August 2010
Pat Huber, smartly turned out in an ironed skirt and blouse, was delivering a talk to a classroom full of resident assistants in the fall of 1979. Twenty minutes into the presentation, the door squeaked open. Tim Friar plodded in, clad in bedroom slippers, Army fatigues and rumpled jacket. At that moment, Pat stressed a point about the importance of arriving to appointments on time. Embarrassed, Tim sunk into a seat in the back of the room. The rest of the orientation class turned to look at him, laughing.
After the talk, he hurried up to Pat. “Professor Huber,” he said. “I’m sorry I was late.”
That he had mistaken her for faculty was no surprise. She was the omnipotent Honors Program student, attractive, articulate, smart, friendly to all. Despite Tim’s being a mere mortal, they became fast friends, and he frequently borrowed her tennis racquet, albeit to play against other women. “This was my pal Pat; she always had a smile and a spare tennis racquet,” he says. “Plus, she was off limits. A very good friend of mine had a total crush on her, and he'd talk about her all the time.”
Still, Tim stopped by her dorm daily to talk, and after several weeks, Pat asked, “So, when are you going to challenge me?" Their recollections of the first match differ except for the outcome: Love ensued.
Over the years, the Friars became two of the School of Business’s strongest supporters, both in financial commitments and volunteer time. They have established the Patricia H. and Timothy K. Friar Faculty Fund to support faculty endeavors, and have helped students perform community service in the Division of Student Affairs alternative break program, including disaster relief for the oil spill in the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. They also have supported Stamford campus business initiatives in addition to their philanthropy in Storrs.
Their partnership began at UConn, and Pat’s effect on Tim was profound. While visiting with the Friar family one day, Tim’s father called her in for a private talk. “Have a seat,” he said with a formality that unnerved her. She waited. “I want to shake your hand,” he said. “Since my son has been dating you, his grades have gone up.”
Pat rose to become senior vice president of Human Resources for GE Consumer Finance-Americas. Tim, who had distinguished himself as a student in UConn’s MBA program, rose from mere mortal to consummate businessman, winning numerous promotions at IBM and Korn/Ferry International. At the same time, he volunteered regularly with a variety of non-profits. Those included the Boys and Girls Clubs of Stamford, the Make-a-Wish Foundation and UConn, so much so that he finally left corporate America and accepted a position as CEO with the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Connecticut.
The couple has two daughters, Christine and Catherine, and stay close to a plethora of family members who graduated from UConn and went on to success. They also stay close to UConn. They remain actively involved in the social fabric of campus, attending sporting events with their family, connecting regularly with fellow alumni, and promoting the School of Business in a variety of ways.
They both serve on the School of Business Leadership Cabinet, a loyal group of alumni that provides advice and counsel to the dean. They helped to develop and implement the master’s degree program in Financial Risk Management currently based at the Stamford campus. Tim is also performing a comprehensive review and analysis of the career services function within the School of Business, and previously served as a member of the Board of Overseers for the business school. Pat lectures frequently at the School of Business and is helping in developing a more integrated Human Resources curriculum there. While in her position at GE, she had also served as the company’s Financial Management Training Program liaison to UConn, visiting campus to recruit talent.
Why do they give so much of themselves to UConn?
“Our reasons may be different,” he says, “because our journey was very different as undergraduates and our becoming a couple quite unlikely, but like many things, the brain cannot always explain what the heart is feeling.”
Says she, “UConn gave a lot to me, so I give back to UConn.”
