About the Hluchyj Fellowship | College of Engineering

History

In 2008, University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Dr. Michael and Theresa Hluchyj founded the Hluchyj Graduate Fellowships. Their endowment supports two graduate students in the College of Engineering and the School of Nursing with annual stipends of $25,000 each so they can do research in the area of clinical healthcare. The fellowship arrangement has championed an historic collaboration between the College of Engineering, from which Mike Hluchyj earned his a B.S. from the the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department in 1979, and the School of Nursing, from which Terry Hluchyj graduated in 1977.

Impact

When UMass Amherst alumni Mike and Terry Hluchyj created a fellowship in 2008 to support one graduate student per year from the College of Engineering and one from the School of Nursing, Terry Hluchyj summarized their motivation this way: "Quality healthcare ranks among the most important issues our society faces, and the collaborative research initiatives between nursing and engineering at UMass Amherst can make a real difference."

Hluchyj Fellowship News

Hluchyj Fellows Chosen in Engineering and Nursing for 2012-2013

Doctoral students Akshaya Shanmugam of the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department and Jalil Johnson from the School of Nursing have been named the 2012-2013 Hluchyj Fellows at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The Hluchyj Graduate Fellowship was started by Dr. Michael Hluchyj, a 1979 alumnus of the Electrical and Computer Engineering, and his wife, Theresa "Terry" Hluchyj, a 1977 alumna from the School of Nursing.

Former School of Nursing graduate student Kavita Radhakrishnan, whose research at UMass Amherst was supported by a visionary fellowship established by Dr. Michael Hluchyj (B.S. ’76, Electrical Engineering) and Mrs. Theresa Hluchyj (B.S., School of Nursing), has accepted a faculty appointment at the University of Texas School of Nursing in Austin. She has a background as both a telecommunications engineer and a registered nurse, a combination which inspired her to do research in telehealth technology, meaning the delivery of health-related services and information through telecommunications devices. This past year, after getting her doctorate at UMass Amherst, Radhakrishnan pursued post-doctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania.

Graduate students Shuang Li of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department and Jean Cody from the School of Nursing have been named the 2011-2012 Hluchyj Fellows at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The Hluchyj Graduate Fellowship was started by Dr. Michael Hluchyj, a 1979 alumnus of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and his wife, Theresa “Terry” Hluchyj, a 1977 alumna from the School of Nursing. The fellowship supports two graduate students in the College of Engineering and the School of Nursing with annual stipends of $25,000 so they can do interdisciplinary research in the area of clinical healthcare.

They call it the “White Coat Syndrome.” Many people get stressed out when they visit their doctors, which makes their blood pressure readings go sky-high. The White Coat Syndrome is only one factor contributing to why the care for diabetics with high blood pressure is described as “woefully inadequate” – especially since two-thirds of diabetics suffer from high blood pressure, and their medication is based on intermittent office visits. To address this dangerous problem, industrial engineer Jenna Marquard is a key researcher in an almost $2-million project.

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