The 69th Commencement Exercises for Capital Community College will confer  497 associate degrees and certificates to the Class of 2016 on Thursday, May 26th at the Connecticut Convention Center.

Rocio Chang-Angulo,  Psy.D., MA, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Connecticut Medical School in Farmington, will be the keynote speaker at the graduation beginning at 6 p.m.

Dr. Chang-Angulo, a native of Peru, began college at Capital, formerly named Greater Hartford Community College at the Woodland Street campus. Her associate degree in liberal arts degree led to the baccalaureate in neuroscience at Trinity College and a Master of Arts and Psy.D degrees from the University of Hartford.

2016 Commencement Speaker and Alumna Rocio Chang-Angulo with her husband, Dr. Rory Angulo, at Capital’s Changing Lives Gala in April.

Appointed to UCONN’s Medical School faculty in 2015, Chang-Angulo previously completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Connecticut with UCONN colleagues focusing on the treatment of traumatized children and families.

Dr. Chang-Angulo, an expert  in the area of childhood and adult trauma, is sought after to provide specific training on assessment and treatment of complex trauma, and in particular she has been a resource to Latino organizations. Dr. Chang-Angulo served as Director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)-funded Capitol Region Mental Health Center Women’s Diversion Program from 2003-2006.  She is a trainer of Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP), Think Trauma Curriculum, Restorative Justice Practices, and Peer Support Services.  She serves on the Clinical Advisory Board of several grassroots organizations such as: Focus on Recovery United, GOODWorks, the Mathew Jordan Porco Foundation, and Connecticut Public Broadcasting Television.  Recently, Chang-Angulo has worked to develop a Spanish curriculum on the intersection of domestic violence, mental health and trauma with the Connecticut Coalition against Domestic Violence and the National Alliance of Mental Illness. Dr. Chang serves on several committees of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and is a peer reviewer of the Journal of Groups in Addiction & Recovery.

Dr. Chang-Angulo credits her academic and professional accomplishments to her start at Capital and the English as a Second Language program. She calls retired  faculty members Nancy Caddigan and Emma Colón, who were instrumental in developing the ESL program “her mentors since 1989. We have kept in touch after all these years. Both made a huge difference in my life as well as many others.

Janet Frost-Naleski, M.A., Ph.D, a Professor of Biology and Chemistry, who is concluding her teaching career, will be the Faculty and Staff Marshall at Commencement. Peggy Schuyler, English as a Second Language (ESL) Professor, will bring greetings from the faculty.

A pre-commencement reception will be held at the convention center to recognize Dr. Chang-Angulo, other members of the platform party and retiring faculty members.