ALUMNI | On Homecoming Weekend 2008, the UD campus was the site of a host of activities as alumni returned for reunions, receptions, awards and the chance to mingle with old friends, current students and football fans at tailgates and other gatherings.
On Saturday, Oct. 18, a Reunion Row tent outside Delaware Stadium held pregame receptions for the graduating classes of 1968, 1983, 1988 and 1998. The morning began with an alumni invitational cross country meet and special reunion get-togethers for alumni of the Sigma Nu fraternity and the colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Human Services, Education and Public Policy.
After the game, and a disappointing 27-3 loss to William and Mary, activities included a barbecue at the Center for Black Culture, public ice skating sessions, additional receptions and the well-attended President’s Reception and Dinner for the 50-year reunion Class of 1958 and other guests. Young alumni got together for a bowling party later that evening.
At halftime of the football game, the UD Alumni Association (UDAA) honored the winners of its Outstanding Alumni Awards, Charlotte Waterbury Brown, CHEP ’81 and a former UDAA president, and Scott Somerville, BE ’76, an active volunteer in several programs with the University and the Lerner College of Business and Economics. Also on the 50-yard line during halftime, President Patrick Harker recognized this year’s Spirit Ambassadors, particularly Christopher Gale, EG ’09, who received the T. Muncy Keith Spirit Award.
Various receptions were held throughout the weekend for groups including alumni of the College of Engineering, the DuPont Scholars program, the Black Alumni Organization, the Lerner College and swim team members. Art exhibitions were open for viewing, and spectators could watch women’s soccer and men’s ice hockey games as well.
One of the opening events of the weekend, a ceremony awarding the annual Presidential Citations for Outstanding Achievement, this year recognized the accomplishments of six alumni. For more information or to view a video of the ceremony, visit UDconnection.com/presidential-citation. The 2008
recipients are:
• Deborah D. Brenner, AS ’88, the author of Women of the Vine: Inside the World of Women Who Make, Taste and Enjoy Wine and the proprietor of Women of the Vine Cellars, a first-of-its-kind international wine brand;
• William P. (Chip) Eveland Jr., AS ’91, ’93M, a professor of communication and political science at Ohio State University and an award-winning scholar in the processing of political communication;
• Dr. Traci Hill Hulse, AG ’91, an equine veterinarian who was Arizona’s Young Veterinarian of the Year in 2000 and who also serves the equine community through an online newsletter for horse owners;
• Col. Salman M. Nodjomian, EG ’88, Programs Division, Office of the Civil Engineer, Deputy Chief of Staff/Logistics, Installation and Mission Support for the U.S. Air Force, who is responsible for the worldwide management and administration of the Air Force’s construction;
• Bruce C. Robertson, EG ’88PhD, the managing director of H.I.G. Ventures, a venture capital fund invested in four life science companies on whose boards he serves, and the treasurer of the UD Research Foundation; and
• Wayne C. Westerman, EG ’99 PhD, a senior engineer at Apple Inc., who developed the computer interface technology based on human touch used in Apple’s iPhone, which started with work he did for his doctoral thesis.