Awards for outstanding seniors announced

William A. Tisdale and Samantha Foy

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3:04 p.m., May 6, 2005--Samantha Foy, a nursing major from Pittsboro, N. C., has received UD’s Emalea Pusey Warner Award as the outstanding senior woman, and William A. Tisdale, a chemical engineering major from Basking Ridge, N. J., has received the Alexander J. Taylor Award as the outstanding senior man.

Given by the UD Alumni Association, the $2,000 awards honor leadership, academic success and community service, as exemplified by Mrs. Warner and Mr. Taylor. Those considered for the awards also must have a cumulative grade point index of 3.0 or better at the end of the first semester of their senior year.

In addition to being recognized at Honors Day, May 6, the two seniors will lead the alumni delegates’ procession at Commencement, Saturday, May 28.

Samantha Foy, CHNS ’05

A Eugene du Pont Scholar, one of UD’s most prestigious scholarships, Foy is majoring in nursing and has participated in undergraduate research initiatives, study-abroad programs and several service activities. She has demonstrated leadership and community service in her participation in Alpha Lambda Delta, an honors service society, and Sigma Theta Tau, a nursing honor society.

She also has served as a leader in problem-based learning at UD, promoting inclusiveness among all group members.

Foy was the leader of a group of honors students who produced a documentary about self-mutilation or “cutting” last fall. The documentary and accompanying program were written up in the News Journal and featured on a regional television program sponsored by Fox News, and the documentary was screened for the UD community in the Trabant University Center.

During the past Winter Session, Foy completed an independent-study nursing project in South Africa, where she served as a student leader working with HIV/AIDS patients and their children. The study was expanded for the spring semester to include a component comparing AIDS treatment in the United States to treatment in developing countries.

Foy also is certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation/advanced external defibrillation (CPR/AED), advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) and life guarding, and she holds Emergency Medical Technician registration in Delaware, Connecticut and nationally.

Foy said the interest and support she has received from nursing faculty have been amazing. At this time, she said she does not have firm plans after Commencement, but is exploring different options, including nursing in oncology. Eventually, she may attend medical school or graduate school.

Betty Paulanka, dean of the College of Health and Nursing Sciences, called Foy “one of the most impressive nursing students the faculty has ever had,” adding, “She is truly able to balance all aspects of her life in a goal-directed manner that fulfills her dream for service and academic success.”

The Emalea Pusey Warner Award honors the late Mrs. Warner (1853-1948), who is remembered as a champion of education. In 1911, she became chairperson of the State Federation of Women’s Clubs’ Committee on Education, working diligently toward establishing a state-supported women’s college in Delaware. She later became the first woman member of the Delaware College Board of Trustees. Both Warner Hall on the UD campus and Warner Elementary School in Wilmington are named for her.

William “Will” A. Tisdale, EG ’05

Tisdale, a chemical engineering major with a minor in economics, is first academically in his class in the chemical engineering program.

He is involved in scientific research with the Undergraduate Honors Thesis Program and has worked on the design and operation of a solid-source vaporizer for the chemical vapor deposition and atomic-layer deposition of strontium metal-organic compounds. He recently presented his work at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) meeting in Austin, Texas.

Tisdale also is involved in campus leadership and community service. He served as the president of the UD chapter of the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society and as an officer of the student chapter of AIChE. An officer of Sigma Chi fraternity, Tisdale was on the Interfraternity Council.

During Winter Session, Tisdale went to South Africa to work with children who are infected or have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS, on a trip organized by the Battle for Life committee of the Alpha Lambda Delta honors service society.

“As a student of engineering, I spend much of my time thinking about the physical world. The trip to South Africa offered the chance to think about the world differently, and I jumped at the opportunity,” he said.

Tisdale said he plans to pursue a doctorate in chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota.

According to Brian G. Willis, assistant professor of chemical engineering, Tisdale is a leader on campus and in the community and “excels at the critical skills needed for scientific research, including working independently, self-instruction of new concepts and self-motivation to persevere through difficult problems.”

Valedictorian of the Class of 1893 with a degree in civil engineering, Alexander J. Taylor Sr. (1875-1940) was an active alumnus who was elected to the Board of Trustees in 1927, 1932 and 1938, serving on the Grounds and Buildings Committee, the Executive Committee and chairing the Finance Committee. Taylor Hall is named in his honor.

Article by Sue Moncure
Photo by Kathy F. Atkinson

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