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www.HartfordBusiness.com November 26, 2012 • Hartford Business Journal 43 Celebrating 20 Years of Business News STORIES 20 Years of P.O. Box 2468, New Britain, CT 06050 800.969.3837 nteriors.com Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring Keep your exterior colorful and festive year round with our exterior seasonal program! indoor / outdoor plantscapes • holiday decor A Major Anniversary ... A New Building ... A Company Milestone Whether it's the celebration of a major anniversary or the opening of a new headquarters, Hartford Business Journal's Custom Publishing Division can help you create a custom magazine for your business. Our division's top flight team of writers and designers can help you tell your story – and make your business look great! Based on our unique publishing model, its surprisingly affordable. Interested in finding out more? Call 860-236-9998 ext. 125 or e-mail advertising@HartfordBusiness.com Custom Publishing Division Can we create a Custom magazine for you? Du Bose Associates, of architectural is to achieve each client through vary widely in always focused and aspirations We are pleased fi rm over the past of our staff that in Connecticut." DuBose Associates, Inc. Architects Cover: Tunxis Community 1958 2008 Celebrating 50 Years 1 2 W hen I first arrived in Hartford in the summer of 1998 to become the new president of the Uni- versity of Hartford, I was invited to attend a lunch hosted by the university's Board of Regents. I assume that I was seated next to Harry Jack Gray, the then-retired CEO of UTC, because he was thought to be the foremost of the members of the board at the event. I knew Harry already, since he served on the search committee that attracted me to Hartford. Indeed, it was an impressive com- mittee with members like Jon O. Newman, a U.S. Second Circuit Court judge; Belle Ribi- coff, one of Hartford's best-known names and brightest intellects; and Arnold Greenberg, one of our leading civic leaders. It was that search committee that really convinced me that the University of Hartford was the place for me. Harry and I really hit it off. As we talked at that lunch, he was the first to tell me sto- ries about "The Bishops." These corporate leaders met irregularly at the large breakfast table at the Hartford Club to discuss where to make the biggest charitable and civic impact in Hartford. The story was a lovely and romantic reminder about an age when the city's corporate leaders had also been its civic leaders. "Too bad it doesn't exist today," I said. "It doesn't," he replied, "but you really must get to know Bob Fiondella at Phoenix. He is the one corporate leader who has a strong vision and bold plans for Hartford. Go see him right away." With that, he pulled out a small plastic pocket phone book in which he and his secretary had entered the names and phone numbers of the pow- erful in Hartford as well as influential people through- out the world. First, he made sure to enter my con- tact information, which I felt was a real rite of pas- sage. Then he looked up Bob Fiondella and gave me his number. Within days I was being whisked into Fiondella's office in the Phoenix Building. I had arrived at Trinity College as a fresh- man in 1964, just after the completion of what was then popularly called "the World's Eighth Wonder," a two-sided building. As an undergraduate who was thrilled by the architecture of cit- ies, I spent many hours roaming Constitu- tion Plaza, looking up at the Phoenix Build- ing. Now I was inside, 30 years after I left the city as a Trinity graduate. I had made it in Hartford! Bob and I hit it off immediately, too. I think he was amazed that I shared his love of baseball and, competitive person that he is, was certain that he knew more about the history of the game than I did -- even though I had written my doctoral dissertation on the subject. After I demonstrated that I could at least hold my own with him, we moved on to his dreams for Adriaen's Landing. He ges- tured out the windows of the boardroom near his office at one pointy end of the building I so much admired, envisioning what would soon be built on the industrial site and sur- face parking lots just next door. Bob's vision became what are now the Connecticut Convention Center, the Marriott Hotel, Front Street, and the Connecticut Sci- ence Center, although all are a little different from what he imagined. I look back on those days with a sure sense that I met two corporate leaders who left their mark on Hartford and the university that bears its name. I see that same spirit now in people like Andy Bessette at Travelers, Liam McGee at The Hartford, and Oz Griebel at the MetroHartford Alliance, and I know that spirit lives still. Hartford is a much bet- ter place because of it. n Walter Harrison is president of the Univer- sity of Hartford. The Last Bishops of Hartford By Walter Harrison "Remembrance" Walter Harrison found the love of baseball was a common bond that helped him establish a rapport with Robert Fiondella of the Phoenix Cos.