As manager of the bookstore for more than a decade, Richard Hebert has become somewhat of an institution at UB. His commitment runs deep — you could say he bleeds purple. And UB seems to have gotten into his blood.
“My goal is absolutely to finish my career here,” he said in an interview. “I have a son who’s a freshman in high school, and the other one’s in seventh grade, and my goal is to make sure that my kids are also going to become part of the UB family and get that UB DNA in them. I want my kids to be able to experience what UB gives to the students.”
The Ansonia, Connecticut native considers himself fortunate to have found a home at UB. “I’m super grateful,” he stated. “This community finds a way to touch your heart, and it really is just something special.”
In August 2013, Hebert began working at UB in Dining Services before moving over to the bookstore the following year. The most gratifying thing about the position, he said, “is to be able to watch the students transition with their education and turn it into success.”
Hebert’s steadfast dedication to the University was recognized with the Honorary Knight Award at the 2024 Homecoming Weekend dinner gala. “Getting that award that night with the alumni, with the faculty, staff, administration, with the students, with the Board of Trustees — it was the most memorable, heartfelt moment of my career here,” he said. “It helps to continue to drive me to want to do better and help the students succeed.”
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Eric D. Lehman is the director of publications and associate professor of English at University of Bridgeport. He is the author or editor of 22 books, including “New England Nature, A History of Connecticut Food,” and “Bridgeport: Tales from the Park City.” His biography of Charles Stratton, “Becoming Tom Thumb,” won the Henry Russell Hitchcock Award from the Victorian Society of America and was chosen as one of the American Library Association’s outstanding university press books of the year. His novella “Shadows of Paris” and novel “9 Lupine Road” were finalists for the Connecticut Book Award. He has been consulted on diverse subjects and quoted by The Atlantic Monthly, USA Today, the BBC, the History Channel, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, and The Wall Street Journal.