For the Record, Sept. 18, 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

Alexander Selimov, Elias Ahuja Professor and chair of Spanish, received the Gold Poetry Award "Aristotle" at the fifth International Poetry Festival of Naoussa, "Aristotle and the World," in Naoussa, Greece, on Sept. 6, 2026. The Movement of Arts and Poetry organized the festival under the auspices of the Municipality of Naoussa. In June 2026, Selimov also received the International Poet Distinction at the XIII International Poetry Encounter "Ciudad de los Anillos," held June 1-6 as part of the 27th International Book Fair of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.

At the 97th Northeastern Conference on Avian Diseases (NECAD) held at Penn State, Ph.D. student Christian Gravino, who works in Professor Mark Parcells' laboratory, won the best graduate student presentation award. His presentation was titled ""The Meq Oncoprotein of Very Virulent Plus Marek's Disease Viruses (vv+MDVs) Specifically Binds Chromatin Modifier BRG1 Which Increases Its Transcriptional Activity." Gravino was presented the award by Megan Lighty, head of the Penn State Poultry Diagnostic Laboratory.

Presentations

On Sept. 17, 2026, Sheng Lu, professor and graduate director of fashion and apparel studies (FASH), and Emilie Delaye, FASH graduate instructor, spoke at a webinar hosted by the International Trade Centre (ITC), a United Nations agency co-run by the World Trade Organization. During the presentation, Lu and Delaye shared their latest studies on shifting U.S. apparel trade patterns and fashion companies' evolving sourcing strategies amid tariff hikes and uncertainty. Other speakers included Matthias Knappe, head of Fibers, Textiles and Clothing Unit at ITC, and Julia Hughes, president of the United States Fashion Industry Association. The event drew attendees from 22 countries.

Heinz-Uwe Haus (aka Jean Bodin), professor emeritus in the Department of Theatre and Dance, had on Sept. 10, 2026, a scenic reading from his new book of dramatic texts in Greek translation (Apologoi, edition lulu, 2026, Raleigh, N.C.) at Satiriko Teatro in Nicosia, Cyprus. Costas Hadshigeorgiou commented: "The human condition that emerges through his texts is the one he experienced in the U.S. Yet the manner in which he perceives and interprets it grants it a universal dimension that touches all of us - everyone who participates in the cultural tradition of the Western world."

Publications

Aimee Pearsall-Kramer, assistant professor of music education in the School of Music, has published her first book, Growing Through Song: A Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Songbook for Grades K-5, in digital and physical form through F-flat Books. The project has been several years in the making and includes 20 original songs, accompanying lesson plans and professional recordings, all designed to help elementary music educators integrate social-emotional learning into their music classrooms. Twelve current UD music students and recent alumni worked with Pearsall-Kramer as songwriters and collaborators.

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