{"id":61112,"date":"2013-05-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/commencement-2013-mom-son-daughter-graduate-together-at-uri\/"},"modified":"2013-05-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-05-15T00:00:00","slug":"commencement-2013-mom-son-daughter-graduate-together-at-uri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2013\/05\/commencement-2013-mom-son-daughter-graduate-together-at-uri\/","title":{"rendered":"Commencement 2013: Mom, son, daughter graduate together at URI"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tThree Kingston residents study math<\/p>\n

KINGSTON, RI \u2013 May 15, 2013 \u2013 Triplets will graduate from the University of Rhode Island this weekend. Well, not exactly, but they do share the same genes.<\/p>\n


\nThe routine will go something like this: Mia Heissan, 46, a URI lecturer in math, will get her doctorate in math on Saturday. On Sunday, she will award undergraduate diplomas to her two children, Anna and Chip Slaybaugh.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s so great,\u201d says the proud mother, who is even more thrilled that her kids are each getting a bachelor\u2019s degree in her beloved field: math. \u201cThat\u2019s so cool.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tIt\u2019s not unheard of for URI instructors to award diplomas to their children, but this might be the first time that an instructor is giving out not one but two diplomas to offspring, on the same stage, no less.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe Heissan\/Slaybaugh clan is well known in the URI community. The daughter of a veterinarian, Heissan grew up in Ridgefield, Conn., a small town in Fairfield County, and attended Cornell University before transferring to Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo., where she earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in philosophy. <\/p>\n


\n\tShe came to URI in 2007 to get her doctorate in math. She taught for many years in the math department and moved in January to the business department, where she is a full-time lecturer in math, calculus, and statistics.<\/p>\n


\n\tHer children, who also live in Kingston, have made their mark on campus as well. After taking a year off to tour with a band, Chip, 23, enrolled at URI in 2009, quickly developing a passion for math and physics. After graduation, he plans to stick around to study for his doctorate in physics, with a focus on biophysics.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s exciting just to get a diploma,\u201d says Chip. \u201cIt makes the experience even better when the person giving it to you is your mother.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAnna, 24, started URI in 2010, transferring from the University of Texas in Dallas. She\u2019ll also pursue graduate studies in the fall at URI, in either math or \u2013 gasp! \u2013 business. <\/p>\n


\nThe youngest Slaybaugh, Charlie, 20, will be a junior at URI in the fall. \u201cIf you ask him what he\u2019s majoring in he\u2019ll say, \u2018No math,\u2019 \u201d Heissan says, with a chuckle.<\/p>\n


\nHeissan\u2019s husband, Timothy Haitz, is also a no-math guy. He\u2019s getting his doctorate in physical therapy at the University.<\/p>\n


\nURI is the family\u2019s second home, says Heissan. They are loyal URI basketball fans, go to all the theater and musical performances, and attend as many public talks as possible. Chip is president of the URI Cycling Club and has a few bikes to prove it.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI\u2019m just so in love with URI,\u201d says Heissan. \u201cWe are part of every corner here. When we came we decided we were really going to make URI a part of our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAnna will be at a wedding in Texas and, alas, will not witness her mother\u2019s event, but she intends to make it back for her graduation. Her Red Eye flight lands in Boston at 5:30 a.m. Sunday, cutting it close. The undergraduate ceremony will start around noon at the Ryan Center.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cShe\u2019ll make it,\u201d says Heissan. \u201cI\u2019m sure.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAnd who gets to greet (and kiss) Mom first during the ceremony? A comes before C, so Anna is the lucky one. That\u2019s fine with both siblings. After all, Anna\u2019s the big sister.<\/p>\n


\nPictured above:

\nMia Heissan, 46, and her children, Anna Slaybaugh, 24, and Chip Slaybaugh, 23, who will all receive degrees from the University of Rhode Island this weekend. Heissan will get her doctorate in math. Anna and Gregory will each receive a bachelor\u2019s degree in math.

\nPhoto by Michael Salerno Photography<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three Kingston residents study math KINGSTON, RI \u2013 May 15, 2013 \u2013 Triplets will graduate from the University of Rhode Island this weekend. Well, not exactly, but they do share the same genes. The routine will go something like this: Mia Heissan, 46, a URI lecturer in math, will get her doctorate in math […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61114,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}