“For 20 years you have served this University and its people with unerring responsibility, creativity, intelligence, loyalty and generosity. You have given the best of yourself and brought out the best in your colleagues. Although, you are retiring from your position here, your positive impact on this institution will long endure as a tribute to your talents and devotion,” said Howard E. Cosgrove, chairman of UD's Board of Trustees, as he presented Hollowell with the medal.
“David's vision, his fiscal responsibility and his managerial skills have helped make possible the dramatic improvements to the learning and living environment on campus that have transformed this University into a much different and better institution than it was 20 years ago,” he said.
Mentioning just a few of Hollowell's achievements, Cosgrove cited the supervising of more than $900 million in campus renovations and new construction and his collaboration with former UD President David Roselle in upgrading faculty and staff salaries, enhancing financial aid, improving facilities and maintaining 20 years of balanced budgets.
“Virtually every existing building that was here when you arrived has been significantly upgraded and 37 new buildings have been designed and constructed,” Cosgrove said. "Most notable among these because of size, complexity and impact were the Bob Carpenter Center, the Trabant University Center, Gore Hall, Laird Campus residence halls, the Student Services Center and the Roselle Center for the Arts,” he said.
Cosgrove said Hollowell has helped bring more women into top management positions at UD, and that he and his wife, Kathleen, have given financial support to UD athletics, the library and campus beautification projects. They've endowed a professorship in the Department of Mathematical Sciences and been “fervent believers in and boosters of the Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management program,” he said.
Quoting industrialist Benjamin Fairless, Cosgrove said that there are four essential ingredients to achievement--"'choose a career you love, give it the best there is in you, seize your opportunities and be a member of the team.' David, you have succeeded because you have done all that and more,” he concluded.
Serving as master of ceremonies for the many tributes to Hollowell was UD's 26th President Patrick Harker who introduced UD's 25th president, David Roselle.
“To the best of my knowledge, UD is the only institution of higher education in America that has awarded salary increments every year for the last 20 years and faculty positions have increased by more than 10 percent,” Roselle said. He and Hollowell oversaw the installation of a campuswide enterprise management system and innovative computing utilities, he said.
“The Daves, as Mr. Hollowell and I are identified on campus, spent a lot of time together over the last 17 years, and we learned a lot. We learned from one another, we learned from many of you and we always took great pride in the University of Delaware,” Roselle said.
Provost Dan Rich and Maxine Colm, vice president for administration, said that Hollowell did a great deal to help make the campus a better place for faculty, students and staff.
At the event, Harker announced that the road that encircles UD's Laird campus, called Pencader Way, will now be known as David Hollowell Drive and that a Washington elm tree has been planted on The Green in front of Gore Hall in Hollowell's honor. “A plaque at the foot of the tree will read: 'In appreciation for his many efforts to significantly enhance the beauty of the University of Delaware campus and for his 20 years of exemplary service as a senior administrator, this elm tree is given in honor of David E. Hollowell by his many friends and colleagues at the University of Delaware,'” Harker said.
“I've had the opportunity to work with a team of great people. My time at the University of Delaware is something I can look back at and be proud of,” Hollowell said. “I feel I've made a mark on this institution.”
Article by Barbara Garrison
Photos by Kevin Quinlan