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

Recent presentations and honors include the following:

In the media

Sharon Pitt, vice president of Information Technologies, was interviewed for an article in the EDUCAUSE Review titled “The Third Time’s the Charm? Information Security at the Top of the List Again.” The article, published on Jan. 29, featured interviews with several higher education IT leaders regarding information security ranking first on EDUCAUSE’s Top 10 IT Issues List for three years running. She was also a featured contributor to the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) article “Seven Things You Should Know About the 2018 Key Issues in Teaching and Learning,” published Jan. 29.

Honors

Pratibha L. Gai, a former adjunct professor of materials science at UD, was appointed a Dame (DBE) in the 2018 UK New Year’s Honours List, which recognizes extraordinary people in the United Kingdom. Gai is professor and chair of electron microscopy in the departments of chemistry and physics, and founding co-director of the York Nanocentre, at the UK’s University of York. She taught electron microscopy courses at UD while working as a DuPont Research Fellow. Gai is also a Fellow of the Royal Society and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Presentations

Margaret D. Stetz, Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and professor of humanities, delivered a paper titled "Reframing Comfort Women as Girls in 'Spirits' Homecoming' (2016)" at the Modern Language Association Convention in New York City on Jan. 4, 2018. Her paper was part of a panel on "Representing Korean Comfort Women in Fiction and Film." It addressed the politics of a recent South-Korean-made feature film that depicts the use, during WWII, of underage girls by the Japanese Imperial Army in its system of military sexual slavery.

Mark Seifert, director of emergency management, and Brian Miani, chemical hygiene officer in Environmental Health and Safety, participated in the 2018 Philadelphia Regional Tabletop Exercise for Institutions of Higher Education, held Feb. 2 at Drexel University. The Regional Tabletop was designed to highlight and address regionally specific campus resilience needs and included a tabletop exercise, seminar style session and an after-action session to explore and test the campus resilience and emergency preparedness plans of the participating colleges and universities. With approximately 120 officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, Philadelphia first responders and representatives from various regional universities and colleges, the exercise involved a simulated emergency response to a CSX train derailment and a resulting major hazardous materials spill near the Drexel University campus. Representatives from each campus were provided with materials to simulate the incident as having occurred on their campus. “This was an excellent opportunity for Brian Miani and I to discuss our response strategies and the resilience of our campus to such an incident,” Seifert said. “It is important for us to remember that CSX, Amtrak and Norfolk Southern all operate trains in the city of Newark and many bisect our campus.” After the tabletop exercise, a comprehensive panel discussion was conducted with leaders from the New Jersey State Police, the Philadelphia Fire Department and CSX officials providing best practices to the attendees. “The panel discussion was a good opportunity for us to evaluate emergency plans and gain information based upon lessons learned from other incidents in our nation,” Seifert added. Campus and Public Safety routinely hosts and participates in exercises to test UD’s Emergency Response Plans. Recent tabletop exercises included the topics of armed intruder response; mass casualty train crash; infectious disease response and response to civil disobedience on campus.

Members of the University community are reminded that in an emergency situation, the UD Alert system will be used to communicate important information. To ensure that your contact information is correct, visit the UD Alert website and follow the instructions to view and make any updates to your contact information. It is also recommended that you download the LiveSafe App, which is a free smartphone safety app the University makes available to all students, faculty and staff. Use the LiveSafe App to report crimes; receive crime information from the University Police and engage in a “safe walk” on campus.

To submit information for inclusion in For the Record, write to ocm@udel.edu and include “For the Record” in the subject line.