
Alumni
Alumni Spotlight

UD alumnus George Uetz details his illustrious career in spider biology
With more than 40 years of research experience and nearly 200 publications to his name, George Uetz is an expert in arachnology — the study of spiders. But his illustrious career in this highly specialized field started by chance and has been shaped by serendipitous moments since.
Interested in insects from a young age, Uetz enrolled in a course on arthropods while working toward his undergraduate degree in biology from Albion College. “I got into this class and realized that the professor was an arachnologist, which is a rare thing, and he was going to teach us all about spiders. I was just mortified but I quickly found that if you look at them up close and learn about them then your fear goes away and turns into fascination,” said Uetz.
Featured video
A video of UD alumnus Phung Luu promotes conservation through education: youtube.com/watch?v=dr1FQTJlCPM
Alumni Awards
George M. Worrilow Award
Named for a leader whose belief in the art and business of agriculture and whose respect for the Delaware farmer were steadfast, the award is presented by the Ag Alumni Association to a graduate of the college who has exhibited outstanding service to agriculture and natural resources. He led the college with vision, compassion and a determination to make it the best agricultural school in the land.

George M. Worrilow Award
2022 Recipient
William "Jay" Meany
Graduation: 1981 BS
Degree: BS Agricultural Business Management
William “Jay” Meany graduated with a degree Agribusiness Management from the University of Delaware College of Agriculture & Natural Resources in 1981. He, along with his wife – Kathleen – are the proud parents to three University of Delaware alumni –
- Jessica – a 2007 graduate from the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources
- Daniel – a 2009 graduate of the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources; and
- Sarah – a 2013 graduate from the Lerner College of Business
Jay serves as President of Hy-Point Farms, located in Northern, New Castle County – Delaware. Founded in 1919, the company employs over 110 people – Jay has been with the family operation for over 60 years. Currently, there are 12 members of the Meany family working with the company!
Along with his family, Jay has been a tremendous partner and friend of the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources through the years – specifically to the dairy initiatives and UDairy Creamery operations. In 2015, Jay and Kathleen established the Dr. U. Carl Toensmeyer Scholarship to support students in UD’s Food and Agribusiness program.
Distinguished Alumni Award
This award recognizes alumni who demonstrate outstanding career accomplishment, service and leadership to their profession.
2021 Award Winners
Worrilow Award
- Susan Barton
Distinguished Alumni Award
- Rodolfo M. Nayga, Jr.
- George Uetz
- Sam Lemheney
Distinguished Young Alumni Award
This award recognizes the personal and professional accomplishments of a graduate of less than 20 years.
2021 Award Winners
Distinguished Young Alumni Award
- Kishana Taylor
- Yihuan Xu
- David H. McNear, Jr.

George M. Worrilow
Award Recipient
Graduation: 1981 BS; 2005 PhD
Degree: PhD Plant Protection, BS Plant Science
Susan Barton, Phd is an extension specialist and professor in the Plant and Soil Sciences Department at the University of Delaware. She has worked closely for the past 20 years with DelDOT to research and implement new roadside vegetation management strategies. She has also worked with partners to develop the Plants for a Livable Delaware Program, designed to provide alternatives to known invasive plants species and to promote sustainable landscaping. She teaches Plants and Human Culture, Farm to Table, Landscape Drawing, Landscape Architecture Symposium, Landscape Management and coordinates the Landscape Architecture/Plant Science Internship. She also works closely with the nursery and landscape industry, writing newsletters, organizing short courses and conducting horticulture industry expos with the Delaware Nursery and Landscape Association. Susan received the Nursery Extension Award in 1995 from the American Nursery and Landscape Association and the Ratledge Award for service from the University of Delaware in 2007. Susan received her SITES AP certification in summer 2017. In 2021, Susan received the George M. Worrilow award from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, given to a college alumnus with exemplary service to agriculture in the state.

Distinguished Alumni
Award Recipient
Graduation: 1991
Degree: B.S. Plant Science
Sam Lemheney is the Chief of Shows and Events at PHS and directs the strategy, planning, and execution of all events including the annual Philadelphia Flower Show where over 250,000 visitors from all over the world experience the work completed by him, his team, and PHS every year. Sam is a judge for flower shows in Singapore, Japan, and South Korea, and has judged the floats for the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. He is also an active member of the International Festival and Events Association.
Sam received his B.S. in Plant Science from the University of Delaware and has had a lifelong passion for horticulture. He began his career at The Walt Disney Company in the Land Horticulture Science Program and eventually rose to the position of Area Manager of the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival.

