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

Recent announcements, presentations, publications and service include the following:

Announcements

Kendra Brumfield and John Wambui, both doctoral students in urban affairs and public policy, are among 27 doctoral students and research fellows nationwide who have been selected to attend the American Society for Public Administration’s 2016 International Young Scholars Workshop to be held July 20-23 in Cape Town, South Africa. Their research and participation will focus on the theme of “Advancing the Understanding of Global Disparities in Public Policy, Public Administration, NGOs, and the Communities They Serve.”

The workshop’s signature sponsor is the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, of Battle Creek, Michigan, which is generously supporting this event through a $20,000 corporate gift. Other sponsors include the South African Community Chest, the Conference of Minority Public Administrators and Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration, Newark. Each organizational sponsor is assisting the scholars in their academic work as the scholars promote racial equity and community engagement, both in the classroom and in local communities.

“These young scholars are dedicated to rigorous public administration research,” said 2016-17 ASPA President Susan Gooden, lead academic adviser for the workshop. “We’re bringing almost 30 future academicians and public servants to Cape Town to expose them to their peers’ research as they examine social equity and community from a global perspective. This experience will provide them the opportunity to broaden their networks and elevate public administration scholarship.”

Senior Scholars accompanying the group are Maria Aristigueta and Harvey White of the University of Delaware, Gloria Billingsley of Jackson State University, Susan Gooden of Virginia Commonwealth University, Janice Lachance of the Better Business Bureau Institute for Marketplace Trust, Michael Orok of Virginia Union University, and Allan Rosenbaum of Florida International University. Also in attendance will be ASPA executive director William Shields.

“Each Young Scholars class conducts stellar research that goes on to have a considerable impact within public administration,” Gooden said. “This year’s cohort has students looking at marginalized populations in Africa, the United States, Canada and beyond. I am looking forward to watching how their research broadens our concept of racial equity and community engagement.”

New assignment

Marcia Hutton, senior project manager in Planning and Project Delivery, has been named interim director of Planning and Project Delivery, Peter Krawchyk, interim vice president of facilities, real estate and auxiliary services, has announced. Her appointment was effective July 5. A LEED-accredited professional, Hutton earned her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from UD. In her 15 years as a project manager for UD, she has completed many projects of differing size and complexity, including the construction of the Biomedical and Brain Imaging Center, the Caesar Rodney Dining and Residence Hall, Gilbert and Redding residence halls, the renovation and addition to Carpenter Sports Building, the addition to the Bob Carpenter Center and the construction of Independence Hall. Currently she is the project manager for the South Academy Street Residence Hall construction and several smaller renovation projects.

Presentations

Rudi Matthee, John and Dorothy Munroe Distinguished Professor of History, participated in a conference, “Revisiting the History of Capitalism,” held at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 14-15. Hosted by the Centre of Indian Studies in Africa and sponsored by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung and the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study, this meeting was meant as a response to the publication in 2014 of the two-volume Cambridge History of Capitalism. Matthee presented “Iranian Capitalism: Exceptionalism and Delayed Development.” 

John McNutt and Jonathan Justice, professors in the School of Public Policy and Administration, recently presented “Predicting Civic Hackathons in Local Communities: Perspectives from Social Capital and Creative Class Theory” at the 12th biannual meeting of the International Society for Third Sector Research in Stockholm, Sweden, June 28-July 1.

Alice Ba, professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations and the Asian Studies Program, was an invited panelist on the topic of “ASEAN Vision 2025: Toward A Rule Based Organization” at a public seminar launching her new book Institutionalizing East Asia: Mapping and Configuring Regional Cooperation, coedited with Cheng-Chwee Kuik and Sueo Sudo, in Bangkok, Thailand, May 30.

Publications

Victor W. Perez, assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice, published "Knowledge and Concern for Sea-Level Rise in an Urban Environmental Justice Community" in Sociological Forum, with co-author Jennifer Egan. The research examined how community members in Southbridge, a south Wilmington community, perceive local pollution/contamination and flooding issues, and how sea-level rise projections for the area may interact with current environmental burdens and potentially increase human health and environmental problems. The interdisciplinary research highlights the need to prioritize areas with histories of environmental burdens for mitigation because of the potential impact of those burdens when interacting with projected climate change in the area.

Research

A research study in the Department of Behavioral Health and Nutrition is investigating healthy snacking in preschoolers. Parents with a child between the ages of 3 and 6 years are needed for the study. Participants will be compensated up to $25 for participation. Call the Energy Balance and Nutrition Lab to participate in the five-week program at 302-831-2241 or email EBNL-Robson@udel.edu.

The University's Chai Nutrition and Health Laboratory is inviting women who are one to five years postmenopausal to participate in two related studies. To learn more about and participate in these studies, call 302-831-7218 or email ChaiResearchLab@gmail.com.

Service

Delaware Sea Grant-funded researchers John Callahan, Kevin Brinson and Tina Callahan organized a workshop on Delaware high water marks at the Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve (DNERR) St. Jones Reserve Training Center in Dover on June 23. The workshop included an update on current progress to catalog, display, and distribute high water mark data collected in Delaware for past flooding events from 1960-present, and discussed plans for regional coordination of pre-storm deployment of water level sensors at temporary monitoring locations for future storms. Callahan, an associate scientist with the Delaware Geological Survey, subsequently shared a similar update on the project with the Delaware State Hazard Mitigation Council at the Delaware Emergency Management Agency’s main offices in Smyrna on June 30 to help assess the impacts from past storms and better prepare for future events.

To submit information for inclusion in For the Record, write to publicaffairs@udel.edu.