For the Record, March 27, 2026

For the Record provides information about recent professional activities and honors of University of Delaware faculty, staff, students and alumni.

Recent presentations, publications, honors and appointments include the following:

Presentations

Rudi Matthee, John and Dorothy Munroe Distinguished Professor of History, was a guest on NPR, discussing the history of the Strait of Hormuz on the program "On Point" on March 25, 2026.

Members of the Resident Ensemble Players (REP) production team presented at the annual conference for United States Institute for Theatre Technology, one of the leading national gatherings for theatre design and technology professionals. Anne Clark, scenic charge, and Liz Baehr, props master, co-led "Stencils and Wallpaper with Digital Aids," where they shared work created at University of Delaware alongside projects from other theatre, theme park and industrial settings. Clark and Baehr illustrated how the team uses tools like Adobe Creative Suite, Vectorworks, Affinity and digital fabrication technologies in REP productions. Clark also co-led the full-day workshop "Deep Cuts: An Experience in Foam Carving," where 24 participants got hands-on experience with industry techniques.

Several College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) faculty members and students presented at the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Midatlantic Spring Conference, hosted by UD's College of Engineering (COE), March 27-28, 2026. Participating CEHD students included Maisha Mouli, Rosa Mykyta-Chomsky and Sotheara Veng. Participating CEHD faculty included Jennifer Gallo-Fox, associate professor in CEHD's Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, and Zoubeida Dagher, professor in CEHD's School of Education, as well as Tyler Van Buren, assistant professor in COE's Department of Mechanical Engineering:

• Veng, S., Mykyta-Chomsky, R. & Gallo-Fox, J. "Early Childhood Education Majors' Interest and Needs for a Non-major Engineering Lab Course Offerings." Paper presentation.

• Mouli, M., Dagher, Z. Gallo-Fox, J. & VanBuren, T. "Examining the Pilot Implementation of an Engineering Design Curriculum: Insights from Teacher and Students' Perspectives." Work-in-progress paper presentation,

• VanBuren, T., Gallo-Fox, J., Dagher, Z., & Mouli, M. "Engineering customizable and constructable bio-inspired swimming robots for use in the K-12 classroom." Paper presentation.

Publications

"Southern Accents," a long poem by Amish Trivedi, assistant professor of English and creative writing, was published in issue 60 of the Notre Dame Review, issued in January 2026. He talks about the poem and the manuscript it comes from in a post online.

Margaret Stetz, Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and professor of humanities, is the coauthor of "'That Which Draweth'-A Lost Prose Sketch by George Egerton," which has just appeared in CUSP: Late 19th and Early 20th Century Cultures, a Johns Hopkins University Press journal, 4:1 (Winter 2026), 147-160 (available online through Project Muse: Stetz provided the critical "Introduction" and the scholarly "Notes" for this previously unknown and unpublished short story by the Anglo-Irish feminist author "George Egerton" (Mary Chavelita Dunne, 1859-1945), which was discovered by Professor Alex Murray, Queens University, Belfast, in manuscript form in the archives of Special Collections at Boston University's Library, and which both he and Stetz have transcribed. Egerton's story, which is set in Norway in the late-1880s, shows the important influence of Ibsen's plays--in this case, of The Lady from the Sea, in particular--on late-Victorian "New Woman" literature in English.

Jennifer Horney, professor and founding chair of the Epidemiology Department in the College of Health Sciences, published an editorial in the American Journal of Public Health in April. "How Damage to Our Public Health Emergency Preparedness System Impacts Public Health Students" details how distrust, a weakened workforce pipeline and politicization have negatively impacted the field of public health. In the editorial, Horney calls on the public health workforce to quantify these impacts and build the evidence base for future reinvestment in public health preparedness. She also called on public health students to find their passion, engage with supportive partners and prepare to lead.

The latest issue of the Delaware Journal of Public Health, guest edited by UD computer scientists Weisong Shi and Yixiang Deng, brings together 16 articles from researchers, clinicians, policymakers and industry leaders examining how artificial intelligence and big data are reshaping health care. The issue balances Delaware-specific topics with broader perspectives, highlighting three levels of impact: what Delaware can expect in the coming years, what other states can learn from Delaware's approach and how UD research is advancing AI for health through collaborations. Highlights from the issue include articles about the nation's first nursing fellowship in robotics, autonomous wheelchairs and smarter insulin dosing for type 1 diabetes.

Honors

Ravi Ammigan, vice provost for Global Engagement, has been named a 2026 STAR Luminary, an honor given by the STAR Scholars Network recognizing distinguished global academic leaders whose work advances international cooperation in higher education. As part of this inaugural cohort, Ammigan is recognized for his exceptional leadership in strengthening global engagement and expanding support for international students and partnerships. The distinction highlights individuals who strengthen institutional trust and integrity, advance inclusive excellence and global access, promote responsible innovation in higher education and foster meaningful international scholarly collaboration. This recognition not only reflects Ammigan's personal commitment to global education but also underscores the University of Delaware's ongoing dedication to international scholarship and collaboration.

Professor of Nursing Kathleen Brewer-Smyth's book, Adverse Childhood Experiences: The Neuroscience of Trauma, Resilience, and Healing throughout the Life Course, has won the 2026 Independent Press Award in the medical category. Published by Springer Nature, the book has now earned five awards, including four American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year honors in 2023.

Appointments

Monica A. Coleman, professor of Africana studies and John and Patricia Cochran Scholar for Inclusive Excellence, was inducted as president of the Society for the Study of Black Religion at the annual meeting in Charleston, S.C March 19-21, 20026.

Anderson Janotti, professor of materials science and engineering, has been elected vice chair of the Division of Materials Physics at the American Physical Society (APS). His term began this month, and the vice chair automatically advances to chair-elect and then chair of the division in successive years. The APS Division of Materials Physics advances understanding of how complex materials behave by applying fundamental physics concepts to a wide range of materials, including those used in real-world technologies.

Dominique J. Baker, associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development's (CEHD) School of Education and the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration, is one of two education professors selected for a new National Center for Education Sciences task force. With other colleagues across the country, she will work to reimagine the design of the nation's federal postsecondary data infrastructure.

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