Distinguished Alumni
Award Recipient
Graduation: 1988
Degree: M.S. Agricultural Economics
Rodolfo M. Nayga, Jr. is currently head of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University. Dr. Nayga’s research interests include the economics of food consumption, policy, and health. He has focused his work on critical issues such as poverty, nutrition, obesity, and novel food technologies. He has examined issues related to how people comprehend and use food and nutritional labels and how these would then influence a number of important health related outcomes such as diet quality and obesity. He has also analyzed the effects of important federal food programs such as the National School Lunch Program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and the Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program on food consumption and obesity.
Dr. Nayga received his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. Prior to joining the University of Arkansas, he was a professor at Texas A&M University for 12 years. He also was a faculty member at Rutgers University and at Massey University, New Zealand. He has been a Fulbright Senior Scholar at Wageningen University, The Netherlands, adjunct professor at Korea University and Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research, NBER research economist, and senior research fellow of the Waseda Institute for Advanced Study in Tokyo. He is currently an executive board member of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association and member of the International Scientific Advisory Board of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast.

Distinguished Alumni
Award Recipient
Graduation: 1970
Degree: M.S. Entomology
George Uetz is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Cincinnati. He has also served as Department Head, Associate Dean for Research, journal Editor and NSF Program Officer. He conducts research on the behavior of animals supported by grants from the National Geographic Society and National Science Foundation and has published over 160 scientific research articles.
Dr. Uetz received a B.A. in Biology from Albion College, M.S. in Entomology and Wildlife from the University of Delaware, and Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Illinois.
The major focus of the Uetz lab research is the behavioral ecology of spiders, addressing questions about both the proximate and ultimate mechanisms involved in communication and sexual selection. His current research focuses on the integration of multiple sensory modes underlying signal detection, communication, learning, cognitive decision-making and signal evolution.
Distinguished Young Alumni

Distinguished Young Alumni
Award Recipient
Graduation: 2006
Degree: Ph.D. Environmental Soil Chemistry
David McNear is a first generation college student. He started out at community college where he earned an Associate’s degree in Life Sciences before transferring to Pennsylvania State University where he earned a B.S. degree in environmental resource management (ERM) with a minor in environmental engineering. After spending ~ 9 months working for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) and a hazardous materials emergency response company he went back to school at Penn State where he earned an M.S. degree in Environmental Pollution Control with a focus in Soil Chemistry. He then went on to earn his PhD in Feb of 2006 with Dr. Donald Sparks in the Environmental Soil Chemistry lab at the University of Delaware. He joined the faculty at the University of Kentucky Department of Plant and Soil Sciences in Jan 2007.
McNear is a Professor of Rhizosphere Science in the University of Kentucky Department of Plant and Soil Sciences where he operates the Rhizolab (www.rhizolab.com). His research team investigates the influence of plant breeding on root system architecture (RSA) and the biogeochemical processes occurring at the plant root-soil interface (a.k.a. rhizosphere) over multiple spatial scales; assessing the influence of these processes on carbon and nutrient cycling in managed and unmanaged ecosystems. The aim of the lab is to unravel the inherent complexity of the rhizosphere to help solve some of the most critical problems facing the World today (climate change, food security, ecosystem integrity)

Distinguished Young Alumni
Award Recipient
Graduation: 2011
Degree: B.S. Animal Science
Kishana Taylor is a virologist, co-founder and president of the Black Microbiologists Association and advocate for minority groups in STEM. Dr. Taylor received her B.S. in Animal Science from the University of Delaware where she was named a Woman of Promise in addition to being an EPSCoR and Summer Institute Research Scholar.
After earning her B.S. in Animal Science from UD, Taylor earned an M.S. in Public Health Microbiology and Emerging Infectious Disease from George Washington University and a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences from the University of Georgia. Her research focused on developing laboratory animal models of virus transmission for epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus. She also served in postdoctoral roles at the University of California, Davis and Carnegie Mellon University and as a graduate research assistant for the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study.
Currently, Taylor is a postdoctoral researcher at Rutgers University, Newark and adjunct professor at Mercy College. Her current research focuses on the ecology, evolution and epidemiology of endemic vector-borne viruses. Dr. Taylor’s research interests include arboviruses, zoonotic viruses and their epidemiology, ecology and evolution. Dr. Taylor also serves as the counselor for virology trainees with the American Society for Virology.
As an undergraduate researcher at UD, she studied avian infectious viruses as well as plant infectious fungal diseases and have experience with both molecular biology and virology techniques. As a master’s student, her final project was an assessment of the presence of antibiotic resistant and extra-intestinal E. coli in watersheds with high poultry production density.

