For the Record, Aug. 14, 2026

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

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

Appointments

Dawn Elliott, Blue and Gold Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, has been elected treasurer of the World Council of Biomechanics, recognizing her international leadership in the field. She was also recently appointed to The Franklin Institute's Committee on Science and the Arts, which evaluates nominations for the institute's prestigious science and engineering awards. At UD, Elliott founded the Department of Biomedical Engineering and established the Delaware Center for Musculoskeletal Research, an NIH-designated Center of Biomedical Research Excellence that recently received $12 million in phase two funding. Her work spans research, education and community-building, with a focus on strengthening the institutions and programs that support the next generation of researchers.

Honors

Mark Blenner is the 2026 recipient of the Waksman Outstanding Teaching Award from the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (SIMB). Named for Nobel Laureate Selman Waksman, the award recognizes the important role educators play in sustaining the fields of industrial microbiology and biotechnology. Blenner, Thomas and Kipp Gutshall Career Development Associate Professor and associate chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, was honored on Aug. 4, 2026, at the SIMB annual meeting in Austin, Texas.

Presentations

Kristen Chandler and Katie Pollock, master teachers at the College of Education and Human Development's Lab School, presented "Following the Child: Using Emergent Curriculum to Create Meaningful Preschool Learning Experiences" at the Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Education Conference in Salisbury, North Carolina, in August 2026. Their session helped preschool teachers and child care workers understand how to observe children's play, identify teachable moments and design meaningful learning experiences that support development across all domains.

Publications

Bita Moradi, a Ph.D. student in the College of Education and Human Development's (CEHD) School of Education, published "A Systematic Review on Professional Development Studies Addressing Multilingual Learners in K-12 STEM and Humanities Classrooms" in Review of Education with Adrian Pasquarella, associate professor in the School of Education. Together, they also published "Reciprocal Cross-Linguistic Relations Between Morphological Awareness and Reading Comprehension in Chinese-English Adolescents and Young Adults" in the Journal of Research in Reading. Moradi specializes in literacy in the Ph.D. in education program, and Pasquarella specializes in literacy education, especially for multilingual learners.

Kenneth Shores, associate professor in CEHD's School of Education, and Anamarie Auger Whitaker, assistant professor in CEHD's Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, published "Holding Out or Holding Back? Shifts in Kindergarten Redshirting and Retention Since the COVID-19 Pandemic" in Educational Researcher with Rachel Fidel. Shores and Whitaker both specialize in education policy.

In Memoriam

Evelyn 'Lyn' R. Hayes, Trustees' Distinguished Professor Emerita of Nursing and visionary nurse educator, researcher, military leader and fierce advocate for global health, passed away at the age of 84 on July 17, 2026.

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