For the Record, May 1, 2026

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

Recent honors, presentations and publications include the following:

Honors

Branislav Nikolić, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, recently received the 2025 Marko V. Jarić Award, sometimes referred to as the "Serbian Nobel Prize in Physics," for "outstanding achievements in the study of spin transport and non-equilibrium spin dynamics in nanostructures." Awarded for more than 25 years, Nikolić received the prize from the Marko V. Jarić Foundation, in collaboration with the Serbian Institute for Physics, at a ceremony on March 17 at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Belgrade. Following the ceremony, he delivered a lecture on his work titled "From Nonequilibrium Quantum Field Theory to Spintronic and Nanomagnetic Technologies." The prize honors Serbian scientists for outstanding contributions to scientific research. Nikolić received his undergraduate degree in physics from the University of Belgrade before coming to the U.S. to pursue his doctorate at Stony Brook University. He joined UD in 2002.

Presentations

On April 30, 2026, Sheng Lu, professor and graduate director of fashion and apparel studies, spoke at the inaugural Textile Recycling Expo USA in Charlotte, North Carolina. Lu first joined a panel on "How do we increase textile recycling rates?" alongside industry leaders from Textile Exchange, American Circular Textiles and Waste Management Service. During the academic presentation session, Lu shared his recent research examining the business implications of using recycled cotton for clothing "Made in the USA." The two-day conference brought together global thought leaders from industry, academia and policymaking to discuss the future of textile recycling and sustainability in the United States and worldwide.

On Friday, March 27, 2026, Scott Abbott, assistant director of UD's Delaware Center for Civics Education (DCCE), presented at the National Council for History Education annual conference hosted in Montgomery, Alabama. Abbott presented a breakout session titled "U.S. Declaration of Independence Lessons and Teaching Historical Thinking for Civic Literacy" and a poster session titled "U.S. Declaration of Independence Lessons - 250 Years of Movement Across Space, Time and People." Both sessions shared essential lessons with educators developed to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. This curriculum project is part of a Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources grant administered by the American History Association, with lessons written by Scott Abbott and Fran O'Malley, director of DCCE, along with three former state and national history teacher of the year awardees. DCCE is part of the Institute for Public Administration (IPA), a research and public service center in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration.

Matthew Trevett-Smith, director of the Center for Teaching and Assessment of Learning, and Shane Sutherland, presented "Future Ready Learners and High-Impact Practices" in an online Town Hall hosted by the Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities on April 15, 2026.

Publications

Research by Molly Sutherland, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, and several members of her lab, including two recent undergraduate alumni, was published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum. The paper examines two specific mechanisms for transporting a molecule called heme, which is critical for many different cellular functions, including producing energy and transporting oxygen. Heme is also highly toxic to cells when not regulated properly, so identifying how it moves through cells is critical to understanding how and where the process can go wrong, which can cause DNA damage, inflammation and blood disorders such as anemia. Graduate students Susan Carroll, Alicia Kreiman and Nikita Varde are coauthors, along with 2025 graduates Sarah Garner and Donna Price. This is the fourth publication for Garner, who is currently in medical school at Thomas Jefferson University's Sidney Kimmel School of Medicine. Price, who worked in Sutherland's lab throughout her UD career, is currently applying to graduate schools.

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