The University of Delaware College of Health Sciences honored faculty and staff award winners during its final all-college meeting of the academic year. 

The five recipients received outstanding recommendations from colleagues, department chairs and staff. 

Here is the list of winners along with a snippet from the nomination packet: 

Excellence in Service – Iva Obrusnikova, Department of Behavioral Health and Nutrition. “Dr. Obrusnikova has a long history of service to her profession, her department and her students. Her most stellar service is in the area of disabilities — both children and adults. Her work is often unheralded, but extremely important to disadvantaged, high risk groups in the community.”

Excellence in Advising – Todd Royer, Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology. “Without a doubt, Dr. Royer has been a key leader of advising over the last five years — a period where undergraduate enrollment has grown greatly. He takes the time to know each person to figure out what will work best for him. Routinely advising 60 undergraduates, he stepped up during this academic year when a colleague was out on leave, taking responsibility for another 60 students! He is a person to whom faculty turn when they have advising questions. What a great example for all of us on how to be an excellent advisor.”

Excellence in Teaching – Judy Herman, School of Nursing. “Dr. Herman is a national expert in curriculum development, accreditation, test construction and creative teaching strategies. Her book Creative Teaching Strategies for the Nurse Educator is a best seller. Over the past three decades, Dr. Herman has been a tremendous influence for all of her students. With plans for retirement this year, this award would cap off an outstanding career in nursing education.”

Excellence in Research – Slobodan Jaric, Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology. “His research productivity is simply outstanding. During the years 2011 to 2016, Dr. Jaric published 39 papers, not including several manuscripts in press. His scholarly work was cited more than 3,800 times! He is an absolutely wonderful colleague.”

Staff Award – Gina Pusey, Physical Therapy; Communication Sciences and Disorders. “You hear it over and over – Gina goes above and beyond. She has modified many clinic procedures to accommodate clinical instruction. She is a supporter of our research mission. To put it mildly, research adds a significant burden to the administrative responsibility of an operations manager; Gina is so supportive, routinely looking around corners to anticipate challenges with grants and research protocols.”

President Targett honored

The college surprised outgoing President Nancy Targett, honoring her at the close of the awards session.

“President Targett has been such a passionate advocate for innovation during her time at the University,” said Kathleen Matt, dean of the College of Health Sciences. “Her vision and support for STAR Campus have allowed for exponential growth in our college. The University of New Hampshire is getting one incredible leader. We wish her all the best.”