Mildred Carstensen

Mildred Carstensen has spent her career as an educator, beginning as a high school French teacher in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1967. She subsequently served as Assistant Director of Admissions at the University of Chicago and Program Officer at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy before holding several positions at the University of Connecticut: Registrar at the West Hartford Campus, Director of Foundation Relations, founding Director of the Diversity Engineering Program at the School of Engineering, and Special Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Business and Operation Services (facilitating participation in the UConn 2000 building program). Mildred has served for ten years on the Board of Trustees, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa. Mildred earned a BA from Cornell College in French and Psychology, a Master of Arts in Teaching (French) from Yale University, and an Ed. D in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has taught graduate courses in Educational Leadership and Organizations at the University of Hartford, the University of Massachusetts, and as a fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She consults and writes on a range of educational policy and organizational issues. She spent her pre-school, elementary, and high school years within walking distance of Frederick Law Olmstead designed Washington Park, the Midway Plaisance, and Jackson Park in Chicago and within easy commutes to Daniel Burnham’s Lakefront Park, Promontory Point, and beaches.

She is fortunate to be able to take advantage of open or cultivated green spaces with lagoons in which to walk or exercise or play, and to escape from hurried city life. She appreciates their unique value and wants to ensure that given the increasing growth of our cities and interest in urban living, Connecticut will restore, maintain, and create ample park spaces for succeeding generations of citizens and enrich their communities. Millie and her family reside in Old Saybrook.