Distinguished Young Alumni
Award Recipient
Graduation: 2004
Degree: M.S. Statistics
Yihuan Xu is a Senior Director in Biometrics Department, TG Therapeutics, where she works as a biostatistician to provide statistical support for clinical development of Multiple Sclerosis program. Prior to Joining TG, Yihuan worked as a biostatistician in BeiGene and Eli Lilly and Company – NJ for more than years, supporting multiple oncology drug development programs and leading multiple late phase clinical trials. Before that, Yihuan was a biostatistician in Thomas Jefferson University Cancer center, providing statistical support on cancer research across cancer biology to clinical studies.
Yihuan got her medical degree from Peking University Health Science Center, M.S. degrees in Molecular Biology and Statistics from University of Delaware, and Ph.D. in Statistics from Temple University.
Her research interest is in survival analysis in oncology clinical trials, especially in biomarker enrichment study design, non-proportional hazard survival analysis.
George M. Worrilow Award Recipients
Award Year | Awardee |
1970 | Edward H. Schabinger '39 |
1971 | J. Frank Gordy '28 |
1972 | Byard V. Carmean '31 |
1973 | Warren C. Newton '16 '55H |
1974 | Edward H. Ralph '55 '57M |
1975 | Preston C. Townsend Sr. '32 |
1976 | Claude E. Phillips '21 '23M |
1977 | Ralph J. O'Day '40 '59M |
1978 | J. Allen Frear Jr. '24 '92H |
1979 | William R. Ratledge '38 |
1980 | Thurman G. Adams Jr. '50 |
1981 | F. Grove Miller '51 |
1982 | David H. Woodward '55 |
1983 | John M. Curtis Sr. '41 |
1984 | William N. Hopkins '42 |
1985 | William J. Benton '59M '66PhD |
1986 | Ralph P. Barwick '50 '56M |
Award Year | Awardee |
1987 | John K. Rosenberger '64 '66M |
1988 | Horace E. Short Sr. '42 '52M |
1989 | Donald F. Crossan '50 |
1990 | H. Wesley Towers Jr. '64 |
1991 | J. Edward Legates '43 |
1992 | Henry P. Wilson '63 '65M |
1993 | Samuel J. Talucci '51 |
1994 | Chester T. Dickerson Jr. ‘62 ‘64M |
1995 | W. Edwin Kee Jr. '73 '75M '96M |
1996 | George F. Haenlein '60M |
1997 | Walter C. Hopkins '70 |
1998 | Keith H. Carlisle '64 |
1999 | Thomas A. Fretz '66M '70PhD |
2000 | Spangler Klopp '66 '68M |
2001 | Theodore A. Haas '71 |
2002 | Carlton C. Fifer '62 |
2003 | John L. Morris '58M |
Award Year | Awardee |
2004 | S. Derby Walker Jr. '68 '70M |
2005 | Fred W. Melchior Jr. '64 '66M |
2006 | J. Rennie Stavely '61 |
2007 | H. Wallace Cook Jr. '56 |
2008 | Robert P. Mulrooney '73 '74M |
2009 | Willis L. Kirk '67 |
2010 | Robert L. Baker '71 |
2011 | Joanne Whitehead Whalen '83M |
2012 | Jack Gelb Jr. '74 '76M |
2013 | Ronald L. Ritter '75 |
2014 | Robin L. Talley '84 '96M |
2015 | Erica Spackman '97M '01PhD |
2016 | Charles C. Allen III '71 |
2017 | Wayne L. Currey '65 '67M |
2018 | James L. Glancey, P.E. |
2019 | Steven Leath '81M |
2020 | Lee W. Richardson '91 |
2021 | Susan Schumacher Barton '81; ‘05PhD |
Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients
Award Year | Awardee |
2020 | Stephen Cook |
2020 | Kate Zook * |
2020 | Catherine Connelly * |
2020 | Patrick Carroll |
2020 | Rodney Robinson |
2019 | Mark Collins |
2019 | Michael J. Graham |
2019 | Wayne D. Lord |
2019 | Robert M. Thompson |
2019 | Shawn Dash * |
2019 | Grace Chapman Elton * |
2019 | Michele Maughan * |
2017 | Robert Cohen |
2017 | Ronald S. Ferriss |
2017 | David A. Morris |
2017 | Sara-Beth Bittinger * |
2017 | Phung Luu * |
2017 | Joseph Rogerson * |
Award Year | Awardee |
2016 | Cynthia Stewart |
2016 | Andrew Short * |
2015 | Jared G. Ali |
2015 | Mary Denigan-Macauley |
2015 | Devan V. Mehrotra |
2015 | Kenneth F. Raffa |
2015 | H. Don Tilmon |
2014 | James H. Baxter, IV |
2014 | Craig Clifford |
2014 | Tom Fretz |
2014 | Mary Ellen Setting |
2013 | John Cantello |
2013 | Bernard Murphy |
2013 | Zaiqi Pan |
2012 | Bruce Cobb |
2012 | Daral Jackwood |
2012 | Mark Jackwood |
Award Year | Awardee |
2012 | Carol Long |
2012 | Jennifer McEntire |
2012 | Jennifer Walls |
2011 | Steve Castorani |
2011 | Goodwin Cobb |
2011 | Rick Darke |
2011 | Joshua McGrath |
2010 | Dennis Byrne |
2010 | Steven Leath |
2010 | Stewart Ramsey |
2009 | Daniel Camenga |
2009 | Roger Glendenning |
2009 | Andrew Paterson |
2009 | Linda Stallings |
2008 | Rick Colbert |
2008 | William Culp |
2008 | Phillip Jardine |
2008 | Erica Spackman |
(*) denotes Distinguished Young Alumni Award recipients