For the Record, July 20, 2012
UD faculty and staff announce recent honors, publications, service
3:28 p.m., July 20, 2012--For the Record provides information about recent professional activities of University of Delaware faculty, staff, students and alumni.
Recent announcements, honors, press, publications and service include the following:
Campus Stories
From graduates, faculty
Doctoral hooding
New assignments
Joan L. Buttram has been appointed center director of Delaware Education Research and Development Center, in the College of Education and Human Development, effective Sept. 1. She has served as interim director since 2009 and has been with the University for five years.
Ralph Ferretti, professor, School of Education, has been named director of the School of Education, effective Sept. 1. During the remainder of the summer, Ferretti will be working closely with Bob Hampel, interim SOE director, to provide a smooth transition during this change in leadership.
Carol Vukelich has been appointed deputy dean for the College of Education and Human Development, effective July 1. She is the director of Delaware Center for Teacher Education and the Hammonds Professor in Teacher Education. In addition to her responsibilities as deputy dean, Vukelich will continue to serve as director of DCTE and her office will remain at 200 Academy St.
Presentations
David P. Bellamy, professor of mathematical sciences, was one of three featured foreign professors at the sixth Workshop in Continuum Theory, held July 1-14, in Puebla, Mexico. Approximately 60 mathematics students, both graduate and undergraduate, from all over Mexico participated.
Hannah Lee, assistant librarian, Student Multimedia Design Center, University of Delaware Library, participated in a panel presentation, "Beyond Paying Dues: Investing in Yourself as You Invest in Your Career," sponsored by the Spectrum Scholar Interest Group of the American Library Association, June 23, 2012, Anaheim, Calif.
Lee also participated in a panel presentation, "Winning on Two Fronts: How Library Residencies Are Placing Libraries at the Leading Edge of Innovation and Diversity Initiatives," sponsored by the Residency Interest Group of the Association of College and Research Libraries of the American Library Association, June 23, 2012, Anaheim, Calif.
Paul C. Quinn, professor of psychology, was the keynote speaker Thursday, July 19, at the 2012 IDeA (Institutional Development Award) States Mini-Conference on Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience, hosted by North Dakota State University's Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience. Quinn discussed his research on how infants process and recognize faces, particularly as they are exposed to broader or more limited categories of people of different races and genders.
Publications
Maryam Akhvan, a research fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering/Delaware Geological Survey/Water Resources Center, with co-authors Paul Imhoff, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at UD, Stefan Finsterle of the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory and A. S. Andres, senior scientist with the Delaware Geological Survey, recently published a paper “Application of a Coupled Overland Flow–Vadose Zone Model to Rapid Infiltration Basin Systems” in Vadose Zone Journal. The paper describes development of new numerical modeling capabilities and a simulation study of rapid infiltration basin systems, or RIBS. RIBS are increasingly being used in Delaware and around the U.S. for disposal of treated wastewater. The study provides a new means and modeling tool for quantifying the hydraulics of how water flows across the surface of an infiltration basin and infiltrates into the subsurface, and the processing of nitrogen in the wastewater. Previously used models did not incorporate overland flow and nitrogen processing. The study found that hydraulic behavior of the RIBS surface has a strong influence on how nitrogen in the treated wastewater is processed in the soil zone and how different infiltration practices can control how much nitrate reaches the water table. The new model can rapidly assess the risk of nitrate contamination from different disposal practices in the design phases of a RIBS. This could potentially save money in the overall construction and operation of a RIBS.
Alumni achievements
Two alumni of the graduate Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP) have key positions in this year's Delaware Shakespeare Festival, which is presenting A Midsummer Night's Dream through July 28 in Wilmington's Rockwood Mansion Park. Caroline Crocker, a 2011 acting graduate, plays the role of Hippolyta/Titania, and Stephen Manocchio, a 1995 graduate in PTTP technical area, is the production's sound designer. For more about the festival, visit www.delshakes.org.
Kimberlee M. Orth, a 1985 business administration alumna, has been recognized as 35th among the top 100 female advisers in the country by Barron's Magazine, the business and finance magazine. Orth, who is a private wealth adviser with Ameriprise Financial in Wilmington, Del., was chosen based on assets under management, revenue generated for her firm, acceptable compliance and legal records, client satisfaction and professional designation.
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