian Xavier. -
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